October 29, 2018, Claudia Lauer - Associated Press
The idea for a juvenile justice hub started with a handful of Philadelphia police officers who knew the way they interacted with juveniles had to change. The judges of the Bloomberg Philanthropies U.S. Mayors Challenge are willing to bet their idea will work.
(Philadelphia Police Sgt. John Ross discusses the Police 9th District's juvenile holding cell in Philly - AP Photo by Matt Rourke)
Bloomberg announced the nine winners Monday of the challenge that tasked cities to develop innovative solutions to their biggest problems that other cities might copy if they are successful. Each winner will receive $1 million in prize money to implement the ideas.
Los Angeles plans to develop a program where people build homes on their property and rent them to the homeless. Georgetown, Texas, plans to become the first energy independent community in the country by installing solar panels and battery storage on its buildings.
With its prize, Philadelphia plans to build a juvenile justice hub, where youth will be taken upon arrest instead of being taken to the police districts that are built to process adults. The juveniles can spend up to six hours in the small, cold, dank and antiquated cells, with minimal contact even with police— partially to prevent them from incriminating themselves accidentally.