Allegheny County conducting overview of Shuman Center, creating juvenile justice study group

PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County officials have responded to calls to reopen the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center amid continued juvenile violence throughout Pittsburgh.

On Tuesday, the Allegheny County council filed a motion to review the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center and to establish a juvenile justice study group.

The Shuman Center review specifically focuses on its history and function. The Allegheny County controller will examine details like the housing conditions at the center, educational training, mental health services, addiction recovery and the current physical state of the center.

After that information is gathered, the county controller will send the findings to a juvenile justice study group.

The study group will be made up of a wide group of officials. There will be seven representatives from Allegheny County, including two representatives from the court of common pleas, two representatives of the chief executive, two representatives of the county council, and the council president.

Six people from outside the county will also be members of the study group, including one person from the office of the district attorney, a representative of the law office of the public defender, one representative of a recognized victims’ advocacy group, one representative of the department of correction, a representative of a juvenile advocacy group within the juvenile justice system and a representative from a university that has published work on the juvenile justice system.

The study group will review the information found in the review and provide the controller with recommendations on how what to do moving forward.

The county controller will work on an overview that will estimate how much money it would cost to improve the former Shuman Center or to create a different site that will serve as a new juvenile justice center. Different departments and agencies will help the county controller and the recommendations given by the study group will also be taken into consideration.

The study group will begin meeting as soon as it is formed and will meet twice a month. They will receive information and recommendations from different experts on parts of juvenile detention.

The final part of the motion put a pause on the original plan to possibly sell the former Shuman Center. That motion will be paused for 180 days or until the motion is complete.

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