AUSTINTOWN

The Mahoning Valley is poised to increase services to its most vulnerable populations in a unique setting.

It will be a place that will encourage job creation, resource sharing, wrap-around techniques and increase quality of life for people that need access to developmental and mental health support, say proponents of developing the former Youngstown Developmental Center.

Dozens of people lost their jobs when the state ordered the state-owned facility closed in 2017 and countless people lost access to services they now have to travel to cities such as Columbus to receive.

Nonprofits and government agencies that have been serving in Mahoning and Trumbull counties for a collective hundreds of years have a preliminary plan to not only restore services to people with autism, young adults who need the skills to live on their own, older adults who need more care and others with mental health and developmental needs, but to increase their offerings.

But first, the state must approve $1.5 million needed to restore the 10 buildings each consisting of 3,000 to 40,000 square feet on the 35-acre campus.

Read MORE in Sunday’s edition of the VINDICATOR Edition of the Tribune Chronicle.