Overview:
• Lighthouse Youth Center at Paint Creek in Ohio offers life-changing residential treatment for boys with behavioral and emotional challenges.
• Through holistic care, education, and vocational training, it aims to guide young men towards successful futures and away from incarceration.
There are no fences, barbed wire, or guards at Lighthouse Youth Center at Paint Creek. Instead, this residential treatment campus for boys with behavioral and emotional challenges, many of whom have been adjudicated delinquent by a juvenile court in Ohio, is surrounded by the fields and hills of Ross County, Ohio.
Lighthouse Youth Center at Paint Creek (Paint Creek) is the result of an almost 40-year partnership between the Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS) and Lighthouse Youth & Family Services (Lighthouse) in Cincinnati. Lighthouse, founded in 1969, provides a range of services to help young people 0-24 and their families, including mental and behavioral health service, psychiatric services, emergency shelter, youth housing, and foster care and adoption.
Paint Creek is one of ODYS’ community-based alternatives that put greater focus on treatment rather than confinement. On a recent visit there with its leaders, one of the boys said his way of thinking changed after he allowed himself to be open to the new surroundings and ideas there. He added, “Now it feels as if I have a sense of community supporting me.”
Since opening in 1986, hundreds of young men ages 14-20 have benefited from the support and services provided.
“We focus on building connections with youth by developing trusting relationships,” said Renee Hagan, Paint Creek Director. “We offer holistic care in a safe environment on an open campus. Secondly, we connect the boys with people who give them skills to be successful and give them hope and inspiration. We teach them to be aware of their thoughts and to make good choices.”
The team at Paint Creek provides outstanding evidence-based care, using relationship-building and therapy to encourage the development of coping and self-regulation skills. There’s also life skills training, sports and recreation, and education.
The 35-acre campus includes:
• An accredited school. They can earn high school credits or obtain their GED.
• A gymnasium, ball field, tennis court, basketball courts, volleyball courts, and a track.
• A horticultural program, including two greenhouses where boys plant and care for flowers and vegetables.
They can also further their education through computer training, vocational training, and college level classes. They can also learn how to create a resume and dress for success.
The dormitories have a large common area, and boys have their own bedrooms and wear regular clothes.
“The kids do better (serving their sentences) in alternative facilities,” Hagan added, noting that enrollment at Paint Creek is over 50 youth these days.
Referrals to Paint Creek come only through ODYS and county juvenile courts. The young men are juvenile felony offenders from across Ohio. To qualify for placement at Paint Creek rather than a juvenile correctional facility, they must be considered likely to benefit from the services, along with other criteria.
Young Black men make up 45-60% of juvenile offenders in Ohio, a group more likely to be stopped and arrested by police than young White men.
A lot of the young Black men at Paint Creek are dealing with depression, anxiety, problems at home, or gang-related issues. All of them say they want to be in a safe place and know their safety is a priority at Paint Creek.
When the time comes for a young man to go home, the staff also helps them prepare for the transition.
One youth who will soon be ending his time at Paint Creek spoke about becoming more spiritual while there and said he is grateful for the experiences he has had. He had already received a kit to help him polish his job interviewing techniques.
ODYS follows the progress of youth for three years after they are released from Paint Creek and is ready to assist them if they need further support. In 2022, only 10% of participants reoffended within a year of exiting the program.
It is interesting that a small percentage of the 1,500 youth who have resided at Paint Creek over the past 38 years have run away. Perhaps that is because the young men recognize the opportunity to leave behind the sort of negative lifestyle that often leads to prison or death.
Lighthouse Youth Center at Paint Creek has proven that with support structures, second chances, and the right resources, youth can survive mistakes and be successful.
As a final note, one comes away from Paint Creek impressed with the youth that met with us and guided us. They appeared to be polite young gentlemen with a positive focus on life … and we wished them well. “They are special,” added Hagan.