TOTOWA After more than a century of service to troubled youth, Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS) has announced that it will close Mount St. Joseph Children’s Center here at the end of the school year in June.
Mount St. Joseph’s history dates back to 1908, when it opened as an orphanage, using a $25,000 purse that was a golden jubilee gift of local Catholics to one of the Diocese’s most famous priests, Dean William McNulty, who also built the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. The facility became a home for both boys and girls in 1933. Over the following decades, the center was brought under the administrative responsibility of Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS), an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities, and most recently had served boys with emotional and behavioral challenges, ages 6 to 14, who had failed foster home placements and adoptions. With an onsite special education school, Mount St. Joseph’s provided for the therapeutic and educational needs of the boys whose problems warranted treatment away from home by giving them a structured living experience. At one time, it had also offered a full-day school program, Monday through Friday, for students who didn’t need residential services, and provided counseling and support to their families.
“The decision to close Mount St. Joseph was not an easy one,” said Joseph Duffy, president of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson. “It was one of the original programs of Catholic Charities and was a cornerstone for the spin-off non-profit, Catholic Family and Community Services. The charitable mission and the good work of Mount St. Joseph spawned a legion of generous donors and supporters over the years. Despite this, rising facility, staff and insurance costs for the more than 50 employees, along with the more complex presentations and shortened treatment stays for youth, have made it impossible for Mount St. Joseph to maintain the level of quality and service that is paramount to our mission.”
The census at Mount St. Joseph has been on the decline in recent years and currently stands at just five students. An enrollment of 26 was needed to meet budgetary solvency and the lack of a sufficient number of students over the last few years has caused Mount St. Joseph’s debt to surpass $1 million.
According to Duffy, “Over the next few months, with support and direction from treatment team members including students, their families, staff, the N.J. Department of Children and Families, Children’s System of Care and Division of Child Protection and Permanency, sending school districts, medical providers and legal advisers, we will transition our remaining students to new placements or return them home by the end of the school year on June 15.”
Duffy announced the closing to the staff on April 13 and said this week that notices about planned workforce reductions are now in place. “In keeping with the organizational mission and principles, diocesan affiliated agencies including Straight and Narrow and the Department for Persons with Disabilities, are all collaborating to support Mount St. Joseph staff to transition to possible positions within their facilities. On-site job fairs and prioritized application processes are underway and CFCS has engaged an outside human resources consultant to develop an individualized action plan to assist staff in securing positions,” Duffy said. “In addition, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, the Diocesan Schools Office, and Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Newark are providing information about any open positions they may have for the skill sets of the staff. The National Church Leadership Roundtable is also providing human resources consultation to provide even more help to the staff,” Duffy said. “Our goal is that most, if not all, of the Mount St. Joseph staff who are affected by the program closure can be supported in a relatively seamless transition to their next position.”