The Marshall Project Article about Fox Run

It Was Supposed to Be a Haven for Troubled Teens. They Risked Everything to Escape
Brittany Hailer and Ilica Mahajan, The Marshall Project, July 30, 2026.

Clockwise from top left: Paitin Pahoundis, who spent time at the Fox Run Center for Children and Adolescents; a view of the Fox Run facility; Isabella Ramirez, who also spent time at Fox Run; and a view of the sign for the facility. 

Paitin Pahoundis jolted awake, a siren blaring in her ears. Her friend Samantha Primeau was in her room. It was time. The other girls, Samantha told her, were gone. They had jammed a sprinkler, triggering the fire alarm and filling the hallway outside with water. Their escape plan was working. But there was a problem: Paitin didn’t have shoes.

The checkered Vans and the white Jordans with the bright orange stripes that her father had bought her before he went to prison, the ones she meticulously kept in mint condition, had been taken by staff and locked in another room, along with the rest of her possessions. She was on “no personals” status for not following the rules. But, Paitin wanted out, and this was her chance.

As they walked out of the building and into a snowstorm, Paitin remembers a staff member standing in a doorway. She looked at Paitin and said, “If you want to go, just go.”

Over the five years reviewed, law enforcement officials visited the Fox Run facility, on average, once every 21 days. They went for 52 assaults and 17 sexual assaults. Nate Smallwood for The Marshall Project

Both teens said they dreamed of escaping the staff members who forcibly held them down hard enough to leave bruises, the blood in the hallways from kids cutting themselves, the girls strangling themselves with bedsheets, the adults who insisted no family wanted to adopt them and who looked through them like they were already gone.

On that January night in 2022, the girls careened down the hill below the Fox Run Center for Children and Adolescents, their pumping adrenaline temporarily masking the frigid Ohio air. Not even Paitin’s soaking wet socks slipping off in the snow could deter her descent toward freedom.

Barefoot, Paitin crossed the highway that snakes along the back end of Fox Run’s grounds, dodging cars and climbing over medians. As they considered going to a nearby hotel, things started to fall apart.

Electric pain ripped through Paitin’s frozen feet. Samantha felt herself getting sleepy and slowed to a crawl, wishing she could pass out right there. They had nowhere to go. All they could do was turn back in failure.

At the top of the hill, police dragged Paitin into a squad car. She pounded the window, screaming in agony. Before she was hospitalized, Paitin recalls a staff member walking up and peering in. “I bet you will never do that again, will you?”

She would, she told herself. “I would rather be dead outside in the snow.”

Over the five years reviewed, law enforcement officials visited the Fox Run facility, on average, once every 21 days. They went for 52 assaults and 17 sexual assaults.

Samantha Primeau spent time in and out of residential treatment centers as a teenager. She escaped together with Paitin Pahoundis from the Fox Run Center for Children and Adolescents during a snowstorm in January of 2022. Bethany Mollenkof for The Marshall Project 

Paitin spent three years at Fox Run in St. Clairsville, Ohio. She escaped multiple times and once made it across the state line from Ohio into West Virginia. Bethany Mollenkof for The Marshall Project

Paitin and Samantha desperately wanted to escape what was supposed to be a therapeutic haven for kids with mental health and behavioral issues. Instead, they found themselves confined for months — in Paitin’s case, years — inside an institution where they witnessed kids routinely attacking and sexually assaulting each other, anarchic riots by children pushed to the breaking point, and suicide attempts using makeshift weapons fashioned from scraps of metal or bedsheets, according to police and state records and numerous interviews.

They endured violence from some of the adults charged with their care, medically unnecessary sedative injections and long, painful periods of being physically held down by staff. Many of those same episodes, some of which ended with children in handcuffs or ambulances, appear to be missing from the state’s own oversight records, according to an analysis by The Marshall Project. This leaves parents, caseworkers, regulators, and the judges deciding where to place kids in foster care with an incomplete picture of what was happening behind the facility’s locked doors.

As the number of youth prisons dwindles in a nationwide push for rehabilitation over punishment, the juvenile justice system continues to place kids in residential treatment facilities like Fox Run. However, advocates say the facilities are “virtually indistinguishable from incarceration.” Some, like one in Pennsylvania with a record of child abuse, have secured contracts to house migrant children amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Fox Run, one of Ohio’s largest youth residential treatment centers, is owned by Universal Health Services, a Pennsylvania-based Fortune 500 company. It’s a privately operated, 100-bed facility housing boys and girls as young as 5 from as far away as Alaska. Many of the youth are sent by their parents, foster care agencies, and juvenile courts. 

County governments across Ohio have paid Fox Run millions of dollars to house children who have complex mental health or behavioral needs, according to county contracts. Kids were sent to Fox Run following suicide attempts or fights while in foster care. Others were placed by their parents at a doctor’s recommendation after a suicide attempt. Some, like Paitin, who lived at the facility for three years, found themselves at Fox Run because no foster parent would take them.

To understand what was happening inside Fox Run, The Marshall Project reviewed hundreds of pages of police and state inspection reports between 2020 and 2025, obtained through public records requests, and interviewed seven women previously housed in the facility. These records and interviews told stories of children desperate to escape, fleeing into cornfields, sprinting into traffic, and attempting to hitchhike. Former Fox Run staff members said the youth turned violent inside the facility because they were pushed to their limit. Many eventually ended up in juvenile detention as their behavior escalated. They thought ending up behind bars, like facing the frozen woods, would be an improvement over Fox Run.

In a statement, Fox Run CEO Randy MacKendrick said the facility serves children with “complex behavioral health needs” and that incidents involving aggression, self-harm, suicide and attempts to leave the facility are “unfortunately not uncommon among this high-acuity population.”

“Fox Run cooperates with state regulators and other oversight agencies, investigates concerns, and implements corrective actions whenever warranted,” MacKendrick added. “When concerns arise, they are reviewed promptly and, when appropriate, reported to the appropriate regulatory and law enforcement authorities.”

While officials from the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office diligently documented desperate attempts by children to get out of Fox Run, often through violence, many of those incidents were absent from a database maintained by the Department of Behavioral Health, the state agency charged with licensing and inspecting the facility. The Ohio Department of Behavioral Health and Belmont County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. At least 40 incidents of violent and desperate behavior at Fox Run reported by deputies do not appear in a state database that is meant to track what happens inside residential treatment facilities.

