I believe my father (last name is Perras) was in St. Joseph's in the early 1950's, his mother put him there when he was 7 years old along with his sister who was only 15 months old.
Coincidentally, I have an uncle who was at the Kurn Hatten home for boys (last name Kinne) around that same time and he would have been about 10-13 yrs of age.

I wish I knew more about their time spent there. They don't talk much about that time period, they were put there due to sad and fatal circumstances. Luckily my dad was taken in by his aunt and uncle when he was around 14. As far as my uncle I believe he was there until he entered the service.