Open in App
  • Local
  • U.S.
  • Election
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Education
  • Real Estate
  • Newsletter
  • SCDNReports

    Pennsylvania Child Protection Director Charged with Child Endangerment

    2021-07-06

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0ca4ji_0apCY4XT00
    Pennsylvania Child Protection Director Charged with Child Endangerment

    Pennsylvania State News

    After reports that there was a significant backlog of child abuse and neglect cases in northeastern Pennsylvania, the director of the county’s child welfare agency was charged with falsely closing files on allegations of child abuse and neglect.

    Joanne G. Van Saun, 58, of Dallas, Pennsylvania, has been charged with child endangerment and obstruction by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office for ending assessments so that the Luzerne County Department of Children and Youth Services would have less work to do. Her resignation as director of the agency was effective Friday.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0sF1qb_0apCY4XT00
    Pennsylvania Child Protection Director Charged with Child Endangerment

    An investigator said Van Saun put together a team led by three senior aides to deal with a backlog of more than 1,400 cases.

    Van Saun told the three leaders she didn't care how they got rid of the backlog. People who worked for Van Saun called her a bully and a tyrant, investigators said.

    Pennsylvania officials claim that clerical workers improperly ended 200 referrals from the statewide ChildLine hotline at her direction. There was a child who came to school hungry, a child burned when a cigarette thrown out of a car window caused his or her face to burn, an adult telling children to kill themselves, and a 100-pound child still wearing a diaper.

    An example of this was a child who approached someone at a high school football game and pleaded to be kidnapped, holding onto the other person's waist.

    According to the charging officer, ChildLine referrals such as those mentioned above were terminated by Luzerne Children and Youth Services secretaries who falsely noted they "did not allege abuse or neglect."

    "Van Saun directly endangered the welfare of the subject children by ordering the summary deletion of referrals," the arrest affidavit stated.

    The district court judge in Harrisburg set unsecured bail at $100,000 for Van Saun. The case will be heard in September.

    The three other Luzerne Children and Youth Services employees have agreed to stay away from any position that has a mandate to report suspected child abuse until at least 2025, according to prosecutors. No charges were filed against them.

    How do you feel? What do you think?

    Expand All
    Comments / 39
    Add a Comment
    Iris Rosado
    2021-07-08
    They should do a state wide investigation on these agencies starting with Lehigh Valley right now my nieces and nephew are in a dangerous situation and the police is even involved and the system has not done nothing there was and abuse even reported and the guy is walking the streets like nothing. So yes they need to investigate these agencies even when you call their offices they don’t pick up. I hope and pray they start doing a state wide investigation. Let’s pray for all children that are going through this. My prayers to all.
    Bri Cunningham
    2021-07-08
    I guess I know why I raised a heroin addicts kid for two years before they pushed custody.
    View all comments
    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
    Local News newsLocal News
    Robert Russell Shaneyfelt4 days ago
    The Shenandoah (PA) Sentinel13 days ago
    The Shenandoah (PA) Sentinel2 days ago

    Comments / 0