Article featuring Amara from last year

“My time, my place.”
How a Cleveland State University program helps former foster youth graduate from college
Grant Segal, The Land, August 15, 2025

Callie Morgan, Amara Jackson and Bryan Conley are former foster youths getting extra help and meeting extra requirements at Cleveland State University.  

Most college students live off campus these days, and many go home in the summer. But some students who’ve been in foster care think of college as home.

“Because we’re here all the time, we know we have each other here,” sophomore Amara Jackson says about members of Cleveland State University’s Sullivan-Deckard Scholarship Opportunity Program, which houses and helps current and former foster youths on campus year-round. “We can always walk to each other’s rooms. We can talk to each other.”

The Sullivan-Deckard Program includes extra aid, guidance and requirements, such as year-round campus residency, to help overcome the daunting odds against success for people from foster care.

One of the current foster youths (Ohio does not release their names) says that moving to Cleveland State this summer felt at first like getting just another placement. But “this time, I’m moving for education.”

Former foster youth Hope Gibbs, a junior, says she sometimes feels sad seeing other students go home for the summer. Still, “I’m grateful and blessed to stay here.” She often visits her biological mother and brother but not for long. “It’s just not the best place for me. I don’t focus well there.” 

Gibbs focuses well on campus, though, earning nearly a 4.0 grade-point average. Sullivan-Deckard scholars must earn at least a 2.5 GPA. Seventy-five percent of them get at least a certificate and 59 percent a bachelor’s degree. Those rates are much higher than or former foster youths nationwide. No more than 6 percent of the latter get two-year degrees and no more than 4 percent get four-year degrees.

Instead, according to the Casey Foundation, about 30 percent of former foster youths become homeless between ages 19 and 21, and about 20 percent become incarcerated. The hardships start in childhood. An estimated 90 percent of foster youths are exposed to trauma in their biological homes, foster homes or both.

“If we knew the stories of some of your origins, all of us would be in tears,” Jarrett Pratt, who runs the Sullivan-Deckard Program, told freshman scholars during this summer’s two weeks of orientation. “But I’m not concerned about where you’ve come from. I’m invested in where you’re going.

As one of the foster youths put it, “This is a good opportunity to become a brand-new person and leave behind my trauma and issues.”

The program and its people: Cleveland State’s foster program is named for donors Frank and Barbara Sullivan and Jenniffer and Daryl Deckard. It’s part of a statewide network called Ohio Reach for collegians from foster care. It’s fully funded by the state and donors, so Pratt says it’s not subject to the sorts of budget cuts happening elsewhere at Cleveland State.

The program is based at Cleveland State’s Pratt Center, named for founder Charleyse Pratt, Jarrett’s late mother. The center also gives current and former foster youths from the area a holiday party, a high school graduation party, and a six-week course in independent living.

The Sullivan-Deckard Program has anywhere from 3 to 20 scholars per class. It helps them get other scholarships and fills any gaps to cover their tuition, room and board.

During their first summer, the scholars take seven credit hours, including two hours of a health course on stress management, time management and other challenges. Throughout their time at Cleveland State, they must spend 10 hours a week studying at the Pratt Center and do occasional community service. 

The program gives scholars extra career counseling and other services. A social worker comes to the center twice a week. The National Council of Jewish Women brings the scholars care packages, takes them to local events and more.

Pratt calls the scholars’ helps “the aunts, sister, mothers they’ve never had in their personal life.”

Scholars also get peer assistants: Cleveland State students from outside the program. For the first 12 months, three Sulivan-Deckard scholars share a quad with a peer. Afterwards, scholars have the same choices of rooms and roommates as other resident students do.

“It’s a community,” Callie Brewer says about the program. “Everyone is pretty close.” At the same time, she feels like part of the whole school community. “No one really knows I’m a foster kid, so they don’t look at me differently.”

Scholars can leave the program at any time and continue as regular Cleveland State students, without the extra help or rules.

Today and tomorrow: During orientation, Sullivan-Deckard scholars learn their way around campus, take field trips, share other activities, and talk about their worries and hopes. They’re taught to recite a speech and a few slogans meant to boost their self-esteem, discipline and ambition. Much of the material was written by famed teacher Marva Collins, such as: “I was born to win if I do not spend too much time trying to fail.”

