Berks commissioners back pursuing state funds to reopen regional youth detention center

Berks County commissioners discussed a multi-county proposal to reopen the former Berks County youth detention center as a regional facility serving Berks, Dauphin and Lehigh counties and asked the board to approve forwarding a letter of intent to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to request capital funds.

Chief Operations Officer Kevin Barnard and staff said the county hired CGL to evaluate the existing facility and produce rehabilitation estimates. Barnard said representatives from the other counties toured the property and that the three counties are meeting monthly to coordinate funding and operations. "We believe the right formula is one-third, one-third, one-third," Barnard said, describing a shared-cost approach among the partner counties.

Barnard emphasized that the request before the board pertains to capital upgrades, not ongoing operational expenses, which would come from separate needs-based budgets. He also said the plan contemplates forming an intergovernmental entity with legal counsel to define governance, capital handling and the term of participation; staff discussed a potential 15-year agreement with an initial 12-year commitment and a three-year opt-out window.

Commissioners said the costs are too large for a single county to shoulder alone and welcomed the regional approach. The board was asked to adopt a resolution to forward the letter of intent to the Commonwealth; transcript discussion does not record a final recorded vote on that specific resolution within the provided excerpt. The county will continue intergovernmental work on governance and funding while seeking state capital support.