Westmoreland closes juvenile detention center amid state investigation, staffing shortages

Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center is temporarily closed amid ongoing state child welfare investigations and staffing issues that resulted in an inability to properly staff and secure the 16-bed facility in Hempfield.

Director Rich Gordon confirmed that state investigators are conducting a review of operations in the wake of two incidents just days apart in early June, including a suspected suicide attempt by one child and another child suffering self-inflicted injuries.

“Whenever you have a critical incident in a juvenile detention facility, you have to self-report, and the state comes in and investigates. Our staff had to come off the floor whether they did anything wrong or not,” Gordon said.

Neither incident resulted in a fatality, but investigators from the state’s Department of Human Services will determine whether staff at the facility, which houses juveniles charged with crimes, acted properly.

Gordon said two employees were removed from duty pending the outcome of the probe, which exacerbated what has become an ongoing crisis to adequately meet required state-mandated staffing levels. Before the closure, the facility on South Grande Boulevard already was understaffed with 14 vacant positions.

“We have about 50% of what we need. I and my administrative team has had to work on the floor. We decided we’re better off if we proactively made a decision, step back, catch our breath and get ready to move forward,” Gordon said of the voluntary closure.

The state Department of Human Services did not respond to requests for comment.

Marsha Levick, chief legal officer for the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, said state investigations at detention centers are not unusual.

“That’s the right response and that’s what they should do,” Levick said. “The fact that the state came in quickly, that is ideally what you want to happen. An investigation is a good thing.”

She said counties throughout Pennsylvania have struggled with finding adequate housing for juveniles but suggested questions remain surrounding the detention of juveniles.

“We have to ask ourself who is in these facilities, so we’re not locking up all of these kids. This is going on across the state because there are staffing issues,” Levick said.

Frustration builds

Gordon was rehired to serve as executive director of Westmoreland’s detention center last year and is paid $98,010 annually. He served as head of Westmoreland’s facility from 2013 to 2015, when he left to work in Allegheny County and was appointed in 2017 as the director at Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Pittsburgh.

Shuman was shuttered in 2021 after the state revoked its license following a series of inspections that found continuing problems characterized as “gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct.”

Westmoreland’s facility was built in 1979 as a 24-bed juvenile detention center. A renovation completed in 2012 downsized the detention center program to house up to 12 children and renamed the building as the Regional Youth Services Center. That renovation included creation of a separate, walled-off shelter facility within the same structure for nonviolent troubled youth.

In 2018, the county successfully petitioned to expand its detention program to allow for up to 16 residents.

Despite the detention center’s temporary closing, the shelter — which does not require the same level of security as the detention center — continues to operate and as of Thursday had seven residents, Gordon said.

The county transferred juveniles who were in detention to private facilities, including Adelphoi Village, Summit Academy and George Jr. Republic, and in some cases to probation services, said Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Michele Bononi, who oversees the juvenile justice programs for local courts.

“You have no idea how frustrated I am. I just wish the state addresses this issue,” Bononi said.

Westmoreland was one of two counties operating juvenile detention centers in Western Pennsylvania following the closing of the Shuman center. Allegheny County officials recently have discussed reopening Shuman.

Possible changes ahead

Meanwhile, local officials said they still are compiling the costs associated with the temporary closure of the Westmoreland center.

Controller Jeffrey Balzer, who serves as chairman of the county’s Juvenile Detention Board, said officials are looking to upgrade security and potentially embark on a renovation and modernization at the facility.

“We’re taking a look at replacing (security doors), and we could be looking to make some other changes down there,” Balzer said. “Once the (state) investigation is done, we could reopen.”

A full renovation is still in the early planning stages, but officials concede that changes are needed.

The county has eyed several options, including the creation of a separate pod designated for youthful offenders, juveniles who are charged as adults with serious crimes. State law prohibits youthful offenders from being housed in areas where they have contact with adults.

County leaders balked at housing youthful offenders at the juvenile detention center and have contracts to house them at a special unit at the Allegheny County Jail and more recently at a jail across the state in Lehigh County. Because of ongoing crowding issues in Allegheny County, Westmoreland was unable find alternative options and despite security concerns housed six youthful offenders at the Hempfield juvenile facility before its closing.

Officials said Westmoreland County Prison, because of its existing configuration, is not able to house youthful offenders.

This week, commissioners signed off on a contract for youthful offenders to be housed at the Lawrence County Jail at a daily rate of $800.

Westmoreland County Court Administrator Amy DeMatt said two juveniles are being held in Lawrence County. Four others are housed in Allegheny County.

County officials briefly explored relocating the shelter program at the Regional Youth Services Center to another site near the courthouse in Greensburg as a potential move to free up space to house youthful offenders in Westmoreland County. Those plans have not progressed.

“It’s a problem. There is not a lot of places to put them,” Bononi said of the growing number of youthful offenders prosecuted in Westmoreland County.

Housing of juvenile offenders is a national concern, said Hunter Hurst, director of the Pittsburgh-based National Center for Juvenile Justice.

“This is a 20-year trend where facilities are closing, some not long after they were built in the mid-2000s,” Hurst said.

He said other states have had more difficult times finding housing for juvenile defendants. Pennsylvania is fortunate to have ample numbers of private facilities for child offenders.

“Pennsylvania is probably the richest in terms of juvenile justice. There are a lot of private beds to purchase,” Hurst said.