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Both Mount Pleasant Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi and Police Chief Paul Oliva met with state officials during a meeting on Thursday, July 27 to demand the closure of the JCAA Westchester Campus located in Pleasantville at 1075 Broadway, which serves as a treatment center for emotionally troubled children.
Both Fulgenzi and Oliva have cited conditions at the center as evidence the campus should close, including many incidents of assaults, fights, vandalism, and suicide and self-harm threats. During the first six months of 2023, Mount Pleasant Police have responded to over 450 calls at the campus for such incidents, the department said.
New York officials who heard these concerns at the meeting included state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assemblymember MaryJane Shimsky, a representative from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, and representatives of the New York Office of Children and Family Services.
"We had a very productive meeting, and I restated my position that this facility must close," Fulgenzi said, adding, "The JCCA does not have the necessary staff to cope with residents with severe behavioral issues.”
The meeting followed a demand from Mount Pleasant officials to close the facility announced earlier in July.
State officials will now return for a second meeting with Mount Pleasant leaders with both objectives and recommendations for the JCCA’s Westchester Campus.
Founded in 1912 as the Pleasantville Cottage School, the center is meant to care for children placed there by family courts or mental health agencies. The programs at the campus are regulated by the State Office of Mental Health and the Office of Children and Family Services.
In response to Mount Pleasant officials' demand for the closure of the Pleasantville facility, JCAA Chief Executive Officer Ronald Richter said that the organization's programs are not designed to support the number of children placed at the facility.
"For over a year, JCCA has been raising the alarm about the growing level of needs among young people with complex psychiatric and behavioral diagnoses that cannot be addressed in our campus setting," Richter said.
He added, "We need more long-term solutions to support children with the most acute needs, and our partners at the city and state level must support our efforts to address these challenges.”
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