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From YouTube: Committee on Children and Youth 5-17-2018
Description
The Committee on Children and Youth of the Council of the City of Philadelphia held a Public Hearing on Thursday, May 17, 2018 to hear testimony on the following items:
180368 An Ordinance amending Chapter 9-3500 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards," by adding a section providing for prohibition on consideration of or inquiry about an applicant's juvenile records at any stage of the employment or licensing process, and adding definitions; all under certain terms and conditions.
171142 Resolution authorizing the Committee on Children and Youth to hold public hearings reviewing the quality of services, and namely the quality of education, that residential placements contracted with the City of Philadelphia provide for the care, treatment, and development of Philadelphia youth.
Committee on Children and Youth
Chair: Councilwoman Helen Gym (At Large)
Vice Chair: Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown (At Large)
A
Good
afternoon
everybody
thank
you
very
much
for
being
here
today.
This
hearing
is
now
called
to
order.
This
is
the
public
hearing
of
the
City
Council
Committee
on
children
and
youth.
The
purpose
of
this
public
hearing
is
to
hear
testimony
on
bill
number
one:
eight
zero.
Three,
six
eight
and
resolution
number
one,
seven
one
one
four
two
I
recognize
a
presence
of
the
quorum
of
committee
members
I'd
like
to
acknowledge
the
members
of
the
committee
and
attendance
council,
members,
Parker
and
Johnson.
Thank
you
very
much
for
being
here
a
quick
procedural
note.
A
We
are
going
to
hear
testimony
on
bill
number
one,
eight,
zero,
three,
six,
eight
first
and
then
proceed
into
a
public
meeting
to
consider
action
on
that
bill.
Before
hearing
testimony
on
resolution
number
one:
seven
one
142
I
think
everyone
here
for
their
attendance
and
their
patience.
Council
members.
Do
you
have
any
opening
remarks.
A
Thank
you
very
much.
This
bill
provides
further
protections
to
those
with
juvenile
records
who
seek
to
gain
work
experience
and
build
their
skills.
Juvenile
records
currently
are
too
easily
accessible
and,
while
Pennsylvania
law
strictly
limits
their
consideration
during
the
hiring
process,
such
protections
are
not
currently
reflected
in
our
local
band.
The
bops
law.
This
provision
will
cement
Philadelphia's
band
the
Bucks
law
as
a
national
model.
A
Hi
good
afternoon,
thank
you
very
much
for
be
here.
I'm
gonna
make
a
slight
procedural
adjustment
for
the
purposes
of
attendance
of
quorum
right
now
with
our
council
members
right
now,
we're
just
gonna
suspend
the
public
hearing
for
a
moment
and
we're
going
to
go
into
a
public
meeting
to
consider
the
action
to
be
taken
on
this
bill.
The
chair
recognizes
councilman
Kenyatta
Johnson
for
a
motion
on
bill
number,
one:
eight
zero,
three,
six,
eight.
C
A
You
very
much
is
there
a
second
thank
you
very
much.
It
has
been
moved
and
properly
seconded
that
bill
number
one.
Eight
zero
three
six
eight
be
reported
from
this
committee
with
a
favorable
recognition,
Dacian
and
further
move
that
the
rules
of
council
be
suspended
to
permit
first
reading
of
this
bill
at
the
next
session
of
council.
All
those
in
favor
will
signify
by
saying
aye
any
opposed
the
eyes
have
it,
and
the
motion
carries
bill
number
one:
eight,
zero.
A
Three
six
eight
will
be
reported
from
this
committee
with
a
favorable
recommendation,
with
a
request
that
the
rules
of
council
be
suspended
to
permit
first
reading
at
the
next
session
of
council.
So
now
we
are
going
to
go
back
into
our
public
hearing
to
consider
bill
number
one:
eight,
zero,
three,
six,
eight
and
I'd
like
to
just
recognize
the
witnesses
here
today.
Thank
you
so
much
if
you
could
just
start
by
stating
your
name
for
the
record
and
then
proceed
with
your
testimony
and
before
you
start
I'm
sorry,
the
chair
recognizes
councilmember
Parker.
Thank.
E
E
Boat
was
counted
on
this
issue,
so
thank
you
and
to
all
of
the
advocates,
and
particularly
the
young
people
in
this
audience.
Your
presence
here
today
will
help
put
us
on
a
path
to
bring
some
much-needed
balance
to
the
scales
of
justice
relative
to
juvenile
justice
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia
and
I
want
to
say.
Thank
you.
Thank
you
and.
C
Starting
I
want
to
thank
my
colleague,
Councilwoman
Gilliam
for
being
on
the
front
line
of
advocating
for
our
youth
I
come
from
a
background
where
I
have
a
special
interest
in
making
sure
we
reduce
the
school
to
Prison,
Pipeline
and,
most
importantly,
making
sure
that
juveniles
do
not
become
Armadale
prisoners.
I
remember
as
a
young
man
growing
up
in
South,
Philadelphia
and
I'm
always
wasn't
on
the
right
path
and
had
a
judge
by
the
name
of
judge,
Reynolds
mm-hmm.
G
C
C
Now
as
an
adult
on
being
a
graduate
of
Mansfield
University,
where
I
received
my
degree
in
criminal
justice
with
dual
minors
in
philosophy
and
sociology,
as
well
as
being
a
graduate
of
the
University
of
Pennsylvania,
a
fellow
sort
of
government
where
I
received
my
master's
degree
as
well
as
I'm,
receiving
a
certificate
from
the
Harvard
School
of
Business
for
nonprofit
leadership
and
board
management.
Its
legislation
such
as
this
that
has
allowed
me
to
go
on
and
become
a
young
man
who
I
am
today
and
because
I
got
in
trouble
as
a
Jew
or
not.
A
You
very
much
council
member
Johnson
and
it
is
really
an
honor
to
be
able
to
partner
with
members
of
City
Council
who've
long
helped
this
issue
of
young
people
in
our
systems
at
the
most
vulnerable
stages
of
their
lives
in
the
highest
levels
of
city
government.
So
thank
you
very
much.
So
if
you
could
just
please
state
your
name
for
the
record
and
proceed
with
their
testimony,
great.
H
Our
agency
also
enforces
the
fair
criminal
records.
Screening,
Standards
Act,
formerly
called
ban
the
ban,
the
Box
law
and
now
known
across
the
nation
as
the
fair
chance
hiring
law
found
in
Chapter
nine
3500
at
the
Philadelphia
Code
over
the
years,
Philadelphia
has
amended
the
fair
practices,
ordinance
and
other
laws
numerous
times,
as
the
city
has
taken
the
lead
on
civil
rights
initiatives
that
reflect
the
reality
of
our
times.
H
What
brings
me
here
today
is
that,
once
again,
the
city
has
the
opportunity
and
responsibility
to
further
strengthen
its
protection
of
the
civil
rights
of
individuals
with
criminal
records
to
include
those
individuals
encountering
the
criminal
justice
system
as
juveniles
I'm
gonna
skip
over
some
of
my
testimony.
I
know
we're
short
on
time
and
I've
got
a
lot
of
lawyers
on
the
panel
hairs
in
2011
to
come
back
the
multiple
employment
obstacles
for
people
with
criminal
records,
Philadelphia
passed
the
the
been
the
Box
law.
H
The
purpose
of
the
law
was
to
eliminate
barriers
to
employment,
for
people
with
criminal
records
by
prohibiting
questions
about
criminal
history
on
job
applications
and
during
the
first
interview,
so
that
people
with
records
could
be
reestablished
with
their
communities
and
become
contributing
members
of
society.
It
also
prohibited
questions
regarding
requests
records
of
arrests
that
did
not
lead
to
conviction.
H
After
a
few
years,
it
became
clear
that
our
fair
chance
hiring
law
needed
to
do
more
than
remove
the
box
from
the
application
to
be
truly
effective.
In
2015,
the
law
was
amended
to
prohibit
an
employer
from
running
a
criminal
background
check
until
after
the
applicant
received
a
conditional
offer
of
employment.
