Shuman reopening continues two-century child incarceration debate in Allegheny County

(Photos via Wikimedia Commons. Photo illustration by Natasha Vicens/PublicSource) Since Dorothea Dix declared the county’s approach to detaining kids to be perfectly flawed in 1845, the county has repeatedly come up short in efforts to house arrested youth. Next up: private management. “PublicSource is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region.& Sign up for our free newsletters.” by Amy Whipple, PublicSource As soon as Allegheny County announced in September 2023 that it would be reopening Shuman Juvenile Detention Center through a contract with an independent nonprofit, proponents and critics alike reopened a 180-year-old conversation about local juvenile incarceration. Do children belong in jail? One just for them? One with adults? What do we owe children and teenagers before, during, and after they are incarcerated?& The facility, renamed Highland Detention at Shuman Center, started receiving transfers out of the Allegheny County Jail [ACJ] in July. The site is still under renovation with only one of the five 12-bed pods ready. As of August 29, there were an unspecified number of juveniles being held at Shuman and 23 still in the ACJ. A lawsuit by County Council seeking to block private management of the facility has been settled, following council approval...