Northern Michigan officials say Shawano Center closure worsened juvenile bed shortage

LANSING, Mich. — Local officials from Northern Michigan told the Michigan House oversight subcommittee on child welfare system that the state’s January 24, 2025 announcement to close the Shawano Center in Grayling has left a critical gap in secure residential placements for violent and high-risk male juveniles.

The decision by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to transfer the Shawano Center’s remaining 17 juveniles to a Macomb County facility — a site committee witnesses said was privately owned and not ready to accept youth — has forced counties to seek more expensive private placements or return juveniles to communities before programming was complete, witnesses said.

Roscommon County Prosecutor Michael Edwards said the closure “simply lacks honesty, foresight, and transparency,” and warned that removing the state-owned Shawano Center eliminates a centrally located facility that previously served Northern Lower Michigan and other parts of the state. “Closing existing facility for a more expensive facility is certainly not the answer,” Edwards said.

Edwards and other witnesses described the Shawano Center’s services, citing MDHHS material: segregated housing “pods” for…