The Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center’s vacant areas will be partially filled due to a new deal with the state for it to take in juvenile residents from a northern Michigan facility that will be shuttered.

Later this year the JJC will add up to 40 more new occupants.

The state Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday it is closing the Shawono Center in Grayling and moving the 17 male juvenile detainees there to the Macomb JJC in Mount Clemens, with plans to add 40 more, to better serve the youths and meet their treatment needs, officials said.

“While the decision to relocate the services provided by the Shawono Center was difficult, transferring to Macomb County will allow us to serve more youths and help them become healthy and productive citizens,” said Elizabeth Hertel, MDDHS director, in a news release.

Officials said in the initial step the 17 male youth detainees from Shawono will replace about 20 youth detainees currently at the JJC in a program that is operated by Rite of Passage, a Nevada-based national company that rehabilitates youth. That program is moving to another location to house its program.

The new state facility at the JJC will be called the Michigan Youth Treatment Center, with plans to add 40 more beds this year to house more youth detainees from another facility or multiple locations.

“We look forward to our continued partnership with MDHHS to help advance youth justice practices and ensure that all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential,” said Andy McKinnon, Macomb County deputy county executive, in the release.

“We are working with them (state officials) to expand their footprint,” he added in an interview.

The additional residents will still mean the JJC will be less than half full.

Related to Shawono’s closure, the DHHS was fined $40,000 by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration in December 2023 for workplace safety violations at Shawono for failure to keep staff safe from youth detainees’ violence behavior, according to a Detroit Free Press report last April. Staff suffered 20 injuries, such as broken bones, bruises, sprains and bites, from assaults by youth detainees from 2021 to 2022, says a MIOSHA report quoted in the article. Shawono is one of only two juvenile detention centers operated by the state.

The transfer of the operations from a relatively remote area to a more densely populated site will improve the ability to maintain staffing and resources, officials said.

“I appreciate the hard work and dedication of the staff at the Shawono Center,” Hertel said. “We will work to find positions for all staff who would like to remain with MDHHS.”

Shawono, which has 40 beds, was built in the 1970s and in need of significant repairs, officials added.

State Sen. Kevin Hertel, who is Elizabeth Hertel’s brother-in-law, applauded local officials.

“I want to thank Macomb County for stepping up, working with the state, and taking a leadership role in this space,” he said in a press release. “I look forward to collaborating with the department and local leaders as we take an all-hands approach to building a fairer, more responsive criminal justice system.”

Hertel said the state’s decision to close Shawono “is in the best interest of everyone involved.” In Macomb County, “Youth offenders will have access to a wider range of services, more staff members, and greater access to family visitation — all items that are essential in setting them up for successful re-entry into the community.”

In addition to the issues at Shawono, there has been allegations of abuse of juvenile-facility residents in Wayne and Saginaw counties.

The JJC, located on Dunham Road between Elizabeth and North Rose, will start receiving the initial intake of detainees from Shawono beginning next week. The facility in the coming months will receive upgrades paid by the state to accommodate another 40 residents, McKinnon said.

The JJC received a $29-million expansion in 2015 to house up to 160 youths. But it typically has held about one-fourth that amount and in recent months has housed from 23 to 30 youths involved in Macomb County delinquency cases, according to McKinnon.

Juvenile detention in residential facilities has declined in Macomb and statewide in recent years as officials have been more focused on diversion programs and home detention to treat juveniles charged with criminal offenses. Typically, those who are charged with the most serious felonies and/or are a danger to themselves and/or others are detained.

The juvenile system can maintain jurisdiction over youths until age 21.

In late 2023 the state began leasing available space at the JJC as part of a three-way deal between the county, state and Rite of Passage.

St. Clair County also rents space at the JJC as needed, currently providing three detainees, McKinnon said.

The state section at the JJC operates independently and separately from the Macomb operation, officials said.

They add MDHHS juvenile justice reform efforts help to increase the safety and well-being of youth who are placed in state residential facilities. Transferring youth services to the Mount Clemens facility will enhance the state’s ability to align policies and practices with research and best practices, including:

• The enhanced ability to maintain appropriate staffing levels, enabling increased engagement with youths and providing more intensive, individualized programming to meet their needs.

• Greater opportunities for families to participate meaningfully in group treatment and individual therapy, tailored to the youth’s needs.

• Increased family involvement in evidence-based programming throughout a youth’s stay at the facility.

• Implementation of evidence-based mentoring programs to support justice-involved youth that will contribute to reducing recidivism and promoting positive outcomes.

Additionally, the increase safety and well-being efforts will be based on efforts as described in the Keep Kids Safe Action Agenda by:

• Developing the Residential Collaboration and Technical Assistance Unit.

• Partnering with the nationally recognized Building Bridges Initiative to provide training and technical assistance to congregate care providers.

• Implementing weekly reviews of group residential facilities to assess safety and risk using data.