Second chance for second chances: How an innovative youth facility can 'save lives'

Trey McCarter started getting in trouble when he was 13 years old.

He stole cars. He broke into houses. He skipped school.

He was sent to the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Youth Center. He was placed on house arrest. But neither intervention stopped McCarter, who lived in Cincinnati's Westwood neighborhood, from chasing the easy money he got from reselling other people's belongings.

Finally, in 2014, when McCarter was 15 years old, a Hamilton County magistrate sent him to Hillcrest Academy, a detention facility with a boarding school-like atmosphere that offered McCarter tough love, counseling and supportive services for his whole family.

Today, McCarter, 25, is a businessman who wears a suit every day, lives in an apartment in West Price Hill and travels the country for work.

And it's all due to Hillcrest, he said.

Once a national model for rehabilitating juveniles charged with crimes, Hillcrest closed last year. The final straw was sexual abuse allegations involving an employee, but officials say the school had been on a downward trajectory in the years after McCarter was a resident there.

After seeing it slip away, Hamilton County officials have set out to bring Hillcrest back. They have a plan to remake and reopen it as the model institution it once was. The goal is to offer help to kids between the ages of 12 and 17, while also helping Cincinnati and other local communities address a surge of juvenile crime that has strained resources and stranded some juveniles in a court system ill-equipped to handle them.

Set to reopen in 2025, Hillcrest is getting a second chance to give second chances.

But not everyone is on board with the plan. Officials in the city of Wyoming, which borders the 87-acre property, are concerned about the lack of security. They say runaways from the school have been causing problems for years and draining police resources.

Rolling hills, wildlife, camp-like setting

Hillcrest is not what most people imagine when they think of a detention center − even one for kids. Instead of cells, there are dorms. Instead of barbed wire, there are trees. Residents are students, not inmates, spending their time in classrooms. There's even a recreation center, a pool and a chapel.

During his time there, McCarter said he had time to reflect on the decisions that landed him there and think about where his life was headed. He gained wisdom about himself and the motivation to become something better.

Without Hillcrest, he said there's no significant rehabilitation for teens like him "who just haven't figured themselves out."

"I knew I didn't want to be a criminal. I knew I didn't want to be in jail," he said. "But I didn't have anyone in my personal life other than my mother to show me what to be or how to maneuver through life."

Privatizing Hillcrest saved money but at what cost?

Twenty years ago juvenile court administrators, judges and juvenile crime experts came from all over the country to see Hillcrest's formula that kept kids from committing more crimes.

Hillcrest's downfall started when officials with Hamilton County, which owns the facility, decided in 2012 to privatize it due to financial pressures. In the wake of the Great Recession, the county cut its budget by one-third, even closing a jail.

The county brought in Nevada-based nonprofit, Rite of Passage, to run Hillcrest.

For a time, including during McCarter's stay, Hillcrest seemed to function as it always had. But by 2023, officials had lost confidence in Rite of Passage, which was taking in juveniles from out of state to fill open beds, and the facility was falling into disrepair.

County facilities employees found that critical maintenance wasn't being done, and roughly $1 million in repairs were needed immediately, according to a study reviewed by The Enquirer. By August 2023, court officials had unveiled a proposal for a new Hillcrest, seeking to bring it back to the model it once was.

A spokeswoman for Rite of Passage told The Enquirer the agency took "great pride in providing quality services" that supported youth and their families.

"We are proud of our outcomes, programming and exceptional safety record throughout our operations," she said. "Although we were not part of the planning of Hillcrest’s future, we support the campus as a continued viable resource for youth. Our agency remains committed to collaborating with stakeholders to ensure Hillcrest’s legacy of quality programming and positive youth outcomes continues."

Increasing juvenile crime

Juvenile crime has been on the rise in recent years, Hamilton County Juvenile Court records show.

Assault cases in Juvenile Court in 2022 were up 25% and thefts increased by 31% compared to the previous year. Much of the crime occurred within the city of Cincinnati, worrying city leaders.

At a community meeting on March 21 at Cincinnati City Hall, called to address the problem, Cincinnati police said that between Jan. 1, 2022 and mid-March of this year, there were 33 shooting incidents involving juveniles. When looked at year over year, that was a 230% increase.

Cincinnati police run extra patrols and concentrate on crime hot spots. But once a juvenile suspect has been identified, experts say, rehabilitation needs to be available. And that's where Hillcrest comes in, said Liz Igoe, court administrator for Juvenile Court.

