Former city, county health official to manage county's Community Pathways project

The deputy director of Lackawanna County’s disbanded Health Department will manage the county’s proposed Family First Community Pathways program for vulnerable families and children.

In the latest of several program-related developments this week, the county announced Friday that Rachna Saxena will serve as program manager of the innovative effort to connect families with community-based services and keep more of them out of the child welfare system.

Saxena, a South Abington Twp. resident who worked as a pediatrician and general physician in India for nearly two decades before moving to the United States in 2010, was serving as deputy director of the county Health Department when majority Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin shuttered it for financial reasons. She previously served as an epidemiologist for Wake County, North Carolina, and as Scranton’s grant-funded public health coordinator.

In the program manager position, which commissioners created Tuesday, Saxena will lead other former Health Department employees “in identifying and helping families struggling with public health issues rooted in poverty, including inadequate housing, poor nutrition, domestic violence, substance abuse and more,” according to a county news release.

The Pathways program pending state approval will connect at-risk families with a social service network operated largely by partner providers, addressing issues before they escalate and require intervention by the county’s understaffed and overburdened Office of Youth and Family Services.

State Human Services Secretary Valerie Arkoosh endorsed the approach in a statement the county released Wednesday.

A team of nine other former Health Department employees will work under Saxena as navigators connecting families with services and providers.

In her previous capacity, Saxena met with area school districts that noted the need for “a more accessible and direct resource hub to access different services,” she said in a statement.

“Now, with a dedicated team by my side, we will be collaborating with the county departments and other community resources to serve as the central resource center for families in need,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the success of this program with everyone’s help.”

The program manager position carries an annual salary of $65,000.