By Kaitlin Durbin, Jeremy Pelzer
cleveland.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio officials on Monday authorized $130 million in spending to begin constructing smaller, more therapeutic youth prisons in Bedford and Grafton, the first major step in replacing the long-troubled Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Correctional Facility.
The funding was unanimously approved by the Ohio Controlling Board, the state’s budgetary oversight committee. The move clears the way to start transforming the state’s juvenile justice system, starting with replacing the aging Cuyahoga Hills complex in Highland Hills. The facility, built in the 1960s, has been the focus of concerns over violence staffing shortages and safety.
Instead of having one big facility with an open-door layout, the new campus will feature smaller, 12-bed housing pods that state Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, a Westlake Democrat who sits on the Controlling Board, says will be more conducive to rehabilitating youth and staff safety.
“Changes to Ohio’s youth correctional facilities are long overdue,” Sweeney said in a news release Monday. “These smaller facilities will protect both staff and residents.”
According to Controlling Board documents, roughly $113 million of the funding will go toward construction services and site preparation, including utility installation, ground improvements, renovations to an existing building and long-lead equipment purchases such as heating and cooling systems. Another $12.6 million is set aside for construction contingencies, with about $4.4 million allocated for Ohio Facilities Construction Commission fees.
The contract period runs from mid-January through the end of June and brings the total project cost to just over $138.2 million, records show. Gilbane Building Company is serving as construction manager.
Once completed, the Bedford and Grafton facilities are expected to house 144 youth across multiple specialized housing units. Facilities will also include classrooms, vocational training space, visitation areas, medical and mental health services, dining rooms, gyms and outdoor recreation areas.
The state purchased the Bedford site in late 2024 with plans to convert a 79,000-square-foot office building on Rockside Road into two of the new housing units. State documents described the property as secluded but accessible, with surrounding green space intended to support a more therapeutic environment.
The remaining two facilities are planned for Avon Belden Road in Grafton, adjacent to the state’s adult prison — a location that has drawn concern from some juvenile justice advocates but support from local leaders who point to job creation and economic impact.
They’re the centerpiece of a multi-year plan to overhaul Ohio’s juvenile justice system to move away from mass incarceration and focus more on therapeutic interventions, as recommended by a state-supported working group. The state is also planning to replace juvenile facilities in Pickaway and Stark counties when future budget cycles allow.
But in addition to improving outcomes for youth, officials believe the smaller-facility model will also help address persistent safety and staffing challenges that have plagued the state’s youth prisons.
During testimony to the Controlling Board, Anna Garver, deputy director of finance and planning at the Ohio Department of Youth Services, said roughly half of the agency’s staff statewide have less than one year of experience. She believes the high turnover is driven in part by large, hard-to-manage facilities where high-profile incidents involving violence among youth and assaults on staff have frequently made headlines.
The new facilities will have fewer kids in one area and clearer lines of sight, making direct supervision easier. The result: “It’s not only better outcomes for the youth, but it’s safer environments for the staff,” Garver said.
The Cuyahoga Hills replacement is just one step in a broader state strategy to bring Ohio’s juvenile corrections system in line with national best practices, which emphasize smaller facilities, lower youth-to-staff ratios and keeping young people closer to home whenever possible. Another piece is building more Community Correctional Facilities (CCFs) to help divert youth from state prisons altogether.
Last year, Cuyahoga County won $30 million in state funding to build the first of three new CCFs planned in the state. The county is planning to convert the Metzenbaum Center in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood into that residential treatment facility, allowing county youth to be served near home and the programs expected to support them after their release.
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