Samantha Primeau spent time in and out of residential treatment centers as a teenager. She escaped together with Paitin Pahoundis from the Fox Run Center for Children and Adolescents during a snowstorm in January of 2022.  Paitin spent three years at Fox Run in St. Clairsville, Ohio. She escaped multiple times and once made it across the state line from Ohio into West Virginia. 

What They’re Running From
Two years after Paitin and Samantha briefly considered seeking help at the nearby hotel, a 12-year-old trans boy walked into its lobby.

He fled Fox Run after a girl entered his room while he was sleeping, pressed a pillow over his head and wrapped her hands around his neck, according to a sheriff’s office report. Another youth stole a staff member’s keys and let the boy out.

He ran down the hill, crossed the highway and reached the hotel, where he told workers he was a runaway. They called the police. He was returned to Fox Run and arrested for theft. He had taken the keys with him when he fled.

Over the five years of police records reviewed by The Marshall Project, law enforcement officials visited the facility, on average, once every 21 days. They went for 52 assaults and 17 sexual assaults; some of those cases involved allegations of physical and sexual violence by staff. Police also responded to calls for unruly behavior or kids running away, or went to the facility after family members called for wellness checks because they couldn’t reach their children, or because their children reported abuses.

In March 2022, a staff member reported to police that an 11-year-old “forcibly sodomized” a 9-year-old boy while several other youths barricaded the door with a mattress. A Fox Run nurse told a detective that understaffing meant staff frequently left the floor “leaving the juveniles unattended.” Others said workers might have been out on smoke breaks.

The child was initially taken to a nearby hospital, but the facility lacked anyone certified to conduct a forensic examination. A nurse ordered a transfer to a hospital with trained personnel, but the child was instead returned to Fox Run without receiving a forensic exam.

The next day, when the nurse realized the child had missed the appointment, she contacted the police, reporting significant bruising to the face and rectal area. She said Fox Run staff delayed the child’s exam while waiting for permission from an out-of-state guardian and expressed serious concern for the child’s well-being, according to a sheriff’s office report.

When an officer returned to Fox Run, they found staff members were unclear on procedures for handling sexual assault allegations. It was only when the officer ultimately contacted the child’s out-of-state caseworker for verbal consent that the process of securing the necessary exam moved forward — a day later than the nurse’s order.

Two years later, state inspectors found Fox Run mishandled a separate sexual misconduct complaint — with staff encouraging a girl to work on her “assertiveness skills” after a male resident exposed himself and touched her, instead of addressing the boy’s actions.

Police also documented cases of staff directly causing harm to children.

In 2022, a staff member “violently” kicked an 11-year-old and after she was fired, she admitted to police that “she had done wrong.” She pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. In 2024, another staffer was terminated when he shoved his elbow into a boy’s mouth, leaving a visible red mark, after the boy hit him with a broom and called him a racial obscenity.

Last year, state inspectors discovered a child with a chipped tooth was not taken to a dentist for more than two months, nor were they given their prescribed antibiotics. Fox Run management subsequently reported a staff nurse to the state nursing board over the incident. State records indicate several suspected abuse cases in which MacKendrick, or another manager, personally called police, fired employees or notified other authorities.

Abigail, who was placed at Fox Run in late 2020 after a suicide attempt and asked to be identified only by her first name, remembers hearing other girls, including Paitin, screaming while being physically restrained by staff.

Legally, residential treatment staff can physically restrain a child by holding them to stop them from moving, typically because they believe the child is a danger to themselves or others. Sometimes staff will hold kids on the ground, against a wall or bend them over from behind. The use of mechanical devices — like belts, straps or harnesses — to restrain anyone under the age of 18 is prohibited in the state of Ohio and The Marshall Project’s review of state oversight reports and police records did not uncover evidence of these kinds of mechanical restraints being used.

“You just hear [her] screaming like, ‘I can’t breathe. You’re hurting me,’” Abigail said. “You’re listening to this, and there’s nothing anybody can do, and we’re all just like, in the room. I was sobbing. There were a lot of other people crying. People are trying to comfort other people … You’re just exposed constantly to violence from staff, violence from kids.”

Isabella Ramirez, who also lived in Fox Run with Paitin, said that kids would regularly misbehave in the hopes of being sent to juvenile detention. “At Fox Run, we begged the officers. We’d be bad in front of the officers just so they’d take us.” Isabella, who also had traumatizing experiences at several other residential treatment centers throughout her teens, recalled. “But they couldn’t take no more because the cells were full.”

Isabella Ramirez, who also lived in Fox Run, said that kids would regularly misbehave in the hopes of being sent to juvenile detention. Bethany Mollenkof for The Marshall Project

Recalling when she was held down by Fox Run workers, Isabella said, “[My skin] was purple. And I could get gasps of air out, saying I could not breathe.” Memories of the younger children at Fox Run, ages 5 to 6, who were held in what she said was called the “Dreams Unit,” still haunt her.

“Grown men would throw them like ragdolls,” she said of the children. “They’re just so little. They’re scared.”

Last July, a 15-year-old girl told a staff member, “I will do whatever I can to get the fuck out of this place,” after using metal brackets from the ceiling to cut her arm and threatening to cut staff members, according to a sheriff’s office report.

In 2021, a teenager who was denied the use of crutches by Fox Run staff, “immediately begged not to be taken back to the facility” after a police officer called for an ambulance to treat her injured leg and self-harm injuries.

An officer with the Belmont Sheriff’s Office spoke to a Fox Run employee while responding to a call in January 2022. “This administration’s got to do something here," he said. "How many calls have we been here in the last six months for?” Belmont County Sheriff's Office

Fox Run reported 126 suicide attempts to state inspectors from January 2022 to June 2025, a number that Marissa C. Nardi, lead counsel at youth advocacy nonprofit Children’s Rights, said “is not normal” and should “deeply alarm the state and prompt a thorough investigation.”

Children who attempted suicide at Fox Run sometimes found themselves behind bars with criminal charges because they threatened or attacked staff after wrapping bedsheets around their necks, cutting themselves or trying to swallow screws.

“If kids locked in a treatment facility are being traumatized instead of treated, to the point of regularly attempting suicide, fleeing into the woods, or seeking incarceration as a safer option, there is no acceptable justification for the state to keep placing children there,” Nardi said.

