YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Children Services Board has hired Joseph L. Mosca to serve as interim executive director effective June 1.

Randy Muth, current executive director, has accepted a position as executive director of Lucas County Children Services.

Mosca will serve in a temporary, part-time capacity for up to a 90 days, until a permanent director is selected and finalized. Muth has served as the director for 10 years. His final day here is June 8.

The board has begun the executive director search and has 11 applicants. The field was recently narrowed to four who will be interviewed via tele-video conference May 22 and 23 with the goal to further narrow the field to two candidates, according to a news release.

“We are grateful that Dr. Joe Mosca has agreed to become interim director while the board completes the hiring process,” Daniel Wakefield, Children Services Board chairman, said. “In addition to Dr. Mosca’s wealth of experience and expertise pertaining to social work and administration, his previous service on the children services board makes him an ideal interim director.

Mosca served on the board from Jan. 1, 2014, to December 2021. In 2016, he served as the board secretary, and he became chairman in February 2018. He earned his degrees in social work from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1980 and 1981. He received his doctorate in 1992 from the University of Pittsburgh.

He joined the social work faculty at Youngstown State University in 1989, became assistant to the dean of the YSU Bitonte College of Health and Human Services in 1996 and was chairman of YSU Social Work from 2001 to 2007.

He served as associate dean of the college from 2007 to 2009. Following nine years as dean, he was appointed and served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs before retiring from YSU in 2019.

“I am honored to serve as the agency’s interim director,” Mosca said. “I feel very strongly about the valuable and vital work this agency does to protect children and help strengthen and preserve vulnerable and at-risk families in our community.”

Prior to arriving at Mahoning County Children Services in 2013, Muth served as executive director at Wayne County Children Services in Wooster from 2006 to 2013. He began his career in child welfare serving as an attorney supervisor for Stark County Children Services in Canton, where he prosecuted child abuse and neglect complaints.

“Mahoning County Children Services has experienced many significant changes and achievements over the last 10 years of my tenure — from an opioid epidemic that hit the Mahoning Valley in 2016 to the global pandemic in 2020,” Muth said.

“I am proud to say this agency never skipped a beat. No mater what the future holds, this agency stands ready. I feel comfortable and confident leaving the agency in the very capable hands of Dr. Mosca, who will work closely with an extremely committed and compassionate staff, children services board and community stakeholders.”