New England Home for Little Wanderers Fights to Keep Norwood Foster Program for Teenage Girls-October 15, 1982

A grand old 120-year-old home located at the corner of Walpole and Bond streets (81 Walpole St.) has become the center of a high-stakes zoning battle. The New England Home for Little Wanderers moved into the property over the summer to house a new foster care program, but the agency is now fighting local building officials to keep it operating.

Providing a Family Atmosphere for Older Teens

Since July 1, four teenage girls have been living at the residence under a contract between the nonprofit agency and the state Department of Social Services. Two of the teenagers are from Norwood, while the others hail from nearby towns. All have been separated from their parents due to severe family hardships, frequently involving child abuse.

Program Director Marilyn Richards explained that the home is designed to bridge a difficult gap for youths around 17 years old who are too old for traditional foster placement but too young to live entirely independently:

• Independent Life Skills: Residents learn household chores, budgeting, and receive career counseling.
• Community Integration: The home’s central location allows the girls to attend local schools, work, participate in community programs like the Pulse Hotline, or volunteer at Norwood Hospital.
• Round-the-Clock Professional Staff: While no staff members live on-site, the home is staffed 24 hours a day by full-time professionals, with at least one worker present at all times.
• Strict Capacity: Agency officials emphasized that the home will house no more than four girls at a time, with residents typically staying for one to two years before transitioning out.

Administrators stressed that the teenagers are not emotionally disturbed—noting that if they required specialized psychological treatment, they would be placed in a dedicated residential treatment center. “We want to be part of the neighborhood,” Richards said. “We didn’t want the kids out of touch, hidden away.”

Zoning Dispute and Appeal

Despite the program’s community-focused mission, the agency ran into immediate regulatory roadblocks. Building Inspector John E. Grover issued a cease and desist order after determining that the property—situated in a designated single-family residential zone—does not legally permit a group foster care facility.

Neil Hegarty, director of community services for the agency, expressed surprise at the pushback: “We didn’t anticipate a zoning problem.”

In response, the New England Home for Little Wanderers filed an official appeal with the Zoning Board of Appeal, seeking to overturn the cease and desist order while requesting both a variance and a special permit to allow the facility to remain.

The historic agency operates similar specialized foster care facilities across the region, including Longview Farm in Walpole, Orchard Home in Watertown, Everett House in Dorchester, and the Night Children’s Center in Jamaica Plain.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger