An Act to Repurpose Long Creek Youth Development Center and
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1923
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: BRENNAN, RAFFERTY
Amends: 4 MRSA §1610-R, 34-A MRSA §7009

Legislative Document
No. 1923
H.P. 1284
House of Representatives, May 6, 2025
An Act to Repurpose Long Creek Youth Development Center and 
Build a Community System of Support
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BRENNAN of Portland.
Cosponsored by Senator RAFFERTY of York and
Representatives: GATTINE of Westbrook, MURPHY of Scarborough, Senator: PIERCE of 
Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  4 MRSA §1610-R is enacted to read:
§1610-R.  Additional securities for capital construction, repairs and improvements; 
community-based residential programs
Notwithstanding any limitation on the amount of securities that may be issued pursuant 
to section 1606, subsection 2, as limited by section 1610‑A, the authority may issue 
additional securities in an amount not to exceed $10,000,000 outstanding at any one time 
to pay for capital construction, repairs and improvements to the Long Creek Youth 
Development Center in South Portland to repurpose it into a secure residential treatment 
facility to provide services for juveniles and to pay for the establishment of 2 community-
based residential programs, one that supports youth leaving Long Creek Youth 
Development Center and one that provides an alternative to commitment at Long Creek 
Youth Development Center.
Sec. 2.  34-A MRSA §7009, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 425, §4, is amended 
to read:
By February October 15, 2024 2025, each month the department shall develop and 
publish on its publicly accessible website data regarding the number of juveniles involved 
in the juvenile justice system. The data must be updated monthly and include information 
regarding the numbers of juveniles referred, diverted, detained, placed on probation, 
ordered to serve a period of confinement and committed to the department. The department 
shall deidentify the data and remove any potential personal identifying information of the 
juveniles. The data must be organized by region of the State and broken down by age, 
gender and race.
Sec. 3.  Long Creek Youth Development Center repurposed.  No later than 
January 1, 2027, the Long Creek Youth Development Center physical plant must be 
repurposed into a secure residential treatment facility to provide services for juveniles 
involved in the juvenile justice system and at-risk youth, including but not limited to 
services for housing, behavioral health, education, substance use disorder prevention and 
treatment, wraparound case management and diversion and other services. The State shall 
contract with community-based organizations to provide these services in conjunction with 
staff of the Department of Corrections.
Sec. 4.  Investments in community-based services for youth.  No later than 
January 1, 2027, the State shall direct funds from the Department of Corrections' juvenile 
corrections and juvenile services budgets to fund community-based services for youth. 
Services may include, but are not limited to:
1.  Mobile crisis services;
2.  Multisystemic therapy and functional family therapy;
3.  Youth shelter and transitional housing;
4.  Substance use disorder interventions;
5.  Wraparound case management and navigation;
6.  Peer support and mentoring; and
7.  Regional care teams.
Sec. 5.  Long Creek Youth Development Center working group.  A working 
group is established to plan and execute the repurposing of land and facilities at Long Creek 
Youth Development Center, referred to in this section as "the center."
1.  The Department of Corrections and the Department of Health and Human Services 
shall convene a working group, referred to in this section as "the working group," to study 
options and best practices for repurposing the land and facilities at the center and to study 
reinvesting corrections funds currently designated for youth incarceration into a continuum 
of community-based services.  The members of the working group are as follows:
A.  The Commissioner of Corrections or the commissioner's designee;
B.  The Commissioner of Health and Human Services or the commissioner's designee;
C.  The superintendent of the center or the superintendent's designee;
D.  At least 2 members who are community-based youth service providers;
E.  A representative from a community-based organization offering youth shelter and 
housing resources;
F.  An expert in juvenile justice matters in this State;
G.  An expert in children's behavioral health matters in this State; and
H.  A parent or youth with experience with the juvenile justice system in this State.
2.  The working group shall determine a plan for repurposing the center and reinvesting 
the center's funds. The goal of repurposing and reinvesting is to reduce the confinement of 
youth within the center and increase access to behavioral health and other support services 
provided by community-based organizations. The working group shall:
A.  Study repurposing efforts pursued by other states and municipalities to determine 
best practices and consider what would work best in this State;
B.  Examine the current status of land and facilities at the center to determine 
opportunities for repurposing the land and facilities, including renovating existing 
buildings or constructing additional facilities;
C.  Consider alternate uses for land and facilities at the center, including but not limited 
to a crisis receiving center, assessment of youth in crisis, a youth emergency shelter, 
youth transitional housing and a community resource center;
D.  Examine the current use of the center's budget and staffing and explore 
opportunities for alternative uses of financial and human resources, including but not 
limited to uses in support of the uses in paragraph C;
E.  Explore existing community-based services provided to youth and work with 
community-based organizations to determine potential programming that could take 
place on the center's campus;
F.  Explore opportunities for contracting with community-based organizations to 
deliver services to youth;
G.  Determine an appropriate oversight model for contracting with community-based 
organizations, including whether contracting should take place within the Department 
of Corrections or the Department of Health and Human Services; and
H.  Develop recommendations for repurposing the land and facilities at the center and 
a reinvestment plan for the funds currently allocated for the center, including a timeline 
and key short-term, intermediate and long-term goals.
3.  The working group shall submit a report to the Joint Standing Committee on 
Criminal Justice and Public Safety and the Joint Standing Committee on Health and 
Human Services by January 15, 2026.  The joint standing committees each may report 
out legislation based on the report to the Second Regular Session of the 132nd 
Legislature.
SUMMARY
This bill requires that, no later than January 1, 2027, the Long Creek Youth 
Development Center physical plant be repurposed into a secure residential treatment 
facility to provide services for juveniles involved in the juvenile justice system and at-risk 
youth, including, but not limited to, services for housing, behavioral health, education, 
substance use disorder prevention and treatment, wraparound case management and 
diversion and other services.  The State must contract with community-based organizations 
to provide these services in conjunction with staff of the Department of Corrections.  The 
bill also requires that, no later than January 1, 2027, the State must direct funds from the 
Department of Corrections' juvenile corrections and juvenile services budgets to fund 
community-based services for youth.  The bill requires the Department of Corrections and 
the Department of Health and Human Services to convene a working group to study options 
and best practices for repurposing Long Creek Youth Development Center and reinvesting 
corrections funds currently designated for youth incarceration into community-based 
services.  The working group must submit a report to the Joint Standing Committee on 
Criminal Justice and Public Safety and the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human 
Services by January 15, 2026.  The joint standing committees each may report out 
legislation based on the report to the Second Regular Session of the 132nd Legislature.
The bill authorizes the Maine Governmental Facilities Authority to issue securities in 
an amount not to exceed $10,000,000 outstanding at any one time to pay for capital 
construction, repairs and improvements to the Long Creek Youth Development Center to 
repurpose it into a secure residential treatment facility to provide services for juveniles and 
to be used to establish 2 community-based residential programs, one that supports youth 
leaving Long Creek Youth Development Center and one that provides an alternative to 
commitment at Long Creek Youth Development Center.
The bill requires the Department of Corrections to develop and publish each month on 
its publicly accessible website data regarding the number of juveniles involved in the 
juvenile justice system.