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SCI Huntingdon

SCI Huntingdon

​Facility Address:

1100 Pike Street
Huntingdon, PA  16654-1112
(814) 643-2400
​Facility Mailing Address:

1100 Pike Street
Huntingdon, PA 16654-1112
Inmate Letters Address:

Smart Communications/PADOC
Inmate Name/Inmate Number
Institution
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, FL 33733
Legal Mail  Address:

1100 Pike Street
Huntingdon, PA 16652

Superintendent:  John Rivello

Deputy Superintendent for Centralized Services:  Jill Spyker

Deputy Superintendent for Facilities Management:  Joel Kohler

Business Manager: Elizabeth Stone

Superintendent's Assistant:  Andrea Wakefield

The State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon was created by an act of the General Assembly on June 12, 1878.  A group of commissioners appointed for the purpose of selecting a proper site decided on the present location along the Juniata River.  The original tract of ground contained 39 acres and several springs.  The land for SCI Huntingdon was purchased at a cost of $22,036.  In 1888, R. W. McClaughry was named as the first General Superintendent to direct the new reformatory for delinquents too young for a penitentiary and too old for a juvenile institution.  The Industrial Reformatory at Huntingdon received its first inmates in 1889. Two additional cellblocks were added in the 1930s.   In 1945, the institution was officially declared the Pennsylvania Institution for Defective Delinquents.  Inmates were labeled by the courts as mentally defective with criminal tendencies.  In 1960, SCI Huntingdon made its final change to a maximum security, adult male state correctional institution.  

SCI Huntingdon is Pennsylvania’s oldest State Correctional Institution in continuous operation, opening its gates in 1889. Originally intended to reform and educate young male offenders, inmates were schooled in the trades which included, painting, plumbing, carpentry and cabinet making, electrical, masonry (stone and brick) a foundry, blacksmith shop, lime kiln, brick ovens, saw mill, lumber kiln and planing mill. The farm operation supplied meats, dairy, poultry and vegetables for the kitchen. Electricity generated in the power plant and water supplied by springs on the property made the Institution almost totally independent from the outside world.

Number of Acres Inside the Perimeter: 10
 Number of Acres Outside the Perimeter: 300
 Number of Operational Structures:  76
 Number of Housing Units:   14
 Special Features:    Special Needs Unit and Modular Housing Units

Inmate Information:

Inmate Population: Current Population Report

Total Number of Full-Time Employees:   650

Academic and Vocational Education:

Academic Education through GED level

Vocational Education:  Business Education, Auto Mechanics, Barbering, Building Trades, Carpentry, Printing, and Warehouse/Forklift Operations.  The vocational programs can accommodate up to 160 inmates.  Industry-recognized certifications are available in all of these programs.

Apprenticeship Programs:  Building Maintenance, Auto Mechanics, Bricklayer, Computer Graphics/Printing, Electrical Maintenance, Air Conditioning/Refrigeration, Upholstery, Cook,  Landscape Maintenance Technician, and Baker.

Inmate Programs:

  • Family/Relationship Self 
  • Reading to your Children 
  • Veterans' Support Group

Sex Offenders

  • Sex Offender Moderate-High Intensity Treatment
  • Offender Low Intensity Treatment
  • Special Needs Sex Offender Program
  • Sex Offender Booster Program

Reentry 

  • Pre-Vocational Skills Class
  • MoneySmart Program

Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD)

  • Living Sober Therapeutic Community
  • Parole Violator Group
  • Outpatient Therapy Group 
  • Dual Diagnosis Group
  • AA and NA Support Meetings
  • Self-Management and Recovery Training

Offense Related

  • Thinking for a Change
  • Act 143 Victim Awareness
  • Violence Prevention
  • Batterer’s Intervention
  • Mental Health Programs
  •  Dual Diagnosis Group

Visitation: SCI Huntingdon strives to maintain a family friendly visiting room with a relaxed setting.  Small games are available to play during visits.  Since food items, snacks, and beverages are not permitted to be brought into the institution's visiting room, these items may be purchased from the vending machines located in the visiting area.  Inmates are permitted six visits per month.

Correctional Industries:  In its modern form, Correctional Industries was introduced at SCI Huntingdon in September of 1954.  At the present time, there are three major industrial plants in operation at this facility.  There is a Garment/Clothing Plant, a Soap/Detergent Plant, and a Print/Sticker Plant. 

Community Work Program: The Community Work Program has performed almost 4,000 hours of community work since January 2013.

CWP projects:

  • Smithfield Township - general labor
  • Bricktown Senior Citizens Center - general labor
  • Greenwood State Park - general labor
  • Newton Hamilton Borough - general labor
  • Huntingdon Community Center - general labor
  • Wood Community Association - general labor
  • PennDOT Adopt a Highway Program - litter pickup