Life-changing therapy at Paint Creek Center

There are no fences, barbed wire, or guards at Lighthouse Youth Center at Paint Creek. Instead, this residential treatment campus for boys with behavioral and emotional challenges, many of whom have been adjudicated delinquent by a juvenile court in Ohio, is surrounded by the fields and hills of Ross County, Ohio. Lighthouse Youth Center at Paint Creek (Paint Creek) is the result of an almost 40-year partnership between the Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS) and Lighthouse Youth & Family Services (Lighthouse) in Cincinnati. Lighthouse, founded in 1969, provides a range of services to help young people 0-24 and their families, including mental and behavioral health service, psychiatric services, emergency shelter, youth housing, and foster care and adoption. Paint Creek is one of ODYS’ community-based alternatives that put greater focus on treatment rather than confinement. On a recent visit there with its leaders, one of the boys said his way of thinking changed after he allowed himself to be open to the new surroundings and ideas there. He added, “Now it feels as if I have a sense of community supporting me.” The art classroom at Lighthouse Youth Center’s Paint Creek facilities. Photo provided Since opening in 1986, hundreds of...