Our Kids – Broke in Philly

Philly’s foster kids don’t need to sleep in DHS conference rooms

August 8, 2022

In 2016, Philadelphia closed its only juvenile psychiatric residential treatment facility — Wordsworth — after a 17-year-old died in a fight with staff. The city opened another in 2020, but that facility soon lost its license due to “multiple child right violations,” according to the state. Now, the city is asking providers to bid for a contract to create another facility. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)

Philadelphia majorly undercounts homeless youth, advocates warn

May 23, 2022

Eighteen to 24-year-olds often “couch surf” if they can, and generally avoid agency services. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)

For At-Risk Youth in Philadelphia, ‘Rapid Rehousing’ Is Anything But

May 19, 2022

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.)

Foster care reform: Calls in Philadelphia, nationwide to change child welfare

May 12, 2022

“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.)

Committee grills head of Philly’s child welfare system

May 6, 2022

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.)

Philadelphia child welfare system rampant with abuse, new report says

April 22, 2022

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.)

Pa. lawmakers push for caps on child welfare lawsuits

April 6, 2022

Child welfare advocates say the cap won’t address the underlying issue: longstanding staffing shortages. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)

Bill would bar Philly from keeping Social Security payments meant for foster children

March 18, 2022

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.)

Philly took $5 million in foster children’s Social Security payments without telling them

December 17, 2021

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.)

In the Push to Keep Children With Kin and out of Foster Care, Are Families Heard?

November 15, 2021

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.)