State officials are backing off from their goal of siting in Vergennes a 14-bed locked detention and counseling center for teens with law enforcement involvement. But it remains unclear what their plans are.
Vergennes officials and residents are concerned about last week’s report in Seven Days of legal issues experienced by the Sentinel Group — including charges of sexual abuse of teenage program residents by employees.
Last week Seven Days published an article detailing a significant series of alleged, and in one case proven, abuse of juveniles at residential treatment facilities operated and/or overseen by the Sentinel Group. That company has a contract to help design … (read more)
A Department for Children and Families official said that a planned Vergennes residential youth facility will not include space for older teens, backtracking on earlier plans to expand the campus.
News first surfaced in April of a proposal to build a 20,000-square-foot, 14-bed, locked facility in Vergennes. It would house what state officials called “justice-involved” youth on a short-term basis. They called it the Green Mountain Youth Campus.
Vergennes is creating a list of things it wants from the state in exchange for hosting a 14-bed, juvenile short-term detention and counseling facility on Comfort Hill, which is still under negotiations.
What exactly is planned for the Green Mountain Youth Campus juvenile facility on Vergennes’s Comfort Hill?
The Vergennes City Council and Planning Commission are taking steps that could pave the way for what Vermont officials are calling the “Green Mountain Youth Campus,” a 14-bed locked facility for the short-term care of justice-involved youths.
A June 5 gathering of about 40 city residents and officials at the Vergennes Opera House heard leaders of the Department for Children and Families and the Department of Buildings and General Services make the case for siting a locked facility for “justice … (read more)
The Department for Children and Families next week will hold a public meeting about its recently announced plans to build a secure youth treatment center, called the Green Mountain Youth Campus, in Vergennes.
It’s important for the state of Vermont to have a safe and comfortable facility to treat traumatized juveniles. Addison County and the City of Vergennes may well be the best location for that to occur.
Two high-ranking state officials told the Independent last week there would be a thorough public process before a secure 14-bed facility to offer treatment to traumatized “justice-involved” juveniles would be built on Comfort Hill in Vergennes.
Vermont officials are considering putting a secure juvenile detention facility on state-owned land in Vergennes, but City Manager Ron Redmond said it is not a done deal.
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