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Luzerne County&#8217;s Children and Youth agency must budget $310,000 more for liability insurance next year, for a new total of half a million dollars, agency Director Joanne Van Saun told council during a Monday night budget presentation.Van Saun said the previous insurer dropped coverage due to the number of lawsuits against the agency, forcing the administration to find a new more expensive plan.&#8220;This is not just for Luzerne County,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This is being experienced across the state that insurance companies are not willing to insure child welfare.&#8221;The agency also increased its request for special legal services from $10,000 to $20,000 due to ongoing litigation, she said.The allocation for consultants is rising from $147,000 to $250,000 in the proposed budget to cover additional training on fiscal issues, Van Saun said, referring to auditor complaints that the agency has been unable to provide supporting records for $2.5 million in agency funds in 2017.Van Saun said the $250,000 will fund two fiscal consultants &#8212; one to help with state reporting and the other to assist with data transfer into a new system to generate reports.Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck asked why consulting assistance is needed when the department has nine fiscal positions in the department.Van Saun said six of these positions are fiscal technicians who focus solely on data entry.County Manager C. David Pedri said he expects consulting expenses to decrease when the administration fills two vacant fiscal officer positions.McClosky Houck said the agency&#8217;s new 2017 audit contained seven findings about a lack of compliance related to federal funds.&#8220;Are these consultants or any of the fiscal staff over there making any inroads on correcting that?&#8221; she asked.Van Saun said the agency has made progress, including implementation of fiscal staff cross training, development of new invoicing procedures and the use of direct deposit for foster care and adoption program payments.&#8220;You&#8217;ll be happy to know that our first-quarter financial reports were all submitted to the state on time,&#8221; she said.McClosky Houck asked if the audit findings endanger any funding. Van Saun said no, emphasizing the county notified the state of its issues.Council Chairman Tim McGinley said the agency has &#8220;a lot of challenges ahead, particularly with the financial side.&#8221;&#8220;Obviously it&#8217;s very important to the county to get those issues in order so that we can have a clean audit,&#8221; McGinley said.Children and Youth&#8217;s budget would increase from $40.4 million to $42.45 million under the proposed budget.While the agency&#8217;s overall budget is increasing, Children and Youth is seeking the same matching contribution from the county&#8217;s general fund operating budget &#8212; $6.7 million, the budget says.The budget covers 211 positions, an increase of seven, a worksheet shows.Division totalsCounty&#8217;s human service division branches are seeking a combined $8.44 million from the general fund budget in 2019, or $217,000 less, the proposed budget shows.However, these departments have combined budgets of $105.8 million when state, federal and other outside funding is factored in, or an increase of $204,678, a budget summary shows. This covers 425 employees and numerous contracts with providers.Among the other requested general fund allocations: Veteran Affairs, $362,231, an increase of $4,119; Mental Health/Developmental Services, $153,796, no change; and Drug and Alcohol, $175,850, no change.The Area Agency on Aging is not seeking any earmark from the general fund next year, operating solely on outside funding.Council, manager budgetsCounty Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz also presented the budget for the &#8220;general government&#8221; division, which is proposed to increase by $935,550, to a new total $22.17 million.The increase includes $571,289 more for the general fund portion of the employee pension fund subsidy, which now totals $9.35 million.Health insurance costs are set to increase by $281,835, for a new total $11.55 million.The county manager and council budgets also are in this category.The manager is seeking $278,923, or an increase of $10,769. Council&#8217;s budget is proposed at $254,006, which is $1,717 more.McClosky Houck said she has proposed a budget amendment to reduce two council budget allocations by $500 each to free up $1,000 in case council needs a legal opinion outside the county&#8217;s law office.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_luzcocourthouse01-5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jennifer Learn-Andesjandes@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County Children and Youth expenses rising