Construction is expected to start this spring on new, smaller youth prisons, which will allow the state to eventually close the larger Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Correctional Facility.
The Ohio Department of Youth Services plans to build two, 36-bed centers and renovate an office complex in Bedford and another two, 36-bed centers will be constructed in Grafton on property formerly owned by the state adult prison system. The project is expected to cost the state $260 million.
A juvenile justice task force, appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine in November 2023, recommended that Ohio shift away from incarcerating teens in its three large prisons and build smaller, closer-to-home centers.
DeWine appointed the task force following publication of an investigation by the Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Akron Beacon Journal and Canton Repository into conditions inside juvenile prisons and detention centers.