Our Mission
“To assure the safety of our customers, to preserve their families, and to enhance the quality of their lives.”
Who Are We?
Venango County Human Services is a branch of county government that is managed by the Venango County Commissioners. It is directed by a Human Services Administrator who works with categorical and system directors and managers to ensure that a comprehensive continuum of high quality services is available to qualifying residents of Venango County. We are among the 30 counties in the Commonwealth that are part of the Human Services Block Grant. While the county continues to work within the regulatory parameters of the traditional categorical systems, our focus has been to move away from disability-oriented systems of care to a structure based on Life Stages. The stages include: Children and Families, Emerging Adults, Adults, and Older Adults.
This shift in focus to Life Stages has resulted in integrated service coordination and partnerships with non-traditional providers like community supports, the faith community, businesses, and more. Monitoring for service providers, evaluation, and quality improvement are all based on the Life Stage orientation as well. The main purpose of this change was to ensure individuals and families are safe and secure in the lease restrictive setting. Through our successful integration, we have enabled county residents to heal, grow, and recover by receiving services that are demonstrated to be appropriate, cost effective, accessible, and that meet an assessed need.
Community Support
Venango County Human Services directly manages the categorical systems that offer services for: Older Adults, Children and Youth, Mental Health and Development, Substance Abuse, and a variety of programs collectively managed by our Community Supports Services team (CSS). We also partner with Mercer and Crawford counties to directly manage the HealthChoices Program, under the auspices of the North West Behavioral Health Partnership, offering behavioral health services collaboratively between the three counties. Venango County contracts with a large number of community service organizations to provide prevention and treatment assistance to county residents.