Westmoreland County juvenile detention center to reopen today
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- The statewide crisis involving the juvenile justice system takes a step in the right direction today as Westmoreland County's juvenile detention center is ready to reopen its doors.
The Westmoreland County Regional Youth Services Center will reopen today.
It closed last year following a state report that found several violations and was also due to staffing shortages and the need for repairs to the building.
They have the capacity to take in 16 offenders but will start with just four, and gradually increase the number.
A board member at the jail told KDKA last summer that each day that went by while they were closed cost $800 per person to house them somewhere else.
He cited a lot of 'bad behavior' that came about in early 2023, with most dating back to an emergency inside that left the facility on lockdown for hours due to low staffing levels.
When we spoke to the board member, he said there were four people on staff and two dozen would be considered a full staff and with 16 beds available, they didn't have enough bodies.
He also told us that they needed more training along with repairs to parts of the center like new cell doors -- something he said should've been done decades ago.
Rich Gordon is the director of the center said it had to do with staffing shortages and multiple state investigations, including one of attempted suicide and self-harm, and another involving a physical fight between kids and staff that had the potential to become a riot.
"We made a decision at that point in time that you know, it's just becoming too complicated right now to operate, and it was in our best interest, and the kids' best interest to actually just take a timeout, reset," Gordon said. "When you have minimal staff, tired staff, overtime staff, because everyone's having difficulty hiring, the kids have the upper hand."
They took a pause, but it cost them $800 per person to house them somewhere else. In the process, they worked to train and to find the right people to hire.
"There are a lot of folks that have applied that we've not felt were right, for our circumstance, maybe too aggressive, maybe too soft," Gordon said.
As they get back up and running, they'll have 10 staff members, with two vacancies that are already budgeted for. Ideally, Gordon would like to get up to 20.
"You have to be special, you have to have the education, you have to have the wherewithal to come in and do it day in and day out," Gordon said.
They're also preparing to replace all of the cell doors as a part of a nearly $1-million project. The current doors are from 1979.
"This could take a couple of months," Gordon said.
Now Gordon is ready for a new chapter that's more safe and secure, while still caring for the welfare of the offenders.
"We definitely need to open. We definitely need to do our jobs," Gordon said. "We want to do the best thing we can to help the kids you know, the kids need the help, the community needs the help, so I think that's part of what we're trying to do."
Gordon said he expects the construction on the doors to be done by the end of the year and at that time will feel comfortable with reaching capacity.
The decision to reopen the center was officially announced at the Detention Board meeting earlier this week.
