IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA D. G. A., R.D.A.M., G. C. G., R. N. and : Aldea-The People's Justice Center, : Petitioners : : v. : No. 1059 C.D. 2018 : ARGUED: November 12, 2019 Department of Human Services, : Respondent : BEFORE: HONORABLE MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge HONORABLE CHRISTINE FIZZANO CANNON, Judge HONORABLE BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, Senior Judge OPINION NOT REPORTED MEMORANDUM OPINION BY SENIOR JUDGE LEADBETTER FILED: January 21, 2020 D. G. A., R.D.A.M., G. C. G., R. N. (Detainees) and Aldea-The People's Justice Center (Aldea), (collectively, Petitioners), petition for review of a July 2018 order of the Department of Human Services (DHS), Bureau of Hearings and Appeals (Bureau), denying their petition to intervene in DHS’s action seeking to revoke the license of the Berks County (Berks County) Residential Center (Center).1 In addition, we consider the potential mootness of the petition for review based on Petitioners’ acknowledgment that Detainees no longer reside at the Center and the appealability of DHS’s order denying the petition to intervene.2 We conclude 1 In April 2019, DHS indicated that it would not be filing a brief or participating at oral argument. 2 In August 2018, we directed the parties in their principal briefs to address the appealability of DHS’s order. In September 2019, we directed them to file memoranda of law addressing whether Petitioners’ claims were moot. that the order is appealable, that the petition for review is not moot, and that the Bureau erred in denying the petition to intervene. Accordingly, we reverse the Bureau’s order and remand this matter to the Bureau with directions to permit Petitioners to intervene. The relevant background is as follows. In 2001, Berks County signed an intergovernmental service agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), to operate the Center. Subsequently, DHS licensed the Center to operate as a Child Residential and Treatment Facility (child residential facility) pursuant to the regulations found at 55 Pa. Code §§ 3800.1-3800.312.3 The purpose of these regulations “is to protect the health, safety and well-being of children receiving care in a child residential facility through the formulation, application and enforcement of minimum licensing requirements.” 55 Pa. Code § 3800.1. To that end, a child residential facility must obtain and maintain a certificate of compliance (certificate) from DHS. 55 Pa. Code § 3800.11. A “certificate of compliance” is a “document issued to a legal entity permitting it to operate a specific type of facility or agency, at a given location, for a specified period of time, and according to appropriate Departmental program license or approval regulations.” 55 Pa. Code § 20.4 (emphasis added). Notwithstanding the Center’s licensure as a child residential facility, it is one of three immigration detention facilities in the United States that provides residential family housing to undocumented immigrant families seeking asylum while ICE enforces federal immigration laws. Consequently, Petitioners include 3 These regulations govern child residential facilities and cover subjects such as child rights, staff training, the safety of the facility, ...
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