A social worker who engaged in a sexual relationship with a teenage client for more than a year has been sued by the victim in Allegheny County civil court.
Youth Advocate Programs employee Britta Emberg was 27 when she “threatened” the teen, who was half her age, to begin dating her or potentially lose services, according to a lawsuit filed Jan. 21.
Their relationship lasted 17 months — during which Emberg texted the teen on her work phone, hung the victim’s photograph in her office and got a tattoo on her hip in the teen’s handwriting, the lawsuit states. The victim’s gender was not disclosed.
Pittsburgh police in 2024 arrested Emberg, a youth advocate at YAP, on charges of statutory sexual assault, sexual assault by a volunteer or employee of a nonprofit, and corruption of minors, the lawsuit said and court records show.
Emberg negotiated a guilty plea on all three charges, court records show. In 2025, a judge sentenced her to six years of probation.
Youth Advocate Programs, which is based in Harrisburg and runs an office in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood, would not answer questions this week about the lawsuit, Emberg or the status of Emberg’s employment.
“We prioritize safety, take allegations seriously and are unable to disclose personnel matters,” spokeswoman Ryanne Persinger said in a prepared statement.
Emberg did not respond to phone calls Tuesday seeking comment. Attorney Lee Rothman, who represented Emberg on the criminal charges against her, declined comment.
The four-count lawsuit alleges negligence, emotional distress and sexual assault. The victim, today an adult living in the Philadelphia area, is seeking unspecified damages plus attorney costs and other relief.
Attorney Amy Mathieu, who represents the victim, did not return phone calls or an email this week seeking comment.
The victim, named “C.C.” in court records, was 14 when they started spending “an exorbitant amount of time” with Emberg in the summer of 2019, the lawsuit said. The victim had started receiving services through the program in June 2019.
Youth Advocate Programs provides “services that promote accountability and positive outcomes through continuums of care that address complex individual and family challenges.”
Emberg “threatened” the teen if they did not date her around October 2019, the lawsuit alleges. Emberg told the victim at the time “she was being pressured to close (the victim’s) file” with the program.
More than a year later, in March 2021, the teen ended the relationship with Emberg, the lawsuit said.
Three years later, in 2024, the victim told a Children, Youth and Families social worker about “sexual abuse committed by Defendant Emberg,” according to the lawsuit.
The case was sent to Pittsburgh police, who arrested Emberg, then 32 and living in Oakmont, in 2024, court records show.
Attorneys detailed the pair’s interactions in a 16-page complaint.
Emberg drove the victim to YAP-sponsored events, the lawsuit alleges. Emberg hugged the victim “often” and allowed them to apply makeup to her face.
The two communicated via text message on Emberg’s work phone, the lawsuit said. They also would sit alone “for extended amounts of time” inside Emberg’s car.
Emberg hung photographs of the victim on the wall of her office, the lawsuit said. In December 2019, Emberg got a tattoo on her hip that was written in the victim’s handwriting. “Love you, [C.C.’s name],” it read.
The suit also named Youth Advocates Programs as a plaintiff.
Attorneys allege the organization “failed to take any action” when their employees saw Emberg “inappropriately touch” the victim at events.
The lawsuit alleges the company also took no action when Emberg requested that the victim “be moved to her caseload without explanation” or when Emberg “started spending inappropriate amounts of time alone” with the victim during working hours.
Youth Advocate Programs has contracts with Allegheny County Department of Human Services dating back as early as 2015, online records show.
The current contract, which expires in June 2027, is set to pay the group nearly $2 million for truancy counseling services, online records show. Children, Youth and Families workers will refer families to the organization to help reduce student tardiness and improve school attendance.