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.)
Our Kids
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
Philadelphia child welfare system rampant with abuse, new report says
After a detailed investigation of the city’s child welfare system, a City Council committee issued an urgent call for wholesale reforms. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)
Community and Family
Pa. lawmakers push for caps on child welfare lawsuits
Child welfare advocates say the cap won’t address the underlying issue: longstanding staffing shortages. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)
Latest
Bill would bar Philly from keeping Social Security payments meant for foster children
The legislation would end a legal but controversial practice of transferring the money into the city’s $5 billion general fund. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)
Community and Family
Philly took $5 million in foster children’s Social Security payments without telling them
The agency took in nearly $5 million in children’s Social Security benefits between fiscal years 2016 and 2020 that belonged to hundreds of youth in foster care, according to records obtained by Resolve Philly and The Inquirer through a Right to Know request. Then DHS swept the money into the city’s $5 billion general fund. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)
Community and Family
In the Push to Keep Children With Kin and out of Foster Care, Are Families Heard?
Kids face less long-term trauma when they live with kin instead of foster families. Yet despite promising kinship placement models elsewhere and signs of improvement, Philadelphia’s child welfare system still appears biased against families. | From: Next City (Read more.)
Community and Family
The Fight to Keep Families Together in Child Welfare
Pairing families with social worker and parent advocates to help navigate the system has shown promise. But in Philadelphia, problems persist with racial bias and disregard for families. | From: Next City (Read more.)
Community and Family
Ideas We Should Steal: Finding Families for Foster Kids
State law requires that caseworkers place children who were removed from their parents with kin—but Philly lags behind Los Angeles and Lackawanna County in getting the job done. | From: The Citizen (Read more.)
Latest
Disrupting the Pipeline That Channels Youth in Foster Care to Homelessness
Youth aging out of foster care are at risk of housing instability. Engaging youth to find solutions is the trend in social service, but is Philadelphia doing all it can? | From: Next City (Read more.)