Aug 7, 2013 6 min read

The number of children in foster care may be dropping in most Pennsylvania counties, but not in Washington and Greene, according to statistics compiled by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

Washington County, according to two point-in-time surveys, had 42 more children in foster care March 31 of this year than it did Sept. 30, 2006, the largest single increase in the state.

Greene County had seven more children in foster care on the date in 2013 than it did in 2006. In each county, this represents a 12 percent increase. There are two theories about the Greene County statistics. One is related to poverty, that children living in sub-standard housing are being removed from their homes.

“One large family of 6 to 7 can affect those numbers,” said Sandy Moore, administrator of the court system’s Office of Children and Families in the Courts.

According to the Greene County website, during the past year its CYS agency responded to 107 reports of child abuse, including 69 physical abuse cases, 37 sexual abuse case and one emotional abuse case. Only two other counties of the 14 with more children in foster care – Indiana and Mercer – are in Western Pennsylvania.

Officials from Washington County had various opinions about the statistics and also some questions.

The state Department of Public Welfare took Washington County Children and Youth Services to task last year for not following up on enough referrals. That has changed, said Kimberly Rogers, the head of Washington County CYS since October 2012.

“We have 1,431 families we’re working with now, 353 more than the prior fiscal year,” Rogers said. “I’m not surprised to see more children in care. With more services provided, you’re going to see an increase in placement.”

Rogers said of her less-than-one-year tenure, “Prior to my arrival, (CYS was) placing more children than we are now. It was about 27 percent” under her predecessor, Lori Harbert. “We’re 10 percent less than that.”

Washington County Judge Katherine B. Emery, who handles CYS cases, said of the statewide comparisons, “Beaver County. Look at the number of kids they have in placement – 52. And they’re a fourth-class county like we are. Greene County has more children in placement than Beaver.” Greene, a sixth-class county, had a population of 38,623 in 2011 while Beaver’s was 170,414 and Washington’s stood at 208,282.

“We have a population increase. I don’t think Beaver does,” Emery said. “We have a lot of police departments and very active social agencies that I think look out for the welfare of the children. People are willing to come to CYS, I think, agencies and schools and police departments with concerns that kids aren’t being taken care of, which I think is a good thing.

“Is the answer that we have too many kids or they don’t have enough kids? We really try to look at families first and have grandparents and step-grandparents and aunts and uncles who step up to the plate and help take care of kids when they need to. One of the things we don’t do is place them in the care of a relative and then close the case.” The case of a child placed with relatives remains open in Washington County so that the judge can continue to supervise the situation. Other counties, Emery said, may not declare a child dependent in a similar situation.

State AOPC official Sandy Moore, said Washington County participates voluntarily in a program known as Permanency Practice Initiative, while Greene County, while not a program member, has also adopted some of the practices. The federal government requires annual reviews of the cases of dependent children, while the state requires reviews every six months. Counties in the program review cases every three months when children are placed outside their homes.

Speaking in Washington County in April 2009, state Supreme Court Justice Max Baer said he wanted to see an end to the foster care system, calling it “stranger care. A bad parent is better than no parent. Kids are entitled to parents. We abandoned orphanages as barbaric, and we went to a foster-care system.”

Baer favors broadening the safety net by locating, via internet, family members and those who have some of kinship with a dependent child, to place him or her.

Emery, who is one of four judges in a county that has two vacancies on its bench, said she has discussed with Baer. “There are some really marginal grandparents,” Emery said. “But that, of course, is not what he’s looking at.”

Washington County taxpayers footed the bill in 2012 for nearly $15.3 million worth of expenditures related to juvenile probation, Children and Youth Services and other services including nearly $4.3 million for adoption services and foster care. The number of masters hearing cases has increased recently to two, and attorneys are now more available for parents in CYS matters, Emery said.

Rogers said because of the increase in the Washington County CYS case load, she’ll be seeking additional taxpayer dollars from the state for additional caseworkers.

Over her 18 years as county Commissioner, Diana Irey Vaughan said she’s seen many changes at CYS. At one time, congregate care, or group living arrangements placing several children in one home, was preferred.

She recalls Beverly Mackereth, now state Department of Public Welfare secretary, addressing a gathering of county commissioners in the spring of last year, telling them that 80 percent of children who have been in congregate care while growing up end up in congregate care as adults, most often in jail.

“That was shocking to me,” said Irey Vaughan, vice chairman of the Washington County board of commissioners and leader of the county’s CYS task force.

“Our focus is getting a whole lot of eyes and ears and people focused on these kids so they’re not isolated,” Moore said. “When eyes, ears and hearts are involved, children become safer. Washington County has had a pretty significant turnover in leadership. Kimberly Rogers and Judge Emery are regrouping.”

Court officials estimate the efforts by the state court system and child welfare agencies to reduce by a third the number of abused or neglected Pennsylvania children in foster care or similar settings are saving about $117 million annually in state, federal and local costs of foster homes and similar settings.