The Delaware County Weekly
Bringing Delco news and information directly to our residents!
—— April 8, 2022 (11th edition) ——
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Promises Made, Promises Kept! Council Makes Two Major Announcements this Week | |
The Delaware County Health Department is Officially Operational and the Deprivatization of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility is Complete | |
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Delaware County Council was thrilled to make two major announcements at its April 6 public council meeting- The Delaware County Health Department was approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to act in its official capacity as a health department on April 2 and Delaware County assumed full operational control of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility from The GEO Group, a national for-profit operator of prisons on April 6.
These two announcements mark major, historic milestones for Delaware County and a beginning of a new era leading to healthier, safer, and improved lives across the community.
Delaware County residents deserve their own health department—one with a local team who understands the needs of the county and is working to ensure our residents have the highest quality of life possible. And Delaware County deserves to have a jail that is laser-focused on preparing inmates for life when they return to the community, thereby reducing recidivism.
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The Delaware County Health Department is Officially Operational | | |
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Delaware County Health Department Director Melissa Lyon provided an update on the newly established County Health Department during the County Council Public Meeting on April 6.
The Delaware County Health Department (DCHD) was approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to act in its official capacity as a health department on April 2, 2022. This marks the first health department to be established in the state of Pennsylvania in the past 33 years.
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“While there is still much foundational work being done, I’m excited to share that within each of our departments, many of the standard operating procedures are underway,” said Delaware County Health Department Director Melissa Lyon. “For example, under the guidance of our Environment Health Division, inspectors are currently in the field monitoring and enforcing Delaware County health codes, in addition to state and federal regulations. They’re responding to applications – which can be found on our website, and addressing and investigating public health complaints and inquiries, many of which are coming into the DCHD Wellness Line.”
During the presentation, Director Lyon provided several examples of the current responsibilities and services provided by each division of the County Health Department including the Environmental Health, Population Health, and Personal Health Divisions.
Under the leadership of the Population Health Division, the newly rebranded Delaware County Health Department Wellness Line staff has been receiving calls and emails from across the county addressing a variety of issues and connecting callers to much needed resources. Members of the Health Department have worked with local homeless shelters to provide PPE requested for the safety and protection of those staying at the shelters and the staff.
The Personal Health Division, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health continues to work to address the increase in reported cases of STIs across Delaware County and launched its first STI clinic in the Chester community. The Personal Health Division effectively managed its first case of Tuberculosis with medication management and Direct Observed Therapy set up a mini-clinic to launch the Vaccines for Children Program in support of a family from Ukraine with two school-aged children to receive up to date immunizations in order to remain in school through the academic year.
COVID-19 mitigation remains a top priority. The Delaware County Health Department continues to monitor the data surrounding the BA.2 variant, currently the most predominant and highly transmittable variant of COVID-19. While the percentage of positive cases has increased slightly due to the BA.2 variant, the community level of COVID-19 remains low. County-sponsored vaccine clinics have seen an increase in participants with the recent FDA recommendation for a second COVID-19 booster.
This week, the Delaware County Health Department welcomed Deputy Health Director, Lora Werner. Deputy Director Werner joins the Health Department team with twenty-plus years’ experience in public health at the federal level, having served as Regional Director for Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
“This is an extremely exciting week for Delaware County!” said Delaware County Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor, who has led the efforts to establish a County Health Department over the past two years, beginning just days after being elected in Nov. 2019. “Our residents deserve their own health department—one with a local team who understands the needs of the county and is working to ensure our residents have the highest quality of life possible. This is something Council promised our residents in 2019 and thanks to the dedication, passion, determination, and countless hours from the County team community partners, and residents who shared our vision- we were able to deliver on that promise.”
Residents are encouraged to learn more about the Delaware County Health Department and the services and resources it provides by visiting www.DelcoPA.gov/health.
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Delaware County Officially Assumes Control of George W. Hill Correctional Facility | |
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Delaware County assumed full operational control of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility from The GEO Group, a national for-profit operator of prisons on April 6, 2022. The transition is the result of more than two years of planning and preparation and represents an end to Delaware County’s status as Pennsylvania’s only county to have a for-profit prison.
