Carbon County officials see the importance of creating a staff that can help children and their families navigate tough situations.

On Thursday, the county salary board established four positions within Carbon County Children and Youth Services.

“In our frequent meetings with the Children and Youth Services Department it has been brought to the commissioners attention that the four new positions would be necessary to keep up with the demand of the increasing caseloads,” said Commissioner Rocky Ahner.

He said the four positions were approved by the Pennsylvania North East Regional Office, are 80% reimbursable and have already been included in the request for the 2021-22 budget to the state.

The new positions, which have not yet been filled, include a county caseworker II manager at $27.67 per hour; program specialist I at $20.22 per hour; secretary III at $12.55 per hour; and a social services aide I at $11.38 per hour.

Children and Youth, which has an annual budget of $5.2 million, has been seeing a 21% increase in general protective services reports, a 4.5% increase in child protective reports and a 79% increase in child placement over the past year.

“Employees in Children and Youth wear many hats,” Ahner said, noting that the new positions will be able to collect data to enhance casework, be a liaison to other agencies and allow staff to keep a four to one ratio of supervisor to caseworker.

“The plan the commissioners and the Children and Youth Department have been working on for months must continue for years to give the best services to the children of Carbon County,” Ahner continued. “Our main focus is to lessen number of cases for caseworkers to provide the proper attention to each case.”

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said the board recognizes that there is spike in cases, but that there is also a trend that the county is trying to mitigate to help with the challenges associated with that trend.

Other motions for the department that were approved were changing the rates of one secretary III to $12.55 per hour (reset position); and one administrator II from $24.09 per hour to $24.81 per hour.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein also cited the Penn State Sandusky case as the reason for more documentations and requirements due to changes in state reporting laws.

“They just cannot keep up with the demand for all the documentation,” Nothstein said of the current staff and state requirements for caseloads. “It’s still a strenuous job for these people.”

“The number one issue is the safety of our children in our county,” Nothstein added.

Earlier this year, the salary board also approved raising the hourly rates for 15 caseworkers and one supervisor by approximately $1.50 per hour, as well established three new full-time positions within the office and four part-time positions.

Children and Youth investigates on average 1,100 reports of child abuse and neglect annually.