DCF: Green Mountain Youth Campus delayed; Red Clover running as interim bridge while SRTF costs remain uncertain

Deputy Commissioner Erica Radke of the Department for Children and Families said the state's planned Green Mountain Youth Campus has been delayed because of local zoning and permitting issues and that the agency is using Red Clover as a temporary, secure stabilization site.

Radke said DCF and the Buildings and General Services commissioner are "actively engaged" with the town to "see a path forward" for siting the campus, but added the permitting and zoning process has "definitely slowed" the timeline and that a two-year horizon is "on the optimistic side."

Nut graf: The committee pressed DCF about program oversight, contractor histories and near-term capacity while DCF's financial director, Megan Smeaton, described uncertainty in next-year costs for the secure residential treatment facility (SRTF) appropriation. DCF officials said Red Clover is fully staffed and serving up to four youth, while other temporary programs face provider-recruitment challenges.

What DCF said about sites and capacity

Radke said the agency wants the Green Mountain Youth Campus to be sited in Vergennes but that town-level zoning and permitting—and clarifying what the town wants from a site—have delayed the project. "Until we can get the zoning and then the permitting in place, we really can't move forward,"…