The scholars also learn to help each other. As one of the current foster youths said, “We have a lot of smart people, strong mentally and emotionally. We have to work together and push each other further than what we can do by ourselves.”

Pratt pushes them to overcome stereotypes. “The world will draw circles and put labels on us because of where we’re from. You have to say, ‘This curse stops now. It stops with me.’ You all are reshaping and redefining what’s possible.”

Not every scholar succeeds. One with good grades fled campus in the middle of the night because his biological family learned his whereabouts, and he no longer felt safe there.

But Pratt says that most of the scholars thrive at Cleveland State and beyond. “We have scholars who have gone on to start businesses. We have scholars going on to grad school. We’ve had three get doctorates in occupational therapy. One has become a foster parent.”

Striving for such goals, the scholars often quote another Marva Collins line: “This is my time and my place. I will accept the challenge.”

Concerns persist regarding Ohio youth residential treatment facilities

Chokeholds and punches used in Ohio youth treatment homes, report finds
Laura Bischoff, Columbus Dispatch, May 13, 2026. 

Abuse and neglect, painful restraints, bullying and intimidation plague youth residential treatment facilities across the state, according to Disability Rights Ohio.

The leading disability rights group released a report May 13 based on 75 visits to youth homes over the past six years. DRO investigators found "serious and systemic cases of abuse, neglect and inappropriate treatment," including chokeholds and punches.

"This is a 911 call. This is kids are being hurt and things are not happening," said Disability Rights Ohio Director Kerstin Sjoberg. Working behind the scenes with facilities and state officials "is just not moving the needed. We cannot wait any longer. We have to address this now."

Residential treatment facilities, which are state licensed and must meet minimum standards, are highly restrictive places that serve vulnerable, at-risk kids who need mental health care.

Ohio has roughly 50 licensed facilities, ranging in size from six to 100 beds, for children as young as five.

The Ohio Department of Behavioral Health, which licenses the facilities, said in a written statement that it "is firmly committed to protecting the health and safety of Ohioans. We take this statutory responsibility seriously and work diligently to ensure that providers comply with all applicable rules, regulations, and quality standards governing the delivery of behavioral health services in Ohio."

DRO recommended reforms, including:

• Creating a statewide registry to prevent the re-hiring of abusive employees.
• Providing families and guardians with information about facilities that fail to meet minimum standards.
• Requiring state licensing agencies to take swift action when a facility fails to meet minimum standards, including removing children.
• Increasing ongoing training for facility staff.
• Raising the minimum standards to ensure better care and outcomes.

DRO investigators reviewed video footage, incident reports and treatment files and repeatedly flagged issues for state licensing agencies to address. In 2024, DRO issued a public report on a facility in Youngstown. The facility relinquished its license in 2025.

In November 2025, The Marshall Project - Cleveland published an investigation into Mohican Young Star Academy, a troubled residential treatment center surrounded by a state park. The center had multiple brawls, 911 calls and runaways.

Disability Rights Ohio, a non-profit organization, investigates reports of abuse or neglect of people with disabilities in state-operated, certified and licensed facilities, such as residential facilities, jails and prisons. DRO issued similar recommendations to improve the residential treatment facilities in 2016.

Raven's interview in The Land

SNAP changes could impact nearly 5,000 Greater Clevelanders
Gregory Burnett, The Land, May 12, 2026. 

Community leaders gathered at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank on Friday to discuss changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the critical need for recipients to understand what’s ahead before eligibility changes on June 1.  Those in attendance included representatives from United Way of Greater Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services and Dave’s Markets.

Letters have already gone out to those who will be affected by this change, but the attending organizations want everyone to understand what these new requirements mean. They estimate more than 1,000 Cuyahoga County residents could lose their SNAP benefits before the end of this month.

Last year, President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” initiated changes that will force able-bodied individuals, now up to age 64, to work or volunteer 80 hours a month to continue receiving SNAP benefits. The new law will also enforce the work requirements for parents with children older than 14. The bill also removes exemptions from the work requirement for veterans, the homeless or former foster youth.

The Federal Reserve reported in March that 190,000 people in Cuyahoga County were receiving SNAP benefits. After the recent shutdown, that number dropped to approximately 181,000.

According to Kevin Gowan, director of Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services, participants need to do the following things to maintain their benefits: Work a minimum of 20 hours per week or volunteer 20 hours per week and get documentation from whoever you’re volunteering with. A pay stub would act as your proof of employment.

