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With a mantra of “children first,” Curcio has done exactly that as CEO of the Board of Child Care of The United Methodist Church. Curcio is retiring July 1, after leading the organization through a sea-change of expansion and growth.

When Curcio arrived at the BCC in 1993, the agency had an annual budget of $3 million and served 50 youth, all in one location. Today, the BCC has multiple locations in three states and serves more than 2,000 youth and families every year.

“Tom Curcio is an innovator, an entrepreneur, a pioneer and a miracle worker. He transformed our Board of Child Care from a custodial system into a cutting-edge, much-imitated resource for children in need and their families,” said Bishop Marcus Matthews, episcopal leader of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. “Tom is a leader of great integrity, vision and generosity.” 

“Twenty-one years ago, when I accepted the position as CEO, my colleagues did not understand why I would go to a smaller agency than where I had been for 10 years,” Curcio said. “After my visits, I formed a vision as to what the Board of Child Care could become as a high performing agency providing out-of-home care.”

 Curcio said he is proud of his legacy of expanding the BCC’s programs and the quality of care.

“We have provided thousands of children the opportunity to better themselves,” he said, crediting the whole staff of the BCC.  “The programs will remain to help many more for years to come. I believe my mantra, children first, has been accomplished.”

Jay Hayden, chair of the board of directors of the BCC, announced Curcio’s retirement March 14 in a press release. Hayden specifically noted Curcio’s commitment to children.

“We have been blessed to have such a visionary leader over the past 21 years,” Hayden said. “Tom’s commitment to children and youth is beyond extraordinary.”

During Curcio’s leadership, the Board of Child Care has received several honors, including Organization of the Yard Award and Best Practice Award for Innovative Programming from the United Methodist Association. In 2009, Curcio was named Administrator of the Year by the same group.

“It has been an honor to be part of this healing ministry,” Curcio said, “and to be able to serve the needs of our youth. I am proud of the success we have been able to achieve as an organization and consider it a privilege to have had the opportunity to work with so many skilled clinicians, dedicated caregivers and committed staff.”

Accolades for Curcio’s work are coming in from many corners of the church. In addition to praising Curcio for the work he has done with the area’s neediest children, Bishop Matthews applauded him for the spirit of innovative partnership he has created. “Under Tom’s leadership, funds were made available to finance the conference’s new Mission Center in Fulton, and an ambulance was purchased to serve a community in Zimbabwe. Wherever there is need, wherever young people are hurting, Tom is there with a plan that makes a difference,” Matthews said.

“Our relationship with the Baltimore-Washington Conference has improved over the years where I believe it is a true partnership,” said Curcio. “We have assisted the Conference in financing the Mission Center, the camping program, the Russia Initiative, and provided grants to churches to open up day care and after school programs.”

Longtime BCC board member and now bishop of the Philadelphia Area, Bishop Peggy Johnson, said in a statement that she was grateful to Curcio for his outstanding service. “He has expanded BCC into new programs and set a new standard for service and outreach for youth throughout the region,” she said.

“I look forward to retirement,” said Curcio. “My wife and I plan to travel and spend more time with our family, especially our four grandchildren and one on the way.”

Curcio said that he will also continue to coach his granddaughter’s and grandson’s basketball teams. “I often have said if I was not in child welfare, I would have been a coach,” he said.

The BCC began as three orphanages in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; they merged in 1960 to become the Board of Child Care.

The BCC’s board of directors has formed a search committee that will conduct a national search for the next executive. More information is available at http://www.boardofchildcare.org/.