ALLEGHENY TOWNSHIP — Operations at an Oneida Valley Road detention center are running smoothly a year after two fights broke out among youths.

Greg Zappala, owner of Western PA Child Care, said there have been no issues since fights occurred May 18 and June 4 in 2016.

“We immediately addressed it,” Zappala said.

He said various steps were taken after those fights, including a freeze on intakes, adding new staff and continuing training.

The facility has been slowly taking in more residents since then. The state listed 33 youths placed there last year.

The building has a total capacity of 99 residents, with 75 beds available.

Zappala said there are 40 youths currently in placement.

“We're taking our time with intakes,” he said.

Along with an overall staff increase, there was some employee turnover before and after the incidents.

“We're rebuilding a better staff,” Zappala said.

He praised Richard Gordon, current facility director.

“Richard Gordon has done an outstanding job,” Zappala said.

He stressed the 2016 incidents were the only such problems in the history of the facility, which opened in 2005.

“Safety is No. 1,” Zappala said.

At the time, there was a discrepancy between the number of youths involved in those incidents and what the facility reported.

Roughly 40 youths were involved in the May 18 incident and about 25 in the June 4 fight, according to police.

Butler County's probation department corroborated the facility's report of roughly 10 youths actually participating in each fracas.

The county currently has no youths placed in the facility, but has used it in the past.

County President Judge Thomas Doerr said he is satisfied with how Western PA Child Care responded and its history.

“No one has escaped,” Doerr said.

The judge pointed out working with troubled youth is not a piece of cake.

“There's never an easy day,” Doerr said.

Zappala said the state Department of Human Services temporarily placed the facility on a provisional basis last year before reissuing a full operating license.

“The department found violations during a Sept. 21, on-site inspection,” stated department press secretary Rachel Kostelac in an email. “After the inspection, the department conducted a follow-up visit to ensure the operator made the appropriate changes to correct these violations.”

The department subsequently issued a full operating license as a result, Kostelac said.