ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Great Circle, a child behavioral welfare organization, announced its Webster Groves campus was ending its residential treatment program.
In a press release, the organization said the residential program would come to an end once all new facilities can be found for the clients currently in the program. All other programs at the facility will continue, the press release said.
The decision comes less than a month after the state of Missouri announced it was suspending the placement of children in the program at the Webster Groves campus.
Other Great Circle locations will continue residential treatment programs, including campuses in Columbia, Marshall, Springfield and St. James.
Other Great Circle services in the St. Louis area include an accredited K-12 school, family/parent support, home visiting, foster care case management, autism respite, and in-school therapeutic support, the press release said.
In 2019, then-CEO of Great Circle, Vincent D. Hillyer, was arrested and charged with six counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one count of attempted endangering the welfare of a child and one count of fourth-degree assault in St. Louis County.
A press release from the Webster Groves Police Department said officers carried out a search warrant at the Great Circle Campus on North Gore Avenue in Webster Grove. The warrant was issued in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Social Services Children's Division.
Charging documents said the attempted endangering the welfare of a child and the fourth-degree assault charges were from an alleged choking incident.
The charging documents said children's services got a hotline call about the incident. The documents said Hillyer was shown on video choking and restraining a young child.
