BATAVIA — Clermont County will break ground this fall for a center that will increase the current capacity for detaining juveniles.

        The current 5,600-square-foot facility, which opened in 1983, is no longer adequate, officials say.

        Doug Brothers, director of Clermont County juvenile court services, said the detention population averages about 18 a day.

        “And we've had days where we were as high as 28 or 30,” Mr. Brothers said.

        The new facility, which will be built on Clermont Center Drive, will be 26,000 square feet and contain 36 beds.

        The $4.5 million project is being built with help from a $2.2 million grant from the Ohio Department of Youth Services.

        Completion is expected by early 2003. No decision has been made about what will happen to the current facility.

        “We're doubling up some rooms and essentially crowding them in there,” Mr. Brothers said of the current situation.

        When that happens, some youths must be sent home or moved to other facilities.

        Clermont County Juvenile Court Judge Stephanie Wyler said the new facility will be safer and more effective than the current one.

        “We, unfortunately, have to make decisions almost every day on how to utilize those beds,” she said.

        The increase in population in the county — 18.5 percent over the past 10 years — is only one reason for the increase in juvenile crime, county officials say.

        Dysfunctional families, substance abuse, mental health problems and the influence of popular culture are other factors, they say.

        “That's probably the easiest explanation,” Judge Wyler said of the population increase. “But if you just look at the trends, 10 years ago we didn't have bomb threats in schools, we didn't have weapons in schools. We're seeing kids coming into our system at a younger age. And we're seeing a dramatic rise in kids with legitimate mental health issues.”

        The juvenile population in the county has risen in the past 10 years, from 13,782 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 in 1990 to 15,900 in 2000.

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