RUMFORD – Thirty years ago, the newly formed Rumford Group Homes served a half-dozen youths with a budget of about $200,000. Now, nearly 400 abused, neglected, homeless or mentally ill young people ages 7 through 22 are served at six sites with a $5 million budget and nearly 100 full- and part-time employees.

Earlier this month, the agency was commended by the governor and the state Legislature for its 30 years of hard work and for becoming one of the few similar agencies accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Youth and Family Services.

“I’m just thrilled,” said Executive Director Al Monier. “It’s a big deal to be accredited. It sets up higher standards and affirms all the work we’ve been doing. To be recognized by the governor shows accreditation is not a small task. “

The accreditation process took about two years, hundreds of hours of work by the staff, and cost about $10,000.

Accreditation means all services – such as paperwork, intake procedures and a multitude of other activities – are standardized.

Having the accreditation also grants the local agency national recognition and will help to generate additional funding. In addition, the new status shows that the agency has matured.

Rumford Group Homes receives funds from a variety of state, federal, local government and private resources.

The scope of services has grown over the the years, from a small residential group home for boys on Maine Avenue in Rumford in 1974, to a variety of services for both boys and girls in Dixfield, Leeds, Turner and Rumford.

Monier said the agency offers residential services, crisis intervention, temporary housing, and subcontracts with Oxford County and the state Department of Corrections in probation cases for youngsters under age 18.

Several other projects are planned for the future, such as a housing project for homeless youths ages 18 to 25, and several low-income housing projects, including one in cooperation with the River Valley Growth Council that would build and rent a pilot straw-insulated house.

Monier attributes the need for the agency’s growth to a variety of reasons, including the breakdown of the family and the shift in responsibility for young people on probation from the criminal justice system to social service agencies.

He said the agency now intervenes after one offense, an action that has reduced the amount of youth crime in Oxford County.

Eventually, he hopes to open a shelter for children ages 10 to 17 somewhere in Oxford County that can take in youths who have been evicted from their homes or who have run away.

He credits much of the success of Rumford Group Homes’ programs to good working relationships with area law enforcement agencies and to the support of the community.

“The schools work well with us. People drop off food and the towns donate money,” he said. “For a little town, they do a lot and are really accepting of us.”