History
Founded in 1973, Tannerhill’s mission is to provide safe and nurturing homes for Rhode Island children in need of out-of-home therapeutic care. Tannerhill operates three residential homes for young children as well as a specialized foster care agency.
Tannerhill was founded by a group of human services professionals who saw the need for alternatives to the institutional settings that were then available for children in the care of the state. Tannerhill’s first home was in a former convent in Burrillville.
In 1984 eight boys moved into a house in Pascoag, RI. A home for girls was opened in 1989 and a third house opened in Woonsocket, for boys, in 1999. Tannerhill Specialized Foster Care accepted the first child into a Tannerhill-supported foster home in July 2006.
In 2005 Tannerhill obtained its child placement license to operate its specialized foster care program. Children are referred to Tannerhill by the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). These children come from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and come with varied family histories. Tannerhill Specialized Foster Care provides these children, who are victims of abuse and/or neglect, with a unique way to learn how to live in a healthy family wherein they can heal and develop the social and emotional skills necessary to return to a permanent family setting.