Using detention as a response to youth acting out in distress is a system failure, said Jeffrey Shook, a professor of social work, law and sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. Once children are in these systems, behavior gets criminalized, leading to deeper justice involvement rather than meaningful help. Mobile crisis teams or outside social workers, he said, should respond to calls involving youth crises while in psychiatric care.

“Taking that sheet and attempting to hang yourself. You’re saying something right there,” Shook said. ”Are we listening to that?”

An Industry Under Scrutiny
Since the 1950s, youth residential treatment centers, often rooted in religious-based behavior modification methods, have evolved into substance use or mental health treatment centers, boarding schools or wilderness camps. (Fox Run and its parent company are not religiously affiliated). The industry remains loosely regulated due to weak federal oversight and insufficient tracking of abuses, experts say.

The number of youth involved in the juvenile justice system who were placed in residential treatment facilities was around 29,300 in 2023, a jump of 4,400 from just two years earlier, figures from the Department of Justice show. At the beginning of this year, roughly 1,000 children were living in around 140 facilities in Ohio, according to state data.

Universal Health Services has faced two federal probes into its care of children, including one that led to a $122 million settlement with the federal government in 2020 after allegations that the company billed taxpayers for medically unnecessary services while failing to provide adequate care to patients. UHS was also the subject of a $553 million verdict in a negligence lawsuit in 2024, which the company settled out of court last year.

Fox Run’s parent company, Universal Health Services, has faced two federal probes into its care of children. Nate Smallwood for The Marshall Project

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee investigated UHS in 2024, alongside three other residential treatment providers. The committee found evidence of systemic abuse in different facilities across the four companies.

The committee’s report included two UHS facilities in Ohio — Belmont Pines Hospital in Youngstown and Foundations for Living in Mansfield — where records documented children being assaulted, improperly restrained and inappropriately medicated. Routine inspections by Ohio regulators have documented similar conditions at Fox Run.

In a response to the committee’s 2024 report, the company called the findings “incomplete and misleading.” UHS maintained that it took action when appropriate and thoroughly investigated allegations made by individuals and inspectors.

The Senate report “fails to recognize the thousands of children helped by our facilities over the years; children whose lives have been greatly enhanced as a result of their stay and the treatment they received,” UHS’ response read.

The conditions at residential facilities have even attracted celebrity attention. In 2024, Paris Hilton testified before Congress that she experienced physical and sexual abuse as a teenager at a residential treatment center in Utah and has pushed for reform.

Even so, a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found that nearly a third of states cannot identify patterns of maltreatment in residential facilities because they do not consistently track where abuse occurs.

Enough people have been traumatized by going through the system that a community on Reddit for “survivors and advocates who oppose the abusive Troubled Teen Industry” has swelled to tens of thousands of users over the past 15 years.

Organizations like Breaking Code Silence and Unsilenced gather testimony from people who experienced mistreatment. They also collect government documents — including inspections, investigations and citations of facilities across the country. Each website also offers templates and instructions for former residents to request their records from facilities.

‘No Child Should Be in There’

Six months before her escape in the snow, Paitin ran away with her friend Isabella. They were a part of a group of 10 girls, one of whom was hospitalized after she threatened to run into traffic. They made it about 10 miles down the road to Wheeling, West Virginia.

Police picked them up after the pair contacted their parents, who turned them in. The girls told Fox Run staff they’d hitchhiked with a local man who bought them clothes at Target and gave them money. Isabella said the man had a brother who had been placed in Fox Run. He understood their desire for freedom.

In bodycam footage obtained by The Marshall Project, an officer searching for the girls expresses his frustration on a phone call. “That fucking place needs [to be] shut down. I’m tired of it … I said this is ridiculous … Fucking shit hole,” the officer says.

“They’re just going to run again later,” he added, referring to the girls.

Several other adults connected to Fox Run shared the officer’s frustrations. In interviews, five former Fox Run employees told The Marshall Project that children lived in a constant state of crisis. One worker, Julie Lipscomb, was left with bruises, nerve damage from a bite wound and stress so severe she said her hair began falling out. “That place could turn the nicest person into what they feel like is a monster,” she said.

Sydney Smith, who worked at Fox Run for about four months last year after graduating high school nearby, underwent training on physically restraining kids before stepping out on the floor at Fox Run. But she said she wasn’t prepared for the reality of what she was asked to do.

“You were pinning children to the floor, usually one person on each arm and a person like laying perpendicular over their body,” Smith said. “And then somebody holding their head where they couldn’t bite you.”

State inspectors cited Fox Run multiple times for its use of restraints, inspection records show. One child under age 9 was held down for a full hour, double the state’s maximum time limit. Four other children were restrained for “substantial” periods despite being described as “calm, non-combative and quiet.” In 2022, inspectors found Fox Run injected children with sedatives without a clear link to a psychiatric condition.

Wendy Opic, who worked at Fox Run when Isabella and Paitin were there, said she still prays for the children inside the facility. She remembers a manager thanking her for de-escalating children through conversation instead of restraining them. “Isn’t this what you’re supposed to do?” Opic thought to herself. “Be nice to these children?”

“I kept thinking, how do you get this place shut down? Because I don’t know how to do anything like that. No child should be in there,” she said.

As she cried, she added: “They were just treated like animals.”

What Regulators Can’t See
The Marshall Project obtained inspection reports from the Department of Behavioral Health — the state agency regulating residential facilities for kids with significant behavioral health needs, like Fox Run — from September 2021 to February 2025. Inspectors cited Fox Run for unsafe restraints, medical neglect, understaffing and deteriorating facility conditions. However, inspection records do not show state follow-up investigations tied to those incidents.

Additionally, it seems that many incidents may have never reached regulators’ attention. An analysis of Fox Run’s self-reported incident data from January 2022 through June of 2025 found that at least 40 incidents involving police did not appear in state documents. An Ohio statute requires residential treatment facilities to report suicide attempts, arrests, assaults and child hospitalizations to the state within 24 hours of the occurrence.

The incidents for which the state had no record included: a child being arrested or taken to a juvenile detention center (21 incidents), assaults (15 incidents), and hospitalizations or evaluations by emergency medical services (9 incidents). The story of the trans boy who was arrested after being assaulted and escaping to the hotel did not appear in these official records.

