Superior Court Judge Makes Case to Keep County-Run Youth Shelter

CREST HAVEN — Six months ago, long before freeholders sought proposals to privately operate the 12-bed county Youth Shelter at a cost less than $1.1 million annually, Superior Court Judge Kyran Connor penned a passionate letter opposing the action.
“I have long been reassured by the knowledge that ours was a county that would never leave its kids out in the cold, that would always find a way to take care of its own, that would eat dirt before it would allow its location at the tail end of the pipeline of state services to be a reason or excuse for under-serving our youth,” he wrote.
On May 12, Connor, who presides in Family Court, and knows the Youth Shelter’s inner workings, wrote Freeholder Director Daniel Beyel and his peers, “on behalf of a group of citizens whose public profile is so low that their voices are rarely heard in the hallways of power.”
Those youths, he wrote, “More often they hail from economically disadvantaged, fractured or socially dysfunctional families. Not infrequently they are difficult and oppositional and they sometimes appear to work very hard to make us think that they are beyond redemption,” Connor wrote.
Having seen many, the judge knows most of those youths simply need guidance and direction.
Much of the problem, Connor noted, is that what the shelter personnel do for children “is, by law, confidential, they toil in relative obscurity.”
The “they” Connor referred to are staff members who may shortly receive “pink slips” ending their county employment.
According to county Administrator Stephen O’Connor, those employees have been interviewed and offered other county jobs, where possible.
Some of them countered that statement after a Nov. 10 freeholder meeting, and told the Herald one was interviewed by the County Library for a part-time job, and told she made too much money to transfer her job.
“The lady at the library told me my salary cannot go with us,” one said, and requested that her name, like the other three who spoke with the Herald, not be made known, for fear of retaliation.
“They (freeholders) repeatedly blame our director (Diane Lanzetta) for not giving information to them,” said another.
“They said she didn’t show any proof. She does have information she submitted, and she spoke to (Vice Director) Ralph Sheets,” said another.
“Apparently her proposal was not good enough, and she had to redo the figures,” she continued.
Another employee was to go the Crest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, but was similarly told she made too much money.
“Bumping” cannot be done under their union’s rules, according to the foursome, all of whom are members of Local 3596 American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. It is only applicable in one’s department, not in others.
They are fighting not only for their jobs, “but also for the kids,” they said.
“We treat them like our own kids. I’ve been there 23 years, so it’s not just a job or a business,” said one. Others in the small group were shelter employees for 18 and 21 years.
They acknowledge that last year, when average shelter population was five youths, it was a “low” year.
At the present, there are 12 youths at the Crest Haven Road facility, they said.
Population fluctuates, which is partly the reason the county accepted proposals Nov. 13 to operate the facility for less than $1.1 million.
Employees, several mothers, Connor and some others have urged the freeholders to look past the $1.1 million, since it is a service to local children, and often, not all benefits are tallied on a balance sheet.
Freeholders, fearing a $3 million to $5 million budgetary shortfall in 2010, because of the recession that weakened the real estate market, the long-time sustainer of county spending, went sour.
Funds that once flowed into county coffers dried up, or were severely limited. For that reason, department heads were told to reduce their budgets, and seek ways to generate revenue.
At the Nov. 10 meeting, retired County Prosecutor’s Office Capt. Marie Hayes advocated for retention of the shelter.
Hayes, who handled many cases involving youths who had been abused, said, “It was a comfort to know I could easily call on their services whenever needed.”
It was also reassuring for her “to know the children would remain in our county,” she said. Hayes described the shelter’s staff as caring individuals who lived and worked in the county where the children called home.
To privatize the shelter “to save the county money” would be wrong, she said.
“Privatization rarely turns out to be cost cutting. It’s not just monetary savings. Making the choice to privatize the youth shelter is wrong,” Hayes said.
Hayes urged freeholders to “take into consideration the full and part-time employees” at the shelter.
“I am asking that you take into consideration the devastating effect on youth and the employees,” Hayes said.
Proposals to operate the shelter will be reviewed by a county-appointed task force. Once that process is completed,
recommendations will be made to freeholders, who will make the ultimate decision regarding the shelter’s operational future.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com