Michigan Youth Treatment Center Opens Unprepared, Faces Staff Assaults and Calls to Close

State Facility in Mount Clemens Faced Broken Infrastructure, Staffing Shortages and Youth Violence Months Before MLive Investigation

The Michigan Youth Treatment Center opened on June 30, 2025, in Mount Clemens as the state's newest facility for boys and young men ages 12 to 20 with felony convictions and trauma histories. But less than a year later, an investigation by MLive documented a state-run facility in what current and former employees described as operational dysfunction.

The center accepted its first residents in June 2025 despite being unprepared to provide the therapeutic and educational services it promised. Former employees described the launch as a rush job where basic infrastructure and programming was missing or inoperative.

Education programs required by state policy were delayed, leaving some residents with little structured activity and contributing to high levels of boredom and disruptive behavior.

Staffing shortages forced ratios as high as 1:9 at times, despite a facility policy requiring a minimum 1:4 staff-to-resident ratio during waking hours. Records and interviews suggest the transition from a lower-population community in Grayling to Macomb County has thus far failed to stabilize the workforce as intended.

Following the departure of the center's director in October, several experienced staffers followed him out, leaving behind a staff that was frequently forced into double shifts with no breaks. An investigation of the MYTC by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration remained open as of April 22, 2026.

Inadequate Training and Staff Burnout Created Dangerous Conditions

Many of the employees hired to manage the high-acuity residents were inexperienced and insufficiently trained in the Mandt System for de-escalation and restraint. Current and former staff members claim that when fights broke out, colleagues froze up because they did not feel equipped to handle physically aggressive youth.

In one incident, a male staff member was struck in the head with a radio and required staples to close his wound. An incident on January 24 involving a three-youth physical altercation found that staff did not intervene in a timely manner, did not use approved restraint techniques, and falsely documented that no restraint was used.

The structure is gone; those boys run the facility. They know they can't be touched and what they need to do to get their way. There's no treatment going on there.

On March 11, 2026, staff lost control and called the Michigan State Police. Four residents were arrested and charged with inciting a riot, a 10-year felony under Michigan law, and malicious destruction of a building.

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said it plainly: Violent disruption inside a juvenile treatment facility puts every person in that building at risk the youth housed there, the staff responsible for their care, and the professionals working to keep the environment safe. When chaos replaces structure, it creates conditions where people can be seriously hurt, and critical safety systems break down.

Lawmakers Demand Closure Following Report of Appalling Safety Conditions

State Representatives John Roth and Luke Meerman called for the immediate closure of the Michigan Youth Treatment Center on March 26, 2026. The lawmakers highlighted findings from the University of Cincinnati Research Institute assessment, which identified deteriorating infrastructure, staff burnout and youth-on-staff violence.

The Michigan Youth Treatment Center is a state-run residential facility in Mount Clemens, Macomb County, housed at the Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center. It serves males ages 12 to 20 with at least one felony conviction who also have trauma histories or mental health challenges.

Rep. Meerman, who chairs the House Oversight Subcommittee on Child Welfare System, criticized MDHHS for allowing these conditions to persist despite repeated warnings. The department maintains that child safety is its highest priority and that it has no plans to shutter the facility. However, critics argue the mismanagement has resulted in a system that is collapsing and failing to sufficiently protect both the youth and the public.

Michigan Broader Mental Health Crisis Has Forced More Youth Out of State

The facility crisis reflects a larger problem at the state level. Michigan has nearly doubled its out-of-state youth mental health placements over the past decade. Costs have similarly surged as the state lacks capacity for in-state care.

As of September 2025, 152 youth in Michigan's direct-placement program were living in out-of-state facilities, some as far away as Hawaii and Arizona, according to a recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services. That was up from 122 children sent out of state in 2024 and more than double the 74 children in 2023.

Forcing a child to travel for care is like throwing them to the wolves, said Laura Marshall of Cedar Springs, whose son was sent to a Wyoming long-term treatment facility through court order. Her experience leaving Michigan for long-term care represents an emerging trend for the state's youth in severe mental health crises.

State officials believe the rise in out-of-state placements is largely limited to court-supervised youth in the juvenile justice system, not children they directly oversee. But counties that report placement data to the state are not required to share that information, a spokesperson said.

The MDHHS believes placement decisions for youth in foster care and those involved with the juvenile justice system must be guided by safety, stability and the best interests of each individual child to ensure they receive the care and treatment they need to thrive, a spokesperson wrote in an email.

Parents and mental health advocates describe a system that consistently fails children with complex psychological disorders, where the needed treatment doesn't exist anywhere in Michigan.

The liability question is really huge, because who is responsible? If that kid gets seriously injured in an out-of-state facility, is it the state that they went to's problem now?

There were 9,200 children in Michigan's welfare system as of December 2024, according to recent state reporting. Of those, 468 lived in institutional centers that include youth residential treatment facilities. Several of those facilities, which house children and teens with significant emotional, behavioral or mental health challenges, have closed since the onset of the pandemic, when about 1,200 beds for child caring institutions were operating. Today, there are fewer than 400 beds available.

MDHHS Denies Closure Despite Safety Concerns

MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel refused to close the facility on March 26, 2026. The state has sought additional staffing and ensured safeguards are in place to prevent activities that may result in destructive behavior.

The state does not plan to close MYTC, MDHHS said. However, current and former employees describe a facility in a state of operational dysfunction. A series of state investigations and an assessment by the University of Cincinnati Research Institute detailed numerous violations of facility policies and best practices.

The MDHHS disputes some of the characterizations from employees, according to the Michigan Legal Center. The MIOSHA investigation is still pending, sources said.