Daily News | Judge orders Pennsylvania Human Services to accept Philly teens from overcrowded detention center
A Commonwealth Court judge has ordered Pennsylvania state officials to take custody of 15 children currently living at a juvenile detention facility in Philadelphia that the city says is dangerously overcrowded and understaffed. They’re among 135 statewide on a waiting list to receive court-ordered treatment at state placements called Youth Development Centers.
The order did not attempt to address crowding going forward, as the city and state continue to scramble for alternatives that could include a new juvenile detention center within one of the city’s adult jails.
City officials who testified Wednesday described a facility in chaos, with dozens of children sleeping on mattresses in an admissions office or sitting on the floor to eat. They detailed— one testified that employees recently found 10 makeshift weapons in a room holding 20 children. Bureau of Juvenile Justice Services Director Charles Neff said the emergency contract with the Texas facility, Rite of Passage, fulfilled the state’s obligation. The company was the only one to respond to what he described as a nationwide call for emergency placement alternatives. Headquartered in Nevada, Rite of Passage had revenues of $22 million in 2020, according to public filings.
City officials at the hearing made clear they do not believe the state is acting with sufficient urgency, questioning DHS officials about the empty beds at the state centers. Though the three centers contain 224 beds, the state lists their current capacity collectively at 116 teens. The state said it couldn’t take more because of staffing shortages.
Gary Williams, a deputy commissioner at the city’s Department of Human Services, testified Wednesday that 60 children at PJJSC have been sentenced to rehabilitation in state facilities but have not yet been transferred. Of those, 18 have been waiting for more than three months, he said.
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