Ohio to close juvenile-detention center

COLUMBUS (AP) — The state said Friday it will close another juvenile detention center as the agency tries to save money and changes how it serves the state’s toughest teen offenders.

The Department of Youth Services said Mohican Juvenile Correctional Facility will close in May, displacing about 200 employees. The center’s 148 teenage boys will be transferred to the five remaining centers around Ohio.

The facility, on 16 acres in Mohican state forest about 60 miles north of Columbus, treats boys with serious substance-abuse problems.

The closing saves the state about $12 million a year. It also fits the agency’s long-term goals of moving youths with lower-risk classifications out of state detention centers and into facilities closer to home.

The state closed the Marion juvenile detention center and a separate treatment facility for girls in July.

A Sept. 16 report criticized the way the state closed the Marion facility, saying the process lacked planning and appeared to be driven mainly by budget concerns. The state disagreed, saying it planned extensively for the closing, which displaced more than 300 employees and moved about 175 teens to other facilities.

The report was by a team monitoring the state’s compliance with a 2008 federal consent decree over conditions in youth prisons.

The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.