Plan to put private firm in charge of Allegheny County juvenile detention revealed and criticized

The Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Pittsburgh. (Photo courtesy Allegheny County)T The county will reopen its juvenile detention center two years after it closed. The decision was met with criticism from a leading advocate and the president of County Council. by Charlie Wolfson, PublicSource Allegheny County announced plans on Friday to reopen its juvenile detention center& two years after closing it due to failed state inspections. The county plans to contract with a private company, Adelphoi, to run the center, a decision that has already sparked backlash from advocates and county council members. “I have said I am opposed to Adelphoi running anything because they’ve been involved in prior scandals,” said County Council President Pat Catena, who said he was “distraught” over the decision. There have been& multiple& allegations& in recent years of Adelphoi employees sexually abusing minors. The county has had multi-million-dollar contracts with Latrobe-based Adelphoi for years, for other youth services such as foster care.& Reached for comment on the allegations, an Adelphoi spokesperson said in an email that the group “is well-recognized as a quality organization with exemplary outcomes, and we stand behind our half-century track record of providing complex services in challenging situations with an unceasing...