DIXFIELD – Come Halloween, 20 to 25 employees of the defunct Richardson Hollow Mental Health Services offices in Dixfield and Strong will be moved into a Sweetser office in Wilton, where they will continue to serve Dixfield and Strong residents, according to a Thursday evening report from Saco-based Sweetser.

Furniture from the Dixfield office at 58 Pine St. and the Strong office is currently being moved into the Wilton office at 347 Depot St, Cynthia P. B. Fagan, vice president of administration for Sweetser, said Thursday night.

Sweetser, which is now the largest and most comprehensive mental health services provider in Maine with 1,000 employees and an annual budget of $60 million, took over Richardson Hollow on Sept. 18 at the request of Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Brenda Harvey, Fagan said.

Additionally, on Oct. 31, Sweetser will move the Augusta Richardson Hollow office and staff into Sweetser’s office in Hallowell, and the Fairfield Richardson Hollow office and staff into one of two Sweetser offices in Waterville.

“Because these are existing Sweetser spaces, the leases are cheaper, the distances are closer, and they provide enhanced access to our entire Sweetser network,” Sweetser Chief Executive Officer Carl Pendleton stated in the report. “It’s what we need to do in order to best connect former Richardson Hollow clients to the services they need and deserve.”

“Anyone working for Sweetser is currently part of the move, so that the majority of Sweetser staff will be closer to the clients they serve. They will still serve all of our clients,” Fagan added. “This doesn’t mean there will be any change in who we are currently serving.”

Pendleton said Sweetser took over Richardson Hollow’s client contracts and served as a resource for adults and children.

“Our goal in stepping in was to do our very best to help the adults and children who were served by Richardson Hollow get the care and services they need, and to keep on as many staff as possible.

“It hasn’t been easy. And, while we would have always liked to have done more, I’m proud to say that we’ve kept our promise,” Pendleton said.

On Sept. 19 at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston, Sweetser staff interviewed 100 former Richardson Hollow employees and hired 50 of them as adult and child case managers, Fagan said.

Additionally, on Monday, Sweetser helped transition Richardson Hollow adult daily living support staff – a program that Sweetser doesn’t provide – to two Lewiston partners to ensure that there was no gap in care, both Fagan and Pendleton said.

“Both of them do daily living services. So, there’s been very few, if any, Richardson Hollow staff who have not landed on their feet, if that is what they wanted to do,” Fagan added.

Currently, Sweetser is also in the process of helping to transition case managers for adult retardation – another program that Sweetser doesn’t currently provide – to other partners.

“Sweetser is acting responsively and, most importantly, at a pace that best suits the needs of those individuals,” Pendleton said.

Sweetser is also seeking office space in Rumford to fill a growing need in that area.

“We’re finding that there are a significant number of clients in the Rumford area. We have been reaching out to folks to find space in Rumford, but we haven’t been successful yet. If we had a place in Rumford, we’d love to be able to go there, too,” Fagan said.

Based in Lewiston, with offices throughout central and coastal Maine, Richardson Hollow served adults and children with mental health issues. At its peak, the 10-year-old company had about 1,000 clients and more than 200 employees. But the company ran into financial problems. Then, in mid-September, Richardson Hollow closed its doors.

Sweetser, on the other hand, has been in business since 1828, starting as a merger of several orphanages across Maine, Fagan said. A non-profit organization, it serves approximately 20,000 adults and children from Kittery to Belfast.