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COUNTY FUNDS

May 7, 2008

State won’t pay full juvie tab

Decision on PA Child Care’s rates could leave county on the hook.

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter
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PITTSTON TWP. – The state Department of Public Welfare has advised Luzerne County officials it will not pay the full amount being sought by PA Child Care to detain and treat delinquent youths.

The department’s decision could pose a significant problem for county commissioners who face the possibility of having to pay the difference out of county funds if they are unable to negotiate an agreement to terminate the county’s long-term lease of the facility.

DPW advised commissioners last week that the department would reimburse the county a maximum daily rate of $232.37 for detention, $287.37 for treatment and $303.85 for fire setter/sex offender treatment. PA Child Care’s current rates for those services are $304, $335 and $340, respectively.

The county can opt to pay more than the DPW-recommended rates but the difference would not be covered by the state.

The center is currently under the control of the county, which in 2004 agreed to a 20-year, $58 million lease of the facility. DPW has long been critical of the lease. An audit released in January found the lease payments were excessive, leading to “unreasonable” profits for PA Child Care’s owners, which include Hazleton attorney Robert Powell.

Threatened with the loss of up to $2 million in state funding, commissioners voted earlier this year to end the lease as of Feb. 29. The termination was delayed pending resolution of DPW’s reimbursement rate.

Commissioners had hoped DPW would offer a rate that would be acceptable to PA Child Care. That would have allowed the county to back out of the lease with Powell’s blessing. The county planned to turn the facility back over to PA Child Care and rent beds, just as other counties do.

That plan could be in jeopardy, however.

Daniel Fee, spokesman for PA Child Care, said Tuesday the center is not willing to accept the DPW rate. That means the county will either have to pay the difference or continue operating the center itself, he said.

Fee said Powell is willing to negotiate with county officials regarding the rates charged and has already offered cuts that would save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars. But Powell stands firm in his position that the county cannot terminate the lease without his approval, Fee said.

“The county has a 20-year contract with us. We are under no obligation to cancel or modify that contract,” Fee said. “We have said we are willing to do so under certain circumstances. Those circumstances do not include the state telling us we’re only going to pay a certain amount, period.”

Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said she and other county officials plan to meet with PA Child Care officials this week to discuss options. She said she remains confident an amicable solution can be reached.

Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7179

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