SCRANTON, Pa. — Workers in the Lackawanna County Office of Children and Youth Services have been charged with endangering the welfare of children and failing to report abuse.
Scranton police and Lackawanna County detectives announced the charges Tuesday morning.
Police arrested Amy Helcoski, 50, of Scranton, Sadie O'Day, 34, of Scranton, Bryan Walker, 51, of Eynon, and Randy Ramik, 59, of Clarks Green.
An arrest warrant was issued for Erik Krauser, 45, of Dickson City.
Authorities said county workers falsified reports and failed to intervene in situations involving children in need.
Court paperwork indicates the defendants allowed children to live in deplorable conditions and filed fake reports with the agency.
Walker, Ramik, and Krauser are all charged in connection with a case involving the death of a woman on Capouse Avenue in Scranton in October 2022. Police found Roseanna Chalus-Glover dead in a bedroom. Police found deplorable living conditions, which were unfit for human habitation, with dogs, cats, piles of garbage, and feces throughout the apartment. Three children were living in the home, ages 13, 10, and 9.
Investigators found rotten food in the refrigerator. Another daughter told police that Glover had been ill and refused medical treatment
Ramik was the current caseworker for the family.
Helcoski is charged in a case involving animal hoarding and children living in unsafe conditions in a home on Vine Street.
Animal control reported an incident to police in November 2022 involving a baby living in poor conditions. Police and fire responded to the home for carbon monoxide exposure earlier in the month. Three children at the time were living in deplorable conditions, along with several cats.
Helcoski is the case worker, and O'Day was her supervisor. The case involving the family went back years, with numerous reports of abuse and unsafe conditions.
O'Day was also the supervisor of another case on Madison Avenue involving animal hoarding and children living in unsafe conditions. The case in this family began in 2012.
Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell calls the alleged crimes "heartbreaking and unacceptable."
The county agency also blamed staff shortages for some of the problems, saying it was trying to increase its ranks and take other steps to address the shortcomings identified in the state inspection.
Powell said a lack of staff had nothing to do with the criminal behavior of some of the agency's employees.
“The children in these cases didn’t fall through the cracks because OYFS was understaffed. These cases were on the agency’s radar for a long time,” said Powell, adding that referrals had come from neighbors, landlords, teachers, code inspectors, medical professionals, and others.
The defendants were freed on $20,000 unsecured bail with an order to return to court next month.
Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services downgraded the Lackawanna County Office of Youth and Family Services to a provisional license after allegedly not responding to cases in a timely manner.
County officials say they do not have adequate staff to cover the more than 9,000 cases the office deals with annually.
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