BERN TWP., Pa. — From the outside, it still looks like an empty building. But on this day, leaders arrived to see how it will soon be changed into a regional youth detention center.
69 News joined leaders as they walked through the center. Cameras, however, had to stay outside because of security concerns.
“Security, for instance, is very different in its requirements today: cameras and locks and systems,” Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach said.
The entire building will be used to house young offenders from Berks and several other counties starting April 1, 2028.
“I think it’s a well-designed building,” said Kevin Miller, Lehigh County’s chief juvenile probation officer.
“I think it’s going to fit the needs of the youth that we are looking to detain in a safe, secure environment,” Miller said.
On the first floor, there is an unlocked shelter program. Upstairs will be detention. The center will have about 50 beds, mental health rooms, an indoor gym and outdoor space.
“Having an indoor gym and an outdoor area is key to keeping kids busy,” Miller said. “The more you exercise them, the less frustration they have.”
Officials said the center is needed because counties can spend hours searching for an open bed.
“We continue to fight, middle of the night, spending four or five hours just trying to find a facility that will take our kid,” Miller said. “So the crisis is real.”
Berks, Lehigh, Dauphin, Delaware and Lackawanna counties will share the cost and oversee the center together.
“This is something that Berks could not do by itself financially, and we heard that from all of the other four counties,” Leinbach said. “The Department of Human Services said to us, ‘You need a regional solution,’ and so we have one.”