If,
through
a
background
check
an
employer
discovers
that
an
applicant
has
a
criminal
history,
the
applicant
must
be
provided
an
individualized
assessment
for
the
particular
job.
H
In
other
words,
they
look
at
the
nature
of
the
crime
when
it
occurred
and
what
is
the
connection
to
the
job
the
person
is
seeking.
These
standards
are
consistent
with
existing
state
law
and
federal
Yosi
guidance.
After
the
assessment,
the
employer
may
reject
an
applicant
based
on
their
criminal
record
only
if
the
employer
can
reasonably
conclude
that
the
applicant
would
present
an
unacceptable
risks
to
the
operation
of
the
business
or
to
co-workers
or
customers.
A
rejection
must
be
presented
to
the
applicant
in
writing
with
an
opportunity
for
the
applicant
to
respond
to
the
determination.
H
This
current
system
removes
significant
barriers
to
employment
and
provides
true
assistance
to
people
with
records,
as
they
reintegrate
into
their
communities.
It
also
provides
greater
clarity
and
guidance
to
employers,
since
our
law
was
passed
in
2011,
the
Commission
has
helped
to
ensure
effective
implementation
of
the
order
of
the
ordinance
through
education,
as
well
as
enforcement
through
outreach
efforts,
partnerships
and
trainings.
We
have
reached
hundreds
of
employers
and
thousands
of
people
with
criminal
records.
Also,
we
have
investigated
and
successfully
resolved
over
160
complaints
regarding
non-compliance
with
the
law.
H
This
summer
we
will
expand
our
outreach
efforts
through
a
media
campaign
that
will
allow
us
to
reach
even
more
people
with
records.
The
city
now
has
the
opportunity
to
do
more
to
overcome
the
barriers
to
employment
by
closing
a
loophole
and
ensuring
that
juvenile
criminal
records
do
not
create
barriers
to
employment
across
the
nation.
Juvenile
records
are
protected
according
the
state-by-state
policies
regarding
confidentiality
and
expungement.
Nevertheless,
increased
access
to
juvenile
records
through
online
databases
and
background
check
companies
only
increases
the
likelihood
of
lifelong
consequences
of
juvenile
adjudications.
H
By
establishing
limitations
on
the
consideration
of
juvenile
records
for
employment,
Philadelphia
will
remain
a
leader
in
fair
chance
legislation.
Passage
of
this
bill
will
help
ensure
that
youth
who
are
who
have
interacted
with
the
criminal
justice
system
are
more
likely
to
have
a
fair
chance
at
employment.
Thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
testify
and
hear
for
any
questions.
A
I
Youth
I'd
like
to
start
by
first
recognizing
the
Philadelphia
Commission
on
Human,
Relations
and
Councilwoman
Kim
for
her
leadership
and
introducing
this
important
piece
of
legislation
that
furthers
opportunities
for
youth
involved
in
the
justice
system,
as
we
just
heard.
This
ordinance
that
we're
amend
that
is
that
has
a
proposed
amendment.
Today
is
one
of
the
most
robust
laws
of
its
kind
in
this
country,
and
today
this
council
has
the
opportunity
to
make
it
even
stronger.
To
date,
few
banned
the
Box
provisions
have
explicitly
addressed
the
records
of
young
people
involved
in
the
juvenile
justice
system.
I
This
would
be
one
of
the
first
of
its
kind
in
the
country.
At
the
first
moment
of
contact
with
law
enforcement
or
the
court
system.
A
young
person
has
a
record.
These
records
can
impede
successful
transitions
to
adulthood
for
many
youth,
especially
when
they
remain
available
long
after
the
youths.
Involvement
with
the
justice
system
has
ended.
Records
can
create
obstacles
for
youth,
seeking
employment,
education,
housing
and
other
opportunities.
I
The
common
belief
that
juvenile
records
are
confidential
or
disappear
after
the
age
of
18
is
false,
with
an
increase
in
juvenile
crime
in
the
1990s
Pennsylvania,
along
with
a
number
of
other
states
eliminated
earlier,
practices
designed
to
protect
juvenile
record
confidentiality
as
juvenile
crime
has
been
on
steady
decline
over
the
last
15
years,
states
have
begun
to
rethink
these
policies
to
give
youth
a
meaningful
chance
at
rehabilitation
and
positive
reintegration
into
the
community.
Yet,
today,
records
are
still
used
as
an
excuse
to
deny
opportunities
and
to
protect
employers
and
landlords
from
liability.
I
Research
confirms
and
the
law
recognizes
that
youth
have
the
capacity
for
change
and
rehabilitation,
and
yet
records
continue
to
erect
barriers
to
youth
success
as
they
grow
into
adulthood.
Moreover,
records
can
reinforce
the
pervasive
racism
in
our
suggests
is
'dom.
Black
youth
are
five
times
more
likely
to
be
arrested
and
incarcerated
than
white
youth.
Juvenile
records
limit
their
future
opportunities,
perpetuate
mass
incarceration
of
people
of
color
and
sustained
cycles
of
pollard
poverty.
This
need
legislation
will
help
to
reduce
those
consequences.
Thank
you
for
giving
us
the
opportunity
to
speak
on
this
issue
today.
Thank.
A
J
J
Every
year
we
work
with
around
1,000
low-income
Philadelphians,
who
are
seeking
employment
but
are
struggling
because
of
juvenile
or
criminal
records
whenever
possible,
we
help
our
clients
to
clear
up
their
records
through
the
expungement
process,
but
we
also
advocate
for
our
clients
to
be
able
to
work
so
that
they
can
support
themselves
and
their
families.
Philadelphia's
fair
criminal
records,
screening,
ordinance
or
ban
the
boxes.
J
Expanding
a
lot
to
explicitly
bar
consideration
of
juvenile
curds
in
the
hiring
process
well
address
the
growing
problem
we
see
in
our
office
of
people
being
denied
employment
because
of
juvenile
records,
sometimes
even
more
than
a
decade.
After
their
system,
involvement
has
ended,
especially
in
high-growth
industries
like
the
healthcare
industry,
where
background
checks
are
very
routinely
conducted.
J
Juvenile
records
are
particularly
likely
to
pop
up
causing
unnecessary
denials
of
employment,
while
state
law
already
makes
clear
that
juvenile
adjudications
should
not
be
considered
the
same
way
as
adult
criminal
convictions
without
explicit
statutory
language,
barring
juvenile
records,
from
consideration
in
the
hiring
process.
Juvenile
records
all
too
often
lead
to
job
denials.
The
impact
of
such
job,
denials
are
deeply
felt
by
individuals
and
communities.
One
in
four
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
youth
are
considered
opportunities,
youth
who
are
disconnected
for
education
from
education
and
employment,
and
this
is
a
rate
far
higher
than
the
national
average.
J
It
is
also
estimated
that
one
out
of
three
youth,
by
the
time
they
reach
age
25,
will
have
been
arrested
with
nearly
90
percent
of
employers
conducting
some
kind
of
criminal
background
check
in
their
hiring
process.
It
is
absolutely
essential
for
employers
to
understand
the
juvenile
record
should
never
be
used
to
deny
employment.
The
future
of
our
city
rests
on
the
ability
of
young
adults
to
be
able
to
find
jobs,
build
careers
and
support
their
families.
J
Expanding
our
band,
the
Box
law,
to
make
clear
that
employers
cannot
consider
Juvenal
records
in
the
hiring
process,
is
a
critical
step
forward
to
ensure
opportunity
for
our
city's
young
people.
I
want
to
thank
Councilwoman
Jim
and
the
Philadelphia
Commission
on
Human
Relations,
for
your
commitment
to
this
important
issue
and
for
having
us
here
to
speak
today
and
I'm
particularly
excited
to
have
CLS
client
Sasha
here
with
us
today
to
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
what
her
experience
has
been
like
in
being
denied
employment
because
of
a
juvenile
record.
Thank.
