People Places began in 1973 as a practical experiment in idealism. Support for community-based alternatives to facility-based care for children with emotional challenges was growing as the de-institutionalization movement gained momentum. But that support was often philosophical rather than applied. People Places put principle into practice in the form of a successful model that has come to be known as "therapeutic foster care."
It wasn't easy. People Places began with a handful of employees at a state-run residential center for children. Along with dedicated line staff at the institution, they wanted to create new possibilities for more normal life for the children in their care. They had vision but few resources. They started without a grant or a sponsor. In fact, the agency's first "office" was the director's car. They worked part-time and often without compensation to prepare and support foster families to work successfully with youth the child welfare system had failed.
Today, People Places serves more than one hundred children in three office locations in Virginia and has helped create more than a hundred similar programs throughout the U.S. and Canada. Because of its efforts, many children today live and heal in families... in "people" places rather than institutions. The agency's history offers a real-life example of how good intentions can translate to good works.
