Lawmakers consider setting a closure date for youth prison Advocates spoke in favor of legislation calling for the closure of the Long Creek Youth Development Center. Share Advocates are asking lawmakers to commit to closing Maine’s only youth prison within two years, a step that is still opposed by the state Department of Corrections. Lawmakers are considering a resolution that would direct the department to make a plan for shutting down Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland by June 30, 2023. That plan would include redirecting the prison’s $18 million budget to community services outside the Department of Corrections and turning the building itself into a community center for youth. If passed, the resolution would not be binding like a law would be, but it could set the state on a course that youth activists have demanded for years.