Jan 10, 2022 3 min read

Greene County Children and Youth Services program has been awarded a $45,000 federal grant local officials said will be used to address concerns related to Substance Affected Infants (SAI) and families.

Greene County commissioners announced receipt of the Plan of Safe Care (PoSC) grant Jan. 6, adding each year thousands of infants born in Pennsylvania have prenatal exposure to a wide array of substances, including alcohol.

These exposures, they said, have present, short-term and long-term impacts that plague the children and families, including co-exposure to substances such as opioids and benzodiazepines.

In a release issued by the county, Commissioner Betsy McClure said she is pleased with receiving this federal grant opportunity.

“I feel that the funding will be utilized to bridge a gap in meeting the needs of substance affected infants and their families,” she said.

The application process for these federal funds required the creation of numerous documents and an individualized plan of action Greene County would use to address the concerns, education and services providing for SAI and their families, officials said.

Contained within the plan were three target areas to address these concerns:

n Identify increased understanding of the community member providers/support officials regarding the expectations and roles in relationship to PoSC;

n Facilitate PoSC meetings with parents, caregivers, family members and appropriate community supporters and providers;

n Greene County CYS will identify and assist the families in meeting the basic needs to alleviate financial stressors and remove barriers towards their participation in and fulfillment of the services necessary for the PoSC.

“As (CYS) embarks on the use of these federally funded dollars, each expected outcome provides an opportunity for us and other providers to create a collaborative approach to meet the needs of Substance Affected Infants and their families,” said Mark Starostanko, administrator of the county’s CYS program.

“This collaborative approach provides linkage of services as unified building blocks and support networks for the children and families to restore a caring, nurturing approach towards assisting families. These funds will promote the ongoing collaborative efforts of the community service providers to address the epidemic within the county.”

Starostanko said CYS’ utilization of the grant will create “a fiscally responsible approach to meeting the needs of families and children within the county.”

Commissioner Mike Belding said it is always the goal of the county’s CYS program to provide “innovative solutions” to resolve concerns within an intact family structure in the county, while understanding the needs of the children and families.

“(CYS) strives to provide education, create a support network and assist families in meeting basic needs of children and alleviating financial stressors/or barriers that would exclude the parents in participation of the solutions,” he said.