Since Mark Cherna was appointed Director of Allegheny County Children Youth and Families in 1996, he has been a reformer on a mission to improve the human service system. Building trust by engaging clients and constituents within Allegheny County, Mr. Cherna has worked to ensure the ethical, unbiased treatment of the children and families CYF serves. He has been pivotal in many initiatives including working with foundations to consolidate administrative functions into one building, constructing a combined data management system that includes several hundred million records from multiple sources; and his most recent contribution, a groundbreaking risk-modeling tool featured exclusively in Allegheny County, helps child-welfare intake workers make better decisions that prevent families from being subjected to unnecessary investigations and allow caseworkers to spend valuable time helping families in need. As one of the most celebrated and longest-serving directors of welfare departments in the country, Mr. Cherna has helped Allegheny County Children Youth and Families become a leader in DHS services throughout the nation. Kudos to Mr. Cherna!
JusticeWorks YouthCare is proud to partner with Mr. Cherna and his Allegheny County team in our shared mission to build better futures for children, families, and the community.
The full editorial can be found online here.