Our History
The Providence Center has been an integral part of Rhode Island's behavioral healthcare system since 1969. At that time, founder Charles E. Maynard implemented a grant from the city of Providence to establish a nonprofit mental health clinic to serve people with minimal financial resources who had mental health and emotional problems.
Today, more than 500 employees serve more than 11,000 children, adolescents and adults each year at four service sites in Providence, Cranston, and Burrillville and many residential facilities throughout the Providence area.
The following chronicles how The Providence Center grew to become one of the largest providers of mental health and substance use services in Rhode Island.
1969 …
The Providence Center opens its doors in Providence with four staff members and a $50,000 budget.
1977 …
The Providence Center receives a federal grant to provide comprehensive mental health services.
1983 …
The Providence Center opens its 520 Hope Street treatment facility and its first group home in Providence.
1984 …
The Providence Center develops a nationally recognized outpatient treatment program for children with serious mental health problems and specialized outpatient substance abuse treatment programs for adults.
1988 …
ProMail Etc., a social enterprise partner of The Providence Center, is established to help meet the mailing needs of Rhode Island businesses and provide vocational opportunities for Providence Center clients. Today, ProMail supports over 200 businesses and operates as a social-enterprise partner of The Providence Center, serving as an on-the-job vocational training site for people with disabilities, addictions or mental illnesses.
1989 …
Adolescent supervised apartment program opens.
Quitting Time, Rhode Island’s first intensive outpatient program for men and women experiencing substance abuse problems, is established.
The Providence Center School is established to serve the unique academic, social, and therapeutic needs of children ages 3-12 who have emotional and behavioral problems. Since its opening, The Providence Center School has expanded from its original two preschool and elementary classrooms to 11 classrooms serving up to 85 students ages 3-21. The school provides a full standards-based academic program that integrates social and emotional skill building into the curriculum.
1994 …
The Providence Center opens its main facility at 530 North Main Street.
1997 …
The Providence Center holds its first annual Circle of Stars fundraiser honoring community members for their philanthropic support.
2002 …
The Providence Center opens the Early Childhood Institute at 520 Hope Street, serving children ages 2-5 whose behavioral difficulties prevent them from succeeding at home and in childcare settings. Today, the Early Childhood Institute serves as a model for therapeutic day treatment programs throughout New England.
The Providence Center launches its first annual President’s Cup golf tournament.
2004 …
Dale K. Klatzker, Ph.D., president/CEO
Providence Center founder and President/CEO Charles E. Maynard retires and is succeeded by current President/CEO Dale K. Klatzker, Ph.D. Dale describes his vision as “. . .simply to ensure that people who need help receive it. People with mental illness and substance abuse problems are some of our most vulnerable citizens. We must not forget that, as a society, we have a responsibility to ensure that everyone receives quality services and is treated with dignity and respect.” As president/CEO of The Providence Center, Dale’s focus has been to provide excellent care for clients through best clinical and business practices: “I have worked to establish partnerships, a strong leadership team, innovative technology, and a sense of teamwork and open communication throughout the organization—all to more effectively meet our clients’ needs.”
The Providence Center’s Board of Trustees embarks on a $1 million campaign to establish The Charles E. Maynard Endowment Fund for the Future at The Rhode Island Foundation. The endowment, named after The Providence Center’s founder and CEO Charles E. Maynard upon his retirement after 36 years of service, ensures that The Providence Center will continue to develop innovative treatment for Rhode Islanders in need of mental health and substance abuse services.
2005 …
The Charles E. Maynard Endowment Fund for the Future reaches it’s $1 million goal.
2007 …
The Providence Center implements an Electronic Medical Record giving physicians and clinicians secure access to their clients’ records twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week from any location using an Internet-connected browser.
2008 …
The Providence Center’s Enhanced Recovery House opens in Providence to provide residential and supportive services to homeless people in the early stages of recovery from serious problems related to substance abuse.
2009 …
The Providence Center celebrates its 40th anniversary at Circle of Stars, honoring 40 people including clients, members of The Providence Center’s Board of Trustees, donors and staff members. Read their stories in Faces of Forty, The Providence Center's Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report.
The Providence Center opens Imagine Preschool in Warwick, Rhode Island. Located at the Community College of Rhode Island Knight Campus, Imagine’s curriculum is designed to prepare three- to five-year-old children to succeed in school by giving them a love of learning, an excitement about school and the skills and knowledge that will form the foundation for a lifetime of learning.
