An Iron Range juvenile correctional facility will close by the end of the June in wake of intense scrutiny and the abrupt announcement that two Twin Cities-area counties would no longer place youths at the facility.
Mesabi Academy in Buhl, which serves boys and young men ages 12 to 21, will cease operations by June 30, spokesman Robert Martin said in a news release Thursday. Clients currently housed there will be returned to their placing agencies by that time.
Ramsey and Hennepin counties previously announced that they would remove youths from the residential treatment center following multiple investigative reports by American Public Media indicating that staff failed to alert St. Louis County authorities to three allegations of sex abuse last year.
Mesabi Academy officials refuted those allegations in the statement announcing the closure.
"This has been a very difficult decision, because we know the allegations made or insinuated through the media reports are not true," the statement said. "Mesabi Academy has provided excellent care and a safe environment for the youth placed there since its founding in 1998. It's completely unfair that the exceptional work of our staff has been called into question in these reports, and that they have been characterized as having any higher priority than the safety and well-being of the kids placed at Mesabi Academy.
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"However, we need to focus on what's best for the kids in our care now. The hard truth is, given the reductions in placements from Hennepin and Ramsey counties and the subsequent freeze on new admissions, Mesabi Academy simply cannot continue to provide the level of care the youth currently placed there need going forward. As a result, we believe the appropriate action is to transition those kids back to their placing agency as smoothly as possible and close the program.
"We will work with our staff at Mesabi, as well as community resources in the Iron Range, to help them navigate the challenges they will face as a result of this decision. And we thank our colleagues at Mesabi Academy for making a difference in the lives of the kids cared for there over the past seventeen years."
Mesabi Academy is a private facility operated by Pennsylvania-based KidsPeace; it employed 138 people as of April 30, academy officials said. As of 2013, it was the largest employer in Buhl.