Igoe said the loss of Hillcrest has meant that the court now has to send children to other facilities in other counties, or even out of state, as far away as Arkansas or Nevada.

Keeping kids locally, where their families can be part of their rehabilitation, is crucial to a successful outcome, she said.

“We’re taking kids who have multiple adverse childhood experiences, who are victims of trauma, and we are providing them with a place that is suitable for healing," Igoe said.

Boarding-school-like atmosphere

Hillcrest sits on 87 acres of rolling hills and woodlands in Springfield Township, about 14 miles north of downtown Cincinnati. Deer, wild turkeys and other wildlife roam the property.

Driving by, a person would never know it was a juvenile detention facility. It looks like a boarding school or a summer camp.

The land off Bonham Road in Springfield Township has been used to house troubled youth since 1914. Various entities oversaw it, until the county took it over in 2005. No walls or fences have ever surrounded the property.

Thomas Lipps, a former Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge, recalled that when the court ran Hillcrest before it was privatized, part of the program required kids to swim across the pool. Kids at Hillcrest, like Trey McCarter, also participated in sports and competed against other schools, learning lessons that come from team sports.

"Kids had different experiences than what they were used to," Lipps said. “For a lot of the kids, it was the best days of their lives.”

Lipps, who served as a juvenile court judge for 12 years before retiring in 2010, said he is thrilled to hear that the current judges and administration are working to bring back Hillcrest.

He said he knows from his years on the bench that even though the kids have committed crimes and there needs to be some punishment, "they're still kids."

"Basically they're just lost children," he said. "They can be rehabilitated."

Target opening: Early next year

The plan is to open Hillcrest in phases, with the first phase expected to open in early 2025.

The property has 12 residential cottages, with a total of 144 beds.

In the first phase, four of the cottages will open as well as the on-site school, dining hall, recreation center – which includes a weight room and area for wrestling – and the administration building. It will be able to house 48 juveniles.

The court is in the process of selecting the service providers for the school, but unlike the 11 years before it closed, the entire facility will be overseen by juvenile court judges and administrators. The court also will provide security officers. The county will maintain it.

Funding will come from a combination of local, state and federal dollars, Igoe said.

The new Hillcrest will serve more than juveniles facing legal troubles.

The ultimate goal is to have all 144 beds available. Of those, the majority, 60 beds, will be for short-term care of foster children. Thirty-six beds will be for juveniles charged with crimes. The remaining 48 beds will be for juveniles with mental health issues.

Hillcrest re-imagined

Juvenile Court doesn’t place delinquent youth in residential facilities at the same rate as it did a few decades ago because the court relies on research that shows the placements can be more disruptive and more damaging than allowing youth to remain in the community.

Kids who commit crimes are expected to comprise only about 25% of the total population at the new facility.

A small number will be sex offenders, a population that Hillcrest handled in the past. Officials emphasized that the cases will be carefully screened.

The different populations will be kept separate, and a court employee assigned to Hillcrest will be responsible for maintaining separation between them. Also, each of the programs will have social workers living at Hillcrest and assigned to work with each population.

“There will be professionals providing treatment 24/7, monitoring and managing those kids,” Igoe said.

Hillcrest deteriorated under private operation

Rite of Passage, with youth programs in 16 states, took over operations in 2012. It mostly operated out of the spotlight. But allegations that a 49-year-old female employee was sexually abusing boys at Hillcrest prompted an investigation.

The employee was charged with a felony crime, but the case was dismissed when the alleged teen victim wasn't able to testify because he had been arrested and jailed on gun charges in his home state, where he'd been sent after being removed from Hillcrest.

In response to the investigation, the court shut it down last year. It has sat empty since then. The process to reopen it involves repairs and hiring the entities that will provide teachers, social workers, mental health providers and more. No agency has been selected. Rite of Passage has applied to run the school.

In the decade under Rite of Passage, the facility deteriorated, an 800-page report prepared by the county facilities department says. Necessary maintenance was put off or ignored. The swimming pool didn't appear to have been used "in quite some time" and needs repairs before it can be used again. And some cottages need new roofs and gutters.

An assessment found that about $1 million in repairs needed to be made at the site immediately to prevent imminent damage or limit damage that’s already been done. The county has begun those repairs.

An additional $1.7 million in repairs will have to be made in the next few years.

