Cuyahoga County is pressing ahead with a plan to turn the Metzenbaum Center into a 32-bed, "homelike" community correctional facility for youth that officials say will lean heavily on therapy, education and family contact instead of traditional lockup. The proposal calls for classrooms, visiting rooms and outdoor recreation, and county leaders say construction could start this fall, with doors opening in early 2028 if everything stays on track.
Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan announced that the Ohio Controlling Board signed off on releasing $29,651,856 in capital funding, according to the Ohio House of Representatives. Routed through the Ohio Department of Youth Services, the money is earmarked as capital support for a county-run residential program meant to keep more adjudicated youth closer to home instead of shipping them to distant facilities.
County Council is expected to vote this month on a roughly $30 million plan to retrofit the Metzenbaum campus into the new community correctional facility, as reported by Cleveland.com. The design calls for a partial renovation plus an addition that would create four housing units with eight beds each, along with classrooms, therapy spaces, recreation areas and family visiting rooms.
What the facility will include
Planners say the layout is meant to feel healing-centered and therapeutic, not like a standard detention block, with a staffing model that includes youth specialists, mental health clinicians, medical staff, mentors and "credible messengers," according to Cleveland.com. Juvenile Court Deputy Court Administrator Bridget Gibbons noted that "sending kids to distant CCFs makes family engagement and reentry harder," and officials say keeping more services local could free up county dollars. Outdoor amenities are expected to include space for a garden and a basketball court, and county documents call for choosing a design-builder in June and locking in a guaranteed construction price later this year.
Site and services
The Metzenbaum Center already houses early intervention and diversion programs run by the Juvenile Court and is listed at 3343 Community College Avenue, Cleveland, on the court's website, which officials say should help knit residential care together with existing local services, according to the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. With the community correctional facility tucked near the court and other partners, supporters expect family visits and follow-up services to be easier for youth and their support networks.
Why this matters now
State leaders have been working to swap out large, prison-style youth facilities for smaller, trauma-informed centers, a strategy that cleared major capital funding earlier this year and includes new facilities in Bedford and Grafton, as reported by News 5 Cleveland. Backers say the Metzenbaum project plugs Cuyahoga County into that broader overhaul and could cut the number of young people sent to distant state placements, while boosting family engagement and improving reentry.
Council members are expected to act this month; if they sign off, county leaders plan to select a design-builder and finalize the construction price before work begins. The goal, officials say, is to offer justice-involved youth closer, more therapeutic options and reduce the costs and disruption that come with long-distance placements.
