Repurposed Middlesex treatment facility to house juvenile offenders

MIDDLESEX, Vt. (WCAX) - The state of Vermont has revamped a former temporary psychiatric facility in Middlesex to house juvenile offenders. Since the closure of the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in 2020, the state has struggled to hold teens in the criminal justice system. But in about a week, officials hope to fill a missing piece of the puzzle.

Work crews on Friday were putting the finishing touches on what will soon house Vermont juvenile offenders ages 14 to 18.

"There's a cascading effect when you don't have that safe secure facility for treatment for kids with the highest and most acute needs," said Vt. Dept. for Children and Families Commissioner Chris Winters.

The former Middlesex Therapeutic Community Residence is located just off Route 2 in Middlesex and was originally used as a mental health facility following the closure of the Waterbury State Hospital after Tropical Storm Irene.

Top DCF officials on Friday gave us an inside look at what will now be called the Red Clover Treatment Center. The facility has bedrooms, classrooms, spaces to visit with family, and a medical ward. The co-ed, four-bed secure facility will be run by the private company Sentinel LLC. and aims to de-escalate teens suffering from trauma. Over a two-week period, residents will be offered counseling, classes, and therapy.

"There will be stabilization services, really an assessment of what you need in order to move to the next step, which might be a different treatment environment or it might even be back to a foster home or your parents," said DCF's Aryka Radke.

Leaders admit the modular structures aren't perfect but that it's a bridge to a longer-term, permanent secure facility in Vergennes.

But some remain leery. "It should not be anyone's intention that people are placed there for long-term treatment," said Marshall Pahl with the Defender General's Office, which advocates on behalf of youth in state custody. "It can end up being used as a placement for kids not necessarily because it's the most appropriate placement but because it's the only placement available, and that's always a recipe for disaster," he said.

The former Woodside facility looked and felt like a jail and faced lawsuits after allegations of abuse and neglect. Winters stresses that with a private provider, there will be more oversight and accountability. "We don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past. We want to make sure that we don't use this facility if we can at all help it," he said.

The first teen is expected to move in next week.