Delco Creates Juvenile Detention Center Oversight Board

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — The Delaware County Council recently gave the go-ahead to create a new oversight board for the Juvenile Detention Center and appointed members to the board.

At its meeting Wednesday, the council unanimously approved the board's creation.

The new 10-member Delaware County Board of Managers of Juvenile Detention consists of three members of the county council, the County Controller, and six members of the public.

Members are Delaware County Council Members Kevin Madden, Elaine Schaefer, and Dr. Monica Taylor; Delaware County Controller Joanne Phillips; and community members Chris Eiserman, Chekemma J. Fulmore Townsend, Marie N. Williams, Candice L. Linehan, Christine Ricks-Fletcher, and Nathaniel C. Nichols.

Wednesday's vote was followed by a second reading of an ordinance calling on the creation of the board.

Council first introduced the creation of an oversight board for the Juvenile Detention Center
during its May 5 meeting, in the aftermath of the closure of the facility in Lima.

"The formation of this board is happening at an extraordinary time as it relates to criminal justice," Madden said. "It’s an area that people across the nation are really rethinking. There has been this mindset of separating the good from the bad, and the bad get put in places where we don’t see or hear them, and they are perceived as irredeemable- but that mindset has shifted. The formation of this board of managers allows Delco to focus on our youth and those who are not destined to a fate of perpetual incarceration and will allow us to help get them back on their feet and be healthy and productive members of the community."

Madden also noted the budgetary benefits of the creation of the new board, noting that the county spends about $15 million on housing children at the Juvenile Detention Center and shifting the goal to rehabilitation is also a cost savings to taxpayers.