J
You
good
evening
Council,
my
name
is
Sasha
and
I
am
a
mother
for
three-year-old
daughter
at
the
a
daughter
to
an
aging
mother
and
a
Philadelphia
native.
When
I
was
fifteen
years
old
I
was
living
with
my
mom,
who
split
up
with
my
dad
and
I
ended
up
selling
I
mean
I
was
excuse,
me
pardon
me,
and
money
was
very
tight.
We
didn't
have
enough
to
meet
our
daily
needs.
I
ended
up
selling
drugs
to
try
to
get
some
more
money
for
our
family.
J
I
was
arrested
and
found
guilty
of
a
felony
drug
dealing
after
that
happened,
I
never
got
in
trouble
again
and
haven't
been
arrested
in
more
than
15
years
after
graduating
from
high
school
I
was
able
to
find
work,
mostly
in
the
retail
field,
when
I
was
pregnant.
With
my
daughter,
I
left
my
job
due
to
complications
within
my
pregnancy
and
focus
for
a
while
on
being
a
good
mother
to
her.
Unfortunately,
then
my
mother
became
very
sick
and
I
began.
Spending
most
of
my
time.
J
Taking
care
of
her
I
was
helping
her
with
bathing
cooking
cleaning,
paying
bills,
food
shopping,
making
sure
she
took
her
medication,
making
doctor's
appointments
and
taking
her
to
doctors.
Appointments
since
I
was
since
I've
already
helped
him
taking
care
of
my
mother
pretty
much
full-time
and
we
needed
more
income
for
our
families.
I
decided
to
apply
to
be
a
home
health
care
worker,
so
I
could
get
paid
to
take
care
of
my
mother
when
I
began
applying
to
home
health
agencies,
I
discovered
that
my
juvenile
record
was
still
coming
up.
On
my
background.
J
All
these
years
later,
I
thought
because
it
was
a
juvenile
case,
it
would
have
been
automatically
expunged
or
kept
private
and
I
was
very
surprised
that
it
kept
coming
up.
Unfortunately,
the
home
health
agencies
I
apply,
did
not
understand
and
you
that
juvenile
records
are
different
from
adult
records
and
they
denied
me
from
being
from
being
able
to
work
with.
My
mother.
I
came
to
commit
I
came
to
community
legal
services
for
help
getting
a
juvenile
record
expunged,
but
that
preceeded
took
more
than
six
months.
J
In
the
meantime,
my
mother
could
not
wait
and
had
to
get
a
different
whole
home
health
worker.
Finally,
my
record
was
a
sponge.
I
was
able
to
find
part-time
work
in
the
home
health
care,
but
I
went
for
many
years,
I
mean
many
months
with
no
income
and
was
the
night
the
opportunity
to
take
care
of
my
sick
mother
all
because
employers
did
not
understand
that
my
juvenile
record
should
not
and
have
not
been
held
against
me.
J
I
am
here
today
to
support
this
bill
that
other
people
will
not
have
to
go
through
what
I
went
through
and
so
that
it
is
very
clear
to
employers
in
Philadelphia
that
juvenile
workers
should
not
be
kept,
should
not
keep
people
from
working
to
provide
for
their
families.
As
a
kid,
we
all
make
mistakes,
but
it's
important
that
people
are
able
to
move
past
these
mistakes
and
have
opportunities
and
life
Thank,
You
counsel.
J
A
C
J
J
So
while
expungement
is
a
great
remedy
and
should
be
expanded,
it's
not
enough
to
just
rely
on
expunged
and
not
everybody
qualifies
for
expungements
and
not
right
away.
So
for
those
who
won't
benefit
from
expungement
or
while
the
expungement
process
is
ongoing.
These
additional
employment
protections
are
really
critical.
C
A
Chair
recognizes
the
presence
of
our
vice
chair,
Councilwoman,
Reynolds
Brown.
Thank
you
very
much
for
being
here.
Thank
you
very
much.
Is
there?
Are
there
any
other
questions
for
this
panel?
Seeing
none.
Thank
you
very
much
for
your
testimony.
I'm
speaking
to
this
is
there
anyone
else
who
would
like
to
testify
to
this
resolution.
K
B
Yes,
my
name
is
Syed
King
and
I
am
a
teacher
at
the
Phillipa
juvenile
justice
service
center
and
Island
councilman
Gama.
Just
thank
you.
Thank
you
very
much
for
leading
the
charge
on
getting
this
law
passed.
Yes
again,
I
am
from
the
juvenile
justice
service
center
and
we
see
approximately
1,500
kids
and
that's
not
including
this
summer.
In
the
course
of
a
year,
we
have
three
times
more
boys
than
girls
and
the
average
student
at
our
center
is
there
roughly
about
35
days
and
while
they
there
for
35
days
their
time
served
whatever
time.
B
They're
gonna
be
sentenced,
doesn't
start
until
they
actually
leave.
So
if
you
have
a
kid
that
is
there
for
35
days
or
even
longer
and
they're
sent
away
for
four
months,
they're
sent
away
with
four
months,
so
they
actually
did.
Let's
say
if
it
was
three
months,
so
they
actually
did
in
total
seven
months
where
they
had
maybe
out
of
four
my
charge
and
our
program,
the
students
they
actually
receive
credit
towards
graduation.
They
actually
attend
school,
and
our
program
consists
of
a
phenomenal
ctek
vocational
program
that
we
just
started
in
the
past
couple
years.
B
Where
students
are
able
to
learn
about
fiber,
optics,
copper,
wiring,
we
have
a
audio-visual
program,
they
learn
about
energy
management.
Our
goal
is
to
prepare
them
for
the
workforce,
so
when
they
leave,
they
have
it
they
able
to
have
a
second
chance
when
I
think
of
these
students
that
come
there,
some
of
them
come
from
poverty
just
because
they
come
from
a
poverty.
Background
does
not
mean
that
they
are
stupid.
B
B
What
I
was
going
to
be
doing
here
today
and
I'm
just
run
off
a
couple
bullets
of
what
the
kids
are
saying:
I'm
gonna
come
to
ban
the
box,
they
said
been
a
box
for
juveniles
should
be
enforced
because
it
gets
it
gives
them
it
makes
way
for
their
future.
It
also
they
said
that
expunged,
the
Spungen
process
it
takes
too
long.
B
They
also
said
that
the
box
it
stands
in
their
way
and
it
actually
hindered
the
vision
of
their
future
and
one
of
the
students
was
every
illustrative
in
trying
to
explain
it,
and
it
said
she
said
pretty
much
the
box
is
there:
they
know
that
they
have
committed
a
crime.
So
what's
the
use,
all
the
work
they
a
they
have
put
in
at
the
center
and
have
gained
certifications
in
a
C
Tech
program.
What's
the
use,
if
you're
going
to
judge
me
before
I
even
get
interview
so.
B
The
rejection
of
this
law,
if
this
law
is
rejected,
these
bills
reject
it
which
I
I
pray.
That
is
not.
It
will
be
a
slap
in
the
face
to
did
although
hard
work
that
these
students
have
put
in
and
trying
to
make
a
difference
in
their
lives.
So
if
I
can
close
out,
I
will
end
on
a
quote
from
a
mentor
mind.
Each
of
us
need
all
of
us,
and
all
of
us
need
each
of
us.
L
A
A
Is
there
anyone
else
here
who
would
like
to
testify
on
behalf
of
this
bill,
seeing
none?
This
concludes
the
public
hearing
on
bill
number
one,
eight,
zero,
three,
six
eight
and
we
will
now
go
into
a
public
hearing
to
consider
resolution
number
one.
Seven
one
one,
four
two:
the
clerk
will
now
read
the
title
of
the
resolution
resolution.
B
One
seven
one
one:
four:
two
authorizing
the
committee
on
children
and
youth
to
hold
public
hearings,
reviewing
the
quality
of
services
and,
namely,
the
quality
of
education
that
residential
placements
contracted
with
the
city
of
Philadelphia,
provide
for
the
care,
treatment
and
development
of
Philadelphia
youth.
Thank.
A
You
very
much
before
I
ask
my
council
members
for
opening
remarks.
I
just
want
to
thank
a
few
people
in
the
audience
who
are
here
today,
state
representative,
Vanessa,
Lowry
Brown.
Thank
you.
So
much
for
being
here,
I
want
to
recognize
our
former
councilman
Denny
O'brien.
Thank
you
very
much
councilman
for
being
here
as
well.
A
I
know
we
have
a
number
of
other
people,
including
Commissioner
Joan
Ernie
from
cbh
I
want
to
acknowledge
the
presence
of
District
Attorney,
General
Josh
Shapiro's
office,
as
well
as
our
Disability
Rights
Network,
our
school
district
and
our
district
attorney's
offices.
Thank
you
very
much.
Everybody
for
moving
forward
with
any
of
my
council
members
like
to
make
any
opening
remarks
before
we
head
into
this
resolution.
A
So
you
know
we
are
here
today
with
this.
You
know
incredible
audience
of
advocates
and
people
passionate
about
the
future
of
our
young
people,
to
talk
about
youth
placement,
youth
confinement
and
youth
imprisonment.
We're
here
to
talk
about
the
ways
that
our
young,
our
children,
end
up
in
these
placements.
What
happens
to
young
people
once
they
have
contact
with
this
system
and
today
we're
here
to
hold
space
for
an
issue
that
has
the
remarkable
ability
to
be
at
the
same
time,
both
oversimplified
and
over
complicated.
A
Our
youth
who
are
put
in
placement
sit
at
the
intersection
of
our
education,
justice
and
child
welfare
systems,
and
we
need
to
do
right
by
them
and
almost
100%
of
the
time
our
young
people
and
institutional
placements
got
there
because
we
didn't
hold
up
our
end
of
the
bargain.
We
recognize
that
this
is
not
a
new
issue
that,
in
the
1970s,
the
head
of
the
Pennsylvania
juvenile
system
called
the
model
of
institutional
placements
antiquated
and
a
model
that
needed
to
go.
A
I've
talked
with
my
council
colleagues,
including
council
woman
of
Blondell
Reynolds
Brown
who've,
talked
about
their
years
of
working
on
this
issue
and
having
to
bring
it
back
up
again.
In
July,
the
National
Council,
a
family
in
juvenile
court
judges
passed
a
resolution
calling
for
independent
oversight
of
youth
confinement
facilities.
These
judges
noted
that
nationally
54,000
youth
are
housed
in
residential
confinement
facilities
every
year
and
since
2000,
youth
in
29
states
and
the
District
of
Columbia
have
experienced,
according
to
the
report,
systemic
and
recurring
maltreatment,
while
confined
in
a
juvenile
detention
facility.
A
This
report
showed
that
over
40%
of
youth
and
secured
facilities
reported
feeling
somewhat
or
very
afraid
of
being
physically
attacked,
while
detained
45%
reported
that
staff
unnecessarily
used
force
against
you
and
30%
reported
that
solitary
confinement
was
used
as
a
form
of
discipline.
There
were
nearly
9,500
allegations
of
sexual
victimization
of
youth
reported
and
state,
or
local
and
private
facilities
between
2007
and
2012,
and
just
today,
The
Enquirer
reported
on
Philadelphia's
over-reliance
on
solitary
confinement.
Our
city
has
made
significant
progress.
A
Fewer
kids
are
in
placement
than
once
was,
but
that
decline
is
not
good
enough,
because
that
decline
was
not
good
enough
for
David
Hef,
who
was
murdered
at
Wordsworth
over
an
iPod.
That
decline
was
not
good
enough
for
the
dozens
of
teenage
girls,
sexually
assaulted
by
staff
members
out
Wordsworth,
and
it
wasn't
good
enough
for
Omega
leach,
who
is
strangled
and
killed
in
2007
at
the
Chad
youth
enhancement
Center
in
Tennessee.
A
Thousands
of
miles
away
from
home
Omega
staff
brought
most
of
our
kids
back
into
our
state
and
David
has
his
death
and
the
sexual
assault
of
teen.
Girls
did
shut
down
Wordsworth,
but
I
know
I
speak
on
behalf
of
my
colleagues
when
I
say
that
there
won't
be
another
on
our
watch.
There
won't
be
one
more
death,
one
more
assault
or
rape
and
facilities
that
we
fund
with
taxpayer
dollars.
If
we
have
anything
to
do
with
it,.
A
And
in
the
last
few
months,
we've
had
a
chance
to
learn
from
so
many
of
Philadelphia's
best
advocates.
We've
learned
from
jurisdictions
across
this
country
that
an
eight-hour
drive
away
from
home
is
simply
too
far
millions
of
dollars
in
taxpayer.
Money
is
too
much
to
spend
on
a
subpar
education,
our
systems,
no
matter
how
difficult,
how
many
and
how
complex
has
an
obligation
to
get
it
right
and
as
elected
officials,
we
have
a
role
to
play
in
that
process.
A
Today,
our
city
agencies,
DHS
cbh,
the
Philadelphia,
School
District
and
others
will
share
the
critical
work
that
they
are
doing
to
better
support
our
young
people
and
uphold
their
commitment
for
the
coming
months.
I'd
like
to
especially
thank
our
DHS
Commissioner
Cynthia
Figueroa
for
her
leadership
and
partnership
on
this
issue
and
for
her
dedication
to
reducing
the
number
of
child
welfare
system
involved.
A
Youth
emplacement,
it's
clear
that
you
stand
with
our
young
people
and
their
families
and
I
want
to
thank
our
legal
and
advocacy
community
who
pushed
my
office
and
me
to
look
at
this
issue
and
do
more
your
attention
to
detail.
Your
commitment
to
supporting
our
young
people,
who
are
all
too
often
forgotten,
is
inspiring.
You
are
the
unsung
heroes
of
our
city,
I'd,
like
to.
A
And
I
want
to
thank
the
foundations
that
are
here
today,
who
are
investing
in
this
work
to
help
us
do
better
stone,
lee
united
way,
the
philadelphia
foundation
and
others.
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
didn't
personally
think
Michelle
Payne
of
PCC.
Why?
For
organizing
the
groups
today
to
stand
alongside
United
with
our
young
people
and
finally,
I
want
to
talk
about
our
youth,
our
young
people.
A
I
know
that
this
body
is
committed
to
addressing
the
deep
inequalities
embedded
in
our
system,
we're
committed
to
learning
what
works,
what
doesn't
work
and
how
we're
gonna
stand
with
our
young
people
moving
forward.
So
will
the
clerk?
Please
call
the
first
witnesses
for
the
panel
to
testify
on
this
resolution.
Lilly.
A
E
F
You
very
very
much,
madam
chairwoman,
a
good
afternoon.
Everyone
Councilwoman
Kim,
has
spoken
quite
eloquently
for
our
purpose
and
that
is
to
be
stronger,
a
better
advocates
and
professionals
when
it
comes
to
lifting
up
and
protecting
our
children.
So
our
young
people,
you
give
us
the
purpose.
A
need
for
this
particular
hearing.
Historical
context
is
important.
The
record
should
reflect
that.
F
So
the
expectation
in
my
hope
is
that
I
will
hear
in
testimony
what
the
progress
has
been
between
DHS
cbh
School
District
of
Philadelphia,
along
with
the
work
that
this
kheer
does
every
single
day.
Silos
are
not
going
to
get
us
there.
So
if
there
has
not
been
an
improvement,
then
it
requires
us
on
this
side
of
the
table
to
mandate
dictate
that
those
agencies
work
more
currently
together.
That's
the
only
way
we're
going
to
make
a
huge
difference,
and
this
pervasive
still
practice
of
sending
young
people
out
of
the
Commonwealth.
A
M
Good
afternoon
my
name
is
Lillian
and
I
am
16
years
old.
I
am
a
current
youth
advocate
with
juvenile
for
justice,
with
the
juvenile
Law
Center
I
am
a
sophomore
in
high
school
I
love
to
shop
dance,
be
my
family.
I
have
fun.
