Community and Family
Philadelphia majorly undercounts homeless youth, advocates warn
Eighteen to 24-year-olds often “couch surf” if they can, and generally avoid agency services. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)
Community and Family
Community and Family
For At-Risk Youth in Philadelphia, ‘Rapid Rehousing’ Is Anything But
The long waits, though, are just one of the problems the Philly Homes 4 Youth coalition is targeting in a bid to make rapid rehousing live up to its name, seeking stability for the city’s young people at an age when most of their peers can take such security for granted. | From: Next City (Read more.)
Community and Family
Philadelphia Free Library: $10M funding boost could restore five-day service
In line to get a major funding boost in next year’s city budget, the Free Library of Philadelphia is aiming to make some significant changes to restore service, add staff, and improve internal culture. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)
Community and Family
Homemade baby formula is a bad idea. Here are some alternatives.
If you are struggling to find infant formula, consider the safety of alternatives before you try them. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)
Community and Family
Foster care reform: Calls in Philadelphia, nationwide to change child welfare
“The field is ready, hungry for this type of change,” said the leader of the Child Welfare League of America. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)
Community and Family
Philly trades unions show off skills at open house
An open house in Northeast Philadelphia gave the young apprentices in the building trades an opportunity to show off their work and highlighted the trade unions’ efforts to diversify their memberships. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Community and Family
Committee grills head of Philly’s child welfare system
A Philadelphia City Council committee questioned the head of the city’s child welfare system Friday, over concerns about excessive family separations and mismanaged cases of abuse. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Community and Family
Philly has two proven ways to eliminate trash. Why don’t we use them?
Philadelphia’s public spaces suffer from two main types of improper waste disposal: littering and illegal dumping. Litter consists of small pieces of trash that are either tossed on the ground or spilled during the garbage collection process. Illegal dumping consists of larger, heavier kinds of waste that are intentionally deposited by contractors, auto shops, junk haulers and/or residents. | From: The Philadelphia Citizen (Read more.)
Civic and Community Engagement
Philly residents plagued by illegal dumping tell city to invest in solutions
The lack of enforcement may come at a high cost for taxpayers, too. According to a 2020 statewide survey, Philadelphia spends $48 million per year dealing with its trash-infested streets — by far the highest in the commonwealth, even accounting for population and size difference. About 90% of that money goes toward cleanup rather than prevention. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)
Civic and Community Engagement
How the potential end to abortions will affect people who are impoverished
“The vast majority of people who need abortion funding in Philadelphia are Black, brown, and indigenous,” according to Elicia Gonzales, executive director of the Abortion Liberation Fund of Pennsylvania, a Center City organization that uses donations to help fund abortions. “They have to pay for the abortion, as well as child care, and the lost wages of two missed days of work.” Half of U.S. abortion patients have family incomes below the poverty level, according to the American Journal of Public Health. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)