Chris Kelly: Shapiro must rally rescue posse

Sometimes, spurring the cavalry to saddle up is a matter of poking the right rumps.

In response to Lackawanna County Department of Health and Human Services Director Bill Browning’s desperate plea for help staffing his desolate Office of Youth and Family Services, state officials said consultants — free agents who suggest actions but perform none — are the best Harrisburg can offer.

State Department of Human Services Secretary Valerie Arkoosh and Laval Miller-Wilson, deputy secretary of the Office of Children, Youth & Families, said their agencies are hamstrung by similar staffing shortages, county Chief of Staff Brian Jeffers told The Times-Tribune.

In a conversation Tuesday, I suggested to Jeffers that the state essentially told Lackawanna County OYFS to drop dead. Not so, he said. Jeffers described the discussion as a “very good meeting,” but the state “just doesn’t have the personnel to help.”

Staffing shortages are a nagging problem everywhere, particularly in front-line services like child protection and advocacy. Lackawanna County OYFS — down to 15 caseworkers and five current and former employees charged with child endangerment felonies — is but one dumpster fire in a statewide conflagration.

Dousing the flames and rebuilding from the ashes will require high-level leadership that has not been forthcoming, so I launched a poking campaign Tuesday.

I started with state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Dunmore, who said he is following the county OYFS fiasco and planned to reach out to Gov. Josh Shapiro and state health officials to identify legislative and/or practical solutions.

“Doing nothing is putting people in danger,” Flynn said, demonstrating an encouraging command of the obvious. The senator has an opportunity and an obligation to lead on this issue, a statewide crisis percolating toward countless potential tragedies.

The state of child protective services in Pennsylvania is every legislator’s responsibility. Flynn promised me he is “on it.” He called back a few hours later to share some legislative moves that could make it easier to recruit caseworkers. Flynn promised to keep working on it and to keep me posted. I take him at his word.

That’s easier to do when the word comes directly from the source. In the case of Shapiro, I had to settle for spokesman Will Simons.

Simons is a skilled mouthpiece. He rattled off a host of initiatives the governor has launched to address staff shortages across vital state services and front-line industries from law enforcement to health care.

Simons said staffing shortages are a challenge nationwide and “not unique to Pennsylvania.”

I countered that Lackawanna County OYFS, the state child-protective services system and the at-risk children and families both are failing are “unique to Pennsylvania.” So is Shapiro, who has a unique connection to the county’s OYFS.

What interests me now is whether the Lackawanna County OYFS fiasco and its ugly cousins across the state are on Shapiro’s radar. now. Simons said he would get back to me with a comment by Tuesday afternoon.

He did, but with a texted comment way too long to share in its entirety. I clipped it to excerpts that addressed the questions I actually asked: Is Shapiro aware of the local and state OYFS crises, and is he working to fix them?

“Governor Shapiro and his senior team are engaged in staffing issues around the Commonwealth, especially around children, youth and family services, and recognize the need to attract more qualified workers for critical roles at the PA Department of Health and Human Services … .

“The Governor has been working with DHS to aggressively hire for positions under his jurisdiction, including those in the children, youth and family services sector … .”

I guess that’s a “yes.” I was hoping for something more like, “Charge!,” but (borrowing from a Scots nursery rhyme) if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.