A “very productive” meeting about “ongoing dangerous conditions” on the campus of the JCCA Westchester Campus in New York was held at the end of July between Mount Pleasant Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi, the police chief and state officials, reports News12 Westchester.

The JCCA’s Pleasantville Cottage School is home to emotionally troubled boys and girls, ages 7-16, with educational, behavioral and emotional challenges.

Town officials and others have been urging for the facility’s closure. A July 12, 2023 release from the Town of Mount Pleasant laid out the crisis, noting in part that “during the first 6 months of 2023, the Mount Pleasant Police Department responded to 459 calls at the campus for incidents ranging from assaults, violent altercations, missing persons and vandalism.

“In 2022, the Mount Pleasant Police/emergency services responded to over 760 calls at the JCCA campus in Pleasantville, New York. Based on the first six months, this year’s call volume will exceed 1,000, a record.”

Dozens of teens with serious mental health issues are increasingly being sent to live at the Pleasantville Cottage School, NBCnewyork.com reported in December 2022. “They’re very sick kids,” JCCA CEO Ron Richter told the news site. “We’re not licensed or funded to provide the level of care to children who are psychiatrically sick the way we have them now.”

The JCCA, headquartered in New York City, has 37 programs that include foster care, residential treatment facilities, mental health services, case management, education programs and special services for children who have been the victims of sexual abuse.

The Boost reached out to the JCCA for comment but has not yet heard back.

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