LYCOMING COUNTY, Pa. — What is currently just some blueprints may soon take shape in Lycoming County.
District Attorney Tom Marino proposed a new juvenile justice facility as he sees juvenile crimes grow in numbers and severity.
"We need these kids to realize they're carrying a gun. You're either going to end up dead or killing someone," said Marino.
The proposed 170-bed facility won't just change the landscape of the 67-acre rural area in Lycoming County, but also the landscape of juvenile justice as we know it here in Pennsylvania.
"I knew what I dealt with in the past [as District attorney]. We were just filling up a little farmhouse here—sending kids all over the place," said Marino.
Places, as far as Ohio and Texas, as there's a juvenile detention bed crisis across the state of Pennsylvania. A shortage of beds across the state is leaving those in the juvenile justice system struggling with where to put their most violent offenders.
"The facilities we try to send our kids to when we don't have room here are in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh and it's very, very expensive. It costs us anywhere from $800 to 1,000 a night," explained Marino.
People working on all levels of Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system believe this current crisis started with the reforms and changes that stemmed from the "Kids for Cash" scandal. District Attorney Marino was a federal prosecutor at that time.
"Towards the end of my time at the U.S. Attorney's office, we started that case," he recalled.
He says the scandal shaped the way he wants this proposed facility to run, which includes safeguards against money being exchanged and an authority board to oversee the facility.
"In addition to turning the juvenile system upside down, this is going to make a world of a difference because once other counties see what we have to offer, then other states will see what we have to offer. They're going to want to be sending their kids to our facility," he added.
"What they're talking about is just phenomenal. It's like the Taj Mahal of rehabilitation, and it's just going to afford kids an opportunity to change their lives," said Chris Parker.
Luzerne County's Chief of Juvenile Probation, Chris Parker, is also on the front lines of battling this crisis.
"The fact that we're looking to send kids to a different county, and they're not our beds. They're at free will to make that decision on if they want to accept them or not," he explains about the ongoing crisis.
Parker says this facility would bring relief to departments like his all across the state. One of the most appealing parts of Marino's proposal is the number of services offered, from drug and alcohol treatment to mental and behavioral health resources right on-site—services kids aren't currently receiving due to this detention bed crisis.
"On an outpatient basis, you can't get them to cooperate. You can't get them to talk to counselors and things of that nature. In order for them to get the necessary treatment, you do need to place them," said Parker. "And we've seen a lot of success with kids that have been placed in the proper environments and with the proper people."
Because the kids would be kept closer to home, Marino wants families to be involved in the rehabilitation and counseling processes. There would also be teachers to help with education and work opportunities, giving kids a new outlook.
"This will be a whole new ballgame for them. When they're going to, at some point, realize, I can be anything I want... other than a criminal," Marino added.
While the facility is breaking barriers, so does the price tag, projected at about 60 million dollars. As Marino looks towards grants, state, and federal funding to make it a reality.
"The sooner I get the funding, the faster we can get to work. But there are certainly hurdles we need to get over."
Marino says he's hopeful they could be breaking ground on the facility by sometime in 2026.