May 25, 2017 6 min read

Dozens of blue and silver pinwheels have been spinning in the breeze for more than a month in front of the Washington County Courthouse to recognize Child Abuse Prevention Month following a proclamation by the board of commissioners in April.

On hand to accept the proclamation were administrators and employees of the Washington County Children and Youth Services agency, but as of today, the Courthouse Square office will be minus its deputy director.

Dee Dee Blosnich-Gooden submitted her written resignation Thursday morning to Washington County Human Services Director Tim Kimmel. It became effective Friday.

Blosnich-Gooden’s name surfaced in an affidavit of probable cause police filed in Westmoreland County against Joelle Barozzini, 46, of Greensburg, who is accused of felony counts including rape, institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors and child endangerment for allegedly raping her teenage foster son for several years.

Barozzini’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month.

Police said while Blosnich-Gooden was working as Greene County CYS administrator in February 2012, she was informed by a caseworker about concerns Barozzini was involved in a sexual relationship with the boy, but accused the employee of “gossiping” and never notified authorities.

Kimmel said he was unaware of Blosnich-Gooden’s involvement in the situation until seeing news reports Wednesday night.

“She’s part of the criminal investigation that’s underway,” Kimmel said Thursday morning. “I believe she feels that Washington County doesn’t deserve to be dragged into this thing and the only way is through her connection.”

The alleged victim, now 24, is from Greene County but he was a teenage foster child in Barozzini’s therapeutic foster home from 2009 to 2010. Barozzini then became his permanent legal custodian and continued to house him until 2013, when he moved out of her residence.

According to the affidavit, Blosnich-Gooden reprimanded former Greene County CYS caseworker Dusty Bedillion, who brought sexual abuse claims about Barozzini to her in 2012 while she worked as Greene County CYS director and never reported them to authorities. Barozzini learned of the comments and wanted a formal retraction from Greene County because foster parents she trained were asking if the allegations were true. Barozzini claimed her reputation had been ruined because of “hearsay” statements from a family member and she had contacted an attorney.

Blosnich-Gooden reprimanded Bedillion for “inappropriate comments” and required the employee to take a course called “ethics in professional practice” in 2012 at UPMC.

Barozzini worked as a foster parent training supervisor for Pressley Ridge, an entity that traces its roots to Pittsburgh orphanages founded 185 years ago. When police notified officials at Pressley Ridge Barozzini was under investigation, she was placed on administrative leave. Barozzini had worked there since 2006 and she had no disciplinary action in her employment record, according to the document filed with the court.

Blosnich-Gooden also worked at Pressley Ridge from 2001 until she took the position of Greene County CYS administrator in April 2009.

Pressley Ridge has offices in Washington and Waynesburg but “the employee in question worked at Pressley Ridge in Uniontown,” Ron Gruca, director of development, wrote in an email.

Blosnich-Gooden, who left her position at Greene County CYS in March 2013 to take a job as deputy director of Washington County CYS to administrator Kimberly Rogers, never forwarded the tip from her caseworker to authorities, police said. Blosnich-Gooden’s salary as Washington County CYS director was $72,713.

Kimmel said they do not expect to perform an internal review of the situation or Blosnich-Gooden’s work with the county.

“We’ve been pleased by her performance while she was with us,” Kimmel said. “That’s all I can say about that.”

But other agencies do plan to review the case.

Rachel Kostelac, press secretary for the state Department of Human Services that oversees county CYS agencies, said the department is aware of the situation and plans to conduct a review of how the case was handled. She added Barozzini had not been permitted to foster children in her home since March 2014, although that was more than two years after the caseworker passed along her concerns.

“The well-being and safety of all children throughout the commonwealth is a top priority and the allegations in Greene County are deeply concerning for the department,” Kostelac said. “The department is currently reviewing the situation and will have a further statement once the review is complete.”

Greene County Commissioner Blair Zimmerman said they plan to perform a thorough review of the case to get to the bottom of what happened. County officials met with the CYS staff Thursday morning to discuss what happened, ask questions and offer support. He called the case an “eye-opener” for CYS agencies across the state.

“If someone says ‘boo’ we need to report it,” Zimmerman said.

Washington County Commission Chairman Larry Maggi, a retired state trooper who was assigned to a child sexual assault detail for several years in the mid-1990s, said the graphic details of the five-page affidavit are typical for a case of this nature, but police are “constantly sensitive to the victims and what they are going to be put through; thrust into the limelight because of the type of crime it is.

“We were not aware of what went on in Greene County,” he noted.

The deputy director of CYS is an appointed position, and who will be named to replace Blosnich-Gooden has not yet been decided.

“It’s an important position, but the department will continue to function,” Maggi said. “It’s a difficult job and it takes a certain type of person. Someone may be appointed temporarily, but right now, I don’t know who that person will be.”

Asked if the Barozzini case raised any concerns about Blosnich-Gooden’s tenure at Washington County CYS, Maggi said, “We’re going to talk with Kim Rogers. We’re just hearing statements right now. We’re not sure what happened in the sequence of events in Greene County. It would be premature to say there will be an investigation, which is a harsh term. We want to hear what else comes out.”

According to court documents, Barozzini is quoted as saying to another foster child during the police investigation, “They’re trying to call me Sandusky,” an apparent reference to former Washington resident Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted in 2012 of 45 counts of child sexual abuse of children while he was affiliated with the football program at Penn State University.

Bedillion raised her concerns about Barozzini’s behavior just three months after Sandusky was arrested in November 2011.