I
have
many
plans
for
the
college
for
my
future,
including
attending
college
for
criminal
justice,
Jonas
Watson
becoming
a
lawyer
and
every
kid
for
youth
foster
youth.
This
year,
I
started
working
as
a
youth
advocate
at
juvenile
Law
Center
I
am
part
of
the
achievement.
M
M
My
mother
thought
going
to
a
juvenile
holding
facility
would
be
good
for
me.
She
thought
I
would
be
safe.
She
didn't
realize
that
I
would
be
abuse,
strip-searched,
mistreated
or
I
wouldn't
be
able
to
continue.
My
education
I
hope
that
by
me
sharing
my
story
today.
Parents
and
leaders
will
realize
that
youth
are
better
off
staying
in
their
own
homes.
I
am
sharing
some
really
hard
things
that
happen
to
me,
because
I
don't
want
them
to
happen
to
out
their
youth.
M
I
first
went
to
it
and
to
place
me
in
May
of
2016
and
was
in
two
different
facilities
for
total
about
seven
months.
First
I
was
at
a
lockdown
but
I
like
the
emplacement
in
Philadelphia,
and
it
was
the
worst.
There
was
a
lot
of
physical
abuse
happening
in
this
facility.
There
was
one
staff
person
assigned
to
each
floor
and
the
cellphone
that
they
could
do
whatever
they
wanted
to
the
youth
staff
for
girls
and
male
staff
restraint.
You
female
youth
was
didn't,
feel
right
to
me
staff.
Also.
M
Let
you
fight
another
youth
by
giving
them
permission
to
go
off
the
site
of
the
camp,
so
they
wouldn't
be
seen.
I
also
heard
about
someone
being
pepper
spray
in
response
to
talent
is
that
person
no
I
had
witnessed
one
of
my
roommates
shackled
for
days
and
at
the
words
she
had
black
and
blue
marks
everywhere.
If
I
act
out,
they
will
put
my
hands
behind
my
back
and
throw
me
on
the
floor.
One
time
I
refused
to
go
to
the
main
room
and
they
stabbed
person
body
slam
to
me.
M
Then
they
put
me
in
a
small
room
with
just
one
staff
person
about
for
a
whole
day.
The
room
was
in
a
boy's
hall
and
I
had
nothing
to
doing
here.
I
had
eaten
around
breakfast,
but
9:00
a.m.
to
3:30
p.m.
I.
Didn't
they
didn't,
let
him
eat
anything,
sometimes
they'll
play
favorites
and
other
youth
will
get
multiple
snacks
or
meals.
While
I
went
hungry.
The
food
was
all
so
unsafe.
I
found
worms
in
my
food
a
couple
of
times
there
was
no
school
at
the
facility.
We
had
to
stay
in
one
room
all
day.
M
There's
was
no
teachers,
no
books
just
say
TV,
and
even
that
was
on.
When
a
staff
wanted
to
watch
TV.
There
was
nothing
to
do
and
I
hate
it
going
there.
Youth
are
strip-searched
in
this.
These
facilities.
For
me,
I
didn't
like
being
a
strip-search
at
all.
I
didn't
wanted
to
see
anybody
I
didn't
want,
was
I'm.
Sorry
I
didn't
want
anybody
to
see
me
naked.
It
was
very
uncomfortable
when
I
was
at
the
facility
at
one
point,
I
had
a
seizure
of
ladies
on
my
medication.
M
While
I
was
in
my
hood,
getting
ready
to
sleep,
and
my
friend
noticed
that
I
was
shaking
and
my
eyes
were
rolling
behind
my
back
rolling
behind
my.
So
she
notified
the
staff
on
the
floor,
but
it's
at
five
to
ten
minutes.
Before
anyone
can
help
me
a
man
ended
up
coming.
He
wasn't
even
a
nurse.
All
he
did
was
offer
me
water,
another
time,
instead
of
intentionally
burnt
me
with
a
flat
iron.
While
she
was
trained
in
my
hair.
M
Never
got
to
see
a
doctor,
so
I
went
to
court
four
or
five
days
later.
By
that
time
it
was
all
scarred
up.
When
my
judge
saw
what
happened
to
me,
she
moved
me
to
a
different
floor.
I
had
to
stay
in
the
same
facility
because
the
other
placements
were
I
was
supposed
to
go
then
and
have
a
bed
available,
even
though
the
the
this
facility
is
now
closed.
There
are
other
juvenile
delinquent
centers,
where
youth
may
be
going
through
the
same
thing.
M
It
is
hard
for
you
to
speak
up
about
these
things
when
I
was
at
the
facility.
I
was
too
scared
to
open
up
and
talk,
I.
Think
at
the
end,
think
anyone
will
believe
me,
I,
didn't
think
anyone
would
anything
would
be
done
if
I
ever
did
speak
up.
Why
should
I
think
anyone
will
help
me
as
if
they
are
sitting
there
harming
me?
Next
I
was
sent
to
a
group
home
in
the
Poconos.
In
some
ways
it
was
better
than
the
first
facility,
but
in
but
it
was
still
really
difficult
for
me.
M
M
That
hit
me
hard
made
me
feel
lies
realize
how
alone
I
felt
I
couldn't
take
anymore
and
I
ran
I
ended
up
running
away,
so
I
could
see
them
being
in
place.
My
really
messed
up
my
life
I
try
to
go
back
to
the
charter
school
I
attended
for
two
years
before
going
to
replacement,
but
they
want
to.
Let
me
back
in
I
only
had
my
only
option
was
to
do
a
cyber
program.
I
didn't
learn
anything
while
I
was
in
placement.
So
this
day,
I
still
had
trouble
in
school.
M
I
ended
up
having
to
take
eighth
grade
classes
like
pre-algebra
that
I
should
already
had
known
I.
Also
Nell
had
trusted.
She
was
adults
going
to
placement
change
the
way.
I
was
I,
was
quiet,
didn't
want
to
be
around
anybody
else,
but
at
least
once
I
was
home
from
placing
me
I
was
getting
all
that
love
that
I
was
missing
for
all
those
months.
I
wish
I
was
just
a
be
able
to
stay
home
with
my
family.
M
The
whole
time
I'm
speaking
here
for
the
youth
that
aren't
delinquent
and
child
welfare
centers
and
going
through
what
I've
been
through
I
want
to
make
a
change
and
hope
that
everybody
has
realized
that
these
centers
are
not
the
best
for
youth.
Thank
you
so
much
for
listening
every
heavy
night
afternoon.
A
E
Name
is
Jehan,
may
I
am
19
years
old
I'm
from
North
Philadelphia
I
am
here
today
to
share
my
experiences
inside
juvenile
placement
facilities
and
Philadelphia,
and
my
recommendations
for
change
here
are
some
of
the
things
I
like
to
share
about
myself.
People
usually
acts.
Youth
people
don't
usually
acts
youth
who
who've
been
in
juvenile
placements
about
ourselves.
They
don't
even
really
look
as
look
at
us
or
who
we
know.
We
are.
E
Nobody
asks
me
about
my
likes
dislikes.
Sometimes
they
don't
even
see
me
as
a
person.
I
am
an
artist
and
athlete
I
love
playing
sports
video
games.
Currently
I
am
involved
in
even
a
Reporting
Center,
and
this
is
my
first
year
as
a
youth
advocate
and
juvenile
for
justice
at
the
juvenile
Law
Center
I
am
interested
in
cybersecurity,
and
the
military
I
also
really
enjoy
playing
basketball
and
before
placement
I
was
playing
basketball
football.
E
But
when
I
got
out,
I
couldn't
go
back
to
my
old
school
and
couldn't
play
I'm
speaking
here
today,
because
too
many
black
kids
are
being
sent
away
for
petty
crimes
and
are
being
treated
unfairly.
Emplacements
we're
sending
we're
sending
youth
away
when
they
should
have
got
advocacy
or
support
at
home.
I
hope
that
judges,
law
enforcement
and
DHS
understand
the
impact
of
incarceration
on
kids.
