CLEVELAND — A plea for more cash by juvenile court officials came with a warning about conditions inside Cuyahoga County's Juvenile Detention Center Tuesday.
"Quite simply, and at the risk of appearing trite, the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center is an authentic tinderbox," Juvenile Court Magistrate Mark Stanton told county council members.
Citing a rising number of teens housed at the detention center, court leaders told council members they need more funding to hire officers, calling current staffing levels "woefully inadequate."
"There's just an insufficient number of detention officers to monitor the safety in that facility and provide the services these children need," said Stanton.
Court administrators said there are currently 110 detention officers on staff. While that number is more than two years ago, officers are supervising more teens.
In the last year, court officials said the number of teens housed in detention grew from an average of 139 a day in 2022 to 161 today.
Administrators said the shortage of workers means kids spend more time locked in their rooms or cuts in programs and activities.
"Then the only activity becomes watching TV and playing cards," said Court Administrator Tim McDevitt. "And when these are the activities, we have problems. We have kids who get in fights, and it results in youth and staff injuries.
To cover shifts, McDevitt said officers are forced to work mandatory overtime. McDevitt said that's happening more than 30 times a week.
And the projected price tag to taxpayers is a big one.
Court officials project overtime will top $5 million this year.
Court administrators have not yet asked for a specific dollar figure to help hire more detention officers.
However, during Tuesday's council committee meeting, McDevitt pushed for funding that would allow detention officers to make the same as corrections officers working in the county jail.
A court spokesperson said starting pay for detention officers is currently $24 an hour compared to $25.47 for corrections officers.
