Somerset Acting DA seeks coordinator to help oversee abuse cases

Oct. 26—SOMERSET, Pa. — Somerset County Acting District Attorney Molly Metzgar wants to add a specialized coordinator to oversee a rising caseload of child abuse cases.

Over the past two months, 20 cases have been filed in her office, including "extremely sensitive cases ranging from neglect to assault to sexual assault and rape," Metzgar said.

The county has approximately 25 additional active abuse cases, she said.

Given the need to track those cases from start to finish, Metzgar proposed creating the Child Justice Coordinator position during Tuesday's Somerset County Salary Board meeting.

"(These children) deserve the utmost attention and an investigation where our office is able to track, accompany, advise and assist in investigations from report to trial," she said. "We do not have the resources to investigate and prosecute the number of cases coming in while still dealing with all of the other crime that remains."

Metzgar said Wednesday that she envisions the coordinator handling similar duties as the county's victim witness coordinator, except that the coordinator would focus on child abuse cases from the moment an allegation is made so that her office could assist law enforcement and work with the Child Advocacy Center and Children and Youth Services to ensure the right support is given to help those parties.

"We want someone who can keep our attorneys involved all the way through the process," she said.

Somerset County commissioners indicated its a position they'd consider funding — but they pumped the brakes on acting Tuesday, saying they wanted to meet with Metzgar in a workshop to discuss how the post — and two others she proposed Tuesday — would be funded and what changes the additions might have on other unfilled positions.

Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes said the county has a duty to do its homework before creating any new position.

"I fully support this request," Tokar-Ickes said.

But each expense has to be looked at in terms of how it'll fit into the 2024 budget — and in this case, that also includes Metzgar's office budget.

The board often asks row officers to look for outside funding to cover the cost for new positions or replace an unfilled one.

But Metzgar said her office has saved more than $210,000 due to her unfilled posts — enough to cover the $32,000 to $36,000 annual position plus benefits for two years that could be used to find a grant.

"I'm just asking to use some of that money," she said Wednesday.

Metzgar also said she first notified the board that she wanted to add a coordinator position on Oct. 4, albeit under a different title, and had to make a case for it just to add it to the agenda.

She said she also spoke about the burdens on her office, and the increase in sex abuse cases, during an Oct. 18 workshop with county commissioners.

Metzgar has cited an inability to attract qualified candidates to her office, blaming low county wages as a key factor.

Rural counties across the nation have reported problems attracting new attorneys in recent years.

Another position Metzgar sought to have reclassified from clerk to administrative assistant, at a $25,000 salary, was on the agenda and approved by the board Tuesday.

Metzgar pressed for the child justice coordinator position and two others to be approved Tuesday but fell short in a 3-2 vote, with Treasurer Tony DeLuca casting the other supporting vote.

Tokar-Ickes said the fact Metzgar's motion packaged proposed changes to two other jobs along with the child justice post made it difficult to approve the list of requests right away.

Metzgar said she viewed it differently, saying the commissioners' salary board protocol "operates as a gateway process to stall what moves to the agenda" rather than address it in public.

Metzgar asked to increase the salary of her office's Victim Witness coordinator to $36,000 — which would cost the county $2,800, she said.

She also is seeking to reclassify her temporary part-time assistant DA to a 30-hour-a-week Trial Deputy position at $45,500 to fill the position.

Metzgar said she had a candidate for the latter job.

The commissioners' critics — many of them row officers — maintain the board has used different standards in seeking and paying its employees and directors compared to some of the employees in their offices, including union workers.

On Tuesday, one of the county's most frequent critics, resident Lester Younkin, raised concerns about one director being paid both salary and overtime, saying that other directors don't get the same option.

Tokar-Ickes said the group is "playing politics" to raise criticism of the board during an election year.

Somerset's recycling program will add two roll-off recycling containers to the central part of the county that will enable the public to drop off plastic and aluminum and other materials — among other materials in compartmentalized bins.

The containers will be placed alongside Glades Pike Road, joining another Somerset Education Center bin previously set up for glass.

Recycling-specific Department of Environmental Protection grants were acquired to cover 90% of the $33,084 cost, Planning Commission Director Brad Zearfoss said.

Somerset County President Commissioner Gerald Walker said North East Industrial Manufacturing, of Greenville, had the low bid. As planned, the hauler will be able to drop off two bins when the existing ones are transported off-site for their contents to be processed for recycling and then returned for the next pick-up.