Columbus lawmaker says closing troubled treatment facilities isn’t enough to protect children

The Fox Run Center for Children and Adolescents in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in October 2024.(Bethany Mollenkof / The Marshall Project)This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system.An Ohio lawmaker who has proposed giving the state greater authority to shut down troubled residential treatment centers for children says that kids locked away need access to a professional who is ready to report abuse and neglect to police and state regulators.Rep. Crystal Lett, D-Columbus, made the comments during a Children and Human Services Committee meeting earlier this week while discussing HB 811, legislation she sponsored that would compel the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) to revoke the licenses of residential treatment facilities if there is a pattern of serious violations, abuse, neglect or exploitation.Lett cited investigations by The Marshall Project of two of the state’s largest facilities: