Westmoreland County Juvenile Detention Center set to reopen

For the past 10 months, the rooms at the Westmoreland County Juvenile Detention Center have sat empty. It’s been closed since June. That changes on Wednesday when the facility reopens, but the county will only house four juvenile offenders instead of the 16 the facility can typically hold.

“It’s a big relief,” said Westmoreland County Controller Jeff Balzer.

The juvenile detention center shut down in June after multiple state investigations into an attempted suicide and reports of self-harm.

One investigation looked into a physical fight between a juvenile and a staff member that created the “potential for a riot.”

Since then, the county has been working to hire more staff to get the facility reopened.

“It took a lot. We went through the process of hiring a couple people, but not being able to open and losing the people we hired, then finding some more,” Balzer noted. “But, we have enough to open it up.”

Right now there are 10 staff members. They have the budget to fill two more spots, but Juvenile Detention Director Rich Gordon told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek he’d like to have 20 staff on board.

Gordon said they have invested in training while being closed. Some of the new staff are still in a “learn-as-you-go” training.

When they reopen Wednesday, the Westmoreland County Juvenile Detention Center will have one juvenile in custody, with the potential for two more to be housed there by the end of the day.

The most they’ll house, for now, is four, while they hire more staff and get acclimated to being reopened.

“We’re happy to say we’re open for business for at least those four rooms, and as we grow, it’ll get better,” Balzer said. “I anticipate that picking up now that we’re open. That’s the big thing, that you get open and get ready to do business.”

A nearly $1 million door upgrade for the detention rooms is still unfinished.

The current doors are the original doors from 1979.

The new doors the county bought will lock electronically.

The county says it will take a year to build the doors and get them installed. But, they’re glad to get the place open.

“It’ll save us money because we spending $800 to send someone across the state and bring them back here for a court hearing,” Balzer said.

Administrators said they would like to gradually increase the number of juveniles they can hold as the door project continues.

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