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- Alison Novak
- A Vergennes resident giving public comment
State leaders headed to the Vergennes Opera House on Wednesday evening to make the case for building a secure juvenile treatment facility in the Little City.
Vermont has lacked a place to house and treat justice-involved youths since the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex closed in 2020 amid
allegations that children were abused by staff.
Chris Winters, commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, told the 50 or so Vergennes residents in the audience that a new high-end facility is needed to stabilize the system of care for vulnerable youths and to reduce the number of Vermont teens who are sent to placements out of state. Vergennes, Winters said, is an ideal location — close to larger communities but with a quiet environment.
Some residents weren't convinced.
During a question-and-answer period, they brought up various issues.
Lizbeth Ryan said some of her trepidation stemmed from the horrific stories that came out of Woodside. "It was a complete and utter disaster," Ryan said. If the facility ends up in Vergennes, the state needs to be as transparent as possible about what goes on there, she added.
Carol Fenimore Safari said she appreciates the state's care in creating a well-designed facility. But she said she was concerned about how it would affect home values and traffic in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Beverly Biello asked state officials if residents have any say in whether the juvenile treatment facility is built in Vergennes. She said she believed the city has "way beyond its fair share" of "government institutions" such as low-income housing, addiction-treatment treatment programs and the U.S. Department of Labor's Job Corps program.
"We want to be a good partner to the community," Jennifer Fitch, commissioner of buildings and general services, responded. "We don't want to force a facility in a community that doesn't want it."
"Here's what I would say, though," Fitch added. "'Not in my backyard' is a real thing ... If no community is willing to accept us, then we will continue to have a gap in the system, kids will be sent out of state, and they're going to go to correctional facilities. And that's not appropriate for these kids."
Officials' pitch began with a four-minute video that touted the proposed facility. The
Green Mountain Youth Campus, on state-owned property off Comfort Hill Road, would have a six-bed therapeutic program, where youths ages 12 to 18 can stay for several months at a time, and an eight-bed, short-term stabilization program for those who are in crisis.
Though the facility would be locked down, it would be "aesthetically pleasing," DCF adolescent services director Tyler Allen says in the video. "The program is going to look like an educational setting, a residential setting. It won't look like an edifice or an institution."
Presenters highlighted how the facility would differ from past ones.
"We want to make sure that ... this is a program that is not carceral in its approach but treatment-based, care-based, evidence-based, and that it's something we can all be proud of," said Arykah Radke, deputy commissioner of DCF's Family Services Division.
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- Alison Novak
- A poster for the proposed project
Its design will reflect that approach, according to Fitch. Natural light, a color palette that mimics the natural landscape, plants, art and sound-dampening materials will create a space that promotes healing, she said.
Winters preemptively tried to allay residents' concerns about public safety. The state will contract with a yet-to-be-determined provider experienced in working with troubled youths, he said. Winters said he expected minimal police and emergency medical calls to the facility.
"If you're concerned about public safety and you're concerned about the youth who are in here, those are kids ... who are in our communities already, and right now we don't have a secure place to treat them," Winters said.
Officials said they hope the Green Mountain Youth Campus is up and running in two years. The project still has to go through multiple steps — including permitting, zoning and the creation of a site plan. All of those will allow for more opportunities for community engagement.