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Industrial Park Series: March 2019

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WBS Pens fall flat against Phantoms

<p>While deficiencies were found, Luzerne County Children and Youth has received full state license status for another year, according to state records.</p><p>Granted by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, the license is in effect until Jan. 7, 2020.</p><p>The state agency performed its annual licensing inspection over six days in November and December.</p><p>It sent Luzerne County Council a letter in February listing the Title 55 state code violations it found during the inspection along with the county&#8217;s corrective plans, which have all been approved by the state. This letter and findings are publicly posted under the licensing section at <a href="http://services.dpw.state.pa.us/Resources/Documents/Pdf/ViolationReports/20181127_21231.pdf" target="_blank">www.dhs.pa.gov</a>.</p><p>Eight deficiencies were repeats of those found in the state&#8217;s January 2018 inspection, the state said.</p><p>A summary of some of those:</p><p>&#8226; Child protective service intake records show insufficient information was obtained before a determination was made in two cases. In one, the alleged perpetrator was not interviewed. A person reportedly with knowledge of the alleged abuse was initially &#8220;seen&#8221; but not formally interviewed in the second.</p><p>The county said supervisors will seek extensions when law enforcement requests an interview delay. It also said supervisors, managers and quality assurance staffers will check to ensure compliance with the requirement &#8212; a response the county agency provided for many state findings.</p><p>&#8226; Face-to-face contact did not occur at least once per month as required in two in-home or placement cases.</p><p>The county said on-call staff will be asked to help attempt contact when warranted.</p><p>&#8226; Service plans in three in-home or placement cases were missing signatures showing appropriate parties had an opportunity to participate in the plan development and/or receive copies.</p><p>The county said this was a clerical error that did not impact the outcome of the cases or service delivery or quality.</p><p>&#8226; Despite agency policy, Act 101 notification letters were not sent to the appropriate parties involved in four adoptions informing them of the option to enter into a voluntary post-adoption agreement.</p><p>The county said paralegals and clerical staff will ensure such notification is provided and kept on file.</p><p>&#8226; In 13 foster and kinship cases, the county had not obtained evidence of financial stability, including a 10-year income verification.</p><p>The county and contracted providers will &#8220;make every attempt&#8221; to secure income verification and employment history for 10 years, the county said.</p><p>&#8226; Five family case records contained issues surrounding the implementation of safety assessment and management process plans. One child was determined to be &#8220;safe with a plan,&#8221; but there was no written safety plan developed as required. In another, parents were not interviewed for a hospitalized child, it said, noting hospital staffers are not &#8220;identified caretakers for the purpose of assessing the safety of a child.&#8221;</p><p>The county said its staff and supervisors will continue to participate in monthly safety and risk assessment sessions and step up compliance monitoring.</p><p><strong>New issues</strong></p><p>In a finding not identified as recurring, the state said two records showed cases were closed during the intake period when they should have remained open to provide services helping families overcome problems that could result in dependency.</p><p>It described a case in which no services were provided for parents while their newborn was hospitalized for six months due to significant medical issues at birth. The parents had no permanent housing or transportation to and from the hospital to participate in visitation and medical training, and there were ongoing concerns regarding alcohol abuse and domestic violence. The child was placed in foster care upon hospital discharge.</p><p>The second involved a student who had been truant from school for 114 days.</p><p>The county said no subsequent referrals have been received on the truant child, who is now living with a grandmother committed to resolving the attendance issue. Comprehensive assessments will be completed to ensure regulatory requirements are met, the county said.</p><p>Another finding cited a case in which the county did not interview both parents at intake. There was no follow up after a mother failed to show up at a scheduled interview, and no efforts were made to contact the natural father, it said.</p><p>Other findings referred to the failure of a supervisor to review a family service plan within 10 days of completion and the lack of required health or educational information on children in two cases.</p><p>In a January county division head report, Children and Youth said an &#8220;employee retention work group&#8221; has been formed to explore options available to help retain employees.</p><p>Like many jurisdictions across the state, the county agency has struggled with caseworker shortages for years &#8212; a problem blamed on low compensation and the high on-the-job stress of investigating alleged child abuse and neglect.</p><p>County officials had celebrated the agency&#8217;s return to a full license in April 2017, which had reversed a provisional license downgrade first imposed in September 2015.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL012319COLD2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></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 license renewed