BCC Dedicates New Eastern Shore Group Home for Youth

The Board of Child Care (BCC), a nonprofit child welfare agency based in Baltimore, held a dedication ceremony, Friday, October 14, for a new group home for youth near Denton, Md. Over 100 people turned out for the dedication event, despite the rainy weather!

BCC’s new residential program serves 16 males, ages 12 to 18, in a home-like setting. The Department of Social Services, local management boards and the Department of Juvenile Services on the upper and lower Eastern Shore will refer youth to the program.
The campus, constructed on a117-acre parcel formerly known as Whitetail Farms, includes two cottages housing eight youth each, an administrative building, a computer center and an outdoor recreation area. All residents will attend public school, enjoy community-based activities and work or volunteer in the community. Staff will provide 24-hour supervision, clinical and family work, and social and vocational skills training toward independent living.

“Our program on the Eastern Shore will provide a safe, stable and caring temporary home for young men so that they can work toward becoming productive members of society, while at the same time remaining within their community,” says Thomas L. Curcio, BCC’s President and CEO. “This facility has long been needed on the Eastern Shore and has the strong support of all eight counties on the Shore. We look forward to strengthening and enhancing our partnership with the local human services agencies in the area, and plan to be good neighbors and an integral part of the community.”

BCC’s Eastern Shore group home is supported by a $300,000 grant from the Wicomico Partnership for Families and Children, the local Management Board for Wicomico County and the Governor’s Office of Children and Families. Local churches within the Peninsula-Delaware Conference of The United Methodist Church have also supported BCC throughout the development of the Eastern Shore project, as have the Caroline County Department of Social Services, and the state Department of Health and Human Services.
BCC has a long history of serving children and families in the community as an outreach ministry within the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Conferences of the United Methodist Church. The agency began as three orphanages that opened in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, and then merged in 1960 to become the Board of Child Care.

Today, BCC has grown to serve more than 2,000 children and families annually. Programs include residential care, foster care, early childhood education, therapeutic counseling, adoption information and referral, a special education school and a car loan program. BCC is headquartered in Baltimore but also operates facilities in West Virginia and DC, and has community-based group homes in Montgomery, Anne Arundel and Washington counties.
BCC’s vision is to be a community of hope: providing an opportunity to heal, and a safe and caring environment for children, youth and families. To learn more, visit www.boardofchildcare.org.

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EVENT: Dedication Ceremony for Board of Child Care Eastern Shore Group Home
WHEN: Friday, October 14, 11 a.m.
WHERE: 8737 Whitetail Farm Lane (off of Substation Road), Denton, Md., 21629