NewPath Child & Family Solutions (formerly St. Joseph Orphanage) was founded by the Sisters of Charity in October 1829. NewPath is one of the oldest child and family service agencies in the nation. We provide comprehensive behavioral health and educational treatment services to nearly 5,000 children and families each year, many of whom have experienced neglect, abuse, or other forms of trauma.
Initially, NewPath Child & Family Solutions (formerly St. Joseph Orphanage) was located in a house on Sycamore Street in downtown Cincinnati and provided care for girls orphaned by illness, natural disasters, and poverty. As the years passed, NewPath continued to grow, moving in 1836 to a new location at Third and Plum Streets near St. Peter in Chains Cathedral. In 1854, NewPath relocated to an estate at Blue Rock and Cherry Streets in Cincinnati’s Northside community (then called Cumminsville). By 1902, a total of 500 boys and girls resided there.
On a cold morning in October 1829, four Sisters of Charity stepped down from a horse-drawn wagon in the squalor of the Queen City of the West, a town ravaged by the cholera epidemic, natural disasters, and poverty. Traveling far from their home in Emmitsburg, Maryland, these dedicated women soon established the first orphanage for girls in a donated house on Sycamore Street in downtown Cincinnati.
John Purcell, the new bishop, created the St.Peter’s Benevolent Society to provide financial support for the 32 orphans cared for by the Sisters of Charity. The home was named St. Peter’s Asylum.
Bishop Purcell purchased a residence at Third and Plum Streets for $16,000. Of the 87 female residents, 20 were not Catholic. Nondenominational care was a hallmark of this institution from the beginning. St. Aloysius Orphanage on Fourth Street provided care for boys.
When Archbishop Purcell established the new orphanage, St. Joseph Orphanage, Sister Anthony O’Connell was named Superior. St. Joseph Orphanage’s creation was in response to the children orphaned by cholera attacks and social problems.
St. Joseph Orphanage opened its doors in Northside to 100 boys.
Mother Margaret Cecelia George ran St. Joseph Orphanage, which housed 350 boys and girls with the assistance of 19 sisters.
Archbishop Alter dedicated the new St. Joseph Orphanage, a large facility on a 40-acre site in Green Township. With the assistance of the Friends of the Orphanage, over 100 boys and girls ages 4-15 moved to the new facility, St. Joseph Orphanage Villa.
With the assistance of Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, St. Joseph Orphanage assumed the operation of Woodmar Farm near the former Coney Island. This Facility was renamed Altercrest and served men ages 14 to 18. Archbishop Bernardin, seen at left, became Cardinal Bernardin later in life and served with distinction in Chicago.
In 1986, Pilarczyk House opened on the Altercrest Campus (now East), housing 24 young men.
St. Joseph Orphanage (now NewPath Child & Family Solutions) was certified as a Mental Health Center by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and opened in Hamilton, Ohio. The center offered outpatient services funded by the Butler County Mental Health Board. Outpatient services were also established at the Villa in cooperation with the Hamilton County Community Mental Health Board.
St. Joseph Orphanage’s Foster Care program (Family Ties) placed its first foster child in a loving foster home. The agency opened its doors for ACT II Case Management in response to the overwhelming need for its service.
St. Joseph Orphanage launched ACT III Case Management, a new pre-hospital screening program in downtown Cincinnati that served 600 children.
In 1994, St. Joseph Orphanage increased the number of children served by 69% to 1,011 youth.
The Partial Hospitalization Program at Altercrest (now East) admitted its first clients and developed the first private Charter school. The Partial Hospitalization Program and Short-Term Intensive Treatment Unit began. St. Joseph Orphanage opened the region’s first facility-based secure Crisis Stabilization Unit at St. Joseph Villa. Orphanage programs served 1,200 children and their families.
Altercrest (East) started the National Youth Project Using Minibikes (NYPUM) program via a grant from American Honda Motor Corp. Equipping at-risk teens to ride minibikes helps build self-esteem and self-discipline. The program also provides mentoring and builds leadership skills.
St. Joseph Orphanage expanded its in-home therapy, outpatient, and diagnostic services. As a result, programming helped 1,760 children and their families.
Team members and youth clients moved into a new 34,000 sq. ft., two-story, state-of-the-art mental health services facility at Altercrest (East). At this time, the facility serves 1,948 youth and their families.
In collaboration with Norwood Schools, St. Joseph Orphanage opened its first after-school partial hospitalization program operated in a public school system. Altercrest (East) began a new charter school education program for boys and girls with cognitive challenges. This was the first time in St. Joseph Orphanage’s history that girls were admitted onto the Altercrest (East) Campus.
