#AdvocacyMatters: Behind Locked Doors
August 14, 2026 / #AdvocacyMatters
Those kept at the fringes of society, tucked away from the mainstream and isolated from the public, often face the highest risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Some of our most vital functions as an advocacy organization are monitoring facilities where people with disabilities live and receive services, and investigating situations of abuse and neglect within their walls.
“It Was Supposed to Be a Haven for Troubled Teens. They Risked Everything to Escape.”
Late last month, The Marshall Project published an article detailing troubling happenings inside of Fox Run – one of Ohio’s largest youth residential treatment facilities. Reports of assault, sexual violence, rioting, chemical restraint, and suicide attempts regularly appeared in The Marshall Project’s investigation. Alarmingly, many of these reports were absent from the Department of Behavioral Health’s database of facility issues.
“While officials from the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office diligently documented desperate attempts by children to get out of Fox Run, often through violence, many of those incidents were absent from a database maintained by the Department of Behavioral Health, the state agency charged with licensing and inspecting the facility,” the article outlined. “The Ohio Department of Behavioral Health and Belmont County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.”
The problems outlined in The Marshall Project’s reporting mirror our organization's own findings.
Earlier this year, DRO released “Patterns Persist: Alarming Concerns in Ohio’s Residential Treatment Facilities for Children and Youth.” Informed by 75 visits to Ohio’s Youth Residential Treatment Facilities over a 6 year period, this report called for state licensing agencies to take immediate action and use existing tools available to them to enforce accountability, rapidly remove youth from harmful treatment settings, and swiftly remove a facility’s license either temporarily or permanently.
“The children and youth of Ohio, along with their parents and guardians, need to know that they will be protected from facilities and individual staff when they perpetuate harm, that state agencies will consistently apply rules and standards to their oversight responsibilities across all their youth licensed facilities,” said Amy Price, DRO Associate Advocacy Director.
“The immediate and long-term actions taken by state agencies must be handled with transparency and ongoing accountability.”
Investigating behind doors locked to the general public, amplifying the voices and experiences of those there to receive treatment, and protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities are the center of our mission. We’ll continue fighting for faster action and increased accountability in Ohio’s Youth RTF system.
#AdvocacyMatters