About Us

Established in 1976, The Kent Center is a community-based provider of mental health, substance abuse, and trauma-specific services in Rhode Island. We serve 4,000 adults, children, and families a year through a full array of behavioral health, education, and consultation services. The Kent Center is licensed by the state of Rhode Island and accredited by CARF with consistently good ratings and commendations. We strive to provide services that are recovery-focused, family-centered and trauma informed.

TKC is a founding partner of Horizon Healthcare Partners (HHP), the only community -based, statewide, comprehensive service network in Rhode Island that is uniquely positioned to take advantage of emerging opportunities while providing the highest level of care.

Our Vision: Improving the Quality of Life

The Kent Center is dedicated to improving the quality of life in our communities by promoting growth, mutual interdependence and recovery. Our services focus on mobilizing the strengths of individuals and systems to achieve desired goals. We strive to create an atmosphere where dignity, respect and equality are commonplace … thus enabling the fullness of the human potential to develop.

Our Guiding Principles

Community Connections

The Kent Center provides client services while networking with other community organizations. We believe positive working relationships among agencies create empowered communities that are better prepared to provide quality services for all who utilize them.

Systems of Support

We encourage and assist individuals to establish positive relationships and to create their own natural support networks. In developing systems of service for people throughout their life cycle, we seek to collaborate with state and local systems to create services more responsive to our clients. We employ education, prevention and early intervention strategies to foster the development of empowered consumers and communities.

Strength Focus

We believe each and every person can find and mobilize the strengths within themselves to further personal recovery and lend these strengths to their community in order to promote positive well being.

Change and Growth

We recognize that a constant in life is change itself. We accept the responsibility to encourage change and growth in others and to foster our own personal growth and development. We recognize that growth often involves taking two steps forward and one step back. Often in conflict, there is opportunity for personal growth.

Dignity & Respect

We believe growth and change occur best in an environment of dignity and respect.  In respecting ourselves and others we understand that personal responsibility is an essential ingredient in having the freedom to change and grow.

Recovery

We are committed to enlivening the process by which individuals, families and communities develop the skills and attitudes necessary to turn life experiences into opportunities for emotional and spiritual growth. We recognize that respectful supportive relationships are at the root of recovery.  We believe clients are the architects of their own recovery.

Courage

We accept the challenge to resolve difficult situations and try new ideas. We support each other in creative risk taking and in maintaining hope in the face of adversity. We recognize it takes courage to overcome barriers in realizing one’s potential.

Teamwork

As team members, we foster creative synergy to meet the changing needs of our communities and the clients we serve.  We appreciate diversity and recognize that each individual contributes his/her knowledge and experience towards accomplishing common goals. We believe effective teams produce better outcomes.

Continuous Improvement

We are committed to excellence as a standard of performance and seek to create broad participation in the development, maintenance, evaluation, and refinement of what we do. We believe consumers should participate in program planning, development and evaluation.

Nonviolence

We realize that the spirit, mind and body can only thrive in nonviolent environments. We foster the peaceful resolution of conflict through social and emotional skill development. We believe life is a gift that should be enjoyed.

Trauma Informed

We recognize that psychological trauma plays a significant role in the lives of the people we serve. We appreciate that recovery from interpersonal trauma needs to take place in an environment which offers respect, information, connection and hope. The Kent Center offers safe relationships that are consistent, predictable, nonviolent, non-shaming and non-blaming.