We are still waiting ...

When the topic of Fayette County Children and Youth Services came up during this week's meeting of the county commissioners, we here in the patch thought it might have something to do with a long-awaited report from "Fayette County's highest elected official."

That's how WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh referred to Commission chairman Vince Zapotosky back on January 6, when he was interviewed following the death of a 15-month-old in Point Marion.

As the camera rolled, "Fayette County's highest elected official" said this:
“I will assure the people of Fayette County there will be accountability. I will work on it and I will find out what went wrong, and we will do everything we can to hopefully prevent future incidents of this kind.”
You don't have to take our word for it; just go here and see for yourself: http://www.wtae.com/news/26391968/detail.html

It will soon be six months since Zapotosky made that bold statement. To us, that seems like plenty of time for him to "work on it" and to "find out what went wrong" and to tell us what has been done to "hopefully prevent future incidents of this kind."

According to media reports, part of the problem with this tragic situation was that neighbors reportedly had notified CYS -- repeatedly -- of concerns about the household in which the child was found. As one of three chief administrators of the county, and as one who has had no qualms about pointing out how lawsuits against the county are a big problem (especially when they involved someone else and not him), Zapotosky was on the money in pledging that he would get to the bottom of this.

The great unknown, at this point at least, is what exactly has he done? Has he conducted his own investigation? Has he called the state Department of Public Welfare to conduct one? Has he brought in any law enforcement agencies?

If Zapotosky is stumped at what to do next, perhaps he should place a call to his one-time running mate, former Commissioner Sean Cavanagh, who seemed to excel at initiating such probes and uncovering unseemly behaviors.

Based on his vote to fire election bureau director Laurie Lint, one thing we should be able to look forward to is that if there is any hint of procedural failure at CYS, Zapotosky should stand at the ready to clean house.

But first, he will need to be serious about his stated desire to "find out what went wrong."