After a marathon meeting, Lehigh County Commissioners approved an agreement to join a 5-county juvenile detention system based in Berks County.

The 6-3 vote came after hours of debate over cost, public safety, and the future of youth justice.

“Dauphin, Lackawanna, Berks, Lehigh County, and now Delaware County agreed to a 20-year multi county agreement to construct a roughly 40 bed facility where we will be able to temporarily house our most violent and dangerous juveniles,” said Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel.

Most commissioners say it will create more stable placements and will guarantee the County beds that are safe and secure.

“The current status quo is unacceptable. As it stands now, we are sending children as far as Ohio,” said Siegel. “At the end of the day we will be able to call all the shots.”

Supporters also say that could include expanding rehabilitation services.

“We will be able to offer all sorts of innovative programming around mental health, trauma, informed care, therapy services on site and in this facility,” said Siegel.

But not all commissioners and community members agree.

“I think it’s a sad thing that we as a board and as a county are put in a position where we have to reinvest in traditional models of detention,” said Lehigh County Commissioner Jon Irons. “A large component of our community and people who are stakeholders in this decision that really want more inventive solutions. They want out of the box thinking. They want, you know, investments in people and not in prisons.”

Opponents also questioned the 20-year commitment and how much decision-making power Lehigh County will actually have.

“No one can predict what’s going to be like in 20 years. No one can predict the costs outside of even five years,” said Irons. “What actual input or oversight do we do? We have. We have very little guaranteed at this point.”

Officials say the facility is meant for a small number of high-risk cases.

“There’s also a group of folks who you could provide every avenue of opportunity and they won’t take advantage of it, and they’re going to commit an offense and there has to be accountability,” said Siegel.

“I think that there are ways to address crime that are not punitive, that are not punishment, that are grounded in, in, in restorative justice and restorative practice,” said Irons.