Montgomery County, PA

Catherine Adams       Frederick Blankenburg      Laura Bauer               

Daniel Halstead         James Coll                      William Carroll           

Heather Hess            Kerry Greene                   Marcella DiPasquale  

Simone Manigo         Thakor Patel                    Marilou Doughty           

Kristin Pennings                                              Zenobia Parker

                                                        Susan Rhoads

    25 Years                     30 Years

Frank Di Domizio      Kathleen Sullivan

Paula DiSario

Olitto Dunkley

September 27, 2009 - The Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth held a picnic at Souderton Borough Park for our foster children, foster parents and post-adopt families.  Over 200 people attended the carnival-themed picnic that was supported this year by Gemalto who funded the event and whose employees assisted in the activities.  Everyone had a great time!  Activities included game booths, a moon bounce, raffle prizes, food, water ice, spin art, and a dunk tank!  Special thanks to Gemalto and event coordinators Carol Godshall, OCY Post-Adoption Specialist, and Jenn Laubach, President of the Montgomery County Foster Parent Association.

September 2, 2009 – The parishioners of St. Titus parish collected and donated school supplies for children with the Montgomery County Office of Children & Youth.  “With over 270 children in foster care and over 2000 children being served in their own homes, these resources are desperately needed,” commented Michele Kristofco, OCY Community Relations Specialist.  “We are fortunate to have such a generous community of caring individuals to help friends and neighbors in need.”  Thanks St. Titus parish!

August 31, 2009 - Superkids of Montgomery County, Inc held a golf outing at Plymouth Country Club to raise funds for abused and neglected children in Montgomery County.  Golfers and guests enjoyed a beautiful day filled with fun while donating to Superkids who provides financial support to children for educational and culturally enriching activities.   Superkids has been supporting abused and neglected children in Montgomery County since 1994.  Thank you Superkids for all you do for children!   Continuing donations are always needed and welcome.  Contributions are tax deductible.  Thank you for your support.

Contributions can be mailed to: 

Superkids of Montgomery County, Inc.

P.O. Box 1472

Blue Bell, PA 19422

August 26, 2009 – The Office of Children & Youth was a recipient this year of the North Penn United Way’s Stuff the Bus Program.  The North Penn United Way provided fifty (50) backpacks loaded with school supplies for abused and neglected children.  Caseworkers from Children & Youth delivered the backpacks to the children on their caseloads whose families lacked the necessary resources to purchase school supplies.  Thank you North Penn United Way!

August 12, 2009 – The Mom’s Club of Norriton collected and delivered new backpacks and school supplies to our office for children suffering abuse and neglect.  Schools provide lengthy supply lists to the children and it is up to parents to purchase the school supplies for their children.  Without help from organizations like the Mom’s Club of Norriton, many children would return to school without the necessary supplies.  Thank you Mom’s Club!

August 7, 2009 – Human Services Director, Joe Roynan, Children & Youth Director, Laurie O’Connor, and Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, Steve Custer presented an overview of the 2010-2011 Needs Based Plan and Budget for Child Welfare Services in Montgomery County at a Public Hearing in the Human Services Center Community Room this date.  Mr. Roynan discussed the difficult economic times that we are faced with coupled with the State’s inability to pass a balanced budget and the potential impact that has on Montgomery County.  Mr. Roynan reassured everyone of our County Commissioners’ dedication to the children of the County and that necessary services will continue to be delivered.

August 5, 2009 - Superkids of Montgomery County, Inc. provided a “Night with the Reading Phillies” for children in foster care and in their own homes who are dealing with issues of child abuse, neglect and dependency and are known to the Montgomery County Office of Children & Youth.  Game time was 7:05 pm.  The children enjoyed an exciting game between the Reading Phillies and the Trenton Thunder.  Thank you, Superkids, for this enjoyable night out for children and families.

July 30, 2009 – Montgomery County Public Property installed Automated Electronic Defibrillators (AED) this date at the Office of Children & Youth and throughout the Human Services Center.  Children & Youth Safety Committee members and other interested staff members from each of our three office locations were trained in both AED use and CPR in anticipation of the installation of AED units.  “These units are truly life-saving devices,” commented Marge DeShon, Trainer with the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Campus.  “They are automated and talk you through the step by step process for using the defibrillator on a person suffering cardiac arrest.”  “Although we hope never to use the equipment, it is reassuring to have the devices on hand and people trained to use them in the event of an emergency” stated OCY Director, Laurie O’Connor.

