If you'd like to know more about county government, I'd strongly recommend that you view the committee hearings on YouTube. Last week, Council member Dave Holland's Courts and Corrections Committee conducted an exhaustive review of just some of the county agencies that deal with the back end of crime. This, like elections, is a core county function. The meeting kicked off with Court Administrator Jermaine Greene and what he calls his "baby," the Juvenile Justice Center.
Greene has been the county's court administrator for the past 10 years. Prior to that he was the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) Director for 10 years. He explained that it is unique because it has both detention and treatment beds. It also has contracts with other counties for beds (Lehigh - 3, Monroe - 3, Lackawanna - 2, Pike - 1), that are paid at a rate of $415 per day, regardless whether the beds are filled.
Under the prior County Council and former Exec Lamont McClure, Greene was before County Council extensively in a quest to seek better pay for better wages for youth care workers, "the backbone of our juvenile center." He repeated this request with the current Council again last week. "We need to raise the salaries of our youth care workers," he argued. The current starting wage is $19,80 an hour, and they must have 60 college credits. "They can go down the bottom of the hill, work at Wawa or FedEx, and make more than that," noted Greene. He believes that raising the starting wage is the key to ensuring that the facility is fully staffed. "We have to spend some money to make money," he expounded. If operating at 80% capacity, the JJC can actually receive $2 million in bed fees from other counties. Right now, the facility is operating at about 40% capacity.
Greene claimed that previous attempts to set higher salaries were "roadblocked." But he said he had a good conversation with Exec Tara Zrinski, "and she got it. She got it after a half hour of conversation with her."
Greene added that "the court is fully behind me and the vision I have for the center. ... It will work. I promise you that. It will work." He complimented Council member Lori Vargo Heffner, who had unfiltered access" to staff and residents during a half-day tour, and invited all Council members to visit.
In response to a question from member Theresa Fadem, Greene said he'd like to raise the starting salary to about $23 an hour.
Member Tom Giovanni asked Greene about a four-county movement to create a regional JJC, which is actually up for a vote tonight in Lehigh County. Greene said he has a good relationship with Lehigh and added "we have the infrastructure right now to make it happen here." The county is currently negotiated with Lehigh for an increase in bed count.
The JJC is supposed to be staffed by 52 youth care workers, 13 assistant supervisors and 9 supervisors. The youth care workers are only about 40% staffed. The "assistant supervisor" was created to keep youth care workers from leaving and they were filled within a month. The JJC includes detention and treatment pods for females and sex offenders.
Member Dave Holland assured Greene that he now has advocates on Council who will support higher wages.
In addition to Greene, JJC Director JaMarr Billman spoke. He's been there 19 years. He explained that the facility can hold up to 36 juveniles in detention, but its usual census is 12-18. He acknowledged that there are current conversations with Lehigh to increase the number of contracted beds. Starting in July, the daily bed rate will increase to $435. This alone generates $1.4 million in annual revenue. Other counties also will send juveniles, and Northampton will accept if it has the available staff and beds.
The JJC also offers a boys' treatment program with an on-site school, including four teachers. The boys actually go out into the community to help with fundraisers, as volunteers for local events, visits to an art museum, jib searches and even Phillies and fishing trips. They can even receive lessons on building and repairing bikes, which makes me want to enroll. Dynamic Counseling Services provides mental health treatment.
Holland stated that the county really needs to both staff and fund every available bed at the JJC. "It's a core function of the county. and I don't know how long this (staffing shortage) has been going on , but the fact that we haven't been able to do that, is kinda outrageous. We have to find a way to do it. There's children who need help. We have empty beds. They're sitting there. We have to figure out a way to do that, and I believe we will."
Welcome to Northampton County, Mr. Holland, where tax breaks for the rich get priority over the needs of our most vulnerable. When Jermaine Greene said he was roadblocked, he has the receipts. Here are links to just some of my previous stories.
Previous Juvenile Justice Center Stories:
NorCo Administrators Respond to Staffing Crisis Story at Juvenile Justice
Express Times Awards Turkeys to Tara Zrinski & Kevin Lott
NorCo Council Addresses Staffing Shortage at Juvenile Justice Center
UPDATED: NorCo Council Members Zrinski and Lott Double-Team Court Administrator Jermaine Greene
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