Gary Lucht

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  www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/NEWS - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/12/2008    Last Visited: 1/12/2008  

  Lucht to leave county agency'I know I (angered) a lot of people.I know I was disliked by some'
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  Gary Lucht is the new executive director of Erie County Office of Children and Youth. (Greg Wohlford / Erie Times-News)
  
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  Gary Lucht knew the job would be a tough one: Lead the overhaul of an agency rocked by the death of a child placed in its care.
  
  Lucht believes he aggressively did that, which is a big reason why Lucht has no regrets about walking away from the Erie County Office of Children and Youth.
  
  "I became a lightning rod at OCY, but that was OK with me," said Lucht, 62, who on Thursday announced that he was resigning as OCY chief.Lucht said he will probably leave his job in late January.
  
  Lucht had held the top job at the child welfare agency for two years.He was hired by then-County Executive Rick Schenker in November 2005 as part of an overhaul of OCY prompted by the case of Brittany Legler, a mentally disabled 15-year-old who died after her adoptive mother beat her in May 2004.
  
  The case brought myriad policy changes and much public criticism to OCY.
  
  "The organization had to be restructured so it could be effectively managed," Lucht said."I had to make sure that the lawyers didn't run the agency.Integrity needed to be put back into (OCY's) records system, so they could not be altered or destroyed.
  
  "I know I (angered) a lot of people.I know I was disliked by some," Lucht continued."But I had to confront people.Anything else would have meant superficial changes."
  
  Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio said Thursday that he has accepted Lucht's resignation, and that Lucht is quickly transitioning into another position.
  
  Lucht was hired by Stairways Behavioral Health as its new director of forensic services.In that post, Lucht will work with county officials and others to develop programs aimed at keeping local residents with mental health and/or substance abuse problems out of the criminal justice system.
  
  Lucht said he expects to start the job by early February.
  
  Both DiVecchio and Lucht insisted that Lucht's resignation was amicable.DiVecchio also praised Lucht for his service.
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  "He took an agency that was in crisis and put sweat and blood into that job for two years," DiVecchio said of Lucht.
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  An ordinance proposed by DiVecchio's administration asks County Council to sign off on hiring Mary Ann Daniels, the current director of human services in Mercer County, to replace Lucht.
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  Lucht was making $82,905.
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  Lucht said he always intended his tenure at OCY to be "one or two years."
  
  He added that in the wake of Legler's death, he used two documents as "templates for change" at OCY.
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  Lucht said he restructured OCY's staff and told workers there that altering records would not be tolerated.Lucht said his own review of OCY's operations had found that records were altered numerous times.
  
  "We had a meeting at the Blasco Library after I took over, and I told caseworkers right there that tampering with any records would get them fired," Lucht said.
  
  "I don't regret anything I had to do to put that agency on a different course," Lucht said.
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  "I can't think of a better person than Gary Lucht for this," McCarthy said.
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  www.cacerie.org/board.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/1/2007    Last Visited: 1/31/2008  

  Gary LuchtDirectorOffice of Children and Youth Services

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  www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/NEWS - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/12/2008    Last Visited: 1/12/2008  

  "We want to take rational, measured steps," said OCY Director Gary Lucht.
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  "We have been trying to track every professional contact (Lyons) might have had prior to our learning about her possible case of MRSA," Lucht said.

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  www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080110/NEWS - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/11/2008    Last Visited: 1/11/2008  

  "Since Monday we have tried to track every person she may have had contact with," said OCY Director Gary Lucht.

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  www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080112/NEWS - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/13/2008    Last Visited: 1/13/2008  

  As Greene talked, OCY Director Gary Lucht stood in the back of the auditorium.
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  Lucht said he wouldn't change the way OCY reacted to Lyons' MRSA infection.It included disinfecting her workstation and the restrooms, and bagging her computer, telephone and personal belongings.
  
  "I hope that what we learned would be written down and become policy and procedure to be used in all (county) departments," Lucht said.

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  www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071026/NEWS - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/27/2007    Last Visited: 10/27/2007  

  The Erie County Department of Health, County Executive Mark DiVecchio, District Attorney Brad Foulk and Gary Lucht, executive director of the Office of Children and Youth, held a news conference Thursday to talk about safe sleeping practices.

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  35 WSEE - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/28/2005    Last Visited: 12/28/2005  

  While Gary Lucht is still Director of Children and Youth.DiVecchio said he still needs a Director of Planning and that he'll split the economic development and planning departments into two departments so they can be more productive.He also said there are more names to be announced in the future.

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  35 WSEE - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/17/2006    Last Visited: 4/17/2006  

  OCY executive director Gary Lucht says this is the only way to resolve allegations the agency mishandled various cases.Lucht says OCY will step aside, let the judges do their job, and "let the chips fall where they may."

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  35 WSEE - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/13/2006    Last Visited: 4/13/2006  

  OCY Director, Gary Lucht added, "This is, in fact the only way to resolve these cases...cases that have gone to court require permission to re-enter, and to have 2 senior judges of impeccable integrity take an independent role in this," said Lucht, "all we're going to do is provide whatever information they need and step completely aside from this, and the chips fall where the chips fall."

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  AP Wire | 01/08/2006 | Review calls for changes at... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/8/2006    Last Visited: 1/8/2006  

  Gary Lucht, hired as the agency's new executive director in November, said the report "points out the sheer scope of the job that has to be done."He said he has already begun implementing all but four of the recommendations and plans to act on the others.
  
  "All of this can be fixed," Lucht said.

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