Lackawanna County Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin announced today that the state Department of Human Services has restored the full operating license for the county Office of Youth and Family Services.

At a press conference today attended by dozens of members of the OYFS staff, Gaughan and McGloin thanked the staff members for their dedication and perseverance during an extremely difficult period for the agency.

“We are extremely proud of our OYFS staff, who have weathered many storms over the past several years while remaining committed to their important work,” Gaughan said. “Their diligence is largely why we’re here today to announce this license restoration.”

The DHS issued provisional licenses to the agency in June and December of 2023 and in May and November this year. The reasons for the provisional licenses relate largely to chronic understaffing in the office that produced a substantial backlog of referred cases. The agency investigates reports of troubled families, including neglected or abused children, and intervenes when warranted under court supervision.

Upon taking office in January, Gaughan and McGloin made OYFS’ resurgence a top priority, and that has produced positive results. They hired consultant Beverly Mackereth, a former state secretary of human services, to identify key problems within OYFS and advise them on increasing the workforce and working with DHS. They also hired the Scranton law firm of Myers, Brier & Kelly to work on the license restoration with regulators and legal counsel at the state DHS.

In January, the OYFS had 60 staffers, including caseworkers, administrators and support personnel. Today it has 82, a 36% increase, including 14 new fulltime caseworkers. Two more are scheduled to begin in January. In January, there was a backlog of more than 900 referrals. As of Dec. 3, the backlog was 688 cases and trending downward.

The DHS issued the county’s fourth provisional license on Nov. 26. The county immediately appealed to the agency’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. On Nov. 27, the next day, the parties agreed to and signed a settlement to restore the full license.

That was the result of year-long negotiations with the agency and an ongoing series of reforms implemented by the county OYFS. Several of the settlement provisions required by the DHS already have been implemented.

Gaughan and McGloin thanked DHS Secretary Valerie Arkoosh and her staff for their collaborative approach to restoring the license.

“It’s important to remember that this isn’t simply a regulatory issue,” McGloin said. “This is about ensuring the effectiveness of crucial services for the county’s most vulnerable families and children. It’s in everyone’s interest to make sure we get this right.”

“To be clear,” Gaughan added, “this is not the culmination of the process but a significant step in an ongoing process. … I want to assure you that this administration is committed to making our OYFS office the best in the state, and I want to thank the state Department of Human Services for recognizing those efforts and restoring the license – proof positive that we are headed in the right direction.”