HARRISBURG — A state panel investigating a kids-for-cash scandal on Thursday called for improved oversight of judges among dozens of other recommendations meant to strengthen the juvenile justice system.

The Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice was created by the Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell to look into the causes of the judicial scandal at the Luzerne County Courthouse and to suggest ways to prevent a recurrence there or elsewhere.

The state Supreme Court tossed thousands of juvenile convictions last year after federal prosecutors charged former judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella with racketeering, accusing them of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to place youth offenders in for-profit detention centers. Conahan has agreed to plead guilty for his role in the $2.8 million scheme. Ciavarella has maintained his innocence and awaits trial.

In its final report released Thursday the commission said that corruption in the county courthouse "has been deeply ingrained for many years," citing a combination of "silence, inaction, inexperience, ignorance, fear of retaliation. Greed, ambition, carelessness."

"We were all struck by basically the collapse of the rule of law," commission chairman John Cleland said at a news conference. "We had judges who, if they weren't criminal, were incompetent; we had defense lawyers who didn't perform their functions; we had prosecutors who stood by and abdicated their responsibilities."

The panel's recommendations cover a range of issues, from improving the conduct board to ensuring that juveniles have access to lawyers to reducing or eliminating the use of shackling in juvenile courtrooms.

The panel also called for restrictions on juveniles' right to waive counsel and for requiring standby lawyers to be present even after children decline legal representation.