Lebanon County juvenile-probation officials told commissioners they need two locally available secure-detention beds and the board approved moving the county’s two contracted beds to a detention center in Morgantown to reduce travel time and improve public-safety response.

Deputy director of juvenile probation (name not specified in the record) explained the county previously had one contracted bed in Morgantown (about a 45-minute drive) and one in Cambria County (about a three-hour drive). Regional bed shortages, the deputy director said, left children who should have been detained in 2024 at home on house arrest or in nonsecure shelters for a combined 382 days because no secure beds were available.

The department requested that both contracted beds be moved to the Morgantown facility and that the county maintain a standing contract with the Cambria County facility as backup. The per-diem rate for the Morgantown facility was presented as $800 per day for FY2025–26; the department said that rate is about $30 below the state maximum allowable cost and follows recent staffing- and security-related rate increases the facility implemented.

The department emphasized the beds are crucial for public safety and recidivism prevention, especially for the highest-risk youth: “We were able to determine that 20 percent of the youth that we had on supervision in 2024 were categorized as either serious, violent or chronic offender,” the deputy director said.

Commissioners voted to approve the request for the two contracted beds at the Morgantown facility; the county will keep the Cambria County contract active as an option if beds are needed and available there. Meeting minutes show approval by voice vote.

The department noted that even with the change the county may still face shortages on days with multiple detention needs; staff said the county will continue regional coordination and triage to manage those periods.