Allegheny County Council takes step in potentially reopening Shuman Juvenile Detention Center

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — The Shuman Juvenile Detention Center closed in September of 2021 but calls to reopen it have been growing louder.

Allegheny County Council took the next step in possibly reopening the facility at Tuesday evening’s meeting when a motion was made to form a “Juvenile Justice Study Group” that will further explore the future of Shuman or a place like it in the county.

“We need to have a facility where the courts can take and send these kids who are committing violent crimes who are too young to be sent to jail,” Councilman-at-large Sam DeMarco said. He sits on the public safety committee.

“Many of these kids who are being held in home detention with bracelets aren’t even bothering to cut them off before they commit other crimes because they know there is no place to send them,” DeMarco said.

Those at-home monitors have been a hot topic lately. Just last week, Channel 11 exclusively showed you video played by prosecutors in court showing what they say is a 14-year-old wearing a home monitoring ankle bracelet leaving his house and shooting into another house killing a teen.

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In February, a Target 11 Investigation found that there aren’t enough beds for kids accused of crimes here. Some are sent across state lines to Ohio.

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What would a new facility look like?

“Whatever you do, please do not hand over the keys to a private jailer,” Alan Guenther of the Peace is Possible Coalition.

Guenther is not the only one pushing for a non-private solution.

“This cannot be a privately run facility. It’s inherently a conflict of interest. If I had a facility, I want more kids. But if I just want to serve kids, I want less kids in the facility and I want to serve them in a way that they stay out,” Tim Stevens, Chairman and CEO of the Black Political Empowerment Project said.

DeMarco told Channel 11 he’s confident they won’t be working with a for-profit company.

The committee next meets on March 15. It’s unclear if the topic will be on the agenda.

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