United Methodist Children's Home to end residential program | The Columbus Dispatch

That is too bad. Many people will suffer.

I think this is the best decision for all concerned. I have worked a few years with residential treatment program's and the needs of juvenile delinquents covers a vast array of concerns. The amount of money spent on this treatment might be better invested if spent on preventative programs. Getting kid's into adoptive homes would resolve a lot of issues before the kid's become teens.

DrC Ohio wrote:

That is too bad. Many people will suffer.

No longer will that "many people" include local Worthington residents.

Bad situation all around finally ends. The program was only housing 9 boys and doing a really poor job at that. They were getting boys from FCCS that really needed to be in a secure facility and putting them in a facility where they were prohibited by law from preventing the boys from leaving. A total cluster!

The really unfortunate people are the victims of the crimes committed by these boys that should have not been in this facility to begin with.

The Methodist Church today is a joke. It is not what John and Charles Wesley envisioned. Instead, it has embraced left-wing Marxism and bears no resembalnce to the great gospel-preaching church that it once was. It continues to be a sad day for Methodism. It needs to be given a decent burial.

all they want to do is ill out and do hood rat things with their friends, just leave thema alond so they can wild out!

Does the series author still live 3 blocks from the home?

This is finally great news, sell the place, set up the counseling center inside one of the empty store fronts inside Wothington Mall.

Win - win for all. Methodists sitting on millions of dollars of real estate.

old people and veterans should get off their duffs and spend time with kids. this will resolve all our children and teenager problems.

I think in the near future they will install a fence and place other kids here. What everyone don't understand is that there are Worthington kids there to from their own community that they can't be parents to! I think they should turn it into a prison!

I am so glad they got this new CEO in who finally has the courage to acknowledge what the home is and is not capable of.

After reading the reports and statistics (many provided by the home itself) it was clear that this place was a complete failure and an awful place for these residents as well as a source of danger for the community, after the carjackings, muggings, and physical violence.

As an aside, I am shocked at how much money they were losing. I knew the residents were being done a disservice and it was also unsafe for the community, but had no idea just how bad of a business situation they were in. They are not equipped for the services they were trying (and manipulating and using the police force) to provide.

I am relieved on behalf of the community and the residents who are also victims of this out of control facility. Now hopefully after so many years they won't be sticking with the status quo of failure.

Every one has ideas on what to do with the kids but no one wants to do them or wants them in their area. We cant just keep locking the kids up, they need treatment and news flash everyone locked up kids get out sooner or later. And with out treating the problem we will just have to put them into adult prisons. And just for record foster homes are a joke ,no kids who went in one way came out abused . its a shame that all anyone wants to do is lock up the teens.

This is sad for me . As a teenager I was there for about a year. 20 years ago the program had flaws but it was much more beneficial to the youths then than it is now. I was there the year the new cottages were built. We had to take our shoes off in the foyer then.It hurt my heart to hear of how run down the place is now.

Mr. Wilkins is off to a good start. Facilitating the end of the residential program is a great service to Worthington and to the institution. I know that the demand for mental health services, if managed properly, should keep the UMCH successful into the future. I think this is the right move to both serve the mental health problems of teens while meeting the demand of neighbors for security. This move will remove some barriers between the UMCH and the community and provides a way to move forward. Good job - good leadership.

You're crazy, zoning will never allow that, in a year the place will be leveled and be ready to put new homes on it.

locked facility wrote:

I think in the near future they will install a fence and place other kids here. What everyone don't understand is that there are Worthington kids there to from their own community that they can't be parents to! I think they should turn it into a prison!

Finally a good decision by the Board of Trustees, whoever they are.

I for one would fire every trustee for allowing this small non-profit organization to lose $10 million in a 5 year period.

vegenance is mine, i will repay saith the lord! UMCH you reap what you sow....all the sins and deception you have done to children and their families and now the lord is allowing you to get back some of your own medicine...he doesnt like ugly but you wont be the only agency to feel the vegenance of god!

PC off the TEE wrote:

The Methodist Church today is a joke. It is not what John and Charles Wesley envisioned. Instead, it has embraced left-wing Marxism and bears no resembalnce to the great gospel-preaching church that it once was. It continues to be a sad day for Methodism. It needs to be given a decent burial.

Amen! The Methodist Church has become so liberal and it's only a a matter of time before it will divide like the Episcipalians(sorry for the misspelling) and Lutherans.

PC off the TEE wrote:

The Methodist Church today is a joke. It is not what John and Charles Wesley envisioned. Instead, it has embraced left-wing Marxism and bears no resembalnce to the great gospel-preaching church that it once was. It continues to be a sad day for Methodism. It needs to be given a decent burial.

Embrace the machine.

Fantastic! Perhaps now the UMCH can get back to doing what they are good at.

It sounds like the real people to thank are at Franklin Co. Childrens Services. If it were not for them canceling their contract, we would still be waiting for the UMCH board and the Worthington City Council to do something.