DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) – The Dayton City Commission will vote on whether or not to allow more youth group homes to come to the city in the near future during a regular meeting on Wednesday, August 14. A decision will be made on whether to impose a 180-day moratorium.
Youth group homes, where children who do not have foster care can live, are popping up all over the state. There are currently 234 licensed group homes in the state, according to Deb Decker, Montgomery County communications director.
There are currently 79 such dormitories in Montgomery County, and as of June 2024, there were 42 such dormitories in the City of Dayton.
Dayton Mayor Jeffery J. Mims Jr. said the concentration of residential communities is becoming a burden on the city.
“Having so many young people in these spaces presents a whole new set of challenges,” Mims said. “Many of them live in west Dayton neighborhoods, which puts additional strain on support services.”
If the 180-day moratorium is passed, the opening of new group homes in Dayton would be halted.
Mims said this will not affect the 10 applications the city is currently reviewing.
Decker said services such as law enforcement, emergency services and mental health care are overwhelmed.
Schools are also affected.
“When schools are in a situation where they have to look after a lot of children who are struggling, and then when you add even more young people who are struggling… when they don’t get the support they need in the residential groups and they become more concentrated, then it becomes a challenge for all of us to do our best.”
Decker sent Dayton 24/7 Now additional statistics on group homes and children in the state’s care.
“There are approximately 700 youth in Montgomery County custody at any given time,” the statement said. “Currently, 141 MC youth live in a group home. (…) 56 percent of the youth housed in group homes in Dayton are not from MC. Because of this, it is sometimes difficult to place children close to home.”
The Dayton Police Department (DPD) testified at the Statehouse during a committee meeting on House Bill 583, which seeks to address this problem at the state level.
During testimony, the DPD said, “In 2022, the City of Dayton began to see a significant increase in the number of emergency calls related to group homes in our community. These calls involved missing or unruly youth, as well as more serious issues where harm was being done to these children.”
Mims said if the moratorium is passed, it will give the city time to find solutions.
“We just need to find a way to better control the spacing and come to agreements on how it works,” Mims said.
Mims added that if the moratorium is passed, the commission would consider adopting an ordinance addressing distance between group homes and other concerns of residents of the neighborhoods where those homes are located.
“We want to take the time to look at what’s going on and what we can do to maybe enforce an ordinance that requires some distance between group homes so they’re not so concentrated together,” Mims said.
Dayton 24/7 Now will update this story with the outcome of the vote.
