Stephen Howe, M.S.W., OPEN MINDS Senior Consultant,
brings over twenty years of experience in foster care management, operations management, budgeting and financial management, and service expansion and business development to
OPEN MINDS clients. Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Howe served as National Director of Foster Care and Family Services at KidsPeace National Centers. In this role, he was responsible for 40 foster care and family services offices in nine states and the District of Columbia with a combined average daily census of nearly 1,500 for treatment foster care, adoption services, outpatient and in-home services. He expanded the program from 28 to 40 offices and from a budget of $27 million to $43 million, opened an office in a new state, and secured federal start-up funding for five of the new offices, including one in a previously un-serviced state.
Previously, Mr. Howe served as the Maryland Director of The Pressley Ridge Schools headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an organization serving emotionally disturbed youth and their families. At The Pressley Ridge Schools, Mr. Howe expanded the Maryland services from one program to three multi-program sites, expanded bed capacity from 40 beds to 140 and created and implemented new foster care programs in Maryland as well as Washington D.C. He diversified the single source funding to include additional state departments and collaborative ventures with four large agencies in the Baltimore area, thus expanding the budget from $2 million to $7 million.
In addition to his private sector experience, Mr. Howe has held governmental administrative positions with the State of Maryland. As the State of Maryland Foster Care Manager he administered the state foster care program through 24 local departments of social services and a $135 million annual budget. He also served as the State of Maryland Specialized Foster Care Coordinator in which he developed the initial TFC program statewide including contracting with private providers, establishing initial standards, and creating a provider coalition.
Mr. Howe was a member of the board of the Maryland Association of Resources for Families and Youth form 1994 to 1998, and served as president in both 1995 and 1996. He has also served as a board member for the Maryland Foster Youth Resource Center, the National Family Preservation Network, and was president-elect for the Foster Family-based Treatment Association in 2006.
In addition to Mr. Howe’s extensive professional experience, he has co- authored publications for the behavioral and mental health field including
Systematic Approaches to Mental Health in the Private Sector for Children and Adolescents and Their Families: Managed Care Organizations and Service Providers, National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health, Georgetown University, 1995 and
“Promote Outcomes” in Understanding Outcomes, The Pressley Ridge Schools Center for Research and Public Policy, 1998.
Mr. Howe received his Bachelor's degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and his Masters in Social Work (MSW) at the University of Maryland.
