Westmoreland commissioners seek more oversight of juvenile detention center

Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center, plagued for more than two years by staffing and other issues, may be getting more oversight, if county commissioners get their way.

Commissioners, who account for a half of the board that oversees the eight-bed secured facility for juvenile offenders, said they want monthly updates on operations from the administrators of the Hempfield-based center.

It was shuttered for nearly eight months in 2023 and into 2024 after a series of state inspections identified staffing shortages and training failures.

The facility reopened in March 2024.

“We want to make sure the it remains secure and that our staffing is up to date. We want to see and hear about everything that is going on,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes.

The juvenile detention board, which also includes Controller Jeff Balzer, Sheriff James Albert and Common Pleas Court Judge Michele Bononi, met Monday for the first of what is expected to be monthly public sessions. The board previously met just three times a year.

Director Rich Gordon said just half of the beds at the facility were occupied. Holiday season saw the juvenile population decline, but officials anticipate that with the new year more teens will be confined at the facility.

All of the kids held at the center were from Westmoreland County.

That could change in the coming months.

The county’s juvenile detention program is licensed by the state to hold up to 16 children. Current staffing levels only allow up to eight juveniles to be held at the center, but officials directed Gordon to the begin an expanded hiring process.

“We will try to look at increasing our staffing, if possible, in preparation for expansion,” Gordon said.

The county has no current agreements to house juveniles from other counties, but commissioners directed staff to begin negotiations for new contracts that officials said will help to pay for the center’s future operations.

Previous agreements called for neighboring counties to pay $199 a day for each child held at the detention center. Gordon suggested those daily per diems could now be as high as $400 a day.