Philadelphia sues state to reduce youth justice overcrowding

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The City of Philadelphia is asking a judge to force Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services to take custody of more than 70 juveniles sentenced in court to state rehabilitation programs, hoping to alleviate what it says is dangerous overcrowding at the city’s holding facility. In the lawsuit filed Friday, city officials said there were 223 youths at the facility designed to temporarily hold 184 and that the time it takes to transfer juveniles to the state has increased from about 20 days in 2019 to four or five months. Juveniles are sleeping on mattresses in the admissions area and youths are not able to leave their housing units for school, meals or recreation because of the overcrowding, according to the lawsuit.