HARRISBURG — A state panel investigating the "kids for cash" scandal in northeastern Pennsylvania is recommending stronger oversight for the state's juvenile justice system.

The Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice issued dozens of recommendations Thursday. The panel was created last August 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.

Former judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella are charged in federal court with racketeering for allegedly taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to place youth offenders in for-profit detention centers. Conahan has agreed to plead guilty.

One of those facilities was Western PA Childcare in Allegheny Township.

The commission found that corruption "has been deeply ingrained" in Luzerne County for many years and spread blame among prosecutors, public defenders and probation officials.