Delco is backing a regional youth detention center, 5 years after abuse allegations shuttered its own

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Delaware County Council on Wednesday night voted unanimously in favor of a resolution authorizing participation in a regional youth detention center.

The county is in conversation with Berks, Dauphin, Lackawanna and Lehigh counties.

“I think it’s an excellent solution for one of the more pressing aspects of our criminal justice system and it’s not perfect,” Councilmember Christine Reuther said. “Rarely is it perfect.”

The proposed cost-sharing agreement would develop the existing facility at 1261 County Welfare Road in Bern Township, Berks County, into a regional facility. Together, partner counties would run a new organization called the Southeast Youth Detention Agency.

Chris Welsh, interim Chief of Social Services and Community Programs, championed the potential partnership when speaking to the council — despite being one of the biggest reasons Delaware County no longer has a juvenile detention facility of its own.

“The trend away from taking kids out of their homes towards giving them services within the community has greatly decreased the need here in Delaware County and across the commonwealth for secure detention facilities,” Welsh said. “But a greatly decreased need is not the same thing as no need.”

Abuse allegations shutter old Delco juvenile detention center

In March 2021, then-County President Judge Kevin Kelly vacated the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center, or DCJDC, after the Delaware County Public Defender’s Office sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services detailing explosive allegations of “physical, sexual, and psychological abuse by staff.”

Welsh, then the chief public defender, stood side by side with the whistleblowers, calling for immediate action to remedy the situation. Child advocacy groups demanded the state permanently shutter the center.

DCJDC was a 66-bed pre-trial detention facility in Lima, Pennsylvania, for children and youth ages 10 to 18, operated by the county court system.

At the time of the facility’s closing, just four kids were being held there, according to Welsh. Then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro impaneled a grand jury to investigate the allegations. Despite unmasking a cover-up, a culture of violence and “sexually inappropriate conduct” by staff, the grand jury chose not to recommend criminal charges.

For the past five years, the facility has sat empty. Although Delaware County Council previously expressed a desire in February 2023 to demolish DCJDC and replace it with a new facility, that plan never came to fruition.

‘Sometimes we send kids to Ohio’: Delaware County youth detainees have nowhere to go, Welsh says

Despite the absence of a county-run juvenile detention center, the system has not stopped.

When a child in Delaware County faces criminal allegations, judges will still order their detention — albeit for a short period of time. There’s also the matter of the small number of youth offenders who are in the process of being charged as adults.

Since the closure of DCJDC, Delaware County has contracted with other counties to lease space to hold youth offenders.

“Why is that a problem? The main reason that that’s a problem is the right of refusal,” Welsh said.

If capacity is full at another center, the other county can refuse to accept the child, leaving no place to hold the youth offender.

“Other problems are that there’s no consistency,” Welsh said. “Sometimes we send kids to Bucks County, sometimes we send kids to Ohio, sometimes we send kids to Montgomery County. So, there’s no consistency for the child. There’s no consistency for the parents to know where their kid might go. It’s hard for families to visit. It’s hard for the sheriff’s office, driving kids all over the commonwealth and sometimes outside of the commonwealth.”

The final problem that Welsh identified is the lack of oversight. Together, these issues form a complicated web that has become too difficult to navigate.

“This is not a problem that just Delaware County has,” Welsh said. “This is a problem across Pennsylvania and the solution to that problem is for counties to come together to be creative and work together on how to address the need.”

Lackawanna and Lehigh counties sign onto 20-year agreement

Included in Delaware County Council’s agenda packet for Wednesday’s meeting was a certified copy of the Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners’ resolution that it signed Feb. 24, approving participation in a regional agreement.

The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday voted 6-3 to join the agreement. Under their 20-year agreement, the combined facility would have an estimated operating cost of $10.5 million, split equally among the participating counties.

Before closing in 2021, DCJDC had an annual operating budget of $4.5 million, according to Welsh.

“The projected budget for 2026, again with us being beggars and calling around to all various different agencies, is $3.1 million,” Welsh said.

He predicted the new shared facility would be operational by 2027.

“It makes sense for everybody, fiscally, to just team together to save money and consolidate our efforts,” Councilmember Joanne Phillips said.

Councilmember Elaine Paul Schaefer clarified that all of the details have not been ironed out yet.

“I’m assuming that the contract, when it is solidified with all of the parties and the right numbers in it and exactly what we’re paying for, will be back in front of us,” Schaefer said.