A Rite of Passage spokeswoman declined to answer specific questions about the sex abuse investigation or the condition the facility had been left in.

The Enquirer reviewed more than 500 pages of emails between Hamilton County officials and Rite of Passage employees related to Hillcrest Academy.

There are dozens of emails between Brittany Bowman, a Rite of Passage program manager, and juvenile court officials. Among the issues Bowman brought up: staffing shortages related to low pay, runaways, a drug problem among juveniles on campus and the sex abuse investigation. The termination of Rite of Passage’s contract, which officially ended in early August 2023, is included in the emails, but there are no specific responses to the letter ending the contract from Rite of Passage.

Igoe said having juvenile court oversight allows the court to engage kids at Hillcrest in additional programs as well as provide services to their families, "in an effort to increase the likelihood of successful transition back into the community upon release."

"These are our kids," she said. "They're from Hamilton County. County and court oversight ensures we provide the best quality services to (them)."

City of Wyoming residents have concerns

Wyoming officials aren't criticizing Hillcrest's mission but suggest that it might be done better elsewhere − not so close to where people live.

When a juvenile runs away from Hillcrest, it becomes a problem for Springfield Township police as well as police in two municipalities that border it, Wyoming and Woodlawn.

Earlier this month, Wyoming City Manager Rusty Herzog sent a letter to Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Kari Bloom saying the city had "serious concerns about the court's plan to reopen Hillcrest."

"The city's concerns stem from the fact that this facility has historically lacked sufficient security," wrote Herzog, formerly Wyoming's police chief. "These security issues existed both while the facility was privately run and when Hamilton County provided security many years ago. As a result, Wyoming residents have experienced thefts, burglaries and other crimes at the hands of juveniles who have escaped Hillcrest Training School. Residents have been forced to stay in their homes as officers from multiple jurisdictions chased fleeing juveniles."

Herzog said the city wanted to know exactly what measures would be taken to ensure Hillcrest would be secure.

Wyoming officials held two public meetings in March to address the reopening. The first gave residents a chance to voice their opinions. And the second gave city officials − some of whom raised concerns about security − a chance to ask questions.

Although there has never been a serious incident, Herzog said at a March 11 meeting, "Every time someone runs away, it's an opportunity for a tragedy."

Wyoming officials suggested constructing a fence, and one is being considered, Igoe said. But she emphasized that the focus is having the proper number of security officers to keep track of kids, not a prison-like fence that would change part of what's special about Hillcrest.

There's no recourse beyond dialog though, Herzog acknowledged. The zoning for Hillcrest has been in place for years. The judges making the decisions about Hillcrest are elected, which offers the chance for some to make a different choice at the ballot box. But it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make Hillcrest a countywide issue in a judicial race.

Why Hillcrest matters

Hillcrest has long been considered a crown jewel of the county's juvenile court system. There are only a handful of places like it across the country.

There is no other resource like Hillcrest locally, said Paula Smith, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati who heads the university's Center for Justice and Communities.

"I don't think people realize what a treasure this is," Smith said. "There's a lot of magic that happens out there."

Some kids who need services have family situations that don't allow them to stay at home, but they also don't need to go to a juvenile detention facility. That's where Hillcrest comes in, she said.

"It's an intervention point for kids who might be on a trajectory," she said, "but they can still be diverted."

Hillcrest's success was examined in a 2006 study. It looked at 3,500 juveniles who went to Hillcrest over 20 years and compared them to the same number of youths who committed the same type of crimes but went to other facilities.

According to the study, Hillcrest made Hamilton County's streets safer and saved taxpayers millions of dollars in incarceration costs.

The study found that between 25% and 33% of the juveniles placed at Hillcrest committed no further offenses in late adolescence. All non-Hillcrest youth continued to commit crimes.

'To save lives'

Trey McCarter still stays in touch with his probation officer, who he said kept him on the right track. McCarter is glad the court understands how important Hillcrest is to setting kids on the right path.

Without it, he doesn’t know where he would be. Maybe dead, he said. Three of his friends, who didn’t get the same second chance he did, were killed in some of the violence that is so concerning to city leaders.

McCarter misses his friends. But he knows his stay in Hillcrest meant he didn’t face the same fate.

“Hillcrest gave me the opportunity to see my life and see that I had the chance to become something else,” McCarter said. "To have Hillcrest is to save lives."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Hamilton County Juvenile Court is rebuilding Hillcrest