The Department of Behavioral Health did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Of the 40 incidents that did not appear in state records, MacKendrick, the Fox Run CEO, said that a state review showed that some “were not reportable” while others “were appropriately reported,” but did not indicate which, or how many, of the dozens of incidents fell into each category.

MacKendrick noted that the facility had not been cited for violating the law for its handling of the reporting of any of the incidents The Marshall Project identified as not being in the state’s database.

Lax government oversight has largely been the norm for Ohio’s youth residential treatment industry. While several of the state’s residential treatment centers have voluntarily surrendered their licenses to operate following pressure from media or investigative agencies, only a few have actually had their licenses revoked. Most companies instead reach settlements with the state.

A watchdog group, Disability Rights Ohio, has the right under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to investigate residential treatment facilities, usually triggered by complaints from children and parents. The group’s investigations in recent years led to voluntary license suspensions by Sequel Pomegranate Health Systems in Columbus and Youth Intensive Services in Youngstown.

However, some state lawmakers want to force regulators into more aggressive responses when facilities harm children. A bill recently introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives by Rep. Crystal Lett would require the Department of Behavioral Health to take measures against youth treatment facilities with incidents of violence and other serious violations. That could mean even shutting them down rather than leaving the agency with discretion over what sanctions to impose, if any.

Lett said she introduced the measure in response to The Marshall Project’s investigation in November 2025 that revealed escalating violence, staff injuries and campus-wide fights at Mohican Young Star Academy, Ohio’s largest youth treatment facility. The report also led to the state suspending admissions to the facility and a license revocation hearing that began this June.

“With respect to the revocation hearing, we are unable to comment on pending litigation. We look forward to vindicating our rights through the appropriate legal process and do not believe there is merit to the alleged violations,” Mohican owner Zach Logan wrote in an email.

Mohican, which rebranded as Empowering to Elevate Academy in late 2025, has previously withstood at least two state efforts to shut it down. In 2021, former Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sued to remove the facility’s then-operator, Olga Strasser, over allegations of improper restraints, but a judge dismissed the case for lack of evidence. Yost vowed to move forward with revoking the facility’s license, but the state’s ongoing effort hasn’t been successful.

“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 April of this year. “I can’t help thinking: If my kid were in there right now, what am I doing to help that kid?”

A photo shows a White woman with long blue hair, wearing a blue T-shirt, standing in front of a white building. Some leaves from a tree are visible above her. 

A black-and-white photo shows a Mexican American woman sitting in the driver’s seat of a car, looking out the window. 

A White woman with reddish blonde hair, wearing a black tube top and jean shorts, sits under a tree. 

 Paitin desperately wanted to escape what was supposed to be a therapeutic haven for kids. Instead, she found herself routinely witnessing kids attacking and sexually assaulting each other. Bethany Mollenkof for The Marshall Project 

 Isabella, who is raising her toddler, has been accepted to college. She wants to go into nursing to help kids like her. Bethany Mollenkof for The Marshall Project 

 “I did a lot of crazy things in residential, but it was because of the environment. There’s only so much a person can take,” said Samantha, who now spends as much time as she can in nature, reading and taking photos with friends. Bethany Mollenkof for The Marshall Project

For the children who have come out the other side of living in residential treatment, the healing process is often a slow one.

Years after her escape and discharge, Paitin still has the shoes staff members took from her, but she never put them on after getting out. She’s kept them pristine, a cherished object from her dad. “It hurts me to see them dirty,” she said. When he visited her at her new apartment, he immediately noticed the shoes. “He looked happy,” Paitin said.

Paitin, Samantha and Isabella have a collection of various items from their stays in Fox Run and other residential treatment facilities: clothes with their initials still written on the tags, journals, drawings, and, for some of them, medical records detailing psychiatric treatment.

When Paitin requested her records, Fox Run administrators told her she’d have to return to the facility to get her paper documents. She said she had a panic attack in the parking lot and couldn’t set foot in the building.

It’s just one way the facility’s impact lingers.

“I’m more quiet, reserved now, and it’s just not who I remember me being,” Paitin said. “Like, it makes me want to cry. I remember being so bubbly and everything. Now I just feel like I’m stuck in the same mindset ... It’s kind of like I’m numb.”

She still dreams of running. Sometimes she wakes up and forgets she’s no longer locked inside Fox Run. Other days, she dreams of what life is like outside of Ohio and its expanse of cornfields. For now, she leans on her friends. They Snapchat, call and text each other. They gather evidence and give it to a journalist. They hope for change.

“I just feel bad for the kids that are still there,” Paitin said.

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.

Raymond Deaton in the News

Montgomery County reports decline in child welfare cases; local teen’s story reflects importance of stepping up
Sydney Dawes, Dayton Daily News, April 2, 2026.

Raymond Deaton smiles while talking about what he hopes for his future. Deaton shared his experiences with Montgomery County Children Services during the annual Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month event at Haines Children’s Center in Dayton. 

Cases of child abuse and neglect declined in all categories from 2024 to 2025, with Montgomery County Children Services screening 3,134 reports for review. This is a 12% drop from the year before.

Montgomery County leaders say these totals reflect a downward trend since a spike in cases in the early pandemic years. Montgomery County Children Services receives hundreds of calls monthly from concerned citizens, mandated reporters and agencies that work with the county’s job and family service department.

For Raymond Deaton, 17, a journey toward healing started with one of these calls. His sister reported the abuse within their home after she moved out of the house.

“I saw horrors, I saw things I can’t forget,” he said. “But she decided to take the initiative to tell. To report the abuse that was going on.”

Deaton and his other siblings were taken away, and he found himself creating a new home with a foster family.

“They literally changed everything,” he said. “They were the symbol in the foster care system that I was wanting to see. I was able to find my true self and find what I am living for.”

April is nationally recognized as Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month. Montgomery County Commission President Carolyn Rice said prevention begins with recognizing the early signs of abuse and neglect, offering support and stopping harm before it occurs.

Some warning signs include unexplained injuries, frequent absences from school, fear of parents or guardians, and extreme behavior changes, and appearing consistently dirty or hungry.

Montgomery County residents are encouraged to call the county’s 24-hour hotline at 937-224-KIDS to report concerns. Calls are confidential, and callers can remain anonymous.

“Noticing a change and making a call can be the first step toward helping a child find safety and stability,” said Craig Rickett, associate director of Montgomery County Children Services. Reporting is not an accusation, officials said.

