PHOTO PROVIDED Centre County Commissioners, Centre County Children and Youth Services employees and representatives from the Youth Service Bureau and Family Intervention Crisis Services (FICS) are pictured after the board recognized the groups dedication to child welfare.

BELLEFONTE — Centre County commissioners on Tuesday proclaimed June 1-5 as Child Welfare Professionals Appreciation Week and June 8-12 as Child Welfare Service Providers Week, recognizing the vast network of professionals and community partners who work to protect children and support families throughout the county.

“We have a very big proclamation here today,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said.

The recognition highlighted one of the county’s largest and most far-reaching public service systems. Higgins noted that Children and Youth Services is Centre County’s largest department by budget and second largest by staffing. Working alongside county employees are dozens of child welfare professionals from partner agencies, including Family Intervention Crisis Services and the Centre County Youth Service Bureau, who provide support and services to children and families throughout the county.

Dozens attended the proclamation ceremony, though many more were absent because they were actively serving families throughout the county.

“The commissioners understand that raising children is difficult, and sometimes families struggle and sometimes families really struggle,” Higgins said. “That is when Children and Youth, FICS, Youth Service Bureau and a number of other providers step in and work together to try and give the child a better future.”

Higgins said the goal is always to strengthen and reunite families when possible, though the work has also helped more than 100 children find permanent homes through adoption and other permanency efforts.

For Centre County Children and Youth Services Administrator Leah Raker, the proclamation represented something many child welfare workers rarely receive: public recognition.

“Whether you are a direct part of our staff or you are part of our provider team, this is a very simple proclamation, but it means a lot,” Raker said.

Raker said child welfare professionals often work behind the scenes in a field defined by confidentiality, making it difficult for the public to understand both the scope of the work and its impact.

“People like to think that it doesn’t happen, but it does,” she said. “It happens here in Centre County and beyond.”

She described child welfare workers as agents of change who help families navigate addiction, mental health challenges, poverty, homelessness and trauma while working to prevent abuse and neglect.

“Every day our staff play a crucial role in the protection of children by taking active steps to strengthen families and tirelessly working to prevent abuse and neglect,” Raker said.

The work frequently demands personal sacrifice, she said. Employees work long hours, face emotionally difficult situations and often cannot discuss the details of their experiences because of confidentiality requirements.

“Yet they continue to amaze us because they show up every single day with kindness and compassion,” Raker said.

Raker said the county’s support is especially meaningful because workers rely heavily on partnerships among service providers, community organizations and county government.

“That means a lot to us when we do this type of work, to know we have that support and those that care about the work we do,” she said.

Commissioner Amber Concepcion said child welfare professionals serve some of the county’s most vulnerable residents.

“It’s hard work, but it’s necessary,” Concepcion said. “You’re protecting some of the most vulnerable people in Centre County when no one else is there to step in to protect them.”

Commissioner Steve Dershem said the work often goes unnoticed despite its importance to the community.

“This is our opportunity to say thank you,” Dershem said. “You create so many positive outcomes in a world that is not always so positive.”

“If it weren’t for you folks,” he added, “the whole tenor of our society would fall apart.”