Maurice Spear Campus is currently celebrating the groundbreaking of a new development to expand their operation. However, someone with ties to this establishment, a pastor they employed, is still being investigated for misconduct with minors and this institution is a place of interest. Police have put out statements saying they expect there are more victims of this man, and yet, the establishment that employed him is renovating and making room to house more troubled teens. 

This county does not HAVE a youth shelter for teens who do genuinely need to flee unsafe home situations. In a state where running away is a crime, teens risk being sent here, where common practice is that 'residents' cannot speak to each other, cannot make eye contact, and routinely get watched in the showers by grown adults. There is no safe and non-punishment based recovery program in this county, but this place wants more beds, and more buildings, so that they can do this on a larger scale.

What I am hoping to accomplish with this petition is an investigation into this establishment run by independent investigators with no ties to the Lenawee County Justice System, and an investigation by a licensed child psychiatrist into their practices, programs, and treatment methods. I am NOT in any way making an attempt to say that no one that was ever in this building was ever guilty of a crime or didn't deserve to be punished in some way. I am saying that from the experience of myself and over a dozen subjects that have come forward to testify against this place, the kids there do not deserve the treatment they have gotten in previous years. I hope this petition can halt the development of this new building under their control while an investigation takes place, especially considering one of these pastors connected to the organization is already arraigned on criminal misconduct charges against children. 

I also hope that if they stand by that they've done nothing wrong, they will welcome independent verification of that by child experts and investigators to make sure. Thank you for your time and thank you for your signature.