Allegheny County looking to open juvenile detention center
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Allegheny County leaders are looking to open a juvenile detention center again. They said there has become an urgent need for somewhere to put juveniles.
The Shuman Detention Center in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar has been closed for about a year and half. It could once again serve as a juvenile detention center for the area.
According to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, they are working with the courts to get this done. Ideally, he would like to see this be done by the time he leaves office.
"We are going to work with them to make that happen," Fitzgerald said.
There is no exact location yet. The county wants to have a public-private partnership with a nonprofit to run the center. The state Department of Human Services would oversee the operation.
Social experts said a detention center doesn't solve the problem of youth crime.
"It increases their likelihood of rearrest. It decreases the likelihood they graduate high school, increases the likelihood of getting into trouble as an adult as well," Pitt professor of social work Dr. Sara Goodkind said.
She did a study and spoke with young people as Shuman was closing and learned the youth did not feel safe there.
"They experienced violence there. Their basic human needs went unmet," Dr. Goodkind said over Zoom.
According to her, if a child gets to the point where they need to be locked up, society has failed them. She doesn't mean that people shouldn't be held accountable for their actions, but there needs to be better help for them outside the justice system.
"That accountability doesn't actually happen when we simply lock them up and punish them. They don't grow from their mistakes," Dr. Goodkind said.
The county said the facility will have education, health services, social services, religious services and recreation for the juveniles.
"We're just going to try to help the folks working in public safety and working in youth detention and make that work," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald told reporters if this carries over to the next administration, his office will try to make it a smooth transition. There is no exact timeline for when something will open.
