CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court has been awarded approximately $30 million to establish a community correctional facility (CCF) for juveniles who are found delinquent of felony-level offenses.
The Ohio Department of Youth Services awarded the funding to the juvenile court for a 32-bed CCF, which will serve male and female youths. There are 11 CCFs for juveniles in Ohio. None are in Cuyahoga County. Their location in other counties places a burden on family and community members from Cuyahoga County when visiting and taking part in treatment or in planning for when a juvenile leaves the CCF and returns home. Family and community involvement is crucial to the juveniles for both achieving better outcomes after they leave the facility and reducing the likelihood that they will reoffend.
In addition, 70% of Cuyahoga County referrals of youths to out-of-county CCFs are rejected due to strict admission criteria, such as prohibitions on accepting juveniles with violent histories or behavioral issues. Establishing a CCF locally will allow Cuyahoga County to design a facility to meet the unique needs of youths from the community, said Court Administrator Timothy McDevitt…