At-risk youth will have more options in 2027, as Hamilton County officials anticipate reopening part of Hillcrest Academy.
Hillcrest was once a national model for helping juveniles charged with crimes find a new path. The detention facility was privatized in 2012, which led to a decline in facility maintenance and sexual abuse allegations involving an employee, according to previous Enquirer reporting.
The facility closed in 2023. Hamilton County officials planned to reopen Hillcrest to offer help to children between the ages of 12 and 17. The campus, north of Cincinnati in Springfield Township, has 12 residential cottages on 87 acres.
Officials previously said the facility requires about $2.7 million in repairs. County officials planned to open the new Hillcrest in early 2025, but the county didn’t have the necessary funding, said Kelly Leon, communications director for the Hamilton County Juvenile Court.
The project to remake Hillcrest received $1.5 million from the state in the $3.7 billion capital budget signed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on June 15.
About a quarter of the expected residents will likely be teens in the juvenile justice system. Most of the residents will be kids who need foster care placements.
What will the new Hillcrest look like?
The wellness campus, the first part of Hillcrest to reopen, will have 24 beds for “kids who have no place else to go,” Juvenile Court Judge Kari Bloom said in a statement to The Enquirer. The kids can be referred to Hillcrest through the Juvenile Court or Hamilton County Job and Family Services.
Bloom said the court is grateful to the state for the money to get Hillcrest back to serving vulnerable children in Hamilton County.
“While the county is legally obligated to protect children from abuse and neglect, there is currently a desperate shortage of local placement options. Some end up at the detention center even though they don’t belong there, or are placed out of state far from family and community support,” she said. “Our goal is to ensure stability, safety, and a better future for all Hamilton County kids.”
Regional politics reporter Erin Glynn can be reached at eglynn@enquirer.com, @ee_glynn on X and @eringlynn on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Whatever happened to plans to reopen Hillcrest detention center?
Reporting by Erin Glynn, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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By Erin Glynn, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
