Adams County Children and Youth Services

Adams County Children and Youth Services (ACCYS) in Pennsylvania has been involved in a serious breach and a series of legal issues. Recently, ACCYS learned that there was unauthorized access to an employee’s email account, which may have compromised the personal information of individuals who have received services from ACCYS. This breach was discovered during an ongoing evaluation of email security, and it was found that an unauthorized individual accessed the email account for approximately 30 minutes

In a separate but related matter, three ACCYS employees have been charged with felony child endangerment in connection with the May 2020 death of 15-month-old Iris Mummert. The employees, Steven Murphy, Clarissa Kiessling, and Sherri DePasqua, are accused of failing to provide adequate support and supervision to the family, ignoring numerous notifications and concerns from various professional service providers, and ultimately recommending the reunification of Iris with her biological mother, who later caused her death

The charges followed a statewide grand jury investigation, and the employees have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings

Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) conducted an annual licensing inspection of ACCYS, which found 11 areas of non-compliance. The deficiencies included failure to provide written notice of rights, not meeting required response times, and incomplete safety assessment worksheets. Adams County was required to submit a plan of corrections