“There are 5,000 individuals impacted by this,” he said. “It’s going to come in waves, so roughly 1,300 people will be affected by the end of May, then the rest are going to happen six to 12 months later. We have many resources available to help those who need it.” 

Some of those resources can be found at this link. The county also has a SNAP Training Program that is fully funded.  Students can take advantage of seven workforce providers to earn their hours.

A copy of the letter sent to impacted SNAP recipients this month is below.

ABA Discontinuance Batch Notice Example (REDACTED)Download

Losing a line of defense: The Greater Cleveland Food Bank covers six counties: Lake, Lorain, Ashtabula, Ashland, Richland and Cuyahoga. Last year, along with their 1,000 partner programs, they served 404,000 unique individuals. That’s almost one in five residents in their six-county service area.

According to Kristin Warzocha, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the organization is seeing more seniors asking for help because of high grocery bills and gas bills. She says the organization is ready to help anyone who comes through their doors. 

“SNAP is the first line of defense in our nation’s use of vitamins; it’s a critically important program,” she said.  “It supports people who are really struggling to get by with nutritious food. It also supports local grocery stores where they spend their SNAP benefits. So, it’s an economic dream, as well as being a critical resource for people.”

Grocery stores are indeed feeling the effects of changes related to SNAP benefits. Dan Saltzman, president of Dave’s Markets, said stores, including their Lucky’s Markets, have experienced a 10% drop in SNAP-related revenue. According to him, there is no major underlying economic reason for the decline. Instead, he believes many SNAP recipients are confused about what benefits or products are still available to them, leading them to spend less or avoid using their benefits.

Navigating the changes: The United Way of Greater Cleveland’s 211 program will try to aid SNAP recipients as they navigate the new rules. The 24/7 hotline is available just by dialing 211.

“211 is there to answer any question about the new SNAP rules,” said Chiara Cameron-Wood, United Way 211 director. “We will have answers relating to education, training, food and utilities. We have hundreds of resources and information to pass along.”

Last March, a story in The Land spoke about a program through the Cleveland Department of Public Health titled “Cultivating Cleveland’s Next Generation” Four people would be chosen to become navigators who would canvas the community door-to-door helping those who received the letter understand it. An update from David Margolius, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health states: “The City of Cleveland is working hand and hand with the county, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, and all our partners to prepare for and advocate against the cuts to SNAP this year,” he said. “I think the information to deliver has just been released – so that work will begin shortly.”

For 23-year-old Raven Wolfe, a Cleveland resident, there’s really no confusion as to what’s about to happen. She just wants the government to understand that as a former foster youth, the obstacles are harder to overcome. Wolfe’s current employer offers hours up to 40 hours a week — but because her hours vary, she hardly ever reaches it. 

“They want us to work 20 hours a week to keep benefits,” she said. “My job is supposed to be forty hours a week. But it depends on our daily workload. Last week I only worked sixteen hours. I do other things to supplement my income, however, it’s hard to document. That makes it hard for those of us who have to make ends meet. Most people are on their jobs during the time they are needed to fulfill the 20 hour a week requirement. As a former foster youth, I don’t have family support to help me to get from place to place.”  

Because of the many gray areas relating to this change,  Loren Genson, communication specialist at Cuyahoga County Jobs and Services, offered this tidbit. 

“With hours that fluctuate, we may ask for more than a month of pay stubs so we can get a better estimate of average hours,” she said. “If an individual sometimes has weeks that are less than 20 but some weeks are more, they may be OK if it averages 20 or more hours. If the average is a little below the 20 hours, they might be offered options to make up the difference, for example, if a person is working an average of 18 hours per week, we may work with them to find unpaid or volunteer work for two hours per week.”

Raven's interview in the Cleveland Plain Dealer

New SNAP work rules hitting older residents, former foster youth hardest in Cuyahoga County
Kaitlin Durbin, Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 11, 2026

*New work requirements went into effect for SNAP recipients in March, and users who don't meet the requirements or qualify for an exemption will start seeing their benefits terminated at the end of this month.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Raven Wolfe has done everything expected of a young adult working toward full self-sufficiency: she went to college, she found a job and when that fell through, she found another job.

