Luzerne County Manager holds annual public forum

Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo looked back on work completed in 2024 during Monday’s annual public forum required by the county’s home rule charter.

Her recap ran more than an hour because she oversees 35 departments grouped in seven divisions.

Among the highlights were a payroll processing and employee time-tracking consolidation that saved an estimated $130,000 annually, budgets without tax increases in 2024 and 2025, the maximizing of interest revenue on all bank accounts to yield an additional $250,000 and the restoration of services to southern county residents at leased space in Hazleton City Hall.

She paused and then repeated a statistic indicating the Area Agency on Aging’s protective services unit investigated 836 allegations of abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment of older adults in 2024.

“That’s work our staff does every day. It doesn’t get the headlines. It doesn’t make news,” Crocamo said.

In the same vein, she twice cited the number of year-to-date referrals processed by Children, Youth and Families — 7,440.

Referencing this year’s restructuring of the operational services division management, Crocamo said she was regularly faced with project change orders when she started as manager in May 2023. This year there were two change orders, one for a cost reduction and the other for a prison elevator fire panel not included in the original design, she said.

“That to me is a success,” Crocamo said.

A synopsis of some other presentation updates, most not previously reported:

• Purchasing is working to update its procurement policies and has activated bidding through the online PennBid Program.

• GIS/Mapping created a dashboard to track road and bridge repair needs and secured a drone pilot’s license for a senior analyst to assist with mapping.

• Information Technology set up several new cybersecurity systems and instruments to detect threats and is working on a new county website that will soon debut.

• The prison brought back vital GED classes and testing in partnership with Educational Opportunity Centers of Pennsylvania, with a “robust response” from inmates.

• The Area Agency on Aging sponsored two luncheon events educating older adults on scams in conjunction with the state Department of Banking and Securities and Attorney General’s Office.

• Children, Youth and Families currently has 311 children in foster-kinship care, compared to 548 in 2021, which stems largely from a program to help reduce the number of children in foster care and find them permanency in a timely manner.

• The Drug and Alcohol Department has been expanding its network of outside providers and this year welcomed the county’s first licensed recovery house, Restorative Roots in Plymouth, to address the transitional housing needs of those struggling with a substance use disorder.

• Mental Health/Developmental Services secured $3.1 million in grants to help youth facing serious behavioral challenges, which will be used to expand evidence-based services and prevention, broaden juvenile treatment court services and expand crisis intervention team training.

• Veteran Affairs facilitated the receipt of $25.9 million in federal benefits for county veterans and distributed more than 88,000 U.S. flags to organizations to decorate veteran graves.

• The Office of Law developed standardized by-laws for county boards, authorities and commissions.

• Staffing/retention has improved at 911 this year, with the number of full-time telecommunicators increasing from 32 in January to a current 42. The emergency call center also starting using a new “Prepared 911” platform also that will be rolled out to responders in coming months, enabling the center to swiftly livestream, text, and translate texts and audio in other languages from mobile callers.

• Planning and Zoning is working to update the county’s zoning and subdivision/land development ordinances.

• The Public Defender’s Office upgraded its case management system, implementing a text messaging service that is more efficient and cost effective.

Crocamo said the county’s progress is a “testament to the power of teamwork” because the administration works with council, the controller, district attorney and staff.

“Each of us plays a vital role in this collective effort, working tirelessly for the benefit of all county residents,” Crocamo said. “Together, we are transforming Luzerne County into a thriving and vibrant community.”

County Controller Walter Griffith commended the staff, saying the workforce is “stretched very thin.”

“They do a lot of work with limited staff, and I want people to realize that,” Griffith said.

Speaking as a citizen, former county councilman Tim McGinley said some of the workload statistics are “astronomical” when staff sizes are considered and noted some jobs deal with “crisis situations.”