An embattled Missouri residential treatment program for troubled youth that started in 1832 as a home for orphans from the cholera epidemic has closed its doors as the federal government moves away from funding such facilities.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the child welfare and behavioral health organization Great Circle closed the program in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Grove on Friday. Several former employees of the program have been accused of endangering clients. Among them is former CEO Vincent Hillyer, known by some in the industry as the dean of residential treatment in Missouri.
