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Westmoreland County Regional Youth Detention Center is back open after months of staffing challenges.The center was closed for the majority of the past nine months.County officials said the efforts to fully staff the facility will be an ongoing process, but this move to reopen will benefit the county.Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer said the daily cost for taxpayers to send juveniles who have been charged with serious crimes out of the county to await trial in other facilities can be up to $800 per juvenile.”That’s a nice chunk of money. It’s all taxpayer dollars,” Balzer said.Balzer said saving money is one reason for reopening, and another is to keep kids closer to home and in a facility with staff trained to work with youth.”They do want to treat the residents that we serve more with kid gloves, more gentler, kinder. At the same token, you know, we have to keep in mind these are kids that have broken the law. They’re being charged with homicides, they’re being involved in some serious crimes. So, you have to have the ability to keep them safe while at the same time respecting who they are as an individual,” the center’s director Rich Gordon said.Gordon said he considers this reopening a “soft launch.” The facility will house up to four juveniles right now, then work to increase staffing levels to accommodate more. Ideally, Gordin said they want one service worker for every four juveniles.County Commissioner Ted Kopas said staffing is a priority.”We’ve taken a number of proactive steps over the past few months to increase the salary and to bring on a recruiting firm to help us in that regard, which has bared some fruit with the fact that we’re able to staff the facility to reopen it. That effort has to continue,” Kopas said.Gordon said the facility is also preparing to begin a project to upgrade the locking mechanisms in the doors. The center’s goal is to open the facility to up to 16 juveniles before the end of the year when the project is complete.
Westmoreland County Regional Youth Detention Center is back open after months of staffing challenges.
The center was closed for the majority of the past nine months.
County officials said the efforts to fully staff the facility will be an ongoing process, but this move to reopen will benefit the county.
Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer said the daily cost for taxpayers to send juveniles who have been charged with serious crimes out of the county to await trial in other facilities can be up to $800 per juvenile.
“That’s a nice chunk of money. It’s all taxpayer dollars,” Balzer said.
Balzer said saving money is one reason for reopening, and another is to keep kids closer to home and in a facility with staff trained to work with youth.
“They do want to treat the residents that we serve more with kid gloves, more gentler, kinder. At the same token, you know, we have to keep in mind these are kids that have broken the law. They’re being charged with homicides, they’re being involved in some serious crimes. So, you have to have the ability to keep them safe while at the same time respecting who they are as an individual,” the center’s director Rich Gordon said.
Gordon said he considers this reopening a “soft launch.” The facility will house up to four juveniles right now, then work to increase staffing levels to accommodate more. Ideally, Gordin said they want one service worker for every four juveniles.
County Commissioner Ted Kopas said staffing is a priority.
“We’ve taken a number of proactive steps over the past few months to increase the salary and to bring on a recruiting firm to help us in that regard, which has bared some fruit with the fact that we’re able to staff the facility to reopen it. That effort has to continue,” Kopas said.
Gordon said the facility is also preparing to begin a project to upgrade the locking mechanisms in the doors. The center’s goal is to open the facility to up to 16 juveniles before the end of the year when the project is complete.
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