July 6, 2009 – An overview of the “Interoptimability Project” was presented to the Agency’s Citizens Advisory Committee this date.  Throughout 2008, the County Human Services Administration department, Office of Children and Youth, and Behavioral Healthcare and Developmental Disabilities department participated in planning toward development of “interoperable” and portable technology for human services.  The County formalized partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, the Stewards of Change and the PA Department of Public Welfare’s Office of Children, Youth and Families for completion of a “Road Map” for Interoperability.  Montgomery County will be the pilot county for an information management system that will interconnect existing human services information systems.  This interoperable system will allow human service systems in Montgomery County to communicate effectively, in the best interest of the residents of Montgomery County, for the first time ever.  Participating in today’s presentation to the Advisory Committee were Human Services Director, Joe Roynan; Children & Youth Director, Laurie O’Connor; Stewards of Change Vice President, Gerry Pape; University of Pennsylvania’s Field Center Executive Director, Debra Wolfe; Motorola Executive, Marty Elisco; and Microsoft Executive, Ken Rucci.  “The technology currently exists to implement the system that we are planning,” stated Mr. Pape, “We now have to learn and understand the business processes of Human Services and build the technological tools that will support the work.”  “This technology once designed and implemented will have the capacity for assisting caseworkers in keeping children safe, assist caseworkers with their own personal safety, and allow the best and most appropriate services to be delivered in a timely fashion to the families that need them,” stated Human Service Director, Joe Roynan.

June 1, 2009 – Following formal budgetary approval from the Commonwealth and the County, and in response to the Federal requirements set forth in the Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act (CAPTA) and the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R.6893), Kathleen Thomas was promoted to Caseworker 3.  CAPTA requires among other things that any child under the age of three who has been identified as a victim in a substantiated case of child abuse must be screened for and referred for early intervention services when appropriate.  The Fostering Connections Act requires that Children & Youth staff and contracted providers improve educational stability for children in foster care by coordinating with local education agencies to ensure that children remain in the school they are enrolled in at the time of placement into foster care, unless that would not be in the child’s best interests. If it is not in the child’s best interest, the county ensures immediate enrollment in a new school with all of the educational records of the child provided to that new school. Every school–age child in foster care must be enrolled as a full-time elementary or secondary school student or have completed secondary school.  Ms. Thomas will administer the Ages and Stages Screening tool, refer children for more extensive screening when appropriate, and also act as the agency’s Educational Coordinator for the special and unique needs of our most complex, multi-systemic youth.  Congratulations Kathy!

May 18, 2009 – Following formal budgetary approval from the Commonwealth and the County, Margaret Sweeney was promoted to supervisor of the agency’s new North Penn Child Abuse Investigative Unit.  “While staff is doing an excellent job of keeping children safe and at home with family members, we can not ignore the increasing amount of referrals coming to the agency” stated Children & Youth Director, Laurie O’Connor.  “This addition of a Supervisor and Casework Unit to our array of services will allow us to better address incoming calls and concerns of suspected child abuse and neglect and support our community in the most appropriate way possible, insuring the safety of our County’s children.”  Congratulations Maggie!

May 15, 2009 – On this date, the final group of Children & Youth staff completed training on Pennsylvania’s new Safety Assessment tool.  Four groups of casework staff, supervisors and administrators were guided through the Commonwealth’s new safety requirements by veteran staff members Marilou Doughty, Sandie Beren, Peter Spengeman, Kerry Greene, Liz Socki, Marian DeFoe and Nadine Miller.  The new Safety Assessment tool is designed to provide direct service child welfare staff across the Commonwealth with a structured decision making process for child safety.  This ongoing process will be utilized by direct service staff with families to analyze safety threats, family functioning, and family and community resources in order to produce a sufficient safety plan when there are concerns of child abuse or neglect.

April 21, 2009 – Throughout the latter half of 2008 and early 2009, Montgomery County Children & Youth staff received training on Family Finding – a set of strategies developed by Dr. Kevin Campbell to locate family members and find lifelong supports for children and young people in foster care.  “Family Finding principles and strategies clearly support the focus that our agency has had for years on finding relatives and relative caregivers for children in our foster care system” stated Laurie O’Connor, Children & Youth Director, “It is a natural fit for us.”  Dr. Campbell’s research clearly shows the need for children to have connections with family and provides our staff with the framework, tools and technology to search even more extensively for family members who are going to be resources for children in our care.  Following training provided by Dr. Campbell here at the Montgomery County Office of Children & Youth, designated staff members obtained authorization for utilization of specific internet-based search engines to expand family finding efforts.

April 6, 2009 – Mission Kids and Children & Youth staff began participating in multidiscipline case reviews of child sexual abuse cases on a biweekly basis in the North Penn and Pottstown regions of the county this date.  Mission Kids is a 501(c)(3) corporation located in East Norriton, Pennsylvania. Founded in March 2008, Mission Kids was created by the collaborative effort of the Montgomery County District Attorney, the Police Chiefs of Montgomery County, and the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth to help ease the investigation process for abused children in Montgomery County. Mission Kids will serve as a child-friendly facility where abused children can receive the necessary support services to help them heal.

April 6, 2009 - The 2008 Annual Report for the Montgomery County Office of Children & Youth was presented to the agency’s Citizens Advisory Committee.  The report was presented by Michele Kristofco, Children & Youth Community Relations Administrator.  To review the report in its entirety Click Here.   The Office of Children & Youth provides the majority of their services to children while they remain at home. “We are most proud of the decline in the number of out-of-home placements in our County” stated Children & Youth Director, Laurie O’Connor.  “This data supports the efforts of the staff to more intensely engage families and to maintain children at home, with family, whenever safe and appropriate.”   The report reviews the services and practices of the agency in detail.