Stephen Howe, MSW, brings more than twenty years of experience in foster care management, operations management, budgeting and financial management, and service expansion and business development to OPEN MINDS clients. He currently works as Vice President of Services for Children, Families, and Communities at The Children’s Guild.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Howe served as the 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, and 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, where he 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, serving as both a Foster Care Manager and a Specialized Foster Care Coordinator.  Mr. Howe was also a board member of the Maryland Association of Resources for Families and Youth 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 many publications for the behavioral and mental health field.  He 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.