Longtime human services director to retire
Marc Cherna, who has headed Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services for 25 years, announced Wednesday he will retire next year.
The director of the county’s largest department, serving hundreds of thousands of people each year, Mr. Cherna first made the announcement to his staff.
His career began in youth services in New Jersey in the early 1970s, and he went on to lead DHS in 1997 when it consolidated services such as aging, employment, child protection and drug treatment into one department.
As director, he gave the department national prestige and guided its agencies through challenges like the opioid epidemic, creating resources to help parents who are recovering addicts and instituting rehab programs targeted at the entire family.
Recently, the department has offered several resources aimed at the myriad problems that have arisen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including helping with unemployment and mental health assistance.
When he first arrived in Allegheny County to work with child welfare, the department was a
“national disgrace” (a phrase he’s used frequently), in part due to high numbers of child deaths, unmanageable caseloads, employee turnover and constant media stories about the department’s troubles.
Now, DHS is a national model that earned Mr.
Cherna recognition with a lifetime achievement award from Casey Family Programs, the nation’s largest foster child foundation, in 2014. It was the first time the foundation had ever given the award. During his tenure, DHS has also received accolades from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Urban League and the League of Women Voters.
“I’m glad I’m leaving this place in very good shape,” Mr. Cherna said. “My staff are terrific. We’re functioning well. In spite of the COVID pandemic, we’ve managed to do very well. And we have great community support and partners.”
He said he’s proud that the department invests heavily in preventing people from ending up in the system and “going upstream” to help people with the county’s 28 family support centers. “The other thing I fell really good about is we hired many people who have lived experience, and really have changed that paradigm so we have hundreds of staff who now work here and have … had experience in the system.”
That approach has helped recruit staff members who can relate to the people they
serve, and has also given job opportunities to people who have benefited from DHS in the past.
“Today, I have mixed emotions,” county Executive Rich Fitzgerald said in a release. “While I am delighted for Marc and his plans for his retirement and some well-deserved rest, his loss at the county will be substantial.”
Now, Mr. Cherna said, he looks forward to unplugging. “Not having to be on 24/7 call for crises, to turn my phones off and not have to worry about them — that’s a nice one.”
“It’s time for the next generation to take over,” he added.