Seven counties in Pennsylvania, including Blair County, have been chosen to help support abused and neglected children.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Max Baer announced the Pennsylvania State Roundtable’s Family Engagement Initiative.

The roundtable is a collaborative effort among state and national court and child welfare leaders.

The initiative will focus on enhancements to local child dependency systems which serve abused or neglected children and their families.

“The selected counties will get training from international experts to teach them cutting-edge practices rooted in research and science to enhance the way they help children and families,” said Justice Baer. “The counties will receive resources developed specifically for them.  It’s exciting to be working with such a dedicated and motivated group of court and county leaders to improve the lives of our most vulnerable children.”

The seven counties chosen include Adams, Blair, Clinton, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Northampton and Union. The selection process was statewide and competitive. 

Blair County was chosen because of its strong collaboration between county courts and children and youth agencies, current family engagement practices, and data reviews.

“The initiative uses evidence-based practices that identify and meaningfully involve healthy family members and close friends in the lives of child welfare families,” said Sandy Moore, the OCFC’s director. “This requires the support of all local leaders within the selected counties.

The Pennsylvania State Roundtable plans to expand this initiative to other counties in 2018.