By JASON MICHAEL WHITE
INGALLS — The majority of Town Council members have some concerns about a proposed child-care institution for troubled youth.
Tekoa Ranch LLC wants to a build a 120,000-square-foot child-care institution on 111 acres behind the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility and annex that property into Ingalls.
But council members Rick Corbin, Tim Green and Joye Orr want more background information from Tekoa Ranch LLC before deciding whether to let the institution move to town. Specifically, they want to know more about the developer’s financial background, Corbin said.
This is Tekoa Ranch LLC’s first development. Tekoa Ranch formed about five years ago as a partnership between Steve Rosenbaum and Indianapolis developer Diana Tiffany, who owns and operates several residential developments in the city.
As a residential developer, she often saw families in need of help because of children with behavioral problems or learning disabilities, Rosenbaum said.
She approached Rosenbaum with the idea of creating an institution to help children with these types of problems, Rosenbaum said.
At first, they tried to build the institution in Martinsville, but were met with heavy opposition. They moved to Brown County, but were opposed there as well because of concern from residents.
The Ingalls Town Council wants more specifics about how the $15 million project would be funded before selling any land to the developer.
The proposed Tekoa Ranch site is currently owned by the state, which is selling the property to Ingalls for about $3,500 per acre, Town Council President Doug Dowden has said. Tekoa Ranch then plans to buy the property from Ingalls.
Tekoa Ranch seems like a good fit for the community because it will help children across the county, Dowden has said. He did not expect community opposition to the ranch, because it is planned for land east of County Road 575, south of Indiana 67, right next to the juvenile center.
The ranch would deal with low-risk kids who frequently skip school, not juvenile criminals, Rosenbaum has said.
“I’m worried about the 11-year-old girl who goes to school in the morning and then walks out the back door,” he said.
Kids at the ranch would be sent by the courts and the Family and Social Services Administration, Rosenbaum said. The state would support the cost of treating these children.
Currently, most children taken from their homes for emotional problems or learning disabilities are sent to foster homes, but those homes do not provide the 24-hour observation kids would have at the ranch, Rosenbaum said.
The institution would employ about 100 people with an average salary of $40,000 a year. Tekoa Ranch would hire a director to run the daily operations.
Developers are speaking with someone who has a master’s degree in psychology and 15 years’ experience leading institutions similar to Tekoa Ranch, Rosenbaum said.
The ranch would serve about 120 children at a time. Each child would stay on campus for about 14 to 18 months, Rosenbaum said.
