Allegheny County contracts with Adelphoi to open, operate Shuman Detention Center
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Allegheny County is entering into an agreement with a private company to reopen the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.
The county is contracting with Adelphoi, a private company, to begin operating the center at the start of the new year.
"The opening of the center will greatly enhance the safety of all communities in Allegheny County, consistent with balanced and restorative justice – the mission of the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice System," President Judge Kim Berkley Clark said.
After the state revoked its license, Shuman closed two years ago.
Since then, police and prosecutors have complained they have had no place to detain juveniles accused of serious crimes – even as gun violence has spiked. KDKA Investigates has done several reports on juveniles released to the custody of their parents – only to re-offend.
"If you're out here shooting and bringing death to our streets, that's why we need Shuman," Mayor Ed Gainey said. "That's a reality. We don't want shooters on our streets."
In May, Allegheny County police chiefs asked for action to take young offenders off the street.
"Currently, violent juvenile offenders are being continually released to family and friends only to re-offend, sometimes within hours," Allegheny County Chiefs of Police Association President Craig Campbell said last spring.
More than a year and a half ago, the state revoked the license of the Shuman Detention Center and the county shut it down. Since then, law enforcement has complained of a revolving door of juvenile justice with no place to detain even the most violent offenders. At a time when youth gun violence is at all-time highs, there are only 14 detention beds in the region — all outside of Allegheny County.
"We don't want a revolving door," Gainey said. "We want these kids to grow up and live productive lives."
Allegheny County Council President Pat Catena issued this statement on the decision.
"I am extremely disappointed that this is the path that the Executive and Courts have chosen in this instance. We had an opportunity to obtain input from a variety of sources in a collaborative fashion, in order to create a multifaceted juvenile justice center geared towards education, teaching skills, and breaking the cycle of recidivism while individuals are still in the juvenile justice system," Catena said.
"I advocated for that outcome, and Council passed a motion to form a working group that included the Executive and Courts to do exactly that. Instead, the Executive and Courts have opted to embrace the cutting edge of decades-old thinking in order to warehouse kids in a center run by a for-profit business, while pretending that this somehow improves outcomes for the children that will be treated as commodities for which a contractor is paid."
The center is currently undergoing a $4.7 million renovation.
Operations will begin in January of 2024. The facility will initially open one pod with 12 detention beds. Four other pods will open later.
"I am 100 percent against the county selling out children who need help the most to the highest private bidder," Allegheny County Councilperson Bethany Hallam sad.
