CBO Spotlight: Tides Family Services
Our primary care transformation efforts often include the support and partnership of statewide community-based organizations (CBOs). CTC-RI is spotlighting a different CBO monthly to recognize and appreciate their work in our communities. This month, we spoke with Beth A. Bixby, MSW, LICSW, Chief Executive Officer at Tides Family Services.
1. What ways does your organization uniquely support Rhode Islanders?
Tides Family Services is a nonprofit dedicated to stabilizing children and adolescents experiencing behavioral health crises in Rhode Island. We specialize in home-based, intensive interventions that prevent unnecessary hospitalizations, reduce out-of-home placements, and support long-term well-being. Unlike traditional service models, Tides brings services directly to youth and families—in homes, schools, and communities—with immediate access to care.
In response to the growing children’s behavioral health crisis, Tides provides:
Children’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) – A 24/7 rapid-response crisis intervention that de-escalates behavioral health crises, stabilizes youth in the least restrictive environment, and prevents unnecessary ER visits or psychiatric hospitalizations.
Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) – A structured, evidence-based alternative to inpatient hospitalization, offering intensive therapy and skill-building for youth struggling with significant mental health or substance use challenges while keeping them connected to family, school, and community supports.
With pediatricians often being the first point of contact when families seek help, Tides ensures that children receive timely crisis intervention and the right level of care, reducing reliance on overwhelmed emergency departments and inpatient psychiatric facilities. In 2024, we served over 1,300 youth in crisis, providing immediate support and long-term solutions for families across Rhode Island.
2. How can a partnership with primary care providers strengthen your work?
Collaboration with pediatricians is essential to preventing crises from escalating and ensuring that children receive the right care at the right time. Many of the youth we serve have complex behavioral health needs, including anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm, aggression, and trauma-related disorders. Without intervention, these challenges often lead to repeated ER visits, inpatient psychiatric stays, or juvenile justice involvement.
Tides can support pediatric practices by:
Providing immediate crisis intervention through MRSS, ensuring that youth experiencing acute distress receive in-home de-escalation and stabilization support instead of being sent to the ER.
Offering Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) as an alternative to inpatient hospitalization, giving pediatricians a structured, therapeutic option for youth needing more than outpatient care but not requiring hospitalization.
Reducing the burden on pediatricians by managing behavioral health crises, coordinating care, and addressing social determinants of health that impact a child’s ability to engage in treatment.
Partnering on care coordination, ensuring that primary care providers remain connected to behavioral health services, family supports, and community-based interventions that promote long-term stability.
Helping families navigate systemic barriers, including mental health stigma, lack of transportation, food insecurity, and housing instability, which often exacerbate behavioral health crises.
By bridging the gap between pediatric primary care and community-based crisis intervention, we can prevent hospital overcrowding, reduce crisis episodes, and improve behavioral health outcomes for Rhode Island’s youth and families.
3. What's something you'd like the primary care community to understand about your organization?
Tides Family Services is not just a service provider—we are a critical safety net for children in behavioral health crises. Our 24/7 mobile response and intensive outpatient care offer pediatricians and families an alternative to emergency departments, long waitlists, and fragmented services.
Without the right support, these challenges can escalate into psychiatric hospitalizations, school disruptions, or legal consequences. Tides’ MRSS and IOP services provide immediate stabilization and ongoing therapeutic care—helping kids heal while staying in their communities.
We want pediatricians to know: You don’t have to navigate these crises alone. Tides is here as a trusted partner—ready to respond to behavioral health emergencies, provide intensive treatment options, and collaborate on long-term care strategies.
Learn more at www.tidesfs.org.