Luzerne County Children and Youth license inspection completed

Before getting into 19 noncompliance findings, Pennsylvania’s recent licensing inspection report of Luzerne County Children and Youth opens with some praise for the agency’s efforts to address issues.

“Luzerne County has shown creativity and is working proactively to address the high level of staff vacancies that are being seen across the Commonwealth,” said the Sept. 23 report performed by the Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth and Families Northeast Regional Office.

It cites the county’s significant salary increases for caseworker positions, saying the move should help attract highly qualified staff and retain “seasoned and experienced staff.”

Under a union contract county council approved in July, the starting salary was increased from $32,418 to $39,000 for entry-level “caseworker 1” positions and from $38,956 to $43,500 for more experienced “caseworker 2s.”

According to the state report, the county also is:

• Working closely with local colleges and universities to offer both paid and unpaid internships.

• Enhancing recruitment efforts through advertisements, attendance at job fairs and seeking “means to secure recruitment and retention bonuses.”

• Contracting out certain services to meet regulatory requirements.

• Engaging with a consultant to assist in improving the agency’s practices.

“Despite the continued staffing deficiencies, the agency continues to work towards effectuating positive changes, including the development of a committee to review and collect data from recent child fatalities and near fatalities,” it said.

Resulting data will be used to “identify trends and develop policy and protocol,” it said.

The report also highlighted the county’s implementation of an all-electronic filing and case management system to ensure all case history is readily available for informed case planning.

County Human Services Division Head Lynn Hill said this system was a response to staff concerns about the overwhelming quantity of time-sensitive paperwork that must be completed under state regulations.

This past April, the state announced it was keeping the agency as a provisional license status through Sept. 1, citing non-compliance with regulations found through six inspections performed between March 2021 and January 2022.

A department spokesperson said the state is in the process of reviewing the latest inspection report to determine the agency’s licensing status.

“The safety of children remains a top priority for DHS, and we work to ensure all licensed facilities comply with regulations,” the spokesperson said, adding the current provisional status stands until the state reaches a determination.

Latest findings

The 19 findings were based on the state’s review of randomly selected records in July, according to the report sent to county Manager Randy Robertson Sept. 23.

This letter indicates the state has accepted the county’s plan of correction on all violations.

The county generally responded with a commitment to reiterate regulations with workers, complete more management review and perform continued in-house monitoring. Use of a spreadsheet tracking tool and deadline reminder alerts for workers also were promised.

The first finding, a repeat of a past citation, said one of 10 general protective services intake records examined did not contain a supervisor review. Another record had no documentation showing the family received required written notice within seven days of the agency’s decision on whether to accept the case.

In another repeat citation, five of 14 in-home and placement records reviewed by inspectors did not have service plans signed by parents within the required time period. Four of 14 records did not contain documentation that all necessary family members had an opportunity to participate in the development or amendment of service plans, which also was a repeat citation. Furthermore, five of 14 had no indication the family received written notice of the right to appeal — another repeat citation.

Other findings involved missing risk assessment worksheets in two records, photographs of children residing in a home and documentation of face-to-face contact with a child.

One of seven reviewed placement records did not have a permanency plan for a child within 30 days.

Two records had no documentation the agency completed searches to identify and engage adult relatives and kin to support a child or parent receiving children and youth services. The county said it would consider using a resource unit to perform such searches and require caseworkers to perform searches through the internet/social media and family trees.

Among the other findings:

• The agency did not seek medical evidence or document the reason why it was not needed in a mental injury report.

• Two cases had no documentation of required notification to law enforcement.

Staffing

The county is continuing its search for a permanent agency director and has increased the compensation range from $85,000 to $90,000 annually.

Applications are due Thursday, according to the posting under the human resources career opportunities link at luzernecounty.org.

The position had been advertised at $75,000 to $83,000 shortly before Robertson started as county manager June 13.

Hill said the latest increase was necessary after “the first two rounds of posting were not successful.”

In addition, the administration has created a Children and Youth deputy position at $72,000, Hill said. The cost was more than absorbed by the elimination of three vacant caseworker 1 positions at $39,000 each and an agency program specialist II position paying $43,500, the administration said.

The agency will now have two deputies working under the administrator, modeling a structure that had been in place more than 15 years ago, Hill said. Several other counterpart agencies in similarly sized counties have two deputies, she said.

Hill is optimistic the restoration of two deputies and administrator compensation increase will make the top oversight position more attractive to qualified applicants.

Kelly Gaughan has been serving as acting administrator since June, and David Gaugler is acting deputy director, she said.

“They’re both doing a fantastic job and are committed to rebuilding the agency,” Hill said.