“Today marks an enormous milestone and a shift in how Delaware County treats incarceration: a multi-national corporation whose very existence relies on keeping our jails full has been replaced by a County management team laser-focused on preparing inmates for life on the outside and reducing recidivism,” said Delaware County Councilman Kevin Madden, who led Council’s efforts to deprivatize the County’s jail and chairs the Jail Oversight Board. “I am extremely proud of the thoughtful and deliberate work that has gone into this process and want to thank everyone – from the community leaders and activists who have called for this change for years, to the outside consultants who worked with us on the handover, and to the men and women who work at the jail – for all that you did to assist the County in making this transition. I would also like to thank The Geo Group for their cooperation in this process.”
Laura K. Williams was named the new warden of the jail in February 2022 and is leading the efforts to reduce recidivism.
“I believe that jail can be an opportunity for inmates to pay their debt to society and become healthy, contributing members of the community,” said Warden Williams. “We owe it to them and to the entire community to provide support and training to inmates so they can lead productive lives when they are released and return to our community as our neighbors.”
The deprivatization of the county jail is one of several ways that Delaware County is changing its approach to public safety and justice.
For more information about the deprivatization, read the April 7 press release, linked below.
County Council has worked in partnership with the District Attorney to make significant investments in community-based policing and greater investigative resources in the Criminal Investigation Division to reduce gun violence. The County has also greatly expanded its investment in diversionary programs and efforts to make the criminal justice system more efficient for all involved. County Council has also made significant investments to upgrade the radio systems for our first responders, keeping them safe while they keep the residents of Delaware County safe.
During the April 6 County Council meeting, Councilman Madden detailed the work that has been done to transition the prison to the County and also cautioned that the work at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility is far from finished. “Keep in mind that today isn’t just the end of one era in Delaware County – it is also the beginning of the hard work that will be required to translate our words into actions. It took over two years of planning and preparation to get to this point -- and it will take time for us to achieve all that needs to be done,” said Madden. “But by working together and keeping the commitment to making our jail a place that strengthens, rather than weakens our residents, we will get it done.”
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Delaware County Council and District Attorney Report on Results of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools Initiative | |
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During the County Council meeting on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, together with Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor, Director of Human Services Sandra Garrison, and representatives from Bloom Consulting, presented the results of their more than year-long effort to study the state of the mental, behavioral, and substance abuse treatment services available for school-aged children in Delaware County.
The project—known as the Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools Initiative—had its origin in a meeting in the summer of 2020 between the District Attorney, Council members, and educators from around the county. The educators shared their concern about the surge in untreated and under-treated mental and behavioral health issues in their student populations and expressed concern that these issues were affecting the safety of both their students and their staff.
Following the initial meeting, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer began assembling a team to look at ways that the County might approach this issue in a collaborative, comprehensive, and equity-minded way. Using “Safe Schools” state grant funding, Bloom Consulting was hired to assist, and they have been working for more than a year with stakeholders from all over Delaware County. The “Safe Schools” funding historically had been distributed to Delaware County schools to improve the physical safety of their buildings through the purchase of locks, cameras, and similar items. However, recognizing the level of concern expressed by educators, the District Attorney requested, and received, permission from the state to use a portion of the funding to look at the state of the County’s mental, behavioral, and substance misuse treatment services for school-aged children.
In May 2021, Bloom presented the results of their work in a research report. The research included interviews with more than 40 stakeholders, including educators, mental health providers, community organizations, and human services staff, as well as the results of 8,711 survey respondents. Following the completion of the research report, Bloom began the process of creating a strategic plan to improve the delivery of services in Delaware County.
The strategic plan released on April 6, 2022, is the result of countless hours of conversation and collaboration with multiple stakeholders.
As an initial step in the work outlined in the strategic plan, the County has committed to the creation of a position within the Department of Human Services—using currently available funding—that will serve as the coordinator for the ongoing work of this Initiative. The position will be responsible for facilitating efforts to continuously review and improve the delivery of services to the children in our community and will serve as a point of contact for educators in the County with regard to those services.
For more information, read the complete press release, research report, and strategic plan.
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Only Republican and Democratic Voters Are Eligible to Cast Ballots in the May 17 Primary Election in Delaware County | |
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Because there will be no referenda questions on the May 17 ballots, there will be only Democratic and Republican party primary ballots in Delaware County. Under the law, that means ballots will not be issued to voters who are registered as independents or with other political parties.
So far in Delaware County, 3,185 voters who are not registered Democratic or Republican applied for a vote-by-mail ballot (mail-in or absentee) for the May 17 Primary. Delaware County Elections is sending letters to the voters who applied by mail, and the Pennsylvania Department of State is sending emails to the voters who applied online, to inform these voters that they will not receive ballots for the May 17 Primary.
