'Difficult August' leaves Westmoreland juvenile detention center looking to fill job vacancies

A series of clashes among residents at Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center in August resulted in injuries to one staff member and multiple job vacancies, director Rich Gordon said.

The detention center, one of two residential programs for juveniles at the Regional Youth Services Center in Hempfield, continues to operate, and expansion remains possible, Gordon said Monday during a meeting of the county’s juvenile detention board.

Gordon outlined what he called a “difficult August,” when numerous altercations erupted among residents held in the secure detention facility. But he characterized them as ordinary confrontations between troubled youth.

“These are complicated kids, but everything was de-escalated and we’re fine there. It’s an ongoing battle” Gordon said.

One staff member who attempted to intervene in one of the disputes was injured and remains off the job. Three other staffers have resigned, leaving the facility to operate with nine full-time employees. One position is expected to be filled in the coming days leaving two vacant positions, officials said.

Seven juveniles were housed at the detention facility Monday, including one teen who is awaiting trial as an adult for an alleged murder this year in Donegal.

The center has the capacity to house up to of eight juveniles. It is licensed to house up to 16 minors in detention, but staffing issues are preventing the county from operating at full levels.

Staffing issues and state inspections that identified training failures, which led to a near riot last year, led county officials to close the detention facility in June 2023. It remained shuttered until March, when it reopened on a limited basis to house two juvenile offenders once enough staffers were hired to meet minimum state requirements.

In June, county officials said enough staff had been hired to allow the facility to house up to eight juveniles.

Officials said an expansion of the juvenile detention program is still being considered for early next year. Expansion won’t come until a nearly $1 million project to install new doors and locking devices throughout the building is completed. Work was started in recent weeks and is targeted to be finished by year’s end, Gordon said.

Additional staff would have to be hired to accommodate more juvenile offenders.

The county last year signed with a private firm to recruit candidates to fill job openings at the juvenile detention center and jail. That contract has since expired.

Westmoreland County Prison Warden Steve Pelesky said only two guard vacancies remain at the jail. The prison board Monday approved the hiring of seven new guards to fill out a roster that includes about 145 corrections officers.

Ryan Perry, president of the United Mine Workers of America Local 522, said work conditions and relations with jail management has improved in the last year since Pelesky’s hiring.

“We’re in a very good place compared to where we were a year ago,” Perry said.