Weinstein calls on officials to 'reimagine' juvenile detention center in Pittsburgh area

A candidate for Allegheny County executive called Tuesday for officials to speed up the process of reopening the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.

At about the same, the county’s sitting executive, Rich Fitzgerald, said he was in the process of addressing the issue.

The now-closed Shuman Center closed in September 2021 after the state Department of Human Services revoked its license. The 47-year-old facility in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar could hold up to 120 children, but it was housing just 20 with an average age of 16 when it closed, county officials have said.

County Treasurer John Weinstein, one of several Democrats running to replace County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, said it’s time to open a “reimagined” Shuman Center — complete with mental health services, job training from area craftsmen and other forms of intervention.

“Too often, young lives are being harmed and taken,” Weinstein said Tuesday morning as he stood in front of the shuttered entrance to the center. “We need resources and we need leadership. And we need it now.”

About 30 minutes before Weinstein’s event started, Fitzgerald issued a statement that the county “will move forward to find a solution to provide additional options for juvenile detention.”

County Manager Jennifer Liptak will lead the effort with the region’s court system “to reestablish a county-run facility or to create a public-private partnership, preferably with a (nonprofit) provider, for this needed resource,” said Amie Downs, a spokeswoman for Fitzgerald.

Since Shuman closed, Downs said the county has worked with local, regional and state officials to “identify a regional solution that would meet the needs of the Allegheny County Courts, as well as those of surrounding counties.”

“This region has also seen an increased urgency to have additional facilities available for the placement of juveniles,” Downs said.

Weinstein called Fitzgerald’s move to issue a statement on Shuman Center just before his news conference “a pretty unique coincidence.”

Weinstein said Allegheny County, not a private provider, should run its own juvenile detention center, and it also should serve minors in need from surrounding counties.

Weinstein said he would work with county council to introduce legislation to speed up the process of reopening Shuman Center.

Allegheny County Council President Pat Catena, D-Carnegie, appeared alongside Weinstein at the boarded-up Shuman Center, where the entrance is lined with two flagless flagpoles and has a “No Trespassing” sign.

“We need to reimagine this for the future,” Catena said. “It needs to happen … sooner rather than later.”