Direct Services

Welcome to our Direct Services page.  A Direct Service is a service that we provide directly to the community.   

We Offer the Following Direct Services

Intake Related Services

Once a Referral is received at the agency, an Intake Screener will:

 

Screen the information to evaluate if the family is appropriate for Children and Youth intervention; if not, refer the family out to the proper agency to meet their needs; if so, determine the severity of the report and how quickly a caseworker needs to respond to assure the safety of the child; write up all of the necessary family information including the detailed account of the complaint and give to the supervisor for assignment to an intake investigator

The Intake Investigator will:

Meet with the child and family and assess the nature of the complaint and its validity;
assess the safety of the child; complete a risk assessment matrix and child safety plan for each child in the household; make a decision as to whether the family needs ongoing casework services.

Anyone may call the agency on behalf of a child. This would include, but not be limited to, the child's parents, relatives, neighbors, school officials, police officers, the child himself, concerned citizens or generally anyone who comes into contact with a child and has reason to believe that the child is not receiving adequate care.  

The agency's phone number is 724-891-5800, or 1-800-615-7743. The agency's regular working hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday thru Friday.  After 4:30 p.m., on holidays, and during the weekend, all calls are processed through an answering service.  In emergency situations, the calls are forwarded to an on-call worker, via pager, when necessary.

It is important to also note that at the intake level every effort will be made to provide the appropriate service to a child and his/her family. Each client, no matter what the situation, will be treated with a sense of respect for human dignity. The agency is committed to the notion that, in most cases, parents have the capacity to alter their particular condition to accommodate the best interest of their children.

 

    Supervisor: David Reese

In 1975, the Pennsylvania Legislature recognized child abuse as a serious, but treatable, social problem within the Commonwealth. In order to help rectify the problem the Child Protective Services Law was enacted on November 26, 1975. In December 1995 Governor Robert Casey signed Act 151 into law which enacted major changes to the above referenced law.

In brief, the law establishes five general categories of child abuse: serious physical injury, serious mental injury, sexual abuse, serious physical neglect and imminent risk. In addition, the law states that a victim must be under 18 years of age and a perpetrator must be a caretaker who was responsible for the child when the incident occurred. Both acts and omissions are taken into consideration when determining the validity of the report.

When a report of suspected abuse is made by a private citizen, it may be reported to Childline, a 24-hour toll free reporting hotline (1-800-932-0313), or to the local Children and Youth Services agency (724-891-5800). Mandated reporters ( persons who in the course of their employment come into contact with children) must report all cases of suspected abuse to the hotline. Such persons include, but are not limited to: Law enforcement officials, Physicians, Educators, Social Service Practitioners, and Psychologists.

Once a report of suspected child abuse is received, the agency will assure the child's safety immediately. The caseworker will also begin to determine what social services may be necessary to help the child and his/her family. With specific types of abuse, the caseworker must within 24 hours of seeing the child, make a report both verbally and in writing to Law Enforcement Officials. In some instances where the child is in a high risk situation, protective custody must be requested from the court. However, in some instances, physicians, hospitals, and law enforcement officials may initiate such custody.

While services to a family may continue for an extensive period, the agency must investigate and determine the validity of the report within 60 days. A report may be Founded -- any judicial adjudication based on a finding that a child who is the subject of the report has been abused; Indicated -- an admission by the perpetrator to the acts of abuse, an agency investigation using substantial evidence, or medical evidence; or a report may be Unfounded -- in which case, all records relating to the investigation are destroyed within 12 months at both the State and Local levels of the reporting system.

General Protective Services 

    Supervisors:  Dana Bucci and Jen Ott

General Protective Services utilize a variety of social services activities aimed at protecting the rights, health and welfare of children when parents fail or are unable to provide their children with adequate food, clothing, shelter, supervision, education, and medical/dental care. These services are provided to children and families when children have been neglected, exploited, or injured by their parents to an extent not sufficient to be covered by the Child Protective Services Act.

Most of the children serviced by the agency fall into this category of service and terms such as "general neglect" and "dependency" are quite often used to describe the nature of the problem that is being serviced. At any given time the agency provides services to several hundred children throughout the County. The children are at home with their parents and a caseworker is assigned to each family in order to provide direct social services and manage those provided by purchase of service contracts.

 

    Supervisor:  Sharon Henry

Teen Protective Services normally works with "status offenders", a behavioral term used to describe a minor (under 18 years of age) who engages in conduct that would not result in a legal charge if done by an adult. Some typical examples are: Truancy, ungovernable, runaway, and generally, any child who habitually disobeys the reasonable and lawful commands of his/her parents or guardian. Legally, a status offender could be adjudicated a dependent child under the Pennsylvania Juvenile Act.

Services to these children are provided by the agency via a specialized Teen Protective Services Unit. A counseling/ intervention format is utilized to provide a means of support to the child and his/her family. Activities include problem solving, parenting skills, coping skills and intra and inter-personal functioning. Individual or family counseling can be used to accomplish particular casework goals.

The goal of the unit is to prevent placement of the adolescent. Unlike other services of the agency, Teen Protective Services are primarily voluntary. Exceptions to this would be if the child is adjudicated Dependent by the Juvenile Court and services are court ordered, or the child is at high risk of being harmed.

 

Substitute Care

    Supervisors:  Allan Cybak and Steve Socci

Although service to children in their own homes is the primary goal of the agency, substitute care is also an option. Such care includes placement into Shelter Care, Foster Care, Group Homes, Community Based Care, Facility Based Care, and Secure Residential Care. Each of these categories meets a specific identified need of the child. To learn more about Foster Care see the Foster Parenting section of our web site.