Luzerne County hires outside law firm to review Children and Youth

Recent charges against Luzerne County’s former Children and Youth director have prompted county Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo to hire a Philadelphia-based law firm to complete an internal review.

Former agency director Joanne Van Saun has been charged with endangering the welfare of children and two counts of obstruction in child abuse cases for allegedly directing employees in May 2017 to terminate at least 217 reports of child abuse and neglect received from the state ChildLine system without investigating them.

The county has retained the Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders law firm, commonly known as Troutman Pepper, to perform the internal review, Crocamo said in an announcement.

“Regaining the trust of families and the broader public is our top priority. We know that won’t be possible without first understanding what happened, how and why. That’s why we retained Troutman Pepper,” Crocamo said.

Crocamo said she is confident the law firm will help the county “achieve this goal” along with any governmental agencies or law enforcement authorities conducting investigations, including the state Attorney General’s Office, which filed the charges against Van Saun, and the state Department of Human Services (DHS).

DHS, which licenses the county agency, said last week it is “deeply concerned” about criminal charges and allegations against Van Saun and has started an investigation to “understand the scope of these alleged failings.”

Crocamo said a contract with Troutman Pepper is under negotiation and that the expense will not exceed funds available in the county budget.

Troutman Pepper has handled numerous high profile and significant investigations for state and local government agencies, educational institutions and large public and private companies, she said.

The firm’s investigations practice group typically handles “high-profile investigations involving allegations of illegal activity and other misconduct,” she added. The group includes former prosecutors who have served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Department of Justice, county district attorney’s offices and other law enforcement agencies at the state and federal level.

“In those matters, Troutman Pepper lawyers are routinely called upon to provide recommendations about how to improve controls, policies, and procedures, in addition to assessing responsibility,” Crocamo said.

When announcing the charges against Van Saun, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro alleged Van Saun directed her employees to use a deletion option called a “screen out” instead of taking the proper time to evaluate or investigate each referral.

DHS operates the 24/7 ChildLine for anyone concerned about the welfare of a child and to report suspected child abuse.

ChildLine caseworkers process these reports and refer them to appropriate agencies for investigation, which can include county Children and Youth agencies or regional DHS offices, the state agency said.