SCRANTON — Lackawanna County announced Monday the long-sought restoration of its child protection agency’s full operating license, a major achievement that follows considerable efforts to bolster staffing, morale and operations of the Office of Youth and Family Services.
The announcement comes about 18 months after the state Department of Human Services initially downgraded the agency’s license from full to provisional and more than 11 months after Democratic majority Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin took office with a goal of reforming OYFS — the agency responsible for investigating reports of child abuse and neglect.
County officials have attributed the initial and subsequent provisional licenses issued by the state to challenges exacerbated by “chronic understaffing,” including a substantial backlog of case referrals that a growing staff of OYFS workers have been able to curtail this year. The agency’s roster of caseworkers, administrators and other employees grew by 36% since January, from 60 to 82, McGloin said Monday, while the backlog that in January numbered more than 900 referred cases stood at 688 as of Dec. 3 and continues to trend downward.
The license restoration stems from a settlement agreement the county and state finalized Nov. 27, a day after the state issued a fourth provisional license for OYFS that county officials immediately appealed.
“That was not the result of a miraculous 24 hours, but a yearlong, all-hands-on-deck effort,” McGloin said.
The settlement includes a number of goals, metrics and benchmarks the county is tasked with achieving by deadlines identified in the agreement. Several of the settlement’s provisions have already been implemented, county officials noted.
“It’s important to remember that this isn’t simply a regulatory issue,” McGloin added in a news release. “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.”
OYFS came under severe public scrutiny shortly after the initial license downgrade in June 2023, when Scranton police and the Lackawanna County district attorney’s office criminally charged two caseworkers, a former caseworker and two casework supervisors for endangering children by allowing them to live in squalid and dangerous conditions with parents or guardians unable to care for them properly. A county judge ultimately dismissed the charges in January, ruling the workers had immunity from prosecution under state law, though Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell appealed that decision and the appeal remains pending.
Gaughan and McGloin made OYFS reforms a major priority from the outset of their administration.
Among other efforts, they hired consultant Beverly Mackereth, a former state human services secretary, to help right the agency, identify problems and increase staffing. 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,” according to a county news release.
Mackereth served as a principal architect of the proposed Family First Community Pathways Program that the majority commissioners announced in May. The program, which still awaits state approval officials anticipate by year’s end, aims to reinvent the way the county serves vulnerable children and families. It’s specifically designed to keep more families out of the child welfare system and relieve pressure on OYFS by relying partly on community-based social service providers assisting with housing, violence prevention, health care and other needs.
As work continues to bring that project to fruition, commissioners stressed Monday that the license restoration is not the apogee of efforts to strengthen OYFS.
“And just to be clear, this is not the culmination of the process but a significant step in an ongoing process,” Gaughan said. “I want to assure you that the Gaughan/McGloin administration is committed to making our Office of Youth and Family Services the absolute best in the state of Pennsylvania, and I want to thank the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services for recognizing those efforts and restoring the license — proof positive that we are headed in the right direction.”
Many OYFS workers stood behind Gaughan and McGloin during the license-restoration announcement, which was rich with praise for them, their colleagues in the audience and others in the field.
“These are the people that we have to thank,” Gaughan said. “These are the people who get up every single day and who go into people’s homes in Lackawanna County and witness some of the most outrageous things, some of the most difficult things, some of the most complex problems. … These people to me and to Commissioner McGloin are first responders. They’re out there every single day doing the work, and if it weren’t for them we would not be standing up here today.”
Minority Commissioner Chris Chermak was not invited to participate in the announcement and did not attend.
Acting OYFS Director Kerry Browning, who Gaughan and McGloin also commended, echoed their praise for her staff — from those who had the “tenacity” to stay to those who chose to join the agency despite tumultuous circumstances.
“The restoration of a full license is an affirmation of our commitment to deliver services to our community,” Browning said. “Moving forward, the Office of Youth and Family Services can now write its own narrative, which is one of hope and excellence for the future.”