Former Luzerne County Children and Youth director facing criminal charges

Former Luzerne County Children and Youth Director Joanne Van Saun has been charged with failing to investigate hundreds of reports of child abuse and neglect and covering up the cases with false reports, according to documents filed in Dauphin County.

Van Saun, 58, of Dallas, who resigned last Thursday, was arraigned Tuesday morning before District Judge David O’Leary in Harrisburg on charges of endangering the welfare of children and two counts of obstruction in child abuse cases. She was released on $100,000 unsecured bail.

She waived the three charges to court and has a formal arraignment before Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Scott A. Evans on Sept. 10.

The charges were filed by the state Attorney General’s Office and are related to alleged offenses on May 1, 2017.

According to a release from state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Van San was charged for directing employees to falsely terminate reports of child abuse and neglect, “putting dozens of children in Luzerne County at risk.”

“Children that reported serious abuse and neglect were let down by Luzerne County because of Ms. Van Saun’s intentional and reckless disregard. These young people turned to teachers, coaches and other mandated reporters, who trusted that Child and Youth Services would do their job – they didn’t,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro said his office will continue to safeguard children and ensure all reports about potential abuse and neglect are “taken seriously.”

“We will prosecute anyone who fails in their responsibilities and knowingly puts our young people at risk,” he said.

Investigators determined Van Saun on May 2017 directed employees to terminate at least 217 reports of child abuse and neglect received from the state ChildLine system. These cases were part of a backlog that was initially reported by the press in May 2017.

ChildLine is part of a mandated statewide child protective services program that receives reports and then transmits them to appropriate agencies for investigations.

The county had 1,388 outstanding referrals, which accounted for 75% of the state’s outstanding ChildLine referrals, Shapiro said.

Several reports that were terminated allegedly by Van Saun without investigating include:

• A child went to school wearing dirty clothes and begged for food.
• An oven used to heat a residence that was also littered with dog feces. On the same report, the mother tossed a lit cigarette out a car window that reentered the vehicle burning a child’s face.
• A residence with no food, refrigerator and stove, with mice and dog feces. The mother abused pain medications and nodded off while driving with her children inside the vehicle.
• A 2-year-old with leg bruises caused by the mother’s paramour, as the mother asked friends to buy her diapers and milk for her child and a 1-year-old.
• A child covered with flea bites and a bruised lip caused by an adult, residing in a residence with garbage, dirty dishes, cat feces and fleas.
• A residence without electrical service for two weeks with food in refrigerator and dirty dishes in sink. No hot water and mother had no money to purchase food for children.
• An older child weighing 100 pounds wearing a diaper, as the child had anger issues with frequent assaults upon other children.
• Unattended children roaming the streets while mother passed out after using “all kids of drugs.” An infant in the house had a rash and diapers never changed.
• A child exposed genitals to other children on a school bus. The child claimed his cousin pulls his pants down and they put their genitals together. Mother of the child did nothing when her son told her.
• A child grabbed a stranger at a high school football game saying, “Please kidnap me, I don’t want to go home.” The child’s mother has a history of attempted suicide attempts and has been in and out of mental health care facilities.

“Under pressure from the reports of huge numbers of Childline reports in backlog status, Van Saun came up with a plan to eliminate the backlog without doing any investigation into whether any of the reports required further action to protect the children,” Shapiro said.

Instead of taking the proper time to evaluate or investigate each referral, she directed her employees to eradicate the backlog, known as a “screen out,” he said. County Children and Youth secretaries submitted 217 screen outs on May 2017, even though these workers did not have legal authority or proper training to make that decision, he said.

Shapiro said many of the screened out referrals described severe child abuse and neglect, including lice-ridden children telling mandated reporters that they were not fed at home; children living in unsafe, mice and dog feces-ridden homes; and a child found at a high school football game, clinging to the mandated reporter, who screamed, ‘Please kidnap me. I don’t want to go home.’”

“Instead of looking into these reports, all of these ChildLine referrals were terminated by an LCCYS secretary who used the false screen-out reason that the ‘referral did not allege abuse or neglect,’” he said.

In addition to the arrest of Van Saun, three former staff members from LCCYS have agreed not to serve in any position where they would be a mandated reporter of potential abuse or neglect until at least 2025, he said.

Reports of child abuse should be sent to OAG Safe2Say Something (844) 723-2729 or the PA ChildLine 1-800-932-0313.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Barney Anderson is prosecuting the case.

County Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo, who will become acting county manager Wednesday, issued the following statement Tuesday afternoon:

“Nothing is more important than the health and safety of the children entrusted in our county Children & Youth Services department’s care. Today’s news is shocking. We pledge to continue cooperating fully with the Pennsylvania Attorney General and any additional law enforcement authorities investigating this heartbreaking matter. Our primary concern remains the safety and welfare of Luzerne County children and families.”

Deputy Director Deanna German will be managing the agency until an interim or permanent director is named, the administration said.

Van Saun has been overseeing county Children and Youth since March 2016.

When announcing her promotion at that time, then-acting county manager C. David Pedri had said she was a 30-year veteran of the county agency. She started her agency career as a caseworker, obtained a master’s degree in social work and most recently worked as the agency’s social service coordinator, he had said.

“In her tenure, she has assisted thousands of Luzerne County’s children when they have been in need. Her dedication will serve her well as she embarks on her new position,” Pedri said in an email to the county council.

She was since largely credited with helping the agency restore its license and make progress filling caseworker vacancies.