E
My
first
day
in
sight,
my
first
day
and
the
facility
I
refused
to
be
strip
searched,
so
they
called
it
quote
the
government.
They
pulled
me
into
another
room
with
five
six
guards
and
a
few
of
them
held
me
down.
One
girl
forcibly
searched
me.
This
happened
more
than
once,
because
I
fused
every
time
it
made
me
mad
and
made
me
want
to
defend
myself
but
I.
Couldn't.
E
M
E
When
Steph
yell
to
argue
with
yous,
they
decided
they
were
finished
argument
and
suddenly
they
got
physical
and
we'll
call
coal,
black
or
coal
blue
and
what
jump
under
Youth
it
wasn't
most
common,
but
I
had
been
mostly
when
he
staff
felt
like
they
had
a
problem
with
one
of
the
youth
staff
also
felt
like
they
had
to
respond
successively
to
any
behavior.
That
was
wrong.
E
When
we
were
in
lockdown,
everyone
had
to
be
in
their
room
and
could
only
come
out
to
eat
and
shower,
and
then
it
was
lights
off.
After
this
everyone
came
out,
it
would
be
upset,
angry
and
raged
and
ready
to
fight
and
made
me
feel
where
it
being
emplacement.
You
have
to
wait
for
everyone
to
do
something
at
the
on
ground.
School
I
also
felt
the
school
work
was
bad.
It
seemed
like
the
only
gave
us
work
to
keep
us
busy
from
doing
anything.
The
work
really
didn't
teach
me
anything.
E
I
had
a
teacher
and
the
computer,
but
when
I
came
home,
I
had
to
be
home
school
because
no
school
and
the
Philadelphia
School
District
will
set
me
back.
My
credits
from
placement
didn't
transfer
when
I
tried
to
go
to
a
regular
school
outside
of
Philly,
so
I
had
to
be
home
school
to
start
12th
grade
on
time
and
school
on
grounds.
One
time
I
got
ten
punches
from
a
girl
for
not
going
to
school
work,
but
I
wasn't
really
interested
in
schoolwork.
They
kept
giving
work
that
wasn't
on
my
grade
level.
E
And
told
me
to
stop
by
the
class
as
soon
as
I
stepped
out
out
the
room.
One
guard
held
me.
Another
guard
punched
me.
Then
they
made
me,
go
back
to
class
I,
never
told
anyone
at
the
facility,
because
the
staff
who
punished
me
were
bribed
me.
Another
youth
with
snacks,
not
to
tell
the
CEO
or
when
it
happened.
To
me,
tell
me
not
to
tell
when
I
went
to
court.
E
No
kid
should
be
beaten
up
from
staff
at
the
facility
and
especially
for
not
for
refusing
to
do
class
work.
That's
not
on
our
level.
If
this
happened
in
regular
school
teachers
could
be
arrested
on
fire
when
this
stuff
had
been.
It
made
me
even
more
angry
about
situate
my
situation,
because
I
was
sent
to
placement
for
being
around
the
fight
and
know
who
was
involved
not
because
I
participated.
The
people
who
were
part
of
the
fight
took
a
plea
down.
E
I
got
a
house
first,
but
I
took
mine
to
trial,
because
I
was
not
involved,
I
ended
up
being
adjudicated
and
sent
replacement
for
three
and
a
half
months
in
the
same
facility
also
spent
time
in
solitary
for
one
week
once
they
put
me
in
solitary
because
somewhere
in
the
cafeteria
was
looking
at
me
and
I
felt
threatened
and
in
solitary
the
whole
room
was
Cushing
expunged.
Like
substance,
the
only
checked
on
me
when
it
was
time
for
mills-
and
he
brought
me
in
my
class,
where
I
loved
wise.
E
There
was
nothing
for
me
to
do
in
the
room.
No
more
for
me
to
interact
with
I
slept.
Looked
at
the
wall
worked
up
in
the
room
and
I
ate.
That's
it
for
a
whole
week
and
once
I
didn't
think
it
would
impact
me,
but
after
being
in
a
room
with
nothing
to
do
for
a
few
minutes,
I
started
to
bother
me
and
made
me
feel
weak,
because
there
was
nothing
to
do
all
I
could
do
I
could
nothing
I
could
do
to
get
out.
E
There
was
only
really
me
and
the
was
in
the
florida
at
this
placement.
A
lot
of
people
were
also
physically
injured,
including
myself.
I
had
gotten
a
busted
lip
and
broken
ribs
from
a
guard,
so
my
social
worker
took
me
to
the
hospital
I
was
sent
home
on
house
arrest.
I
want
my
judge
to
understand
what
it
was
like
when
she
didn't.
E
This
placements
was
late,
was
later
shut
down,
but
despite
the
place
being
shut
down,
this
is
just
one
of
the
many
placements
that
you've
had
and
will
continue
to
be
sent
to,
and
they
will
experience
things
like
abuse,
solitary
and
poor
education
without
being
able
to
tell
what
happened.
I'm,
not
the
only
youth
who
has
been
sent
to
placement
for
something
they
did
not
commit.
Some
of
my
friends
and
pears
and
j4j
also
have
gone
through
what
I'm
going
through
in
placement.
There's
need
to
stop.
E
D
My
name
is
Cola,
I
am
19
and
I.
Currently
in
my
youth
advocate
with
the
juveniles
for
justice,
juveniles
for
justice
is
a
program
to
juvenile
Law
Center
that
believes
in
the
power
of
youth
voices
and
provides
programming
for
youth
for
juvenile
justice
and
child
welfare
experience
to
create
advocacy
projects.
Based
on
our
experiences.
We
work
to
change
those
systems.
I
am
so
excited
to
have
been
a
part
of
j4j
for
the
first
time
this
year,
because
I
have
gotten
to
learn
all
about
advocacy
and
what
I
could
do
to
help
better
the
systems.
D
This
year
and
j4j,
we
decided
to
address
harmful
conditions
and
place
their
facilities.
I
would
really
like
to
use
my
DHS
experiences
and
become
a
youth
mentor,
counselor
and
mentor
other
youth
who
are
potentially
going
down
the
same
path
as
I
was
currently
I
work
at
power
curve
pho
before
I
was
in
placement.
I
enjoy
cheerleading
into
a
makeup,
but
I
could
not
continue
when
I
was
sent
to
placement.
Now
that
I
am
home,
I
want
to
be
more
involved
in
civil
engagement
with
other
youth.
D
To
achieve
my
goals,
I'm,
getting
a
lot
of
support
from
a
case
manager
and
achieve
an
independent
center.
I
am
here
today,
not
only
because
j4j
decided
to
work
on
this
issue,
but
also
because
my
story
is
like
many
other
youth
and
I
want
to
help
make
a
change
for
youth
still
in
placement.
I
personally
have
experienced
since
being
in
both
the
juvenile
justice
and
child
welfare
systems.
Part
of
my
experience
is
going
in
and
all
of
these
systems
was
related
to
truancy
and
for
violating
my
probation
because
of
lateness
says
the
school.
D
What
should
have
happened
in
my
story
is
that
people
should
have
asked
me
why
I
was
always
late
or
why
I
felt
I
had
to
violate
my
probation.
Instead,
no
one
X
me
and
I
was
sent
away.
I
was
15
when
I
first
thing,
when
I
was
first
sent
to
a
juvenile
detention
center.
The
first
incident
I
had
at
this
facility
was
when
I
had
to
having
a
hard
time
sleeping
and
I
didn't
roll
up
to
ian's
breakfast
I
was
tired
and
I
refused
to
go
when
I
refused
the
grabs.
D
The
staff,
cracked
and
twisted
me
I
was
to
be
because
it
was
hurt
and
I
resisted
when
I
did
the
staff
with
me.
Swung
me
around
punched
me
and
when
I
defended
myself,
the
staff
facilitator,
who
was
around
and
was
nearby,
saw
what
was
happening
through
her
walkie-talkie
at
my
head
after
this
happened,
I
tried
to
try
reporting
what
was
happening
between
me
and
both
the
staff,
but
there
was
no
disciplinary
action
for
the
staffs
behavior.
