The most acute shortages are in the larger sizes, and there is a need for socks, underwear, warm winter coats and boys’ pants, said Michal Smith, executive director of the organization’s Philadelphia branch, which collects, sorts and distributes donated clothing. From: Metro Philly (Read more.)
The trade organization for the industry, Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth & Family Services (PCCYFS), was so concerned this summer about high caseloads that it warned Philadelphia DHS Commissioner Kimberly Ali that the problem would “create significant risk and potentially dangerous circumstances for the children and families we serve.” From: The Inquirer (Read more.)
Finding child care can be filled with headaches. Philly parents offer their tips, plus additional tips for finding financial assistance and more. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)
The Black Doctors Consortium was among the first in the city to offer newly approved COVID shots for young children in June, setting up clinics at its health center in a mostly Black neighborhood in North Philadelphia. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)
Families in Kensington went through what may have been one of the hardest seasons of a lifetime in spring 2020. First, the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, and then the protests and uprisings after George Floyd’s murder by a police officer in May. | From: Kensington Voice (Read more.)
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.)
Monyria will be among the thousands of children and teenagers returning to the classroom in person amid surging gun violence driven partially by youth. Parents, students, and community members worry that the threat of violence may create an obstacle course for students trying to get to school and back. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Families nationwide begin receiving child tax credit payments from the federal government last week, but some worry the poorest Americans may never see a dollar. | From: The Philadelphia Inquirer (Read more.)
For the last 60 years, Philadelphia has run its PlayStreets program, which functions both as a city-run summer camp and a free meal distribution program for families. This year, about 260 city streets will be blocked off from traffic and local block captains will distribute meals, backpacks, toys, and games for kids to play with in the street.
For Renell Powell, a retired grandma of four and assistant block captain, last summer’s COVID doldrums proved to be the perfect time to bring a PlayStreet to the 200 block of Alden St. in Southwest Philly.
“I noticed it wasn’t that many places in the area doing it,” Powell said. “I’m retired, and my grandson said, ‘Grandma, why don’t we just try a PlayStreet, give out the lunches?’ I said, ‘OK.’” | From WHYY (Read more.)
For years, around 9,000 Pennsylvania child care workers received money from the state in recognition that they’d earned additional credentials. The award — the median amount was $1,500 — was a bonus of sorts, meant to keep qualified early childhood workers in a field marked by low pay and high turnover. But during the pandemic, the “education and retention awards” disappeared when the state reallocated the funds to give $600 relief payments to a much larger pool of child care workers. | From Chalkbeat Philadelphia (Read more.)
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