DeWine
CALDWELL, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services filed a complaint on Wednesday against a Summerfield camp for allegedly operating without a license.
The Ohio Wilderness Boys Camp in Summerfield allegedly operated a long-term residential facility for children without a state license. The ODJFS made an unannounced visit to the camp in May after receiving a report about a brief sexual contact by minors between two residents of the camp during a supervised field trip.
The complaints requests that the facility cease operations until it obtains proper licensure.
"The state requires licensure for such facilities in order to ensure the safety of the children living there," DeWine said. "Some of these children have been there more than two years. And as far as we know, they aren't attending school or getting the education they are required to, and need, for their ages."
The ODJFS found that at least nine children between the ages of nine and 15 were at the facility between three months and two or more years. Residential children facilities with stays exceeding two consecutive weeks must be licensed by ODJFS.
The OWBC website states that the camp is a long term program for boys between nine and 15 years of age with emotional trouble. There are nine sessions of the program each year and each session lasts approximately six weeks. There is a break between each session of less than a week and families may visit the camp every 90 days.