Deaton said he thinks his story is important because he survived something that other local children may be actively experiencing. 

“We forget that there’s a wide open, clean slate in front of us,” he said. “We have that pencil, we have that paint. And we have the ability to draw whatever we want on there.”

For Deaton, his canvas is filled with typical teenage dreams: getting his driver’s license and finishing high school. But his other dream is to let people who may relate to his journey know they’re not alone.

“I see a future, I really do,” he said. “And I see a future for all these other foster kids. I want them to know, through this, that there is an end.”

Former Foster Youth, Current CASA Volunteer

John Collins Uses Foster Care Experience to Help Fostered Youth at CASA of Franklin County
Sophia Veneziano, Columbus Monthly, May 5, 2025.

John Collins grew up in the foster care system. Now, he helps other foster kids by serving with CASA of Franklin County.

John Collins is a volunteer with CASA of Franklin County, which helps children in foster care.

Growing up experiencing the difficulties and isolation children can feel in the foster care system in Southern California, John Collins knew he wanted to give back in some way to kids experiencing the same hardship.

He and his older sister, Renata Murdock, were repeatedly separated and reunited as they faced new foster families and living situations. Eventually, Murdock became his legal guardian to help get her younger brother through high school.

Years later as an adult, despite his desire to be involved, Collins also wanted to shield his own children from the world of the child welfare system that he knew personally.

Unexpectedly, while sharing his story with a fellow parent, he learned about the Court Appointed Special Advocate program, or CASA. Soon after, his job moved Collins and his family to Ohio, and he went through the volunteer training to become an advocate to the court, known as a guardian ad litem.

He didn’t immediately pick up a case. Five years later, Collins would go through additional training and begin serving with CASA of Franklin County. Collins says he’s grateful to be “fulfilling that itch to give back.”

As a CASA, Collins focuses on youth who are aging out of the system.

“I just try to be a constant voice of understanding, but also a voice of experience to let them know that light at the end of the tunnel really starts to get bright when they’re staring down the inevitability of their independence,” Collins says. “I try to let them know, ‘You have a support system, and there are resources out here available. You’re not alone. You’re going to be okay.’ ”

Beyond these cases, which include connecting with the children around their sophomore year of high school, Collins coaches basketball. He also mentors students through Capital City Young Aviators, which helps at-risk youth through aviation-based experiences. Collins also is on the board of the Friends of CASA of Franklin County.

In all he does, Collins’ empathy as an advocate sets him apart.

Because of the trauma experienced by the kids CASA serves, many would not choose to return as an advocate, says Kevin Greenwood, program director of CASA of Franklin County. “It gives [Collins] a deeper understanding of what our children may be going through,” he says. Those interesting in volunteering with CASA can visit casa.franklincountyohio.gov.

This article was made possible by support from the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation, which has partnered with Columbus Monthly to profile those making our community a better place. Help us inspire kindness by suggesting people, initiatives, or organizations for Reporter Sophia Veneziano to profile. She can be reached at sveneziano@dispatch.com.  

Cleveland's First Foster Care Closet

'We see you': Inside Cleveland's first foster care closet, where every child gets to choose
Lindsay Buckingham, WKYC, March 23, 2026.

Kathy DiVincenzo founded Honey from the Rock after discovering Cuyahoga County leads Ohio in children experiencing foster care — and nothing like this existed.

Walk through the doors of Honey from the Rock and it doesn't feel like a charity warehouse — it feels like a boutique.

That's exactly the point.

Racks of clothing organized by size, shelves lined with books and hygiene products, stuffed animals donated by the Cleveland Monsters from their annual teddy bear toss — every inch of this 9,500-square-foot space in Cleveland was built with one word in mind: dignity.

"The goal is, 'Can we make it look like a boutique? Can we elevate that experience for them?' And we can only do it through community support," said Kathy DiVincenzo, founder and executive director of Honey from the Rock — Cleveland's first foster care closet.

DiVincenzo knows firsthand what foster families need. As a foster parent herself, she didn't find her purpose in a boardroom — she found it in her own home.

"I always say that I found my purpose in proximity," she said. "It wasn't until I literally lived the need that I saw the need. Here in Cuyahoga County, we lead in the number of kids experiencing foster care in the state of Ohio."

That statistic stopped her cold — and motivated her to act. In January of last year, what DiVincenzo thought would be a small closet opened its doors as a 9,500-square-foot community hub. She was shocked to find nothing like it existed before.

"I was shocked to find that there wasn't a resource like this prior to us starting it," she said.

Support from Honey from the Rock begins the moment a child enters the foster care system — even before they arrive at the space.

"Our support actually starts the moment they come into care in Metro Health Triage," DiVincenzo explained. "We have what's called our Gap Pack program, providing that emergent support for a child coming into the triage process. And then we have our emergency order within 48 hours."

After that initial support, children can return up to four times a year — either shopping in the boutique in person or placing a custom curbside order, similar to a Target Drive Up experience.

But what sets Honey From the Rock apart isn't just the resources — it's the philosophy behind every single order.

"Every child who walks through these doors gets something most of us take for granted: a choice," DiVincenzo said. "Being able to bring them into a space like this and they get to literally choose their own style — we just had a 14-year-old shopping last night who had a style where if I was packing her emergency order, I wouldn't have expected from her. So being able to welcome them in and say, 'Who are you?' Let's discover that sometimes for the first time together of a safe space that they can really choose who they want to be and how they want to represent themselves."

That philosophy carries into every custom order — down to the last detail.

"We even had Sonic socks that we were able to find for a little dude that loves Sonic," DiVincenzo said. "So each and every element of the order is saying, 'We see you, and what you love really matters to us.'"

And Cleveland, DiVincenzo says, has shown up in a way that moves her to tears.

"Watching Cleveland link arms ... there is truly nothing better than to be able to see a need and with the help of Cleveland to be able to fill it."

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Honey from the Rock welcomes the community to get involved in three ways:

• You can volunteer as a worker bee, coming in to pack custom orders and sort donations.
• You can donate new or like-new items every Wednesday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. — just pull up curbside and volunteers will handle the rest.
• You can give online. 

Article about Dalen from April 2025

With local child abuse cases declining, neglect cases up 9%: ‘See something. Say something’
Dayton Daily News, Sydney Dawes, April 11, 2025.

