Lawrence County approves five Children & Youth Services contract renewals, including backup foster-care rate increases

The Lawrence County Board of Commissioners on June 16 approved Resolutions 127 through 131, renewing five contracts submitted by the county’s Children & Youth Services office.

Donald Andrews, a Children & Youth Services representative, described each vendor and the county’s use. Resolution 127 renews a contract with Bethany Christian Services (Wexford) with no rate increase; Andrews said the provider has served five Lawrence County children this fiscal year, remains "well under their 40 maximum," and that the contract is an "80/20 split with the state." Resolution 128 renews services with the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) with a 10% rate increase; Andrews said the county has used the Lutheran Society rarely (no children this year, one last fiscal year) and that it serves as a backup foster-care placement. Resolution 129 renews Ward Home, Inc. (McKisport) with an 8% rate increase; Andrews said Ward is under the 40-child maximum and has not received placements this year or last. Resolution 130 renews a contract with Albert Aubberly (McKisport) with a 10% increase; Andrews said Aubberly is also a backup foster-care provider with no placements in the last two years.

Andrews also presented Resolution 131 to renew a contract with Drug Test Express Onsite Screening LLC, operated by Alisa Emory. Andrews said Emory began the business in April after Family First Urgent Care closed; she performs urine and hair-follicle screening at the county office for court-ordered testing, charges an annual fee to cover travel, and is available in office once or twice weekly.

Commissioners briefly discussed the rate increases. A commissioner observed that several proposed increases exceeded the most recent inflation figure (about 4%). Andrews said county staff believed some providers were seeking larger increases now to get ahead of a forthcoming Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) policy that the county expects will limit allowable increases to 10% next year; he said county staff have internally stated they will not approve increases above that threshold. The board did not adopt any higher caps at the meeting; staff said they had negotiated down requests exceeding 10%.

Commissioner Dan Kennedy moved to approve Resolutions 127–131 as a blanket motion; the motion was seconded and carried on roll call with the commissioners present voting yes. The county packet lists the dates and vendor information for the contracts; specific contract amounts were not specified in the meeting record.

The renewals will remain subject to the county’s contract procedures and any state funding splits or maximums noted by staff. The board did not schedule additional public hearings on these renewals at the meeting.