COLUMBUS, OH - As part of the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) commitment to a system transformation in the juvenile justice system, the agency is announcing that construction is expected to begin this spring on four new buildings that will replace the current, larger Cuyahoga Hills facility in Cuyahoga County.

Two 36-bed centers will be built on Rockside Road in the City of Bedford in Cuyahoga County, and an office complex on the property will be renovated to house programming, administrative, and educational services for youth. The other two 36-bed centers will be constructed on property previously belonging to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) in the Village of Grafton in Lorain County.

The move to replace the larger Cuyahoga Hills facility with smaller housing centers is a part of DYS's ongoing efforts to implement the recommendations issued by the Juvenile Justice Working Group, which was created by Governor DeWine to examine the state of juvenile justice in Ohio. In its recommendations, the working group encouraged DYS to replace its three large facilities with numerous smaller facilities that include specialized housing areas to better serve youth and staff.

"We are excited to announce that we are moving forward on this critical recommendation from the Governor's Juvenile Justice Working Group," said DYS Director Amy Ast. "I look forward to our continued collaboration with our staff at Cuyahoga Hills, partners, and community stakeholders as we work on the transition of this project over the coming years."

The replacement of the Cuyahoga Hills facility was prioritized over DYS's Circleville and Indian River locations due to its open dorm setting, which can create dangerous conditions and challenges for staff. The Cuyahoga Hills facility was designed similar to an adult prison over fifty years ago and does not align with today's best practices for housing high risk and high needs youth.

The new 36-bed centers will have a trauma-informed design that will promote safety, healing, and wellbeing in a more habilitative environment. The core idea behind trauma-informed design is to assist in managing young people involved in the juvenile justice system who have experienced significant trauma by housing them in a physical space designed to influence positive behaviors, emotional responses, and social interactions while also providing a tested and proven security infrastructure.

The Bedford property, located at 17500 Rockside Road, is six miles from the current Cuyahoga Hills facility; the Grafton property, located at 2500 Avon Belden Road, is thirty-five miles from the current facility and neighbors ODRC's Grafton Correctional Institution.

"I'm proud of my new team for quickly expanding upon our nearly four decades of commitment to rehabilitation with the State of Ohio and our neighbors, the ODRC and now with DYS," said Village of Grafton Mayor Charles Duke. "'It takes a village' is no empty slogan. This railroad town gets our youth back on track while meeting the challenges of tomorrow with optimism and excitement for the future. Adding a projected 140 employees with $15 million in new payroll is a welcome shot in the arm for The Village of Grafton, ensuring we're not just maintaining this strategic relationship - we're reinventing it for tomorrow."

After successfully completing the Cuyahoga Hills replacement, DYS will follow the agency's master plan to replace the Indian River facility and the Circleville facility, while working alongside community partners.