Troubled children centers closing

[firedupdem]

Institutions shuttered as state pushes community programs to save money.

Karen Bouffard / The Detroit News

Adrian Training Center will be shuttered Jan. 24 to help close a $540 million shortfall in Michigan's budget -- but the plan also signals the end of an era in how troubled children are treated in the state.

The institution was in operation for nearly 130 years and cost taxpayers $7.8 million annually for the treatment of 31 wayward girls. But in Michigan and nationwide, experts are moving away from institutionalizing children -- a trend that affects not only juvenile delinquents but other children with severe emotional or behavioral problems placed in long-term residential treatment centers, where they often remain for years.

Instead, the state is shifting resources to keep children at home or in foster homes, reflecting today's belief among child welfare experts that institutions are outmoded, expensive and ineffective. But some child advocates say severely ill children cared for in the community often aren't getting the services they need to be successful. And many in law enforcement complain delinquents can be a danger to their communities

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