Hearings Expected On Patient Treatment At N-P Treatment Center

State lawmakers are acting on a report that details horrific living conditions at a residential psychiatric treatment center for children in North Providence.

The House Oversight Committee plans to hold hearings into the St. Mary's Home for Children, which has come under fire in the wake of a lengthy examination by the Rhode Island Office of the Child Advocate.

The OCA criticized management for lack of staffing, hiring members of a biker club to work security, allowing a child to be sexually abused by another, and teenage residents overdosing.

St. Mary's Home has since removed its longtime executive director. The state Senate may also hold hearings on the matter.

 (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)