Blair County CYF director latest top leader to be fired

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) — Blair County Children, Youth and Families (CYF) is undergoing yet another period of uncertainty after the county’s commissioners approved the retroactive termination of Tiffany Treese, former director of CYF.

CYF has been struggling since the start of the year to maintain its license with the Department of Human Services, having lost it briefly in May . The department operated on provisional licenses since May 2022 .

Commissioner David Kessling said the shake up in leadership was necessary as a result and that the loss of licensing is just one factor that led to Treese’s termination.

“I think the CYF office– and I’ll say the commissioner’s office, we’re looking for, in my opinion, leadership and that’s what we’re hoping to get out of this transition,” Kessling said.

Treese’s termination was approved in a majority vote by Commissioners David Kessling and Amy Webster. Commissioner Laura Burke was not present.

Shannon Tucker has been named as interim director as the county continues to search for a permanent replacement.

The commissioners said that at this time, they are not expecting the leadership changes to have substantial impact on the department or CYF families during the transition, but that some is unavoidable.

“There’s going to be a little bit, of course,” Kessling said. “The former director Tiffany Treese was working with the state on many different fronts. So right now we’re bringing Shannon up to speed. We have– the state is here and continues to work with us very closely.”

Treese is only the latest of department heads to be shown the door following the termination of Kathrine Swigart, Human Resources Chief, in May and Nicole Hemminger, Chief Clerk and County Administrator , in July. Kessling said the major changes to the county’s leadership is because the three commissioners want to see the county go in a a new direction.

“I think with this board, we’re taking a different direction. People want to call a change in culture, but we definitely have a different focus and we’re working towards that end,” Kessling said but did not elaborate as to what that different direction is or what changes tax payers can expect to see.

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Along with Treese’s termination, the commissioners also approved the hiring of Sherry Socie as the new Chief Clerk and County Administrator, at a starting salary of $74,000.

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