Children's Bureau audits identify state payments owed to Westmoreland County

A growing numbers of juveniles who received care from the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau led to bookkeeping errors that resulted in an influx of more than $650,000 in state reimbursements dating back to 2017, officials said.

Rob Hamilton, the new director of the county’s human services division, said the audit findings reflect a growing caseload for the department. New cases had previously been on a downward trajectory but in recent years have grown by more than 2%, he said.

The agency conducted more than 5,000 investigations in 2022 and provided ongoing services in more than 1,300 cases, Hamilton said.

“When you’re seeing more kids, you have to have more staff and contract with more providers,” Hamilton said. “Covid has played a huge part in this. Kids were isolated to their homes and, while there may have always been behavioral issues, covid shed a light on those that as a county and a country we didn’t want to see.”

Those increases have county officials contemplating changes to how it coordinates children bureau services.

For three consecutive years, the Children’s Bureau received less money than was warranted under formulas that determine annual reimbursements for services provided to protect juveniles placed in protective custody or are being monitored by the county agency. Those funds have since been paid to the county, officials said.

The additional funds were identified last month in a series of reviews released by Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor.

The audits found that in fiscal year 2017-2018 the county was underpaid by more than $331,720. The county was owed an additional $83,016 in 2018-2019 and another $243,445 in 2019-2020, according to the audit.

“This did not impact any services to children and families and did not impact agency operations,” said Shara Saveikis, director of the county’s Children’s Bureau. “This is a revenue reconciliation with the state for expenses that occurred after the final invoice was submitted for those fiscal years.”

Children’s Bureau operations is primarily funded through state reimbursements. Its budget for 2023 is $33.5 million, a nearly $3 million increase over the previous year.

Hamilton said the county this year will blend its mental and behavioral health programs with Children’s Bureau activities as a way to improve services and provide more funding options. It’s an effort that formed the basis of the county’s move last year to create unified human services department that put multiple programs that previously operated separately, under one director.

Hamilton was hired last year to run the new human services department.