Allegheny County Council to study potential replacement for closed juvenile detention center

After Allegheny County’s Shuman Juvenile Detention Center has been closed 18 months, efforts are ramping up to find some sort of replacement.

On Tuesday, Allegheny County Council voted 11-2 to form a study group to review the overall needs of the county’s juvenile justice system in the aftermath of Shuman closing.

Allegheny County Council President Pat Catena, D-Carnegie, praised the formation of the Juvenile Justice Study Group. He said it has been up to the county’s courts to find appropriate placement for juvenile offenders.

“The study group has a solid foundation and valuable direction to begin their discussions of providing an updated juvenile justice system that is responsive to the needs of the residents of the City of Pittsburgh and all of Allegheny County,” Catena said in a statement.

Shuman was closed in September 2021 after the state Department of Human Services revoked its license. Catena said the facility had a history of cited violations, investigations and licensure issues.

A month before the closure, the county said Shuman housed 20 juveniles with an average age of 16.

Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein has proposed a “reimagined” Shuman Center — complete with mental health services, job training from area craftsmen and other forms of intervention. Weinstein, a Democrat, is running for Allegheny County executive.

Current County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has assigned his chief of staff, Jennifer Liptak, to lead an effort with the region’s court system to reestablish a county-run facility or create a new public-private partnership to address juvenile detention.

Other officials, including Pittsburgh City Council members, have tried to create plans, including providing youths with safer spaces and instituting curfews, during an increase in violent crime that has hit the city and some parts of the county.

Catena will chair the county council study group and other members will be appointed, including two by the president judge of the Court of Common Pleas, two by the chief executive and two by Catena.

There also will be nonvoting members appointed to the study group who will provide the logistical and practical expertise, according to a news release.

Nonvoting members will include representatives from the District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, a victims’ advocacy group, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections or similar law enforcement agency, a juvenile advocacy group and one member from an unnamed university that has published research, studies or similar materials relating to the juvenile justice system.