Instead,
I
lost
all
of
my
phone
time
with
my
which
mean
I.
Couldn't
talk
to
my
family.
D
I
also
was
in
solitary
confinement
for
three
days.
One
of
the
biggest
part
of
this
experience
that
hurts
the
most
was
that
I
was
punished
for
what
what
was
happened
to
me
and
they
took
off
my
phone
time
away
and
I
meant
that
I
couldn't
talk
to
my
family
and
at
another
placement
facility.
I
spent
four
days
in
solitary
and
everyone
by
myself
that
only
had
a
metal
bench
I
did
not
receive
any
work
and
only
received
my
Mills
throughout
the
day,
even
after
I
was
removed
from
solitary
staff
continued.
D
To
put
me
on
restrictions
where
I
was
mostly
sent
back
to
my
room
after
activities,
or
even
the
education
in
this
facility
was
also
at
a
low
standard
in
school.
We
did
and
we
did
artwork
every
day
and
it
was
basically
free
time.
I
felt
it
didn't.
It
did
not
challenge
me
and
I
did
not
learn
anything
new
or
what
I
should
have
while
I
was
there
I
spent
time
in
a
residential
facility
through
the
child
welfare
system?
D
I
ended
up
being
sick
there,
because
the
truancy
problems
in
school,
the
school
work
I
received,
was
at
a
fifth
grade
level,
despite
that
I
was
in
11th
grade
at
the
time.
This
was
not
just
my
experience,
both
just
what
happened
to
all
the
youth
there,
no
matter
what
grade
they
were
in,
we
all
had
such
great
work
and
we
didn't
receive
grades.
However,
I
started
speaking
to
my
coworker,
about
my
experience
in
school.
D
Wonder
on
school
grounds
that
I
had
attended,
and
after
a
few
months,
I
was
retested
and
was
told
I
could
go
to
off
off-campus
school
in
the
area.
I
was
really
glad
that
I
could
go
to
a
lot
of
ground
school
because
the
education
was
so
much
better
there,
but
I
also
felt
a
lot
of
pressure,
because
no
one
thought
that
I
would
graduate,
because
I
was
in
foster
care.
I
did
graduate
with
my
diploma.
D
I
stayed
at
that
facility
until
I
signed
myself
out
of
care
at
age
18,
but
because
I
had
no
home
to
go
to,
I
am
now
back
and
instead
in
foster
care.
What
happened
to
me
and
placement
should
not
have
happened
and
should
not
happen
to
any
other
you.
It
was
wrong
and
people
should
have
eggs.
Will
ask
me
what
was
going
on
home
at
home
instead
of
sending
me
away
to
the
placement.
I
should
have
received
more
support
for
me
to
say
for
me
to
stay
in
school
and
at
home
with
my
family.
A
C
Just
want
to
take
a
moment
to
thank
the
three
of
you
for
coming
and
sharing
your
testimony.
It
takes
a
lot
of
courage.
I'm
gonna
come
into
a
building,
you
don't
know
anyone
in
this
building
to
be
under
the
cameras
and
the
lights,
to
really
shed
light
on
a
very,
very
critically
important
issue,
and
so
I
want
you
to
encourage
you
also
on
beyond
today
that
you
can
still
follow
your
goals,
your
dreams,
your
aspirations,
I,
was
on
probation
as
a
juvenile,
for
some
things.
C
I
got
involved
in
I
recently
gave
the
judge,
who
put
me
on
probation
a
City
Council
resolution,
honoring
him
in
this
very
same
room.
So
I
didn't
let
the
circumstances
that
I
got
involved
in
as
a
juvenile
stopped
me
from
following
my
dreams,
regardless
of
the
neighborhood
that
I
grew
up
in
regardless
of
the
family
issues.
I've
dealt
with
as
a
young
man
I
mentioned
earlier.
C
F
Their
stories
are
deeply
compelling
and
they
really
tug
at
your
heart
if
you
have
one.
Secondly,
I
would
remind
you
that,
where
you
start
has
nothing
to
do
with,
where
you
end
up,
nothing
at
all
you've
shown
courage.
You've
shown
Moxie
you
care
about
your
future,
you
care
about
yourselves
and,
most
importantly,
you
care
about
your
education.
So
let
that
be
an
inspiration
for
you,
because
life
ain't
over
and
many
of
us
get
second,
third,
fourth,
fifth
and
six
chances
to
get
it
right.
F
Many
of
us
get
second,
third,
fourth,
fifth,
sixth,
seventh
chances
to
get
it
right
so
be
encouraged,
be
encouraged.
I
thank
the
counselor
for
the
work
that
you
do
it's
hard,
but
it's
stories
like
this
that
remind
us
that
the
work
we
do
is
important
and
it
gives
us
purpose.
Thank
you
for
your
testimony.
Thank.
A
N
E
E
A
That's
a
very
serious
issue
for
us.
Obviously,
as
you
know,
many
of
these
placement
facilities
do
get
a
significant
amount
of
support
to
ensure
that
your
education
continues
in
in
those
facilities
and
Lily
I
think
you
also
spoke
to
this
before
when
we
spoke
earlier
to
about
your
struggle
to
have
the
appropriate
coursework
I
think
you
mentioned
algebra
when
we
met,
and
can
you
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
kind
of
quality
of
education
that
you
received
in
this
in
your
facility,
so
the.
M
M
No
teacher,
nothing.
The
second
placement
I
did
did
go
to
school,
but
they
was
not
giving
me
pre-algebra
that
I
needed.
So
when
I
had
went
home,
they
needed
pre-algebra.
They
needed
my
reports
for
pre-algebra.
My
report
card
and
stuff
like
that
and
they
didn't
had
no
type
of
report
card
and
I
was
not
even
doing
pre-algebra.
So
when
I
went
home
school,
it
was
really
hard
for
me
to
do
pre-algebra
and
they
already
said
that
I
should
re
norm
being
on
pre-algebra
before
coming
to
charter
to
cyber
school
for
a
ninth
grade.
M
A
D
A
D
A
A
This
hearing
happened
largely
because
of
the
power
of
your
testimony
and,
as
I
said
earlier,
the
courage
that
you
showed
to
be
able
to
speak
to
some
very
painful
things
that
happened
and
to
call
us
to
accountability
and
consciousness,
that
we've
got
to
do
better
and
be
better
for
you,
so
we're
sorry
that
we
couldn't
have
been
there
when
we
should
have
been-
and
you
know
thank
you
for
being
with
us,
while
we
tried
to
help
figure
out
something
better
for
other
young
people
who
are
going
through
a
lot
of
other
issues
too.
So.
A
O
O
A
Q
Figueroa
Department
of
Human
Services
Commissioner
before
I
start,
my
testimony
and
I
want
to
personally
recognize
Lily,
Kidd
and
quill
up
showing
your
incredible
story
with
us.
Those
words
definitely
touch
me
and
some
of
the
really
hard
aspects
of
this
work
that
we
are
all
committed
to
and
so
to
the
to
all.
The
youth
that
are
here.
The
words
of
the
words
of
your
experiences
are
the
things
that
I
take
home
with
me.
Q
That
I
believe
will
drive
us
to
being
a
better
system,
and
so
you
have
a
commitment
from
the
Department
of
Human
Services
and
myself
as
the
Commissioner
is
that
we
have
to
get
this
better.
We
have
to
get
this
right
good
afternoon.
I'm
Cynthia,
Figueroa,
Commissioner
of
the
city
of
the
Department
of
Human
Services
Thank,
You
chairwoman,
Holland
gameand,
vice
chairwoman,
Blondell
Reynolds
Brown,
the
entire
children,
youth
committee
of
Philadelphia,
City
Council,
for
the
opportunity
to
testify
today.
Q
Thank
you
to
all
the
young
people
who
are
here
and
provided
testimony,
it's
their
voices
that
are
most
important
and
we
have
so
much
work
that
we
need
to
do
together.
