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PCCYFS Release Priorities to Enhance Children’s Services in PA

Public policy platform for the 2023-2025 legislative session

(HARRISBURG, PA – March 2, 2023) Today, the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth & Family Services (PCCYFS) announced their public policy platform for the 2023-2025 legislative session. As Pennsylvania’s premier children, youth, and family services organization, PCCYFS plays a vital role in influencing policy for the health of the child serving system. The priorities are: 1) a well-funded children’s services system, 2) workforce development, and 3) affordable access to liability insurance.

“PCCYFS providers are providing direct services to children and families in Pennsylvania,” said PCCYFS President and CEO, Terry L. Clark. “They have a finger on the pulse of our communities’ needs and these priorities directly reflect what our agencies and direct workers need to help Pennsylvania’s children and families thrive.”

The report proposes targeted, actionable steps for the legislature, the Administration, and local government to improve the health of the child-serving provider community in Pennsylvania:

  1. A well-funded children’s service system: Solutions include adequate rates and allocations to fully fund providers at their cost of care, including increases during particularly challenging times such as the pandemic or budget impasses, or new federal legislation. Additionally, the system should look for opportunities to minimize duplication of funding.
  2. Workforce development: Recognizing the crisis state of workforce recruitment and retention in child and family services, PCCYFS outlines a series of principles and areas for staffing flexibilities to support providers’ abilities to weather these difficulties, including waivers and flexibilities, without compromising safety, such as physician extenders.
  3. Affordable access to liability insurance: Despite the army of pressures that are bearing down on providers’ ability to access liability insurance, PCCYFS has identified practical solutions such as reforms to county contracts, limiting venue shopping, and taking a balanced approach to reviver statutes to help support providers retain adequate protection for their distinct, challenging work.