Shuman Juvenile Detention Center set to reopen

After being closed for three years, the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center is set to reopen within the next few weeks, Allegheny County officials said.

Shuman, in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood, was closed in September 2021 after the state revoked its license following a number of violations. Since then, law enforcement agencies and court personnel have been frustrated at the lack of local, secure and reliable facilities to house juveniles who needed to be detained.

The facility will initially have 12 beds as part of the first phase of its reopening.

Last year, Latrobe-based nonprofit Adelphoi was awarded a five-year, $73 million contract to manage the facility. The contract has come under scrutiny and has even attracted a lawsuit from Allegheny County Council.

The local court system has undertaken extensive renovations at Shuman in anticipation of its reopening.

Since Shuman’s closure, some juveniles accused of crimes have been detained in the Allegheny County Jail or other facilities outside the county.

With the reopening of Shuman imminent, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato re-established an advisory board for the center on Thursday.

She said in a Thursday release that the board has members with professional expertise and is meant to ensure the facility operates safely.

“Our goal with the new Shuman is to provide excellent staff and holistic services, including mental health support, workforce development, and educational opportunities to allow for young people to go on to reach their full potential,” Innamorato said.

Innamorato has nominated five appointees for the board that will need approval from Allegheny County Council.

Court of Common Pleas President Judge Susan J. Evashavik has selected three appointees, as is required by state law. The two remaining seats will be filled by Innamorato and Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor or a designee per state statute, according to a release.

The eight appointees include local judges, nonprofit leaders, and a psychiatry professor from the University of Pittsburgh.

O’Connor said he approves of the move to reestablish the advisory board and said he looks forward to monitoring the facility’s renovation and Adelphoi’s contract.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala said Thursday there is a need for the Shuman center and said he is aware of about 50 people, many of them juveniles, facing “multiple homicide” charges who are not in detention.

“Twelve beds, that’s a start … I don’t know,” he said to reporters Thursday. “It’s taken a long time to get to this.”

Zappala said he disapproves of the court system’s involvement in Shuman, and he criticized the contract awarded to Adelphoi. He called Shuman a “stop-gap” measure and mentioned the Pine Groves facility in Indiana County as a possible alternative for juvenile detention.

He is skeptical that Shuman’s reopening will be successful.

“When you talk to the courts about Shuman Center, they say, ‘It’s not my project.’ When you talk to the executive, she says, ‘It’s not my project,’” Zappala said.