Keeping Children Close to Home Through New Child Wellness Campuses
Ohio is taking a significant and compassionate step toward improving outcomes for children with complex needs by investing in a new model of care that prioritises stability, healing, and family connection. In a landmark announcement, Mike DeWine, alongside the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY), unveiled a $20 million statewide investment to establish and expand Child Wellness Campuses across Ohio. At the heart of this initiative is a simple but powerful goal, to keep children closer to home.
Addressing a Critical Gap in Care
For too long, children with complex behavioural, emotional, or developmental needs have been placed far from their families due to a lack of appropriate local services. In many cases, this has meant temporary placements in hotels, shelters, or office buildings, environments that can deepen trauma rather than promote healing.
“These campuses will address a critical gap in care,” Governor DeWine said. “Too often, children with complex needs are placed far from home simply because the right services aren’t available nearby. These new and expanded child wellness campuses will provide a local, community-based option focused on safety, assessment, healing, and stability.”
What Are Child Wellness Campuses?
Child Wellness Campuses are short-term, trauma-informed therapeutic environments designed for children and youth who are either in the custody of county children’s services or at immediate risk of removal from their homes.
Key features include:
- Short-term stays, with a target of 45 days or less
- Immediate stabilisation and assessment in a safe, therapeutic setting
- Wraparound team meetings within hours of admission
- Rapid assessments to inform long-term care and placement decisions
- Strong family involvement, encouraging parents and extended family to participate in treatment
The campuses will serve children aged 6 to 18, and up to 21 years for young people with developmental disabilities.
According to DCY Director Kara Wente, removal from home is inherently traumatic, even when necessary for safety. Locating care close to a child’s community allows families to remain involved, significantly increasing the chances of successful reunification.
Where the Campuses Will Be Located
Funding from Ohio’s operating budget will support four new campuses and the expansion of two existing facilities across the state. The selected organisations are:
- Talbert House Inc. – Hamilton County
- Unison Behavioral Health Group – Northwest Ohio
- Buckeye Ranch Inc. – Central Ohio
- Champions Bridge – Franklin County
- Safe Opportunity Foster Alliance – Southeast Ohio (Expansion)
- Cleveland Christian Home Inc. – Cuyahoga County (Expansion)
Each campus will determine its capacity based on community needs and will collaborate with local partners through regional Child Wellness Advisory Committees, ensuring services remain responsive and locally grounded.
A Shift Toward Trauma-Informed, Community-Based Care
What makes this initiative especially noteworthy is its clear departure from crisis-driven placements toward a coordinated, child-centred model of care. The campuses are not intended to replace foster care or licensed residential facilities but to serve as a stabilising bridge, helping children de-escalate, feel safe, and transition into appropriate long-term placements.
“These campuses are rooted in local communities,” Wente explained. “This funding helps communities build or expand short-term, therapeutic spaces that support children close to home, strengthen family connections, and ensure the right care at the right time.”
Why This Matters
Ohio’s Child Wellness Campus initiative represents a growing recognition that where care happens matters just as much as what care is provided. By keeping children close to their families, schools, and support networks, the state is reducing trauma, improving engagement, and laying the groundwork for more sustainable outcomes.
As child welfare systems across the country grapple with placement shortages and rising complexity of needs, Ohio’s approach offers a model worth watching, one that places dignity, proximity, and healing at the centre of child protection.
