Search for alternative funding fails, Turning Point Shelter to close March 1

Lorain County Juvenile Court will move ahead with the closure of the Turning Point youth crisis shelter after a search for funding in the wake of county budget cuts came up short. In a news release Friday, the court said that it had sought outside funding to keep the shelter open after Lorain County commissioners announced they would cut all funding for the program in mid-January. These efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and the youth shelter will close temporarily on March 1 with the court hoping to reopen the service if and when replacement funding is found. "During the shutdown period, the court will continue to pursue viable funding, partnerships and long-term solutions so that Turning Point Shelter may reopen and continue serving the youth in our community," Domestic Relations/Juvenile Judge Frank Janik said in the release. Janik and fellow Domestic Relations/Juvenile judges Sherry Glass and Lisa Swenski have said that the defunding of the Turning Point shelter by the commissioners came as a surprise to them on Dec. 19, and the court has been working to cut costs and find alternative funding ever since, they said in the release. "This has included implementing significant cost-saving measures and meeting with community stakeholders, non-profit partners, and other potential supporters in search of emergency and long-term funding," the release said. Commissioner Jeff Riddell said on Saturday that he had not seen the latest release from the court, but said that he had both instructed the court to seek alternative funding and assisted it in doing so. Riddell said he helped establish contact between the court and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, or JFS, to partially fund the program through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, funding. "It is an expensive program, but Turning Point is a desirable program," Riddell said Saturday. "So we asked (the court) if they could find some inefficiencies, could they look for some money in the court, in children's services and over at JFS." Riddell said that the court had found funding to keep the shelter open beyond March 1, but not for the entire year. "My old adage is you eat an elephant one bite at a time," the commissioner said. "And they just weren't comfortable with that situation. So without enough money to guarantee it being open for the year, they elected to shut it down." The court said in a letter earlier last week that it had cut overhead costs at the shelter significantly and had sought funding from eight state and local agencies to keep the program running. "Although many community partners have stepped forward to express their interest in sustaining Turning Point, the abrupt loss of funding left the Court with far too little time to secure commitments to keep Turning Point Shelter open past February," Swenski said in Friday's release. Late last year, the court had issued a budget order to the county, instructing the commissioners to fund the court at the same level as it had in 2025. The judges said that this was typical of how the court had obtained its funding for the past five years, but that the commissioners had obtained legal counsel to represent it regarding the order. "In December 2025, the Commissioners authorized the hiring of a law firm to represent them regarding the budget order; therefore, the court is also evaluating its legal options," the release from the court said. "The judges, however, collectively voiced a strong hope that public funds will not be used on litigation costs and instead be used to fund Turning Point Shelter." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.