Investigation into Ohio's youth prisons wins national journalism award

An investigation into Ohio's juvenile detention centers and youth prisons won the prestigious Scripps Howard Journalism Award for Local/Regional Investigative Reporting on Sunday.

The eight-month investigation by The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Columbus Dispatch, Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository and other newspapers in the USA TODAY Network Ohio uncovered a system struggling with violent clashes, chronic staffing shortages and failures to help troubled teens turn their lives around.

"We're thrilled to win this award and honored to be included with the other winners and finalists that were equally deserving," said Beryl Love, Cincinnati Enquirer executive editor and regional editor for USA TODAY Network Ohio. "The impact of this journalism should be celebrated."

Employees and kids are injured − sometimes seriously − in assaults that erupt without warning and guards struggle to keep order. Within three years of leaving a state youth prison, four in 10 return to either the juvenile or adult prison system and those who don't return to prison face a higher likelihood of dying an early death.

Read the full report: Find a summary and link to each part of our investigation into Ohio's youth detention facilities

After publication of the investigation, Gov. Mike DeWine launched a task force to examine the Department of Youth Services and the juvenile justice system. The task force made 26 recommendations , including closing the youth prisons and replacing them with smaller, closer-to-home facilities.

The Scripps Howard Journalism Awards judges – a panel of veteran journalists and media leaders – selected this year’s finalists from 775 entries across 14 categories.

Our team

Reporters: Laura Bischoff, Amanda Garrett, Kevin Grasha, Amy Knapp, Cameron Knight and Jordan Laird.

Visual journalists: Courtney Hergesheimer, Doral Chenoweth, Phil Didion, Ben Duer, Liz Dufour, Phil Masturzo, Mike Nyerges, Lisa Scalfaro and Carter Skaggs.

Editors: Anthony Shoemaker, Cara Owsley, Dan Horn, Erin Mansfield, Jackie Borchardt and Joe Powell.

Editorial writer: Amelia Robinson

Designers: Keely Brown and Rebecca Boneschans.

Podcast: Haley BeMiller and Patrick Flaherty.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio .

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Investigation into Ohio's youth prisons wins national journalism award