Dalen Myles and Montgomery County Commissioner Carolyn Rice wave during a National Child Abuse Prevention Month event on Wednesday at Haines Children's Center. Myles, a former foster youth, spoke about enduring abuse at home and how an observant adult helped him. Rice also spoke and urged people report suspected abuse. 

Montgomery County Children Services investigated 3,750 cases of child abuse and neglect last year, with reports of neglect up 9% compared to 2023 totals. Reports of abuse were down 10% compared to the previous year, according to Montgomery County Children Services data. Montgomery County officials are urging community members to be vigilant and report any concerning behavior.

For Dalen Myles, a phone call made by a caring adult changed his life. Myles, an 18-year-old months away from attending the University of Dayton to study cybersecurity, shared his experiences during a child abuse and neglect prevention event in Dayton on Wednesday.

April is nationally recognized as Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month.

Myles said that as a child, his home wasn’t always a safe place. His father would constantly ridicule Myles. After one explosive event, Myles said he was afraid to even return home and didn’t know how to tell people about his experiences. “I stopped smiling as much,” he said. “And I started clenching at the sound of his voice.”

Myles wrote about the mistreatment he was experiencing in a journal — he said it was a way for him to “leave his own footprints.” More than 100 pages he penned showed names he was called, and other actions he experienced.

When adults at Myles’ school began noticing a change in Myles, he showed them his journal. “The thoughts I was scared to share with others were written in this notebook,” he said. “I had so much balled up that I didn’t know how to untangle.”

As of this week, Montgomery County Children Services has opened 822 neglect and abuse cases this year. The department receives an average of 500 to 1,000 calls or referrals monthly.

Jordan in the News

Dayton teen gets White House tour after being recognized for foster youth advocacy work
Russell Florence Jr., Dayton Daily News, March 9, 2026. 

Northmont High School graduate Jordan Deaton of Dayton was recognized Feb. 3 at the White House for his advocacy as a former foster youth.

Deaton joined leaders from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth who were invited to the White House by the Office of the First Lady and the Administration for Families and Children in recognition of First Lady Melania Trump’s Fostering the Future initiative, which is part of her Be Best program.

“It was amazing, awesome and an honor,” said Deaton, 19. “I was a little nervous but I had a lot of courage. My passion drove my fear away. I want the world to know my experience because it’s important to show my peers and those younger than me that the youth can make an impact. My advocacy drives me to do everything I do. I’m not shy about anything.”

Deaton’s foster care history involves his adoptive parents, Sara Beth Deaton and Rodney Deaton, being indicted last summer on a dozen charges in connection to alleged physical punishments they used on their six children in Montgomery County. The incidents started as early as 2012, when the children were between the ages of 1 and 7 years old, and continued for more than a decade, according to court records.

“They adopted me,” Deaton said. “I was in foster care before and then they adopted me and then I went back in, which is unique and (something) a lot of people don’t experience. I have a lot of experience — a lot of good and a lot of pain — but it’s not holding me back. There has been negativity that’s happened to me — the story of my parents — but look what I’ve overcome."

Heather Kirkland, Deaton’s friend and former foster parent, is proud of what he has accomplished in spite of his circumstances. In addition to graduating with honors from Northmont in 2025, he received the Samuel Halperin Youth Public Service Award from the Children’s Defense Fund of Ohio, was recognized as a 2025 PCSAO Leader of Tomorrow and rose to Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, earning Distinguished Cadet honors.

“We are very proud of what Jordan has chosen to do with the path that he’s been given,” said Kirkland, who housed Deaton for nearly three years beginning in August 2023. “We’ve had a lot of kids in our home and not all of them choose this path. They leave and the world kind of eats them up. But Jordan has chosen a different path. He’s chosen to take what has been meant for harm to make it good and to help others, (particularly) other kids in similar situations. I think it’s admirable he chose that path (instead) of just dwelling in the past.”

In addition to serving as a member of the Ohio Youth Advisory Board, Deaton participates in Bridges, a program for young adults in Ohio who were in foster care and are now 18 to 21 years old. It is an outlet that helps participants leave foster care and start their adult life.

At the White House, Deaton was joined by DCY Assistant Director Jeff Van Deusen and his Bridges advocate Lisa Carlin. According to DCY, their visit including meetings with: Sarah Gesiriech, the First Lady’s policy director; Alex Adams, assistant secretary of ACF; and Cody Inman, deputy assistant secretary for management.

They were joined by other advocates “to discuss initiatives that will enhance foster youth’s access to services and help them transition effectively after foster care. Assistant Director Van Deusen also highlighted several programs implemented in Ohio that support the Fostering the Future initiative,” according to a press release.

The visit also included a private tour of the White House.

“Some of my favorite things were seeing all the different paintings of the presidents,” Deaton said. “Seeing the different rooms and what they were used for and why they were built was (also) cool.”

In a press statement Van Deusen praised Deaton for sharing his testimony and being a powerful advocate.

“It was an incredible honor to represent Ohio and the DeWine Administration at the White House and see firsthand the impact programs like Fostering the Future have on youth in foster care,” Van Deusen said. “Jordan’s story is a shining example of resilience and what’s possible when young people are supported, encouraged and (have) the tools to succeed.”

Deaton attends Sinclair Community College and would like to pursue a career in public service. He particularly hopes to be an inspiration for youth within the foster care system.

“We have a voice and we know how to articulate it,” he said. “We are victims but we won’t stay victims. We won’t stay down. We will change the world.”

Press Release about the Fostering School Success Act

Bipartisan Legislation on Foster Students Success Passes House Floor
March 4, 2026

State Rep. Dontavius L. Jarrells (D-Columbus) and Sharon Ray (R-Wadsworth) today celebrated the Ohio House’s favorable passage of bipartisan House Bill (HB) 25, the Fostering Student Success Act. HB 25 passed the Ohio House Workforce and Higher Education Committee with a vote of 13-0 last week and passed the House Floor today with a vote of 92-1.

“The Fostering School Success Act creates clear points of support inside every school system, so foster youth are not left to navigate instability on their own,” said Rep. Jarrells. “The Fostering School Success Act sends a simple message to foster youth across Ohio. You matter. Your education matters. And the adults in this system have a responsibility to show up for you consistently.”

