Providence House

Innovative and Exemplary (2019):

Providence House in Cleveland, OH, was established four decades ago by Sister Hope Greener. In July 2025, a second crisis nursery was opened on Cleveland’s East Side, expanding their capacity to serve nearly 400 children wait listed for services each year. With both the East and West Crisis Nurseries open and fully operational, up to 500 children can be cared for each year. Providence House is now one of the largest licensed residential crisis nurseries in North America.

Providence House also spearheaded updates to the Ohio Revised Code for Children’s Crisis Care Facilities (Crisis Nurseries) to address the need for longer lengths of stays for families experiencing more complex crises. Their advocacy successfully increased children’s length of stay for respite services from 60 days to 90 consecutive days, if needed to achieve family stability.

Services for children include: emergency shelter, direct care services, and medical care and monitoring. Services for parents include: case management/aftercare; parent support and education; family trauma services; family medical skills training. Providence House recently began offering an after care program of in-person case management for 6-12 months following a crisis, and a trauma informed group led by a social worker and peers as part of a discharge plan. Providence House was contracted with the Cuyahoga County Alcohol, Drug, Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board (ADAMHS) to provide respite support for caregivers’ inpatient/outpatient treatment and sobriety maintenance programs.

Given their 24/7 operating model, they also increased accessibility to mandatory staff training through a digital employee training system which offers 24/7 online access to required courses and professional development content.

Through their legislative advocacy in the State of Ohio, volunteers are now included in the mandated ratios of available staff in the event of an emergency and are regularly trained on how to utilize trauma informed care with the children and families Providence House serves. To assist with the management of these systems and increased volunteer responsibilities, a full-time Training and Volunteer Coordinator was hired who leads all training initiatives to ensure employee compliance, manages volunteers, and assists with other HR-related tasks.

The internal review process for handbooks and manuals transitioned from an individual editing process to a collaborative group-review structure. All materials are now reviewed together, encouraging discussion on how proposed updates and changes will impact the organization’s operations, training, compliance, and service delivery as a whole.

Providence House participated in long-term outcomes study with Case Western Reserve University. In response to the multiple requests for information they receive each year, Providence House has developed a consulting menu and developed a consulting/replication framework using a digital platform to allow ease in connecting and learning. The Providence House-led Center for Crisis Nurseries (CCN), founded in 2020, has seen exponential and continuous growth and continues to serve as a connector and resource for crisis nurseries across the country. The CCN is home to the Crisis Nursery Community, an interactive online network of crisis nurseries and supporters that now boasts over 250 members.

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Programs are initially reviewed after three years to assess continued status as Innovative and Exemplary, and every five years thereafter. Following their second review, recognition of Providence House as Innovative and Exemplary was extended to January 1, 2031.