HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Ongoing overcrowding at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center was front and center at a hearing before the House Children and Youth Committee. The hearing was on the many challenges facing juvenile detention centers not only in Philadelphia but across the state.
Philadelphia Department of Human Services Commissioner Kimberly Ali says the juvenile detention center is currently housing 212 youth — down from 231 in October, but still well over its licensed capacity of 184.
“When we are over capacity, we are forced to house up in the admissions area, because we do not have enough room on the living units,” Ali said.
The city sued the state last year, because of Pennsylvania’s ongoing failure to take custody of 68 teens whose cases have been adjudicated and who have been ordered into state custody. Those juveniles don’t get credit for time spent in detention in Philadelphia, so the state’s delay is just extending their overall time in secure care.
“Some youths are forced to wait over six months before state placements have become available, when previously used to wait an average of 20 days,” she said.
Dauphin County Director of Probation Services Chadwick Libby said the wait for state facilities isn’t just affecting Philadelphia.
He said, across Pennsylvania, "we have 160 youth waiting to go to one of those treatment facilities. Some are staying in detention anywhere from six to 10 months, waiting.”
Other testimony before the committee focused on the ongoing need for mental health treatment. Both Libby and Ali noted that juvenile detention facilities are designed to be a temporary stop, meant to house only teens who are waiting for their cases to be heard. They do not have the capacity to give long-term care or treatment.
Undiagnosed trauma is often the driver of behavior that got the kid in the system, and adding to that trauma with inadequate housing will not help the goal of rehabilitation, they said.
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