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<p>Luzerne County&#8217;s volunteer Children and Youth Advisory Board voted Wednesday to create a committee to examine problems that prompted the agency&#8217;s recent license downgrade to provisional status.</p><p>The committee will issue its own findings and recommendations and present them to the county council.</p><p>The move followed complaints from some members that they were in the dark about a child&#8217;s death and other issues that triggered special state inspections of the agency.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m appalled to say the least,&#8221; said Lorine Ogurkis, a board member who has adopted two children from foster care and founded a home in Hazleton to boost local adoptions and foster awareness.</p><p>Board member Barry Finn said he has served on the board for more than a year and never knew a child had died.</p><p>&#8220;Most of us don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s going on here,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Board member Ray Whalen proposed the special review committee as part of a plan to become more involved in agency happenings.</p><p><strong>Board&#8217;s role</strong></p><p>The board has no authority to force the agency, county administration or the county council to make changes, but is intended to issue recommendations that are in the best interest of children.</p><p>Children and Youth Services Director Krista McIlhaney told the county council Tuesday night she immediately notified the advisory board president and two board officers on Oct. 2, the day she received the license downgrade from the state.</p><p>She said she had no advance warning of the state&#8217;s action and presumed the board officers would disseminate the information to their board colleagues, which did not happen. Board President Denise Miscavage said she thought all board members had received McIlhaney&#8217;s email.</p><p>Ogurkis said she learned through the media that state inspectors found &#8220;some serious concerns regarding agency practice as well as regulatory violations.&#8221;</p><p>County Children and Youth administrators could have informed the advisory board of potential problems sooner because the Department of Human Services&#8217; Office of Children, Youth and Families initiated the mandatory &#8220;fatality review&#8221; of the county agency in January following the death of 21-month-old Anthony Puscavage from bleeding in the brain, Ogurkis said.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it was a surprise that it was coming,&#8221; Ogurkis said.</p><p>No charges have been filed in connection with Puscavage&#8217;s death, which the county ruled accidental, but the state human services department concluded the toddler died as a result of physical abuse, records show.</p><p>Ogurkis also said she wants the committee to examine what happened in another case cited by state investigators in which caseworkers transported a mother and her eight children ranging from ages 2 to 16 to Delaware County against recommendation.</p><p>The day before the family&#8217;s relocation, a team of county and state human services representatives concluded the seven youngest children were unsafe and should be placed in shelter care.</p><p>State Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township, also attended Wednesday&#8217;s meeting and waited five hours until the public comment portion of Tuesday&#8217;s county council meeting to make it clear she is monitoring the situation and will personally facilitate any solutions within her means.</p><p><strong>Staffing issues</strong></p><p>Both the state and county administration have identified staffing shortages as a major cause of the agency&#8217;s troubles. The agency is budgeted for 108 caseworkers but has 27 vacancies.</p><p>Toohil told the council the county hired 11 caseworkers in 2013 but lost 19. In 2014, five were hired and 21 left, she said.</p><p>County records show the agency added six caseworkers through September this year but lost four to retirements and resignations.</p><p>Toohil said the state can provide job fairs solely to recruit caseworkers and allow applicants to complete Civil Service exams after they apply because the staffing shortage has become an emergency situation. She also wants to encourage more people with education degrees to consider caseworker positions, saying the number of local residents seeking teaching jobs far exceeds the number of openings in the area.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to do everything I can to spread the word,&#8221; Toohil said.</p><p>The county administration also is discussing the possibility of boosting the $31,740 starting salary for unionized caseworkers, said county Chief Solicitor C. David Pedri. The council&#8217;s approval would be necessary for such a change.</p><p><strong>Union&#8217;s take</strong></p><p>Local Teamsters head Pat Connors, who represents unionized county Children and Youth workers, said last week the need to increase the starting salary has come up &#8220;numerous times&#8221; in conversations with county officials.</p><p>&#8220;You have to pay people a comparable salary, or they won&#8217;t stay,&#8221; Connors said.</p><p>McIlhaney told the council many have caseloads of 25, compared to the ideal 12 to 14 cases that would allow them to &#8220;actively engage a family.&#8221;</p><p>The state has accepted the county&#8217;s proposed correction plan, which also includes working with the courts to reduce the time caseworkers must waste waiting for dependency court proceedings, increased training and changes in internal policies, McIlhaney said.</p><p>The provisional license allows the agency to continue full operation.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Children and Youth Director Krista McIlhaney answers questions about the recent downgrading of the agency&#8217;s license during a meeting of the county&#8217;s Children and Youth Advisory Board Wednesday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL101515childrenandyouth.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Children and Youth Director Krista McIlhaney answers questions about the recent downgrading of the agency&#8217;s license during a meeting of the county&#8217;s Children and Youth Advisory Board Wednesday afternoon. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL101515childrenandyouth2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Children and Youth Advisory Board member Lorine Ogurkis, second from left, questions why the board wasn&#8217;t more informed of problems at the agency during a meeting Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL101515childrenandyouth2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Luzerne County Children and Youth Advisory Board member Lorine Ogurkis, second from left, questions why the board wasn&#8217;t more informed of problems at the agency during a meeting Wednesday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County Children and Youth Advisory Board zeroes in on license downgrade