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Children and Youth Services leaders explain organization’s role

When most people think of children and youth services, perhaps the most immediate thought is to speculate the agency as one that removes children from abusive homes.

But this is an incorrect assumption that sells short the hard work of Children and Youth case workers. It also mischaracterizes the organization’s actual jurisdiction, as executive director Matt Salvatori and clinical director Matthew Wood explain.

Lycoming County Children and Youth’s primary objective is preventing abuse and neglect of children, or at least improving a situation for a family, where necessary.

“We like to lead from behind. It’s their family and their solutions. We’re here to be a support and guide,” Wood said.

Lycoming County is seen as one of the most proactive and successful counties for preventing abuse, according to Matt Salvatori, executive director of Lycoming County Children and Youth.

“Half the service is prevention services,” Salvatori said. “Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Outreach. We have caseworkers in each school district.”

Salvatori said there are programs available to the community without ever being involved in Children and Youth. They are a voluntary opt-in service for families to get additional help caring for children.

“We want to continue public awareness of the importance of working together, recognizing the importance of family and be willing to speak up when concerns are identified,” Salvatori said.

“They truly know what they need, but you gotta reach out and see what they need,” Wood said. “We want to strengthen and empower families — strengthen them to the point where they don’t need us.”

However, sometimes preventative measures are not enough to appropriately help a child.

When Children and Youth receives a report of child abuse, it is required to immediately respond to that report, Salvatori said. Children and Youth sends a case worker to the home to verify the safety of the child involved, according to Salvatori. Provided the child is safe, workers then evaluate the needs of the family. This happens within hours of the incident, but no greater than 24 hours, the two said.

“If we feel they need more, we offer them more,” Salvatori said.

Depending on the needs of the family, Children and Youth may assess the family over a period of time such as one or two months to see if any followup is necessary, according to Wood. These assessments may be as frequent as necessary.

But Children and Youth does not have the jurisdiction to remove children from homes, Salvatori explained. Salvatori said the agency follows a state-mandated process that involves evaluating situations with safety assessment tools to make a determination of how to move forward. Should a child be in danger, Children and Youth immediately move to prepare a case to argue for a child’s removal from a judge.

“Only a judge can remove a child from their parents’ custody,” Salvatori said. “We can petition the court and explain the situation.”

“They are allegations, and allegations are not evidence,” Wood said. “You have a right to have your kids. We are mindful of that.”

Wood explained that due process kicks in after Children and Youth makes a petition to a judge.

“The tragedy is we find out after the fact,” Wood said. “Ninety-nine percent of the around-2,200 yearly cases, the public never hears about.”

Changes in laws over the years have empowered and supported children and youth services across Pennsylvania, according to Wood — especially in 2014, which is when former Gov. Tom Corbett’s Task Force on Child Protection published its review of state laws and procedures governing child protection and the reporting of child abuse in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Subsequently, several laws adopted recommendations from the task force, including the Child Welfare Information Systems. The CWIS is a state database that connects related law enforcement agencies to one another. State police, local police and Children and Youth might all receive the same report, even if a response is only required from one party.

“This has led to lots of collaboration and partnerships,” Wood said.

According to Salvatori, reports have more than doubled since the adoption of these changes — which is a good thing, he said.

In addition to that collaboration, Children and Youth works with the child advocacy center, and ties them into monthly meetings. In situations of child abuse, the child advocacy center, not children and youth, will conduct an independent interview to try to take into consideration the needs of the child, and the healthiest way of going about helping them.

Wood said he feels these laws sufficiently support Children and Youth in executing its duties. He said Children and Youth remains committed, however, to constant improvement and growth.

“We are very much critics of our own work,” Wood said.

To that end, Salvatori praised the 73 Children and Youth Services employees, including the 40 case workers and supervisors.

“We want to praise their courage, passion and knowledge. They go into some difficult situations, sometimes without cell service and they don’t carry weapons,” Salvatori said. “This is a 24/7 operation. We always have staff here to support the community. There can never be a day off. On Christmas morning, there’s always someone working.”

Wood said the level of seniority in Children and Youth Services puts Lycoming County ahead of other parts of Pennsylvania.

“We are so fortunate. We hear about turnover elsewhere, and we have a stable workforce with people with a lot of experience,” Wood said.

According to Salvatori, some counties have employees who stay six months to a year before moving onto another job. However, Salvatori said he has been with Children and Youth for 25 years, and Wood has been employed for 20 years.

“Forty percent of the staff have been here for more than 20 years,” Salvatori said.

Toward the end of growth, Salvatori said he wants the agency to continue public awareness of the importance of working together, recognizing the importance of family and being willing to speak up when concerns are identified.

“It’s the public being aware,” Salvatori said.

However, on the flipside, Salvatori said the last thing Children and Youth want to see is a police state of neighbors surveilling and confronting neighbors.

“Mandated reporters should not investigate — they should report,” Salvatori said.

Pennsylvania’s Childline collects reports of child well-being concerns and refers that information to law enforcement agencies.

Anyone can call the Childline at 1-800-932-0313, and mandated reporters may submit electronic reports at compass.state.pa.us/cwis.

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