Luzerne County Children and Youth working to address staffing concerns

In the aftermath of criminal charges filed against the former Luzerne County Children and Youth director in July, county administrators said they were concerned about the impact on the department and its workers.

At no cost, they have been working with Carl Ayers, of Casey Family Programs, a leading expert in child welfare, to “strengthen the culture and instill best practices within the agency,” county Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo told council during her annual “state of the county” address last week.

Founded in 1966, Casey Family Programs is the nation’s largest operating foundation focused on safely reducing the need for foster care in the United States, according to its website.

County Human Services Division Head Lynn Hill said a consultant from the foundation had successfully assisted the county agency with other issues in the past. Hill and county Human Services Program Director John Alunni, who is currently serving as interim Children and Youth administrator, decided to ask the foundation if it could again provide help.

Part of the request was to help agency employees process their feelings and the trauma they were experiencing due to the charges against their prior department head, Joanne Van San, Hill said.

Van Saun was sentenced in December to 34 months of probation for misdemeanor child endangerment and obstruction offenses, with the first nine months on house arrest, related to her failure to investigate at least 217 reports alleging child abuse and neglect in 2017.

Ayers ended up agreeing to provide an overall assessment of the agency’s culture and feedback on ways it was performing well and warranting improvements, Hill said.

The senior director of strategic consulting at the foundation, Ayers interviewed 35 agency employees in various positions seeking candid concerns and suggestions for improvement, Alunni said.

“We don’t know which 35 people were interviewed. He wanted to do that so the staff could feel comfortable to speak freely and truly get to the heart of what we could address first,” Hill said.

One of the main employee concerns was the overwhelming quantity of time-sensitive paperwork that must be completed under state regulations, Hill said.

“Like the rest of the country, we have staffing shortages, and when you have fewer people, each has a higher caseload,” Alunni said.

In response, the county is researching options for paperless technology that will make the completion and filing of reports more efficient, Alunni said.

Ayers also is working with the agency to analyze the data it collects so it can be “more predictive,” Alunni said.

“He will continue to be available to help empower the staff and agency to be more part of a team and part of the solution,” Alunni said.

Low pay

Not surprisingly, compensation also was raised as a concern, officials said.

Recruiting and retaining caseworkers has long been a challenge here and statewide largely due to low compensation and the high on-the-job stress of investigating alleged child abuse and neglect, officials have said.

Crocamo told council the agency continues to work with the county human resources department and the state civil service to address caseworker vacancies.

The county currently has 61 caseworkers employed and another 48 positions vacant, Crocamo said.

The Teamsters Local 401 union contract covering Children and Youth caseworkers expired the end of 2021 and is in negotiation.

Attempting to help with recruitment, county officials had increased the caseworker starting salary in 2018. The more experienced “caseworker 2” position currently starts at $38,956 annually, while compensation for the entry-level “caseworker 1” job begins at $32,419.

According to recent county hirings, this equates to $16.62 per hour for a caseworker 1 and $19.98 per hour for a caseworker 2.

In her recent report, Crocamo said the agency received 7,257 referrals in 2021, and 3,702 families are currently receiving ongoing services from the agency.

There are currently 548 children in placement, such as foster care or residing with relatives, she said. Last year, 61 children were adopted.

License

Following the charges against Van Saun, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services announced in August it was downgrading the county agency to a provisional license through the end of February. The state is expected extend the provisional status.

The county retained Philadelphia law firm Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP to conduct an internal investigation of the agency to determine if there is any evidence of possible wrongdoing.

Crocamo said the Philadelphia firm is wrapping up its investigation and that she will work with council on coordinating an executive session for the firm to present its findings in March.

The vacant Children and Youth administrator position will be posted after council and the administration process the results of the Troutman Pepper report, Crocamo said.