It is understandable that the Blair County Office of Children, Youth & Families is not happy about having been issued its sixth provisional license by the state Department of Human Services, for shortcomings in the local department’s operation.

Anyone unfamiliar with the local agency’s problems could be excused for questioning how an agency with such important responsibilities could have troubling issues festering for 3.5 years, the span of time that the six provisional licenses cover, without finding ways to resolve all of them, or at least all but a couple.

But to be fair, Blair CYF has had to deal with more than a fair share of setbacks, including the lingering impact of the pandemic, resignations and retirements and difficulties attracting candidates for vacancies.

However, no one should be reluctant to remind county officials that the roots of the office’s problems rest with county officials current and past. If past officials, in particular, had addressed some problems effectively years ago, one in particular, CYF would not likely be in its provisional predicament at this time.

That issue being referred to now is allocation of money, bolstered by willingness to make the right choices so there would be enough for the present and future.

Unfortunately, the same issue has moved front-and-center a number of times in recent years, epitomized by too-long-delayed courthouse renovations and too-long-delayed substantive actions regarding construction of a new county prison.

County taxpayers were not asked to contribute a small amount of additional tax revenue when such projects could have been completed amid savings of millions of dollars. Rather, the projects were “kicked down the road,” presumably for a time when they could be afforded, which is a time that never came, including now.

So, today’s Blair taxpayers are, and will continue to be, burdened by financial obligations of a size that could have been avoided, if past leaders had taken a break from pounding their chests about fiscal responsibility and, instead, had been fiscally responsible by doing the work that needed done, so money could be saved in the long run.

And, keep in mind, we are referring to county leaders as far back as perhaps six decades ago, not just being critical of leaders of the past decade or so.

Regarding the current CYF situation, here is what a June 26 Mirror article said:

“In May 2022 — when the state issued the first provisional operating license — the county office was operating at low staffing levels and it had no applicants to fill vacant jobs created by resignations and retirements that increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. At that time, Blair County’s pay levels for CYF were among the lowest in the state. Blair County now advertises for CYF caseworkers … at $40,170 annually.”

Can there really be any wonderment over how or why a staffing problem evolved?

However, there needs to be some really take-notice tied to the sixth provisional license and the proverbial “falling-through-the-cracks” that the latest close scrutiny of the agency revealed. That information was noted in the June 26 Mirror article about the sixth provisional license having been granted.

What happened was this: The state found a case involving passage of 180 days whereby no caseworker visit to the high-risk family had occurred — six months, half a year.

Such an error remains hard to accept.

The same holds true regarding record-keeping issues that reflected late reports and/or no reports, also identified by the Department of Human Services.

All considered and the importance of everything involved, the state’s judgment is correct on the provisional license. However, CYF is not solely to blame.