Voters can update their registrations, including changing party affiliations, through May 2, 2022 for the May 17 Primary. Any independent/third-party voter who previously requested a vote-by-mail ballot and then changes affiliation to either the Republican or Democratic parties may then vote in person in their home precinct on Election Day, or they may apply again to vote with a mail-in or absentee ballot.
The 2022 Primary ballots will have candidates competing for the nominations for U.S. Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, U.S. Representative, State Senator (in even-numbered districts), and State Representative; and elections of party officers.
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The official website of the Delaware County Elections Department | Double-check your registration status | You must complete a new voter registration form if you have moved, are newly eligible to vote, or wish to change your party affiliation. | |
Calling all Students: Delco is Looking for a Logo for its Juneteenth Celebration! | |
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Delaware County will be holding an inaugural event to recognize and celebrate Juneteenth on Sunday, June 19 at Rose Tree Park. The event will feature live music, activities for kids and families, food, resources for the community, talented local vendors, and much more! More details will be released in late spring.
The County would like to feature local talented students as part of the event. Students can submit original artwork that the County will use on the official 2022 Delaware County Juneteenth flyer and other promotional items.
Students from any school, home-school program, and of any age are invited to submit artwork to be considered for the logo.
Requirements:
- Artwork must be original.
- Artwork can be created digitally or with any type of art supplies (paint, markers, pencils, crayons.)
- Artwork must include the words “Delaware County’s 2022 Juneteenth Celebration”
- Please include your name, school, age, and a contact phone number on each submission.
- One submission per person.
- Artwork will not be returned.
Submissions can be mailed or emailed through April 25. Digital submissions can be emailed to Juneteenth@co.delaware.pa.us. Artwork can be mailed to:
Juneteenth Logo
C/O Adrienne Marofsky, Public Relations Director
201 W. Front Street
Media, PA 19063
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Delaware County Launches Free FraudSleuth® Software to Help Residents Fight Property Fraud | | |
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The Delaware County Recorder of Deeds Office is now offering a free property fraud protection tool, called FraudSleuth®, that provides Delaware County property owners with automatic alerts to help safeguard against property fraud.
FraudSleuth® is a software-based monitoring tool that alerts property owners when any document—such as a mortgage, deed, or mortgage satisfaction—related to a specific parcel is recorded under that parcel’s ID. Similar to how credit monitoring services track consumer purchases and payments, FraudSleuth tracks properties and automatically alerts owners to possible fraudulent activity.
FraudSleuth® is currently used by many counties in Pennsylvania with local governments working to combat an uptick in property fraud and increased calls from residents for assistance.
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"While it has been relatively rare in Delaware County, various other jurisdictions have experienced an increase in title theft and deed fraud over the past couple of years,” explained Robert A. Auclair, Esq., Recorder of Deeds. “So, as a proactive, protective measure, our office has made this free monitoring service available to all property owners in the county."
To begin using FraudSleuth®, property owners need to visit the Recorder of Deeds Online Services website, accessible at delcopa.gov/deeds, and create a profile for the property they wish to monitor. Profiles are quick and easy to create, requiring a limited amount of information, including the property owner’s name, the parcel ID number, and an email address (where the owner wishes to have their alerts sent). If a property owner wants to monitor multiple properties, then multiple profiles will need to be created; one for each property.
To create a new profile from the Recorder of Deeds Online Services website:
- Create a New User Account
- Click “Preferences”
- Click “Configure FraudSleuth Profile”
- Click “Add Profile”
- Input the Profile details (including your name and the parcel ID)
- Click “Save” to complete the process.
When a document is recorded against the information on file with the Delaware County Recorder of Deeds office, the email generated by FraudSleuth will include matched data, including the document type, the document reference number, and the recording date/time of the matching document. The document can then be viewed on the Recorder of Deeds Online Services website.
Residents should be aware that an alert does not mean that fraudulent activity has occurred. Legitimate transactions involving the property owner, bank, and other entities will also trigger an alert, and it is the property owner’s responsibility to monitor the alerts and take action if the activity is suspicious.
If the property owner receives an alert regarding activity that appears fraudulent or suspicious or inaccurate, property owners can contact the Delaware County Recorder of Deeds office at (610) 891-4152 or contact the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Unit (CID) at (610) 891-4161.
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