Pittsburgh city leaders and public safety officials have said they want to bring back the former Shuman Juvenile Detention Center after it closed just over a year ago. “We never should have closed the Shuman Center without a plan,” Mayor Ed Gainey said at a news conference Monday. full report. Despite the county’s efforts, it was closed. “The biggest mistake Allegheny County could have made was closing the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center,” said William Simmons, the center’s former director. Richard Ford on Monday. “We have an Allegheny County system that doesn’t have a juvenile detention center right now, and we don’t have a plan ‘b.’ We have minors who are released who are repeat offenders, with prior gun charges, and they are still there,” Ford said Simmons was not the director at the time the center closed. He said he had been fired from his role before.When it closed, County Executive William McKain said there were 20 children at the center and the average stay was around 12 days. Simmons said a matter of days is still precious time to give minors educational, medical and mental health care. “It’s a vitally needed service for many reasons. One is just safety. minors, but also families, and now in situations where grandma comes once a week, she can’t see her grandson. His mom can’t see her child,” Simmons told Bethany County Council member Hallam agreed, saying there should have been a back-up plan in place before sending children to facilities outside of Allegheny County. “Instead of talking about where we are going to lock them up, let’s talk about what we can do for these children and their families to make sure they never end up at a facility like Shuman or one of the many other out-of-town facilities that we are now contracting with,” Hallam said. Hallam sits on the prison’s board of supervisors, which has no say in the Shuman center, but she said it should have. She does not support the reopening of the center. “Yes, we are seeing violence at a rate we haven’t seen in decades, but is that the reason Shuman? Because I don’t believe it,” Hallam said. The center has been maintained, and at this time the county has an RFP on the property, with a preference for a developer or operator who intends to continue using it as a juvenile detention center.
Pittsburgh city leaders and public safety officials have said they want to bring back the former Shuman Juvenile Detention Center after it closed just over a year ago.
“We never should have closed the Shuman Center without a plan,” Mayor Ed Gainey said Monday at a press conference.
Those words followed a quadruple shooting over the weekend that left three dead on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Watch the video above to see the full report.
The state revoked the license for Shuman’s juvenile detention center last year, citing several years of ongoing problems at the center. Despite the county’s efforts, it was closed.
“The biggest mistake Allegheny County could have made was closing the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center,” said William Simmons, the center’s former director.
Simmons agreed with the message shared by Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Richard Ford on Monday.
“We have a system in Allegheny County that doesn’t have a juvenile detention center right now, and we don’t have a ‘b’ plan. We have juveniles who are released who are repeat offenders, with previous firearms charges, and they’re still out there,” Ford said.
Simmons was not the director when the center closed. He said he was fired from his previous role.
When it closed, County Manager William McKain said there were 20 children at the center and the average stay was around 12 days.
Simmons said a matter of days is still precious time to give minors educational, medical and mental attention.
“It is a vitally needed service for many reasons. One is just the safety of the miners, but also the safety of the families, and now in situations where grandma came once a week, she can’t see her grandson. Her mother can’t see her child,” Simmons said.
County Council Member Bethany Hallam agreed, saying a back-up plan should have been in place before sending children to facilities outside of Allegheny County.
“Instead of talking about where we’re going to lock them up, let’s talk about what we can do for these children and their families to make sure they never end up in a facility like Shuman or any of the many other out-of-town facilities that we are in the process of contracting with,” Hallam said.
Hallam sits on the prison’s board of supervisors, which doesn’t have a say in the Shuman Center, but she said it should have a say.
She does not support the reopening of the center.
“Yes, we are seeing violence at a rate we haven’t seen in decades, but is that why Shuman? Because I don’t believe it,” Hallam said.
The center has been maintained, and at this time the county has a request for proposal on the property, with a preference for a developer or operator who intends to continue using it as a juvenile detention center.
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