(from News & Advance) After serving children in need for nearly 60 years, Patrick Henry Family Services is closing its Brookneal campus this summer. The 700-acre campus was the location of the nonprofit’s residential boys home since it began helping youth in 1961, with services like a farm program, swimming pool, gym and tennis courts.
Now, CEO Robert Day said the organization is shifting its focus from group homes to placing children in short-term care with local families. In October 2018, Patrick Henry Family Service’s 28-member board of trustees voted to close the Brookneal campus, which costs around $150,000 to maintain annually. Day said the decision came after five years of strategic planning and evaluating the shifting landscape of children’s homes. Additionally, the federal government enacted new legislation in 2018 that stresses prevention and early intervention in child welfare.