2010 …
The Providence Center opens the first Crisis Stabilization Unit in Providence, Rhode Island, for patients experiencing an acute psychiatric and/or substance abuse crisis.
Anchor Recovery Community Center, Rhode Island’s first recovery center, opens in Pawtucket. The Providence Center sponsors Anchor’s operations.
InShape, a research-based wellness program, is launched. Providence Center clients enrolled in the program are guided by health mentors who help them set wellness goals and accompany them to community fitness and wellness activities and programs such as yoga, water aerobics, weight training, food shopping, and nutrition education. The Providence Center is one of only four certified InShape providers in the United States.
2011 …
In collaboration with CharterCARE Health Partners, a hospital network of Roger Williams Medical Center and Fatima Hospital, The Providence Center launches CharterCARE Connect and becomes the sole provider of mental health and substance use emergency services in the emergency departments of the two partner hospitals.
InShape expands to include InShape Seniors, a wellness program that mirrors the InShape program, but addresses the unique health needs of people over 65. The Providence Center is the only provider of InShape Seniors in the United States.
The Providence Center receives a four-year $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for the integration of primary and behavioral healthcare at The Providence Center’s 530 North Main Street location in Providence through a partnership with the Providence Community Health Centers. The partnership establishes The Providence Center as the primary medical home for 200 clients with mental illnesses each year. In addition to the primary care clinic, the grant also provides funding for primary care nurses from the Providence Community Health Centers embedded in The Providence Center’s community treatment teams who work with clients to address physical health problems.
The Providence Center and Providence Community Health Centers collaborate to create Providence Community Health Centers at North Main, a patient-centered medical home that provides comprehensive primary healthcare services for Providence Center adult clients experiencing mental health or substance use problems. Providence Community Health Centers at North Main is located at The Providence Center’s main facility at 530 North Main Street.
In an important step towards integrating primary and behavioral healthcare, The Providence Center adds Integrated Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Services to its service divisions.
The Providence Center receives a $1.2 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for the establishment of Recovery Net, a collaborative initiative between The Providence Center, Providence Community Health Centers, Rhode Island Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts and Brown University. Recovery Net is a 12-month post-release program designed to meet the needs of men with substance use problems who are re-entering the greater Providence community from the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. Other new Criminal Justice programs at The Providence Center include:
- The Community Diversion Program, which provides police and other first responders with an alternative to incarceration for people with mental health and substance abuse problems who commit misdemeanors.
- New Directions, a re-entry program that provides eligible inmates in Men’s Minimum Security at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institution with substance abuse and mental health treatment while incarcerated and at The Providence Center following release.
- Successful Re-entry Team that works with prisoners who have mental health and substance abuse problems to develop a long-term strategy for re-entering the community.
- Substance Abuse Testing and Treatment, which is provided for parolees referred to The Providence Center by the Rhode Island Department of Corrections for mandatory random drug testing.
Rapid Access Rhode Island, a partnership of Providence Community Health Centers, Blackstone Valley Community Health Care and The Providence Center, is established to provide mental health and substance abuse services on-site at Providence Community Health Centers in Providence and Pawtucket.
In October 2011, CharterCARE Connect expands to include two new initiatives: The first centralizes the admissions process for patients at both Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center, and the second establishes The Providence Center as the sole manager of mental health and substance abuse inpatient and emergency services at Fatima Hospital.
The Providence Center opens the Home Base program, a partnership of community organizations helping chronically homeless individuals in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Cranston and Woonsocket focus on their recovery from co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders.
2012 ...
On January 1, 2012, The Providence Center established the 
(Recovery-oriented, Empathic Services Proactively Empowering Consumers in Treatment) program, which provides access to clinically appropriate services for indigent and uninsured Rhode Islanders with acute substance abuse, psychiatric and co-occurring issues. RESPECT is a partnership of The Providence Center, Charter Care Health Partners and Phoenix House.
On March 1, 2012, The Providence Center became the first provider in Rhode Island to use the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). The scale is being used at The Providence Center’s facilities, in the emergency rooms at Roger Williams and Fatima Hospitals where The Providence Center is located, and will be rolled out by the end of March 2012in the agency’s community-based programs.