Allegheny County pays Adelphoi $366,000 before juvenile detention center even opens

This story is a collaboration between Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, Pittsburgh Independent and Pittsburgh Union Progress.

Allegheny County already has paid more than $350,000 to nonprofit services provider Adelphoi, months before the Latrobe-based nonprofit will begin to operate the former Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.

There is no clear timeline when the facility will open, and as of Dec.1, Adelphoi had not yet applied for a state Department of Human Services license to operate the facility.

Adelphoi’s daily rate of $7,803 began Sept. 15, the day the contract was signed by County Manager Jen Liptak, and represents its charge for 12 beds at $650.25 per bed.

County Controller Corey O’Connor’s office confirmed that they authorized payments of $124,848 and $241,893 to Adelphoi on Thursday, Nov. 30, for September and October, respectively, totaling $366,741.

By year’s end, Adelphoi will have received $842,724 in county taxpayer money, before a single child is housed at the Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar facility, which detains boys and girls prior to their court proceedings.

The contract between Allegheny County and Adelphoi states that the payments are in recognition that Adelphoi will “expend substantial sums of money, resources, and effort to undertake whatever steps are necessary in order to provide and perform those services outlined in the Work Statement, including without limitation the hiring and training of appropriate staff.”

After renovations and construction, the daily fee will increase five-fold, as the number of beds is set to grow to 60, according to the contract.

As reported last month, the contract was issued with virtually no public scrutiny or other government oversight. The Fifth District courts claimed a nonprofit exception and professional services exception to allow the five-year, $73.2 million contract to be issued without a public bid process or a sole-source justification.

Allegheny County issued a request for proposals for construction in August and will bear the estimated $6 million renovation cost, not Adelphoi.

The contract includes a clause that allows Adelphoi to renew the contract unilaterally, for a total value of nearly $150 million over 10 years.

The contract was signed in the final months of Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s administration and two months before the retirement of Fifth District President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark.

It is not clear how the daily rate of $650.25 per juvenile was established. In November, Allegheny County spokesperson Amie Downs declined to answer how this rate was established, pending a county council lawsuit over the facility.

The state DHS told the Pittsburgh Independent and Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism in November that there is presently no written agreement between Allegheny County and DHS to establish state reimbursement share for the per diem cost to house children at the facility.

The county operated Shuman beginning in 1974 as a place to house children accused of serious crimes, prior to court proceedings. In September 2021, the facility closed after the county declined to appeal the state Department of Human Services’ revocation of the county’s provisional license for repeated violations, including “gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct in operating the facility.”

This story is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus on education and mental health. These stories were funded by Staunton Farm Foundation and The Grable Foundation.