Connecticut’s Judicial Branch on Thursday canceled plans to open a 20-bed juvenile detention facility on Merrow Road in Tolland, a plan that had sparked fierce opposition from local officials.  In a statement issued on Thursday, Chief Court Administrator Justice Joan K. Alexander said that th e facility in Tolland “would not serve the best interests of the juveniles in our care or advance the objectives of the program provided by the dedicated staff who work with them.” The proposal, which became public in February, was met with swift and decisive pushback from town officials and state lawmakers representing the town. They claimed they had not known about the Judicial Branch’s plan in advance and said the placement of the facility in a heavily trafficked area where the town was trying to develop a commercial district could cause economic and public safety consequences.  “Things done in secret like this by state government are a huge disservice to the people of Tolland,” Sen. Jeff Gordon, R-Woodstock, whose district includes Tolland, said last month. “It is massively disappointing that the Judicial Branch and state government would behave this way.” Upon hearing the Branch’s decision, Rep. Tammy Nuccio, R-Tolland, thanked Gov. Ned Lamont, whose administration opted not to purchase the site, and Alexander “for taking into consideration Tolland and whether it was a good fit. I appreciate working with them to get this matter resolved.”  But Martha Stone, an attorney and founder of the Center for Children’s Advocacy in Connecticut, said the loss of the Tolland facility was “disturbing.” “We’ve waited a long time to have the kids get what they need in terms of adequate space and services,” she told CT Mirror on Thursday.  The Tolland residential treatment facility would have joined several other REGIONS programs operating in juvenile residential facilities in Hartford, Hamden, Bridgeport and Mansfield.  REGIONS — an acronym for Re-entry, Goal-oriented, Individualized Opportunity to Nurture Success — provides teens with education, job training and recreational activities as well as a variety of therapies addressing trauma, managing emotions, improving family relationships and dealing with substance abuse. The program typically runs for six months to one year. Stone said that after the Connecticut Juvenile Training School was closed in 2018, juveniles were placed in the Hartford and Bridgeport detention facilities, which were meant to be short-term, for longer periods of time. While both Hartford and Bridgeport have REGIONS programs, Stone said, they don’t have enough space to provide the young people with meaningful opportunities for recreation, visits, education and vocational training.  In an earlier conversation with CT Mirror, Stone said the Tolland facility would have had adequate space for both indoor and outdoor recreation and that its location near the University of Connecticut’s Storrs campus could have allowed for mentorship opportunities through the university. She also strongly pushed back against the idea that the facility would create a public safety risk for the community.  “We can’t keep having communities refuse to have these facilities in their backyard. Because I think, collectively, we all have responsibility for these kids,” Stone said.  In a Facebook post in February, Tolland Town Manager Brian Foley said that while people might think of town residents’ protests as “classic NIMBY-ism,” the issue was that the building would have been located along the town’s main thoroughfare and business district — the town’s proverbial “front yard.”    Foley told CT Mirror on Thursday that while he understand “the needs for a facility” in Connecticut, the Merrow Road site was not an appropriate fit. “I am very thankful to Chief Court Administrator Joan Alexander for listening to the concerns of our community, for being willing to work with us, and am very thankful for Gov. Ned Lamont and his office for taking a look at the process and making this final decision,” Foley said. Stone said the most important question now is where a new juvenile facility is going to be placed. She underscored that the juveniles would be returning to their home communities and that reintegration services are critically important.  Connecticut court officials have been trying for the past eight years to find a residential, therapeutic setting for youth in the juvenile justice system. Gary Roberge, executive director of the Court Support Services Division, told lawmakers last month the branch had looked at more than 30 sites before focusing on the Merrow Road property. The State Bond Commission approved $2 million in borrowing in October 2024 to purchase property and develop a juvenile treatment center as part of the REGIONS program, but no site had been identified at that time. Roberge also had said the Tolland facility, which could have begun operating in 2029, would have housed as many as 18 teenage boys being held in state juvenile detention centers in Hartford and Bridgeport, which were not designed to house youths for long periods of time. Alexander said in the Thursday statement that the branch would continue working with lawmakers and the executive branch agencies and resume its search for an appropriate location for the program.  “Based on prior experience, we recognize that this is a lengthy and complex process.  The Judicial Branch remains committed to providing a meaningful opportunity for change for these young individuals by finding and fostering a safe and secure environment,” Alexander said.  ...read more read less