1,000 Nights Stuck in a System That is Failing Kids

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Rhode Island of warehousing children at Bradley Hospital, the state’s only pediatric psychiatric facility. Families hope the investigation means that help for their children is finally on the way

1 min read
Share
1,000 Nights Stuck in a System That is Failing Kids
Copy

For the past six years, Mary and Michael McDonough have spent more time visiting their daughter Rachel than living with her.

Rachel, a chatty 15-year-old with wavy blonde hair and a love of animals, has been institutionalized for her behavioral disabilities since she was 9, mostly at Bradley Hospital, an acute-care psychiatric hospital for children in East Providence. After a dozen admissions there each lasting for months, Rachel currently lives at a residential treatment center in Massachusetts.

Despite repeated efforts by Mary McDonough to care for Rachel at home, the teen always ended up back at Bradley, the only pediatric psychiatric hospital in Rhode Island.

“She essentially lived there,” Mary McDonough said in an interview with Globe Rhode Island and Rhode Island PBS. “She was there more than she was home.”

This story is part of a collaboration between the Boston Globe Rhode Island and Rhode Island PBS. To access the Globe online for free for 30 days, sign up here (no credit card required).

Only beaten once in his career, brash Joziah Fry from Coventry hopes to lead Johnson & Wales to a national wrestling championship
For nonprofits still awaiting access to federal dollars, at least $500,000 in grants will be made available through a special round of funding
ART inc. goes on a tour of Providence to see Brutalist buildings still standing, and those that have been demolished
Faced with a barrage of attacks on a number of different fronts, Brown students wonder why the university isn’t taking a more public stance in opposition to Trump
Livestream: The Public's Radio

Livestream: The Public's Radio