The state Department of Human Services has approved a key piece of Lackawanna County’s innovative plan to resolve long-standing workforce issues in the Office of Youth and Family Services. DHS’s approval of the county’s “demonstration project” is a prerequisite to vastly improve services for some of the county’s most vulnerable children and families. It also puts the department on the path to a fully restored state license.

Largely due to inadequate staffing that has created a major backlog of referrals, the county agency has been operating under a provisional state license since May 2023. The state DHS renewed that provisional license in November 2023 and in May.

On May 9, Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin announced a two-pronged effort to not only reduce the backlog but to remake the OYFS system to better provide services to vulnerable families, address their needs, and keep them from entering the OYFS child welfare system.

Monday, Pennsylvania’s DHS approved the first of those two prongs -- Lackawanna County’s plan to attack the backlog, which has hovered around 900 referrals, by using state-certified former OYFS employees now employed in other county departments, and state-certified OYFS employees from other counties. The approval allows those workers to process referrals and assess the cases to determine which services may be appropriate.

The state approval requires the people contracted by the county to be state-certified and to have prior experience in the field. DHS also agreed to assist the county in expediting the required training when necessary.

The approval limits the demonstration project to 45 days but provides for an extension and requires the county to convert the employees under the demonstration project into part-time county employees according to regular state and county regulations.

“Getting the OYFS backlog under control, and better serving the vulnerable families who need assistance, has been top of mind since Matt and I took office,” Gaughan said. “State assistance is crucial, and this approval means we’re now able to attack the backlog as we had planned.”

“The state and county have to be partners in this effort, so it’s gratifying that DHS has recognized the seriousness of our workforce issues and the validity of our plan to address them,” McGloin added. “We plan to stay aggressive on this issue and look forward to further collaboration with our state partners.”

Progress on ‘Community Pathways’

The state DHS has not yet formally approved the second prong of the OYFS project, known as Family First Community Pathways, but the county has made substantial progress towards its implementation.

Family First Community Pathways is inspired by a change in federal priorities -- from funneling vulnerable families into the child welfare system to providing preemptive services to keep them out of the system.

The Lackawanna County commissioners announced May 9 that they would disband the county Department of Health and use some of its resources to help provide vulnerable families with the help that they need through community-based social service and public health agencies – thus keeping those families out of the OYFS system.

The commissioners created nine “navigator” positions filled by former Department of Health employees, who are training. The initiative also includes two public health nurses and manager Dr. Rachna Saxena, the deputy director of the former Department of Health. Navigators will assess referred cases and seek help from the community providers regarding housing, addiction and mental health treatment, health care, transportation and more, to help keep families intact, keep children out of foster care, and reduce the OYFS caseload to ensure timely delivery of services and prevent backlogs.

Through an aggressive hiring effort, the commissioners also have helped to diminish the OYFS staffing emergency regarding caseworkers. When Gaughan and McGloin took office Jan. 2, the OYFS had 23 caseworkers and more than 50 vacancies for those positions. By providing incentives and working again with the state through the civil service system, the county has increased the staff to 38 caseworkers, with two more pending hires. But 27 vacancies remain.

“This is a complex problem and a heavy lift, but we’re clearly making progress,” Gaughan said. “We’re confident that, with the DHS’s ongoing support and the hard work and dedication of our own OYFS professionals, we will solve this public health crisis and launch a new and effective program that will be replicated across the state.”