Children & Youth Services

Lycoming Children & Youth Services (LCYS) works in cooperation with our community, families, and other organizations to ensure the health, safety, welfare, and social growth to children and youth in Lycoming County.

Our Commitment

We are committed to supporting, strengthening, and empowering families by focusing on the safety, permanency and well-being of children while working towards the goal of preserving families.

Keeping Families Together

Our agency’s hope and preference is to keep families together. If your children can live with you and be safe they will stay with you. The vast majority of families who are involved with Lycoming Children and Youth Services continue to live together; parents continue to parent while also receiving services through the agency.  A caseworker will meet with family members in the home to assist the family in working through any identified concerns. The needs of the family and safety of the children along with input from the parents will guide the frequency of home visits.

If the children’s safety cannot be assured in the family home, we will work with the parents to identify other family members or kin to provide a safe, temporary home for the children. If family friends or relatives are not willing or available, the “out-of-home” placement may be with a foster family. In rare cases, it is a group home or residential center.

How We Work With Families

We work with families that are having a difficult time providing a safe and nurturing environment for their children. Our agency is designated by state law to look into allegations of child abuse and neglect. Lycoming Children & Youth Services. We assign a caseworker to look into the allegations and to determine if we can help. By law, our agency offers services to families when:

  • Parents are not able to care for their children and no other responsible adult is available;

  • Children have been injured, exploited, or physically or sexually abused by their parents or caretakers;

  • Children are not adequately cared for or supervised;

  • In certain situations, when parents need help with their problems or their children’s problems.

What Services Does Lycoming Children and Youth Services Provide?

Case Managers work in cooperation with schools, police, medical personnel, and other human service organizations to keep families together.

When the agency is unable to keep families together, efforts are made to remedy the conditions which led to separation so children may be returned to the family or have a permanent living arrangement as soon as possible.

Child Protective Services, which is the mandatory investigation of all reports of suspected physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and serious physical neglect.

General Protective Services which completes assessments on referrals of physical neglect, lack of necessities, parent/child conflicts, runaways, truancy, and families in need of support services.

Ongoing Casework Services are provided to all families and children with an open case, directing efforts toward keeping families together if possible and reuniting children with their families or finding a permanent living arrangement if it is not possible for the family to stay together.

Specialized Services including foster care and the recruitment and training of foster parents, adoption, parent support, shelter care and day and evening treatment programs.

You may request and/or be asked to go to any of the following in order to assess your needs or to strengthen your family:

  • Psychological assessments (to assess parent/child relationships)

  • Parenting classes

  • Counseling and/or therapy

  • Self-help or support groups

  • Job training

  • Drug and alcohol assessment/treatment

  • Homemaking and/or home budgeting services/classes

We are here for Lycoming & Clinton County's children and youth. Always.

Call us anytime, day or night.

If You Suspect Child Abuse

Anyone can report concerns about the welfare or safety of a child, and reports may be made on a 24-hour basis. 

Reports may be made directly to our agency 24/7 at 570-326-7895 or toll-free 1-800-525-7938. 

Reports may also be made to the ChildLine, the PA Abuse and Neglect Registry, at 1-800-932-0313 and http://keepkidssafe.pa.gov.

PLEASE CALL IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS FOR THE SAFETY OF A CHILD OR IF YOUR FAMILY IS IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE.