ABOUT BUCKS COUNTY CHILDREN & YOUTH
Robert Yochum
Executive Director
Bucks For Kids has a special alliance with Bucks County Children & Youth Social Services Agency (C&Y), as we raise money to meet the extra needs of children and teens in the care of Bucks County C&Y.
Bucks County Children & Youth is responsible under Pennsylvania Public Law to receive and investigate reports of child abuse and neglect; provide for the temporary care of children not able to remain with their own families; and develop community-wide social services programs that promote family stability. The Agency endeavors to be responsive to the changing safety and welfare needs of all families by encouraging the development of programs that increase and strengthen child and family well-being.
The majority of the children and teens served by the C&Y Agency are actually NOT in a foster home, but rather, receiving services in their own homes. In these cases, a social worker works intensively with parents and children to support and assist children and their families in addressing their safety and welfare needs. In some cases, the children or teens may be removed and placed in licensed foster homes, while the Agency continues to work with the birth family to address their needs (housing, employment, mental health issues, drug treatment, etc.)
The Agency’s overall goals are to assure safety, well-being and permanence for children, which means either reunification with their birth family or adoption by another family.
The following provides a snapshot of services provided by Children & Youth the Fiscal Year 2022-23:
- Number of referrals to the agency: 4,405 for the year
- Total number of children & teens served: 8,877 for the year
- Children & teens placed in a foster home: 351 for the year
- Children & teens receiving services IN THEIR OWN HOMES: 3,149 for the year
- Children who achieved permanency: 118 (57 reunifications with birth family; 38 adoptions, 23 SPLC [subsidized permanent legal custodianship])
