HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County commissioners and the state Department of Human Services will be signing an agreement that guides the county’s Children, Youth & Families office over the next two years.

Commissioners, who voted Tuesday to sign the negotiated agreement that will restore the county CYF office’s operating license for six months, said they’re not sure what the county’s cost will be as efforts are undertaken to comply with the agreement.

One cost that immediately falls to the county requires payment of salary and expenses for the state operations manager, who was assigned to Blair County CYF office in December 2023.

Commissioner Laura Burke, liaison commissioner to the CYF office, said the operations manager has been helpful in the pursuit of improvements that the state recognized in its last review.

That last review, issued in early May, referred to improvements. But it also recognized that the state lacked the authority to issue another provisional license to a county CYF office that had been issued four provisional licenses. The county immediately appealed the state’s revocation of the county CYF license, sending the dispute into negotiations leading to the settlement agreement presented at Tuesday’s commissioners meeting.

Burke and fellow commissioners Dave Kessling and Amy Webster voted in favor of the agreement.

As for starting to pay the salary and expenses of the state operational manager assigned to Blair, the commissioners offered no objections.

The agreement also indicates that Blair County must continue to cooperate with the operational manager as long as the manager stays assigned to Blair County, which could be less than two years. The state indicates that it will monitor the county’s need for an operational manager and determine when the assignment ends.

The agreement also requires commissioners, within 30 days after the agreement is executed, to review the county’s CYF leadership team with input from the state.

Should Blair County decide to make changes, then it must come up with a transitional plan and have that approved by the state.

Within 120 days — approximately four months — the county is also required to conduct a comprehensive assessment of its CYF office to determine strategic planning and structural improvements aimed at long-term compliance with regulations.

Burke, in referencing the agreement’s requirements, said she didn’t find any of them to be surprising because they are the kind of efforts that have been under pursuit.

“(The agreement) seems to contain a lot of the things we’ve already been doing or trying to do,” Burke said.

It also puts those efforts in writing and obligates the county to accomplish them within specific time frames.

Within 60 days — or approximately July 31 — the county is required to retain a contractor who can work on improving CYF policies and practices and related efforts as outlined in the agreement. The consultant is expected to spend at least 75 hours a month on Blair County’s office, with the state having the final approval over the scope of work.

Another portion of the agreement requires Blair County to put forth its best effort to maintain adequate staffing levels. That requires a review of salaries and benefits and developing an approach to address any deficiencies. It’s expected to look for new ways to recruit employees.

The agreement also allows the county CYF office to rely on contracted agencies for services so that CYF staff can work on the backlog of referrals that remains.

If the county fails to comply with the agreement, the state indicates that it would again consider sanctions, including revocation of the operational license being issued upon execution of the agreement.

While the state has not yet signed the agreement, commissioners indicated the state’s endorsement is anticipated based on the negotiations between the state and the county.

“We had some leeway,” Kessling said of the back-and-forth efforts to reach the agreement. “And there were some things the state was adamant about.”

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.