Westmoreland juvenile detention center could double its capacity

Plans remain on course for the potential doubling of the number of teens confined at the Regional Youth Services Center in Hempfield, Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention board members said Monday.

The facility closed in June 2023 following a series of state inspections that were critical of its operation. It reopened last March at a reduced capacity of up to eight juveniles. The facility is licensed to house up to 16 child offenders.

As of Monday, just three teens were housed in the detention center, according to director Rich Gordon.

Officials are now targeting this summer for a potential expansion. Current staff levels will allow for up to 16 juveniles to be housed at the facility, including those from surrounding counties.

Westmoreland commissioners said any capacity increase would come after completion of a nearly $1 million project to replace the original doors and locks that were installed when the detention center was built in the late 1970s. Gordon said doors and locks are currently being manufactured and delivered and installation is expected to take several months.

In the meantime, officials have started to explore deals with surrounding counties to house their juvenile offenders in Westmoreland County.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Michele Bononi, a member of the juvenile detention board and who heads the county’s juvenile court system, said the expanded facility will initially be limited to offenders from the nearby region.

“We want to start on the western side of the state, but avoid Allegheny County because they have the Shuman Center and they have different kinds of (violent) kids,” Bononi said.

Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Pittsburgh reopened last year after a lengthy renovation process and the hiring of Adelphoi Inc. to run the facility. It, along with Westmoreland and Erie counties are the lone publicly owned juvenile detention centers that operate in western Pennsylvania.

Gordon said Westmoreland County could charge neighboring counties about $500 a day to house juveniles, a price that will help offset the cost of operating the facility.