The Fostering Student Success Act requires state agencies to support local foster care education liaisons and foster family navigators. The bipartisan legislation also requires that state agencies disseminate educational resources and any scholarship opportunities specifically for students placed in foster care to their agency’s website. As a result, HB 25 ensures every district and school designates a foster care education liaison and strengthens coordination between education, higher education, and child welfare agencies.

“House Bill 25 is designed to provide critical support to Ohio’s foster youth as they pursue higher education. It seeks to address the unique and often overwhelming challenges faced by students in foster care who frequently lack the familial support networks that many of their peers rely on to access and succeed in postsecondary education,” said Rep. Ray.

HB 25 now awaits further consideration by the Ohio Senate.

Fostering School Success Bill focuses on K-12 experiences of Ohio foster youth

Ohio House passes bill to improve public school experience for foster students
Kreemer, Avery, Dayton Daily News, March 5, 2026. 

The Ohio House passed a bill 92-1 on Wednesday meant to improve the K-12 experience for Ohio children placed in foster care.

The bill, House Bill 25, has enjoyed broad support from the start of its legislative journey, evidenced by its bipartisan sponsors, overwhelming public support in committee, a unanimous vote out of committee, and a landslide passage on the House floor.

But, it's also seen significant changes. It was originally intended to create a Foster-to-College scholarship fund, complete with a $15 million appropriation. That idea was scrapped for the time being, and instead, H.B. 25 was drafted with a focus on creating "education liaisons" and "foster family navigators" in every K-12 school building across the state. These roles can be filled by existing school staffers, who would receive role-specific training once a year, under the bill.

In committee testimony, bill sponsor Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, described the education liaison as someone "whose job is to help a student enroll immediately, transfer records quickly, stay connected to their school of origin when possible, and receive support when a move is unavoidable."

Family navigators, Jarrells said, would provide foster students with another level of care.

"These are adults who know the students by name. They check in. They help with academics, with activities, and with planning for what comes after high school. They help students understand college options, career training, and workforce pathways. They make sure young people in foster care are not invisible in the systems meant to serve them," Jarrells said.

In sum, Jarrells argued, the law would enhance coordination between K-12 schools, higher education opportunities, and the child welfare agencies that ultimately oversee the well-being of foster children.

On the House floor Wednesday, Jarrells said this coordination will ultimately "save lives."

The bill received considerable bipartisan support. House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told this outlet that he believes the bill will create a more inclusive environment for foster children, a population in Ohio that, in some ways, has "completely different needs than most kids."

Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Twp., who chairs the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee, told his colleagues on the House floor that passing H.B. 25 is a victory not only for foster students but also for the Ohio House itself.

The bill now heads to the Ohio Senate for further vetting.

Concerns Expressed By Ohio Parents, Part 2

 These Ohio parents want multiple child services agencies investigated

King, Danae. Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 19, 2026.  

A group of Ohio parents went to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's office on the morning of Feb. 18 in hopes of speaking with someone about various concerns they have about children's welfare.

"We are a group of parents who have connected over our shared experience of trying to navigate the child welfare system and the judicial entities involved, like family court," said Khaula Zafar, a mother of three who lives in Grove City.

Zafar and her husband, Faraan Qureshi, have been trying for three years to first find, and then make contact with the brother of their adopted son so the two can have a relationship. But she said they have been thwarted by child protective services at every step along the way.

"We have all experienced significant hardship, but have also encountered what may be criminal violations and indications of public corruption," Zafar said.

With her in the first-floor multipurpose room of the Rhodes Tower, where Yost's office is, were five other parents.

Deqa Haji and her husband, Said Abdullahi, have been trying for four years to get back custody of their son. He is a twin and was harmed during birth by medical professionals performing a C-section, Haji said. They are raising his twin and their two other children, but have not been able to get custody of him back from the foster parents.

"Our children are not case numbers," Haji said. "They deserve dignity, respect and justice. ... What we're seeking is systemic accountability."

Joining the group as well was Tina Savage, of Carlisle, in southwestern Ohio. She has been trying to get back custody of her 2-year-old grandson, whom she said she raised until he was 1-year-old.

Martha Matteson, of Marion, has been trying to gain full custody of her 7-year-old daughter for two years.

Talisha McKenzie, of Dayton, was also present and fought for the custody of her children for nearly two years before successfully getting them back. She came because she knows what happened to her – losing her children and fighting the system to get them back – is happening all the time to other parents, she said.

She believes it's a violation of due process. Federal child safety laws are also being violated, Zafar said.

All the parents have reached out to multiple state agencies for help or to ask who can help. But they each said they were sent to different agencies every time, eventually ending up at the one they started with and getting no help.

"Make it make sense," McKenzie said.

Savage said she's found that there is no accountability for county child protective service agencies – none of the parents have found someone who will hold agencies accountable.

Zafar has spent months trying to get answers and hold agencies accountable, so she gathered other parents she's met in similar situations to go to the Ohio Attorney General's help desk.

Advertised on the office's website is a toll-free number, daily hours and an address for a "help center" on the 14th floor of the Rhodes Tower.

"Why can't I go in?" Zafar asked, after the security desk asked her and the others to wait in the first-floor multipurpose room.

They arrived around 11 a.m. and waited as security guards called upstairs, though the families were continually denied an opportunity to speak to someone and told to wait in the room downstairs.

At one point, McKenzie alone was allowed upstairs to file a report and was told she could only live chat with someone via her phone, that the person there could not help her.

"What is the accessibility of our government that I can't go ask?" Zafar said. "We've all independently tried to report these concerns across many different entities throughout this state – many levels, local to state – and have not had any success gaining any accountability."

Around 3 p.m., someone from Yost's office went down to speak with those assembled, but the office would not offer further comment except to share their constituent services hotline.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's office said they didn't know the parents were down there until someone else alerted them. As to why the parents were asked to wait on the first floor, the spokesperson referred The Dispatch to lobby security, noting that is not part of their office.

The constituent services representative from the Attorney General's office listened to their stories for nearly two hours, took down their information and shared his, Zafar said. At first, he tried to tell them it wasn't in his office's jurisdiction, but the parents kept persisting, Zafar said.

"It's just a whole mess," Zafar said. "They tried to run us around, but we know the laws."

Concerns Expressed By Ohio Parents, Part 1

Adoptive Ohio family claims agency blocking effort to reunite brothers
Hoffman, Anna. NBC4. Dec. 10, 2025.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A family is claiming discrimination by an Ohio agency after they were denied the opportunity to reunite biological brothers, one of whom is with a different foster family.