St. Joseph Orphanage Villa opened a charter school education program for boys and girls with cognitive challenges. At the same time, Altercrest (East) expanded its similar program. The Board of Trustees of St. Joseph Children’s Treatment Center in Dayton voted to close due to diminishing residential referrals and the state’s public funding crisis. Case Management teams and Home-Based Therapy and Community Support Services move into new offices in Cheviot.
St. Joseph Orphanage assisted in the orderly closing of all active treatment programs at St. Joseph Children’s Treatment Center on February 1. The center transferred 200 of its 400 children into therapeutic foster care and outpatient programs. St. Joseph Orphanage opened its site for these services in Greater Dayton at an office in Moraine.
St. Joseph Orphanage added a new service to its comprehensive Continuum of Care: Independent Living Services (ILS). The goal of ILS is to help youth become adults who can contribute to society and meet life situations adequately and in a personally satisfying way. Where youth would otherwise be left entirely on their own at age 18, supportive independent living gives them the opportunity to practice life skills with backup supports such as guidance, emotional support, and financial assistance.
St. Joseph Orphanage opened the doors to its first Medication Management Clinic. The clinic serves individuals who are active in other services within our agency, as well as individuals who are assessed to only need ongoing psychopharmacological management in order to maintain the stability they have achieved. The qualified prescriber team is made up of licensed, board-certified medical doctors and nurse practitioners.
St. Joseph Orphanage streamlined its practices and prioritized a focus on collaboration between different service lines. Programs were renamed to better represent their offerings and made them more easily identifiable to prospective clients.
A new initiative, “trauma-informed care,” was also unveiled and continues to serve as the foundation of all its programming.
Trauma-Informed Care: “We are a safe community that walks with you through your journey of healing by honoring your voice, strengths, and experiences.”
Through a partnership with MindPeace, St. Joseph Orphanage expanded its Outpatient programming and embedded team members in K-12 schools around the community.
St. Joseph Orphanage created and launched its first class of the Leadership Academy career development program. A total of 15 team members from all levels of the organization were selected to participate in the nine-month program after being nominated by their supervisors. The program involved monthly learning sessions on topics such as presentation skills, coaching, engagement, communication, and organizational culture.
As the world navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Joseph Orphanage’s services continued to act as a source of needed behavioral healthcare, child welfare, and education services. With the use of innovation and ingenuity, clients and families continued to receive the support they needed through telehealth appointments and additional safety protocols.
A rebrand was launched, turning St. Joseph Orphanage into NewPath Child & Family Solutions with the goal of better representing its service offerings and the impact they have on the community.
NewPath acquired a brand-new property containing community-based apartments for youth enrolled in our Independent Living Services (ILS). This building provides safe and accessible living spaces for young adults as they transition to independence from foster care.
NewPath planned designs for an Outdoor Classroom at its East campus. This space provides a safe outdoor learning environment consistent with a holistic healing environment.
NewPath Child & Family Solutions announced a transition to a new location to expand its reach in mental health services, education, and foster care into the historic St. Aloysius building.
In 1962, NewPath moved to Green Township following the construction of a spacious new facility at the 40-acre site. In 1976, NewPath also began providing services at its 45-acre campus near Coney Island.
Change continued as foster care began to take the place of orphanages across the United States. In response, NewPath shifted its focus to address the urgent need for children’s behavioral health services. By 1990, NewPath had officially transitioned from an orphanage to a Mental Health Center certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health.
NewPath began to add other programs and services as well to better support children and families. The first foster child was admitted to NewPath’s new foster care program in 1992, and in 1995, NewPath opened the region’s first facility-based, secure Crisis Stabilization Unit for youth with severe emotional and behavioral concerns who needed care in a residential setting. To serve children whose educational needs exceeded what was available in their neighborhood schools, NewPath opened charter schools in 1995 and 2002. Today, children with behavioral health challenges attend our elementary/middle school and high school. In May 2015, NewPath began an innovative approach to providing access to care for children and families through walk-in hours for diagnostic assessments and medication management.
NewPath first earned national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) in 2005 and has continued to expand our continuum of care. Our extensive array of Outpatient services includes diagnostic assessment, child and family therapy, case management, medication management, intensive home-based treatment, and substance use services, and our therapists are embedded in numerous area schools. We also provide Transitional Youth services for teens and young adults who need support and resources to successfully move into independent living.
As our continuum of care has expanded, so has our geographic reach. NewPath now serves children and families in 10 counties across Southwest Ohio and operates offices in Cincinnati (Hamilton County), Dayton (Montgomery County), and Fairfield (Butler County). One thing has never changed throughout the past 190+ years—our commitment to those we serve. NewPath remains dedicated to Igniting Hope and Changing Futures by supporting children and families on their journey to hope and healing.
