The state plans to revoke the license of the Cascade Boys Ranch for troubled youths after several years of complaints, including drug use and abuse by staff.
The Oregon Department of Human Services also cited failure to check criminal backgrounds of staff, burglaries, running away, and sanitation and structural deficiencies.
Jeff and Carol Shelton, who operate the ranch under the name ICARE, have 30 days to request a hearing to contest the decision, officials said.
"If they have reason to believe that some of our allegations aren't correct, that's their opportunity to present that," said Kathy Spear, licensing coordinator for the Department of Human Services.
The 55-acre ranch about 10 miles north of Grants Pass was first licensed in 1995 to tend to teen boys with behavior problems and academic underachievement.
The human services agency sent a letter to the Sheltons last month warning the couple the state planned to revoke their license.
DHS staff visited the ranch in early June, prompted by new complaints, and found that deficiencies identified in 2006 hadn't been corrected, according to the letter.
"ICARE is not providing children the care they need," the letter said.
The Sheltons did not immediately return a phone call on Wednesday.
According to the DHS, significant incidents in the past seven months were not reported to the state as required.
During May or June, staff took several rounds of live ammunition from a boy who found it in a truck on the property.
On Jan. 22, a boy stole horse tranquilizers, diluted them in water and consumed the drugs, sharing the drugs with other boys. The sheriff was not contacted and no report on the incident was found in the file, according to DHS.
On Feb. 17, a boy allegedly threatened a staff member with a knife. Police were contacted, but the incident report wasn't on file, according to DHS.
"There were very serious complaints," Spear said.
Mike Clarke, owner of Kelly's Market and Deli about two miles away, said he's glad the state is taking action.
"They stole everything they wanted to get their hands on," Clarke said. "If that's what it takes to make this neighborhood safe, I think it's all right. They weren't controlling them. I had to put cages on the front of the building. They messed up the doors."
Darren Somerville and his wife, Stephanie, were house parents at the ranch for two years, through April 2006, when they quit along with two other sets of house parents.
"(The Sheltons) have good motives but they didn't have the skills to do it," Somerville said. "It needs an administrative and board overhaul. The same pattern goes on and on, and it all goes back to management by the Sheltons."
There are currently just four boys at the ranch which includes two homes with a combined capacity of 21. The typical number of residents the past decade has been about 15, Spear said.
The remaining boys will be placed back with their parents. The teens sent to Cascade are not in protective custody of the Department of Human Services, but the agency oversees management there.
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