Shuman Juvenile Detention Center to close after state revokes license

Allegheny County’s juvenile detention center will close Sept. 18 after the state Department of Human Services revoked its license.

The state notified county Manager William McKain the license for the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center was being revoked Friday.

By Monday afternoon, McKain announced the closure of the 46-year-old facility in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood, which houses adjudicated youth in the county.

“The licensing at the facility has been an ongoing issue,” McKain said in a statement. “Over the last six years, we have put additional resources into the facility, supported new leadership and efforts by the professionals running the center, and continued to work with the courts and the state on alternatives. Yet, we continued to see violations that were only exacerbated during the pandemic with staffing challenges.”

McKain’s recommendation to close the center was supported by Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

“Ultimately, this is the best decision for taxpayers and for the youth that Shuman served,” Fitzgerald said.

Twenty children were committed to Shuman as of Monday, the county said, with an average age of 16. The ages of the youth held there range from 14 to 20.

Conversations about asking the state to takeover the facility have been “ongoing” for the past few years because of changes in the juvenile justice system, the county said.

State DHS officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about the decision to close Shuman.

The county didn’t indicate what the future steps will be, but the youth can be transferred to other facilities the state operates. Courts will be making commitments to other facilities moving forward, the county said.

In a news release, the county noted only 14 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties continue to operate youth detention facilities. They include Butler, Erie and Westmoreland in Western Pennsylvania.

The Pa. Department of Human Services made the move to revoke the Shuman license because its Office of Children, Youth and Families “determined that due to continued failure to follow regulations and failure to improve on past violations, a license revocation was necessary,” state DHS spokeswoman Ali Fogarty said.

“An emergency removal order was also issued for facility, and all youth in care are to be relocated as quickly as possible. The department will continue to monitor and support the facility as the relocations take place to ensure the safety of the youth,” Fogarty said.

Her statement was released before the county announced its decision to close Shuman.

Shuman Center’s fourth provisional license was issued July 1 and was set to expire Jan. 1, 2022. Provisional licenses are issued to facilities where violations are found to give them time to address them. Shuman has been operating under a provisional license since December 2015, according to DHS inspection records and the county.

The latest violations, stemming from an investigation between June 16 and July 1 included a heroin overdose, theft of $140 from a nurse’s purse when a child was left unattended and another incident where a child was left unattended and able to return to the center’s infirmary alone.

Of the last violation, DHS investigators wrote that trusting a child to walk 10 feet through a security door is “an exercise of faith at best.”

“The incident cannot happen nor be taken lightly,” the investigators wrote. “This incident may have triggered a variety of unnecessary and unfortunate other incidents.”

The heroin overdose involved a boy who was able to obtain and take the drug while at Shuman. Three doses of the opioid reversal drug Narcan were required to revive him, according to the DHS report.

It happened about 4 p.m. on a date that was redacted in the report, and the boy took the drug while in a restroom. At 4:15 p.m., the boy slumped over in a chair. He didn’t receive medical assistance until 4:37 p.m., and paramedics didn’t get to the facility until 5:04 p.m., according to the report.

Shuman officials told the state they would work to develop a better process to create a safer environment and that regular and random checks of areas of the facility would be done and documented. Training would be provided to staff, and the Allegheny County police would do an independent security risk assessment.

They also said they would meet weekly with a DHS representative to provide updates.

Shuman’s correction plan also noted it “needs to increase its emergency response time and sense of urgency during all medical and crisis situations,” according to the DHS report.

They worked with UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to review the signs and symptoms of opioid ingestion and overdose and were trained to use Narcan. More training and meeting days were scheduled through July and August, according to the report, which is dated June 17.

For state DHS reports on Shuman dating back to 2009, click here.

Shuman Center opened in December 1974. Its maximum capacity is 120, according to its provisional license.

An average of 1,600 youth, including repeat offenders, are admitted each year, according to the county’s website. Females make up 20% of the center’s population.

Staff writer Michael DiVittorio contributed.