Foothills Academy temporarily closes
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By Allison Cross
Questions ran rampant last week as Clinton County residents discovered that Foothills
Academy, a residential facility in Albany for at-risk teen boys, was quietly closed, residents
were relocated, and educators were removed.
The “temporary” closure also brought questions to Wayne County as the county houses its
sister organization Otter Creek Academy for girls. Both non-profit organizations employ
many from the area and have contracts with local school systems to provide educational
services to the residents.
Jeff Choate, President of the Board of Directors of Foothills Academy, commented on the
closure last week during a phone interview calling the closure temporary and said he hopes
to bring employees back as soon as he can. He was adamant that they do plan to open
again, but there is no timeline.
When asked what prompted the closure, Choate said, “We had a group of residents who
were not appropriate for the facility.”
Choate said the board is currently working with the state to determine the type of residents
Foothills will continue to take in. He said they may no longer accept residents with certain
levels of criminal history.
There were rumors of an incident involving some of the residents, but this could not
officially be substantiated by anyone.
Clinton County Sheriff Ricky Marcum told Clinton County News in a recent issue that law
enforcement had responded many times over the years to the facility and that “he still had
open investigations on four juveniles from the facility who are suspected of felonies.”
There have been many official reports of incidents at Foothills over the years involving
residents and staff.
It was reported in 2020 that a counselor at the facility was assaulted during what was
initially described as a riot. Then Clinton County Sheriff Jeff Vincent confirmed the assault
and told of windows being broken out at the facility. The incident involved one of the
several housing units and approximately eight residents. In 2021, Kentucky State Police
arrested three Foothills employees for assault on residents.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Choate said that recent events should not affect any of the other organizations such as
Otter Creek or a current project in Pulaski County.
In 2022, Choate worked with Pulaski County officials to bring in another facility which
would provide Foothills residents with a place to go once they aged out of the system.
Choate said the “temporary” closure of Foothills will not affect this project. The facility is
currently in construction on Monticello Street near Somerset Community College.
In a phone interview with Pulaski County Judge Executive Marshall Todd, he commented
that he was unaware that Foothills had closed and hadn’t been informed, so he couldn’t
address the issue at the time.
Foothills Academy first came about in the late 1990s and has frequently housed teen boys
aged 14-18 who have been in the juvenile justice system and the Department of Children
Services.
Wayne County juveniles have been sent in the past to Foothills Academy and the Adair
County Juvenile Detention Center.
As of press time, the organization’s website had been taken down and no information is
available online regarding the closure. The Wayne Weekly will continue to provide updates
on the closure as they become available.
