Troubled residential treatment facilities could face shutdown

Residential treatment centers are highly restrictive inpatient facilities that are meant to treat children with complex mental health and behavioral needs.

Disability Rights Ohio released a report on May 13 after it made 75 visits to treatment facilities since January 2020, discovering patterns of abuse, neglect and unauthorized restraints. The group is calling on the Department of Behavioral Health, which licenses facilities, to act quickly to hold providers accountable, remove youth from unsafe centers, and, when necessary, suspend or revoke licenses.

Meanwhile, an Ohio lawmaker has introduced legislation that would compel the state licensing agencies to act.

Ohio officials would be required to take measures against troubled residential treatment centers — including shutting facilities down — under a new bill proposed under the state legislature.

The proposed Ohio House Bill 811 comes just months after a Marshall Project - Cleveland investigation exposed repeated violence at a treatment facility northeast of Columbus. The state is now trying to revoke that facility’s license. Hearings began this month but likely will not conclude until July, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Behavioral Health.

Bill sponsor Rep. Crystal Lett, a Democrat from Columbus, said she was filing the measure in response to The Marshall Project - Cleveland’s reporting on Mohican Young Star Academy.

“It was our proof that this isn't a hypothetical situation that we're legislating for. It's a real situation unfolding,” Lett said. “I can't help thinking: If my kid were in there right now, what am I doing to help that kid?”