The family is Muslim, and they think that may be why they’ve not been able to move forward with the adoption of their adopted son’s biological brother. They say this has been devastating, and everything they are doing now is with the intention of their son knowing his biological family.

“All I can think about are my son’s losses, that’s all I can think about,” Khaula Zafar said.

Zafar and her husband, Faraan Qureshi, are licensed foster parents. They said they have taken in children of all ages and backgrounds.

Zafar and Qureshi’s son is now five years old. He was their foster child, and they adopted him when he was two, around the same time they learned through social media that he may have a biological brother.

“Our journey has very much been about reunification and family preservation,” Zafar said.

Ohio law says, “Agencies and courts need to make reasonable efforts to place siblings together or allow visitation.”

Zafar said that after repeated attempts to contact Franklin County Children’s Services about the brother, they eventually found out the brother was in the system, but with another family.

“We’re like, ‘OK, something happened,’” Zafar said. “Clearly, there were mistakes made.”

She said that at this time last year, FCCS contacted them and said it would be best to keep the siblings together. However, two hours later, she said they walked that back.

“The only reason given to us is that they are not required to keep the siblings together by law and that in their opinion, because our son is adopted, these children are not legally siblings and we are not kinship, and that was the decision the FCCS has stood by and the reasoning that they stood by for months,” Zafar said.

The family said they then tried to set up visits for the siblings. However, they said FCCS gave all power to the foster family rather than facilitating the visits themselves

“It’s our son’s biological brother that he is getting denied any connection with, right? Because we’re not getting any support from the organization,” Qureshi said.

They said there were red flags at the few meet-ups they were allowed to have, such as having counsel there to supervise. The family said they also found social media posts they said were alarming from the child’s foster family.

“The other problem is that these foster parents of this child is with have been very, very vocal about their intention, how they’re motivated by their faith, their Catholicism, their Christianity, their take in children, and to, to guide them, in a sense,” Qureshi said.

Zafar and Qureshi said the foster family became more and more difficult to get a hold of, canceling set-up visit times and, eventually, severing contact with Zafar and Qureshi.

Then, on Nov. 11, they received an email saying they were not chosen as a match for their son’s brother.

“We have a situation where a decision has been made that has clearly not been guided by the best interests of a child, where laws have not been followed in the ways that they should have been, and serious well-being concerns have not been taken into consideration,” Zafar said.

Three weeks later, FCCS sent them an email saying, “This decision was not made lightly,” and went on to list several key factors they based their decision on, which include the child being in the current foster home since birth and the current foster parent expressing interest to adopt.

Zafar and Qureshi believe both their son and his brother have Muslim ties.

“What is evident from something as simple as his name is that he has ties to a cultural community that is predominantly Muslim,” Zafar said. “I cannot say parents follow x-y-z religion, right, but based on what is evident, it is clear he has ties to the Muslim community.”

They said that based on their standing as foster parents and what is said in Ohio law, the only answer they can come up with for why their request was denied is due to discrimination.

“It’s hard to feel otherwise,” Qureshi said. “I don’t see. It’s like she said earlier, it’s either specifically our background or there’s a systemic issue or they’re just targeting anyone that’s not the standard. I don’t know.”

Franklin County Children’s Services said in a statement:

“The adoption team at Franklin County Children Services continues to monitor and review this case, prioritizing the best interests of this young boy and the permanent support, safety, and sense of belonging that can come when a child in the foster care system can be placed with a ‘forever family.’ We always strive to find placement opportunities where children can maintain a safe connection to the culture, background, and extended family. Ultimately, the courts will be asked to make the final determination.”

“It’s been so difficult, like, really, it’s this whole past year has taken a toll on us,” Zafar said.

The family hopes that by speaking out, they will be able to find legal help. They are concerned about a deadline to appeal and running out of time.

Bill proposed by Representatives Williams and Miller

Ohio bill would fill gaps in child abuse reporting systems
Bethea, Jesse. NBC4, Feb. 19, 2026. 

Two state lawmakers are proposing a bill to remedy gaps they see in the statewide system for responding to allegations of child abuse.

Ohio Reps. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.) and Darnell Brewer (D-Cleveland) plan to introduce what they call Kei’Mani’s Law, named after Kei’Mani Latigue, a 13-year-old girl who was abducted and killed last year in Toledo. 

Following Kei’Mani’s death and the criminal charges filed against the girl’s father, Columbus activist and area commissioner Peaches Calhoun began looking for ways that state and local agencies could better address reports of child abuse and neglect. She found that too often, schools, welfare agencies and law enforcement are not sharing information.

“My thoughts were, what if we connect?” Calhoun said. “If it’s reported at school, the hospital and the police station should know about it, that way everybody is on the same accord, everybody is holding everybody responsible.” 

Calhoun took her thoughts to Williams, who, along with Brewer, developed Kei’Mani’s law, which will expand and strengthen information sharing between schools, child protection services and the courts. It would also require schools to designate a child protection liaison to be responsible for coordinating and managing reports of abuse among their students. 

“Schools are often the first place signs of abuse are noticed,” Brewer said. “This bill creates a clear point of contact, someone accountable for communication, coordination and follow-through.” 

Williams and Brewer said that reports of abuse were properly investigated leading up to Kei’Mani’s abduction and death, but it’s the system itself that needs to change. 

“Those professionals operated within the frameworks of the current law of the state of Ohio,” Williams said. “But as legislators, when a tragedy reveals gaps in communication or accountability, it is our responsibility to respond.”

The bill also permits child protective services to share information with criminal courts, something that Capital University Law Professor Jennifer Goldson said could raise due process concerns. According to Goldson, the idea that courts would be made aware every time an abuse, neglect, or dependency investigation is opened calls into question the rights of the person under investigation. 

“I don’t think a court should be getting involved in a children’s services investigation until a case is opened,” Goldson said. “Which doesn’t happen until children’s services investigates, finds substantiation of the claims and ultimately files a complaint.” 

Kei’Mani’s Law would require prompt entering of information into the Uniform Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) and would expand access to SACWIS to child protection liaisons, courts and law enforcement, but would also require the security of that information. 

“While knowledge sharing is a critical aspect of this legislation, it is also important that those trusted with this information are trained and held to the highest standard,” Brewer said

Deeply grateful for the Junior League of Columbus and their advocacy and support