Westmoreland increases capacity at reopened juvenile detention center

The Westmoreland County juvenile detention center in Hempfield has hired enough staff to double its capacity three months after a limited reopening in March, officials announced Monday.

The detention facility that makes up half of the Regional Youth Services Center was temporarily shuttered last year amid a series of negative state inspections and staffing woes. Since its reopening earlier this year the county allowed limited capacity of up to four juvenile offenders as officials looked to hire enough full-time employees to meet state operating guidelines.

Director Rich Gordon said all full-time positions at the juvenile detention center are now filled with a roster of about 10 potential new employees on a waiting list for jobs. The staffing will enable the facility to increase its maximum capacity to eight juvenile offenders.

“We’re doing way better now than we have been for years. Now that were fully staffed, we can start to bring in more programs,” Gordon said.

Since reopening in late March, the facility has averaged three juveniles in residence. Four teens were housed there on Monday.

Gordon said the facility could again double its capacity by year’s end, when a $961,000 project is expected to be completed to replace the original security doors and locking devices that were installed when the building was erected in 1979. A renovation completed more than a decade ago did not address the doors and locks.

“We’ll have plenty of kids to fill it up,” said Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Michele Bononi, who oversees the county’s juvenile justice system.

The secured detention center is licensed to hold up to 16 juveniles. An unsecured shelter program for troubled youth is housed in the same building and can accommodate up to eight teens.

The housing of juvenile offenders has been a concern throughout the state.

Westmoreland County’s facility, along with a 20-bed center in Erie, are the only two government-operated detention programs operating in western Pennsylvania.

Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Pittsburgh, shuttered since 2021, is expected to reopen this summer and initially hold up to 12 offenders.

Meanwhile, Westmoreland officials said the county is seeking options to house youthful offenders, teens who are charged as adults with crimes. Those offenders cannot be housed in the county jail because of state and federal laws that prohibit incarcerated teens from having contact with adult inmates.

Westmoreland County’s youthful offenders have been housed at cordoned off wings in Allegheny and Lawrence county jails at a cost of $600 a day.

In 2023, the county spent more than $403,000 to house youthful offenders and through mid-June has spent about $177,00 this year, according to the Westmoreland County Controller’s office.

Commissioners said they have explored building a separate wing at Westmoreland’s jail to accommodate youthful offenders, and recently did a walkthrough at the Hempfield lockup.

“We’ve looked at it and it would cost millions of dollars. We need to find better options,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes.

Commissioner Ted Kopas said there are no specific cost estimates for a jail expansion to house youth offenders.

“Our first priority was simply getting this (juvenile center) staffed and our next step will be to see what can be done with youthful offenders,” Kopas said.