But unlike many young adults, the 24-year-old hasn’t had family members to fall back on to help cover groceries or order pizza during late-night study sessions. Instead, the former foster youth has largely relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to help feed herself while using her paychecks to cover rent and utilities.

Now, she is at risk of losing that support too.

Recent changes to the federal food assistance program expanded work requirements for able-bodied adults up to age 64, including veterans, homeless residents, former foster youth and parents of children older than 14 who were previously exempt. That means Wolfe must now work, volunteer or participate in another qualifying program about 20 hours per week to keep receiving food benefits.

Wolfe is already working. She has been.

After three months of applying and interviewing, she landed her current position working with children at a behavioral health center. But the hours have not been steady enough to meet the new requirements.

Last week alone, she said her boss sent her home three of the five days because there weren’t enough kids in attendance. That means lost income and fewer qualifying work hours, which she said ultimately means less food — especially healthy food.

“The first thing that always goes whenever I’m struggling with finances is always going to be eating decent,” she told cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer. “Everyone always tells me to meal prep, but getting the stuff that you need to meal prep costs a lot more than grabbing a bunch of grab-and-go freezer meals. That’s just the unfortunate reality.”

Wolfe is among 5,400 Cuyahoga County residents affected by the new rules who are likely to see their SNAP benefits being terminated starting at the end of the month, when a three‑month grace period expires. Recipients who do not qualify for an exemption or meet work requirements can receive benefits for only three months in a three-year period.

About 1,000 county residents have already received notices saying their benefits will end May 31, if they do not comply with the rules, Cuyahoga Job and Family Services Director Kevin Gowan said Friday. He expects more will drop off gradually as recipients reach out to recertify their benefits.

“There’s going to be waves of this over the next six months to a year,” Gowan said.

Older residents impacted: County officials say they are particularly worried about older residents. Of the group now subject to the new rules, 57% are over the age of 55, Gowan said. At least 39% of them are over the age of 60.

Some of them are trying to care for teenage grandchildren on fixed incomes, and though children themselves cannot lose SNAP because of the work rules, households can still see significant reductions if one adult loses eligibility.

Many impacted residents may also be homeless, Gowan said, noting that about 1,000 recipients lost exemptions based on their housing status.

He’s started hearing from frustrated residents now faced with going back to work in a competitive job market or volunteering out of the home 80 hours a month.

“That’s a lot of time for an average of $225 [a month] in SNAP benefits,” he said.

Gowan is starting to see more families opt out of the program altogether, leading to the lowest enrollment numbers in years. About 11,000 people fell off the rolls since October alone, he said, attributing the decline to confusion amid the government shut down and the changing rules.

But he said that when families do contact the Jobs and Family Services office about their benefits, often they turn out to qualify for an exemption anyway, especially older adults with chronic medical conditions who were previously exempt based on age alone.

He described a situation involving an older couple where the husband, who has severe back problems, had applied for disability and mistakenly believed he would lose his benefits before receiving a decision. During the wait, they were facing a reduction in benefits from $350 a month to $115.

Gowan said he was able to intervene and obtain documentation for the man’s work exemption before any benefits were cut. He stressed that recipients do not need to qualify for disability to get a work exemption.

“We just need a medical professional to indicate they’re physically or mentally unable to work,” he said. “It’s the equivalent of a doctor’s note.”

Other exemptions vary, based on age. Recipients 59 and younger can be exempt if they are:

• Physically or mentally unable to work
• Caring for a child under 14 or an incapacitated person
• Participating in an alcohol or drug treatment program
• In school or a training program
• Applying for or receiving unemployment benefits
• Are employed or self-employed and working a minimum 30 hours per week
• Pregnant
• Certain Native Americans

Recipients aged 60 to 64 may only be exempt if they are:

• Physically or mentally unable to work
• Caring for a child under 14
• Pregnant
• Certain Native Americans

The county is also preparing for similar work requirements and exemptions to be phased in for some Medicaid recipients starting later this year. About a third of the county’s population is enrolled in Medicaid, but the changes will apply only to the 98,000 people who gained coverage through the 2014 expansion — roughly 33,000 of whom would be required to meet the new rules.

For noncitizens, the Medicaid work requirements are expected to take effect Oct. 1. For all others, the changes will begin phasing in on Jan. 1.

