Buckner Children and Family Services will relocate its programs and services in Southeast Texas to reduce expenses associated with the ongoing maintenance of its current campus. The campus on Manion Drive in Beaumont, where Buckner has operated since 1979, will be for sale. The move to a new Beaumont-area location and campus sale are expected to happen the second half of 2022.

“Buckner is staying in Beaumont and will continue to serve the community. We are simply relocating in the area because the ongoing and increasing costs of maintaining the current campus are hampering our ability to serve more children through our programs,” said Laura May, executive director for Buckner Southeast Texas. “Our plans are to sell the property and relocate the team to nearby leased space that better fits our needs and helps us be better stewards of our resources.”

Children and family programs will continue in Beaumont

Foster care and adoption, Project HOPES, Fatherhood Effect, Family and Youth Services (FAYS), and transition programs will continue to be available through Buckner in Southeast Texas. Once the campus is sold next year, Buckner will cease its operation of the assessment center and campus cottages.

“We believe this move fits our deeply held belief that children thrive and do better when they live in a family environment, such as loving foster homes in our community rather than in an institutional setting. In addition to serving children through foster care, we have increased our ministries to vulnerable children, adolescents and families through several non-residential programs designed to help children transition from foster care to adulthood and strengthen families needing support – what we call our preservation programs,” May said.

Appropriate placements will be identified for any children temporarily staying at the assessment center prior to the relocation. Local Buckner leadership has already started the process of helping assessment center employees transition into other areas of social work within Buckner or identifying other opportunities available in the region.

Relocating will cut high costs, allowing Buckner to serve more people at stronger capacity

Over the past year, Buckner's leadership team conducted an extensive assessment of operations and financial sustainability in Southeast Texas. It was determined the high costs associated with the continued maintenance of the campus and buildings was not in the best interest of the people served locally by Buckner or the donors supporting its mission.

“Change can always be a shock, especially after so many years, but we are really excited about the way this change will allow us to serve so many more people in a stronger capacity,” May said.