Following up on an issue he spoke of passionately during his campaign for Suffolk’s top office, County Executive Edward Romaine met last week with the staff of Child Protective Services for their input on how to improve the department. CPS came under fire during the previous administration following the death of Thomas Valva at the hands of his father after numerous reports of abuse.
Romaine, whose grandson shared a classroom with the East Moriches youngster, promised to backfill vacancies in the department to relieve a heavy workload, a chief complaint of CPS staff. “I’m reaching out to Adelphi, Hofstra, and Stony Brook universities for potential employees through their schools of Social Welfare,” Romaine said in an interview with the South Shore Press. “We will do everything in our power to make sure we don’t have another tragedy like we suffered with Thomas Valva.”
The eight-year-old was the subject of numerous referrals from his elementary school to CPS from teachers and administrators who suspected abuse. “Thomas Valva falling through the cracks is one of the great tragedies of our county,” Romaine said while campaigning at an event in his Center Moriches hometown back in October. “We need to make sure something like this never happens again.”
The county executive said he is working with Suffolk’s Civil Service Department and his newly-appointed administrator in Health, Human Services and Education, Dr. Sylvia Diaz, to expedite the hiring of new CPS caseworkers.
“It’s remarkable that the county executive came down and met with the CPS staff,” said Stanley J. Humin, vice president of the Suffolk Association of Municipal Employees, the union that represents the CPS workers. “His administrative experience in government as a county legislator, clerk, and Brookhaven supervisor is really paying off. He is the right man at the right time with the credentials and desire to make substantial changes to the way this county operates.”
In the wake of Thomas’ death, former County Executive Steve Bellone ushered in the CPS Transformation Act to reduce caseloads per worker from 26-plus to 12 or fewer. It also called for hiring more workers, increasing salaries, and improving oversight with a caseload dashboard that can be accessed by the public.
Thomas' mother, Justyna Zubko Valva, filed a lawsuit against Suffolk seeking $200 million. She rejected a $3 million settlement offer the Bellone administration made shortly before he left office at the end of December.
Romaine said he also met with the Health and Human Services staff and is lining up meetings with other departments to hear from the employees themselves on how to make things run better. “The employees are the people who make our government run. I’m here to make sure they have the leadership and support to do the job for the people of this county,” said the executive as he finished out his fourth week as Suffolk’s chief administrator.
Romaine, who joined District Attorney Raymond Tierney Thursday at a news briefing on the death of a one-year-old who allegedly died from illicit drugs belonging to his parents, said “fighting the scourge of Fentanyl and other deadly drugs in Suffolk” is also at the top of his priority list.