“These changes are being implemented,” county Health and Human Services Director David Merriman stressed. “This is the law and we really want the public to engage with us ... so that we can support their continued access to public assistance.”

Officials stand ready to help however they can, he said.

The county’s Hunger Response Team is helping connect residents to groceries and meal programs, working alongside organizations like the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Hunger Network and the United Way of Greater Cleveland.

All of them have been reporting rising demand as residents try to fill the void of the lost benefits, Gowan said.

At the same time, the consequences could ripple far beyond individual recipients.

Dan Saltzman, president of Dave’s Markets, said SNAP revenue across the grocery chain has already declined roughly 10%, with sharper drops in lower-income neighborhoods where residents have fewer alternatives for groceries.

Over the last two decades, Dave’s and other retailers helped expand food access into struggling neighborhoods, including Ohio City, Slavic Village and Midtown. But Saltzman worries the new restrictions could begin unraveling some of that progress, especially after the county reported a $2 million drop in SNAP benefits entering the economy since October alone.

Saltzman wasn’t ready to predict store closures, but warned that continued reductions could eventually affect jobs and neighborhood grocery access.

“We’re concerned for our customers, for young families with children, for our seniors and concerned about how this is going to affect our business model,” he said. “In today’s economy, gas and utilities and everything else are going up, so on top of that to add a decrease in dollars that they have to spend on food is not a very pretty picture.”

Wolfe says that uncertainty is magnified for former foster youth. They age out of county support systems at 18, they age out of extended support through Ohio’s Bridges program at 21 and have to find their own insurance by age 26 – all while paying their own rent and buying groceries.

Where youth coming from traditional families have a bigger safety net to fall back on, especially in tight economies, her safety net has been the public welfare system. And while she says she is still receiving SNAP, the warning letters keep coming, reminding her that she’ll need to meet the work requirements by her next check-in or her food benefits will disappear.

She doesn’t know what she’ll do if that happens.

“How do I know that I’m going to be able to support myself?” she wondered. “Constantly feeling the threat that I might lose that support...and that’s the only thing keeping me afloat...”

Ohio Bill Could Force State to Shut Down Troubled Residential Treatment Facilities
Brittany Hailer, Marshall Report, May 22, 2026.

Mohican Young Star Academy, a youth residential treatment facility in Ashland County, Ohio, in August 2025. The facility rebranded as Empowering to Elevate Academy in late 2025.  This proposal comes just months after The Marshall Project - Cleveland exposed violence at a residential youth facility northeast of Columbus.

Ohio officials would be required to take measures against youth treatment facilities with incidents of violence and other serious violations under a bill proposed in the state legislature — including shutting them down.

The proposed Ohio House Bill 811 comes just months after a Marshall Project - Cleveland investigation exposed repeated violence at a treatment facility northeast of Columbus. The state is now trying to revoke that facility’s license.

The new bill would remove the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health’s discretion to decide whether to intervene in troubled residential treatment facilities and instead require the agency to suspend admissions, deny license renewals or shut down facilities after serious violations.

Bill sponsor Rep. Crystal Lett, a Democrat from Columbus, said she was filing the measure in response to The Marshall Project - Cleveland’s reporting on Mohican Young Star Academy. The investigation documented escalating violence, staff injuries and campus-wide fights at the state’s largest youth residential treatment facility following an ownership change in November 2024.

“Just the fact that it's continuing in real time. It was our proof that this isn't a hypothetical situation that we're legislating for. It's a real situation unfolding,” Lett said in an interview Monday. “I can't help thinking: If my kid were in there right now, what am I doing to help that kid?”

'Mohican staff, neighbors and local law enforcement described chaos at the facility in Perrysville, including a massive police presence after youth attacked staff, climbed walls inside the facility and made makeshift weapons. Youth who escaped the facility broke into nearby shops in the town or appeared in neighbors’ yards. Mohican ownership declined to comment at the time of that investigation.

The residential treatment facility in Perrysville, Ohio, is surrounded by a state forest.  

After The Marshall Project - Cleveland published the investigation, the state suspended admissions to the facility.

Officials are now seeking to revoke Mohican’s license, alleging that between April 4 and Dec. 1, 2025, Mohican failed to protect residents from abuse and neglect, and citing multiple incidents in which staff used improper restraints on youth. The state also found that Mohican failed to report critical incidents, lacked documentation showing that staff were properly trained and vetted, and did not provide required treatment services for multiple boys.

A license revocation hearing is scheduled for May 7.

Zach Logan, co-owner of Mohican, wrote in an email: “We look forward to vindicating our rights through the appropriate legal process and do not believe there is merit to the alleged violations.”

With its license and certification now at risk, Mohican has filed a lawsuit against the state seeking $750,000 allocated in the 2025 state budget. In court filings, the facility argued the state is attempting to revoke Mohican’s license to avoid paying those funds. In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the state said Mohican is “failing to protect residents from acts of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, and exploitation.”

Logan wrote that, “Mohican believes it is entitled to the funds that the Ohio General Assembly directed to Mohican.”

Mohican — which late last year rebranded as Empowering to Elevate Academy — has previously withstood at least two state efforts to shut it down. In 2021, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sued to remove the facility’s operator over improper restraints, but a judge dismissed the case for lack of evidence. Yost and the state vowed to move forward with revoking the facility’s license, but that effort — a lengthy hearing process lasting from December 2021 through April 2022 — failed, too. 

Lett characterized her bill as giving officials more power to act when abuses are discovered.

“To me, that bill is the immediate off switch for bad actors,” Lett said. “This is a 911 moment where, if we do nothing, children will continue to die and be harmed and run away in these facilities. And so we have to have an off switch to protect children immediately.”

For years, after pressure from media or other investigative agencies, Ohio residential treatment centers have surrendered licenses to operate, but few actually have had their licenses revoked.

A watchdog group, Disability Rights Ohio, has the right under federal law to visit and investigate residential treatment facilities. It first works with facilities and licensing agencies to address complaints from children and parents. Following a nine-month investigation by the group, the state suspended admissions at Sequel Pomegranate Health Systems in Columbus. The facility first changed its name, but ultimately voluntarily relinquished its license in 2021.

Separately, a 16-month investigation by Disability Rights Ohio into Youth Intensive Services in Youngstown found pervasive abuse and frequent runaways who returned to the facility after being sexually or physically abused. Despite these findings, the facility remained licensed by the state.

After the investigation was made public, the state temporarily suspended admissions in July 2024. In February 2025, the facility surrendered its license.

Addison Torrence, who was placed at Sequel Pomegranate as a youth and is now a residential liaison for ACTION Ohio, a statewide child welfare advocacy organization, lauded Lett’s bill.

“Youth safety must always come first. Too many young people are being harmed in residential facilities, and delay only puts them at greater risk,” Torrence said. “This bill ensures the state can act immediately to protect them.”

Article about the Mohican Young Star Academy

DBH Threatens Former DYS Facility’s License, Defends Non-Issuance of HB96 Earmark
Hannah Report, May 7, 2026.

An embattled youth treatment center using facilities owned by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and licensed by the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) says the Ohio Supreme Court should force the DeWine administration to release three quarters of a million dollars earmarked for the Mohican Youth Star Academy in the FY26-27 budget. DBH describes the private facility as a “troubled” institution in a Court filing Monday -- but Mohican calls those and past misconduct claims “unmeritorious.”

The 140-acre campus was carved out of the Mohican-Memorial State Forest during the Great Depression and went through several uses before the former Ohio Youth Commission took over in the early 1960s and operated it as the Mohican Juvenile Correctional Facility (MoJCF) under the renamed Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) until 2010, when it closed as a state-run property and reverted to ODNR ownership.

The 1012 ODNR Mohican Road address near Perrysville has operated under several lessees and titles since 2013, including, among others, the Tri-State Youth Academy, Mohican Youth Academy, and Mohican Young Star Academy, the latter under current lessee JATAC Investments, Ltd., with former Ohio House candidate Scott Pullins as principal. Pullins in turn subleases the state-owned property and buildings to Young Star Academy, LLC, dba Mohican Young Star Academy and Empower to Elevate, LLC.

Attorney General Dave Yost sued Mohican in early 2021, alleging improper use of physical restraints, but the Ashland County Common Pleas Court ruled against the state, and the 5th Appellate District affirmed.

“I don’t think the standard for restraining residents should devolve into a situation where because you’re afraid to act, other people in the room get hurt or are subject to severe injury,” former Ashland County Judge Ron Forsthoefel told the Ashland Times-Gazette at the time. “Sometimes you don’t have time to read someone’s crisis management plan when they’re smacking you in the face.”

