The Ministry for Vulnerable Children yesterday confirmed it was working on reopening the Will St house.
The residence - formerly under the management of Child, Youth and Family - hit headlines last year when it was confirmed youth offenders, those aged under 17, were spending time in police custody or being transferred to youth justice centres as far away as Auckland as the house sat idle because caregivers had not been appointed to the facility.
Dunedin youth advocate Brian Kilkelly hit out CYF at the time and the Government department even drew the ire of youth court judges.
A spokesman for the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki - which superseded CYF on April 1 - said work to reopen the residence was under way.
''We can confirm that the ministry is progressing plans to reopen the Will St house,'' the spokesman said.
Mr Kilkelly said he was pleased by the decision.
''I'm thrilled that it's opening, but subject to the one caveat that I really, really hope that it's going to be for our young people in Dunedin,'' he said.
''My one note of caution is I want to hear it's going to be a residence for our local young people.''
If the residence was used to house children from elsewhere in the country, then ''we are back to square one'', he said.
''It would deny our kids the residence they need and, secondly, that defeats the purpose anyway and shifts the North Island kids away from their whanau.''
The ministry spokesman said further details of the plan to reopen the site would be available later in the year.
