PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Commonwealth Court judge on Wednesday heard arguments in Philadelphia’s request that the state take juvenile offenders who’ve been sentenced to state facilities. The city is hoping to relieve overcrowding that is leading to dangerous conditions at the Juvenile Justice Services Center.
Department of Human Services Deputy Commissioner Gary Williams, who runs the JJSC, told Judge Ellen Ceisler that the Center hit a new record high this week, with 246 kids in a facility designed for 184. He described children spending entire days, including meal time, on mattresses on the floor directly next to one another. He said there’s about one staff member for every 12 to 15 residents.
This is the second time the city has asked the court to intervene in this way. Last fall, Ceisler ordered the state to take 15 kids, which relieved overcrowding very briefly. She expressed frustration that conditions have gotten worse.
“I keep thinking of I-95 getting fixed in 12 days,” she said. “There’s got to be something you can do.”
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The city argued the only solution is for the state to take the 75 residents who have been sentenced to a state treatment facility. That would bring the JJSC back below capacity.
The state refuses to take them — not because it doesn’t have space (it has 122 empty beds) — but for fear of overtaxing its own staff. State facilities maintain a ratio of one staff member to every three or four residents, which it strenuously argued cannot be increased.
Officials also testified that the state cannot give any greater priority to taking Philadelphia kids off of its waitlist out of deference to the other 65 counties it serves.
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Marsha Levick of the Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia nonprofit that advocates for youths in the child welfare and justice systems, said low ratios are ideal, but the situation at the JJSC is dire.
“We have kids sleeping on mattresses in 10 x 14 foot rooms, not getting education, limiting medical services, insufficient staffing,” she said.
Levick said she found the hearing troubling.
“What I hear is people pointing fingers at each other, and I hear nothing about solutions,” said Levick.
Ceisler called it a “crisis.” She said she would issue a ruling Friday or next week Monday.