CARF International accredited the youth center with a score of 96.3 on a scale of 0-100 only four months later -- it's “highest accreditation,” according to Mohican -- but DBH’s predecessor, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS), continued administrative enforcement action in 2021. The matter was resolved without license revocation the following year.

In November 2024, Mohican operations transferred to 1012 ODNR, LLC and its administration to CEO and Executive Director Terry Jones, formerly mental health compliance director at OhioMHAS and director of behavioral health at CareSource. OhioMHAS executed a consent agreement with Jones requiring the youth facility to meet probationary terms before resuming certification and licensure. The contract required facility staff to complete department training in incident reporting and trauma-informed care and additional instruction through Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Evidence-Based Practices; to meet weekly with department staff for technical assistance on licensure, certification, clinical treatment and residential programs; to submit administrative reports documenting corrective actions; and to allow state regulators to conduct onsite visits verifying compliance with the Ohio Revised Code and Ohio Administrative Code. OhioMHAS returned Mohican to full certification and licensure five months later in April 2025 for a total capacity of 110 minors.

Meanwhile, the General Assembly earmarked $750,000 for Mohican in FY26 as part of HB96 (Stewart), saying the money “shall be distributed to Empowering to Elevate Academy and used to enhance security and improve facilities at the former Mohican Young Star Academy.”

Jones contacted DBH in October 2025 after the fiscal year had commenced to complete transfer of the funds, citing “urgent” security needs at Mohican. In his complaint to the Supreme Court, he says precedent has long established this as an administrative and “ministerial” act under Trauger v. Nash (1902), in which the Court held former Gov. George Nash must obey legislative mandates “without regard to or the exercise of his own judgment upon the propriety of the act being done.”

Two months and many communications later, DBH advised Jones that it was again initiating enforcement action to revoke Mohican’s license.

“The timing of this enforcement action -- issued on the same day DBH engaged outside counsel and while Mohican’s disbursement request remained pending -- indicates that DBH is attempting to revoke Mohican’s license and thereby avoid complying with the Ohio General Assembly’s directive to disburse the appropriated funds,” the complaint responds, noting the administration “rejected” Jones’ funding application outright in February of this year.

“At no point in DBH’s written communications -- across multiple formal demand letters, emails from Mohican’s counsel, and Mohican’s own repeated inquiries -- did DBH identify any specific authority upon which it is relying to withhold the appropriated funds.”

DBH, or the Ohio Attorney General on its behalf, countered Monday with a Court filing citing five alleged violations between March-December 2025, straddling the facility’s return to full licensure.

“Mohican is charged with failing to comply with incident reporting, documentation and notification requirements, failing to comply with medication storage requirements, failing to maintain staffing records, failing to maintain individual treatment plans and/or individual service plans for residents, failing to ensure residents receive the treatment those plans require, and failing to protect residents from acts of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and exploitation,” the administration states in its motion to dismiss.

Alternatively, DBH says it has “no obligation” to issue the $750,000 to Mohican rather than to Empower to Elevate under HB96 or to release the funds before June 30, 2026, the last day of the fiscal year.

“The bill does not require the money to be spent in FY26, nor does it require the enhancements to be completed in FY26,” it argues. “There is no clear legal duty here because relators ask this Court to enforce a duty that may occur in the future, not one occurring in the present.”

Mohican, in turn, says the Ohio Checkbook administered by the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) and Ohio Treasurer of State’s Office shows DBH has awarded more than $3.5 billion in legislative funding to 10 nonprofits as of March of this year.

“HB96 [does not] afford DBH the ability to delay payment; DBH’s ministerial duty is to receive the appropriated funds and distribute them to Mohican consistent with the Ohio General Assembly’s stated intent,” it states.

“The $750,000 appropriation was designated to support capital security enhancements and facility improvements,” Mohican continues. “These enhancements and improvements are necessary to maintain the operational standards necessary to serve its residents, to meet its obligations to the counties referring at-risk youth to the facility, and to comply with the very regulations that first the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), then OhioMHAS and now DBH have used as grounds for attempted certification and licensure revocations since 2017.”

The youth center has until Wednesday, May 6 to respond to the DeWine administration’s motion to dismiss.