When someone says ‘boo,’ you should report it
First, let it be said Dee Dee Blosnich-Gooden did the right thing by resigning as deputy director of the Washington County Children and Youth Services agency last week.
Her continued employment would have been untenable after her name surfaced in an affadavit in Westmoreland County against 46-year-old Greensburg resident Joelle Barozzini, who is alleged to have raped a foster son when he was a teenager. The alleged victim is from Greene County, is now 24 and moved out of Barozzini’s house four years ago. According to police, Blosnich-Gooden was told by a caseworker in 2012 about claims that Barozzini was having a sexual relationship with her foster son. At the time, Blosnich-Gooden was the administrator of Greene County Children and Youth Services. However, it is alleged Blosnich-Gooden not only dismissed the allegations and never notified authorities, but also accused the caseworker of engaging in gossip and sent her to a UPMC course on “ethics in professional practice.”
Washington County Human Services Director Tim Kimmel said Blosnich-Gooden felt “Washington County doesn’t deserve to be dragged into this thing and the only way is through her connection.”
Fair enough. Investigators will eventually uncover the reason why Blosnich-Gooden apparently did not believe concerns about Barozzini’s alleged conduct were worthy of greater scrutiny. It seems odd she would have taken this approach in February 2012, just three months after former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was indicted on 40 counts relating to child sex abuse and the media was packed with reports of how Penn State officials largely turned a blind eye to evidence of Sandusky’s misdeeds for years on end, letting his criminal spree continue unchecked.
Now that Washington County has accepted Blosnich-Gooden’s resignation, it needs to take an additional step and take a second look at the work she did as its employee. Larry Maggi, chairman of Washington County Commission, took a cautious approach, saying it was “premature” about whether there would be an investigation, which he called “a harsh term.” He explained, “We want to hear what else comes out.” Kimmel said an internal review was not anticipated and he and others in the human services department were “pleased by her performance when she was with us.”
Still, an analysis of Blosnich-Gooden’s work when she was with Washington County would put to rest any questions about how she did her job. The commonwealth’s Department of Human Services is going to be embarking on its own inquiry into how the Barozzini case was handled, and a review is planned in Greene County, where officials met last week with CYS officials.
“If someone says ‘boo,’ we need to report it,” said Greene County Commissioner Blair Zimmerman.
That’s an observation that should be affixed to the walls of every CYS agency in the state.