CLEVELAND, Ohio – As Cuyahoga County grapples with violent juvenile crime, a new report warns that some of the very programs designed to stop that cycle before it begins are quietly unraveling.
The county’s Defending Childhood Initiative (DCI) was once a robust national model for helping children recover from violence through early intervention and trauma-informed care. It offered in-home therapy and long-term follow-up care that a Case Western Reserve University study showed worked in the past to reduce trauma symptoms, violent behavior and re-victimization among participants.
But years of budget cuts, staff turnover and a shrinking pool of trauma-trained therapists have weakened the program to the point of collapse, the new report commissioned by the county found. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer received a copy through a records request…