We
must
do
better.
Dhhs
is
committed
to
being
a
partner
in
leading
the
needed
change.
We
are
aligned
with
the
youth
advocate
partners,
support
X
and
critics
and
wanting
our
youth
to
stay
in
their
communities
of
origin
and
live
in
family
settings.
Q
To
begin
this
work
I
will
outline
the
current
reality
for
these
priorities
and
how
DHS
needs
your
help
and
to
help
the
entire
community
to
make
this
possible.
First
I
want
to
publicly
thank
the
juvenile
Law
Center
and
the
Youth
fostering
change
and
juveniles
for
justice
groups.
I
want
to
thank
them
for
advocating
for
the
issues
of
congregate
care.
One
of
the
highlights
has
been
meeting
with
the
young
people
and
hearing
specifically
their
perspectives.
Q
The
dialogues
we've
had
as
part
of
these
meetings
has
helped
inform
some
of
the
changes
the
DHHS
has
implemented,
including
changes
that
we
met
plan
to
make
related
to
our
evaluations
of
congregate
care
providers.
I
also
want
to
recognize
the
efforts
of
the
advocates
who've
agreed
to
work,
alongside
in
partnership
at
DHS,
to
develop
a
coalition
to
address
the
issues
that
are
presented
during
this
hearing
today.
Q
1313
Philadelphia
Youth
are
in
congregate,
care
of
this
number
750
youth
715
are
independent,
congregate,
care
and
598
are
in
delinquent
congregate
care.
98%
of
all
youth
in
congregate.
Care
are
in
Pennsylvania
the
tenets
of
improving
outcomes
for
children,
a
model
for
dependent
youth,
identify
that
we
want
for
youth
who
are
all
or
in
all
of
our
systems,
whether
dependent
or
delinquent.
We
want
to
continue
to
decrease,
congregate
care.
Q
We
want
youth
to
live
close
to
home
and
in
family
settings
and
with
kin
since
importance
implementing
improving
outcomes
for
children,
we've
realized
significant
gains
in
the
child
welfare
system.
We've
reduced.
The
number
of
dependent
youth
in
congregate
care
we're
at
an
all-time
low
of
12
percent,
that
is,
a
reduction
from
22
percent
in
2013,
more
dependent,
children
and
youth
are
in
Foster
and
kinship
care
and
live
close
to
home.
76
live
within
10
miles
of
the
home
of
origin,
and
51
percent
lived
within
five
miles.
Q
47%
of
all
dependent
youth
live
with
kin
prior
to
improving
outcomes
for
children.
That
was
32
percent
of
youth.
Similar
gains
have
been
made
in
the
juvenile
justice
system,
where
there
has
been
a
36%
reduction
in
congregate
care
placement
since
2015,
additionally,
through
alternatives
to
placement
and
arrests
like
the
evening
reporting
center
and
the
police
school
diversion
program,
we're
starting
to
make
an
impact
since
the
start
of
the
diversion
program
in
2014,
1,800
youth
have
been
diverted
from
arrest
and
most
have
been
referred
to
our
intensive
prevention
services.
Q
Just
this
year
we
started
including
summary
retail
theft
as
a
category
for
diverting
youth
from
arrests.
We've
heard
testimony
today
from
youth
about
their
in
these
facilities.
We
are
committed
to
improving
the
quality
of
care
and
working
with
our
state
partners,
the
Pennsylvania
Department
of
Human
Services
to
hold
providers
accountable
when
it's
clear
that
services
are
not
meeting
our
standards,
we
close
intake.
We
have
closed
sites
that
we
do
not
believe
serve
the
best
interests
of
our
youth.
Q
However,
we
recognize
that
there
is
a
need
to
in
further
enhance
the
evaluation
process
to
ensure
that
there
is
always
quality
services,
and
to
this
end,
we
are
working
towards
the
development
of
a
more
robust
tool
that
will
incorporate
youths
voice
into
future
assessments.
In
addition,
we're
working
to
expand
service
options,
and
last
year
we
issued
eight
proposals
for
Philadelphia
based
programs
for
some
categories
like
community-based
attention
and
delinquent
group
homes.
There
were
limited
interest
from
providers
to
open
programs
in
Philadelphia.
Q
However,
we
have
been
able
to
open
to
new
dependent
group
homes
and
emergency
shelters
to
better
serve
youth
closer
to
home.
In
addition,
we
secured
funding
to
open
an
additional
evening
reporting
center.
Our
efforts
have
also
focused
on
recruiting
resource
parents
who
are
willing
to
be
foster
care
parents
to
older
youth,
our
vision
and
partnership
with
the
advocacy
community,
youth
and
other
city
departments
is
to
work
to
keep
children
and
youth
in
their
homes
and
in
their
communities.
For
youth
who
need
more
intensive
services.
Q
We
need
to
create
local
options
and
expand
existing
prevent
prevention,
services
and
placement
alternatives.
We
have
a
variety
of
strategies
that
we
plan
to
use
to
achieve
this
goal
and
need
your
help.
We
DHS
plan
to
be
a
system
leader
to
support
the
advocacy
group
and
coalition's
vision
to
decrease
out
of
home
placement.
We
will
continue
to
fund
and
expand
alternatives
to
placement
and
detention,
continue
to
fund
and
support
intensive
prevention
services
and
alternatives
to
arrests.
Dhhs
continues
to
close
programs
that
do
not
meet
our
standards.
Q
We
are
100%
committed
to
do
this
and
stand
by
our
commitment
to
close
intake
for
non-compliance.
We
will
continue
to
issue
request
for
proposals
for
services
in
Philadelphia
County.
We
will
require
that
all
new
sites
selected
for
congregate
care,
coordinate
with
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia
in
partnership
with
Casey
family
programs.
We
were
working
on
the
tool
that
ayran
prior
to
more
effectively
evaluate
the
quality
of
our
services.
We
also
commit
to
continue
to
strengthen
the
existing
partnership
with
the
Department
of
Human
Services
education
support
center
and
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia.
Q
We
believe
it's
better
for
youth
to
remain
in
their
communities.
That's
why
we
believe
DHS
funded
services
like
the
achieving
independence.
Certainty
worked,
ready,
Power,
Core
and
III
are
all
services
that
we
support.
Services
in
the
community
make
it
easier
for
youth
to
stay
in
their
school
of
origin
and
with
fewer
education
disruptions.
Q
The
commitment
to
serve
youth
and
their
communities
of
origin
must
be
a
citywide
priority.
Making
the
school
a
reality
requires
more
resource
pants
willing
to
provide
foster
care
to
older
youth
advocacy
at
a
state
level,
with
the
Pennsylvania
Department
of
Education
and
the
Pennsylvania
Department
of
Human
Services
support
funding
for
potential
pilot
programs
and
make
this
a
part
of
the
needs-based
plan
and
budget
process.
We
need
quality
organizations
to
provide
services
in
Philadelphia.
We
need
the
ability
to
zone
and
license
the
sites,
and
we
need
neighborhoods
willing
to
accept
these
programs.
Q
In
closing
the
next
steps
for
us
is
to
work
with
a
coalition
to
bring
our
youth
safely
home.
We
commit
to
this
work
as
part
of
the
coalition
to
develop
a
comprehensive
plan
to
move
this
work
forward
together.
I
firmly
believe
that,
with
all
the
partners
working
together,
we
can
make
a
difference
in
the
service
delivery
in
the
lives
of
young
people.
I
want
to.
Thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
provide
testimony
today
and
I'll
be
happy
to
answer
questions.
R
Good
afternoon
for
the
record,
I
am
Karen
Lynch
with
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia.
Thank
you
so
much
for
the
opportunity
to
be
here
and
I
join
my
colleague,
Commissioner
Figueroa,
in
extending
to
the
young
people
who
spoke
today
a
sincere
thanks
and
appreciation
for
their
courage,
their
willingness
to
share
intimate
details
and
for
their
perseverance
and
for
what
I
know.
I
heard
your
comments,
particularly
this
is
the
beginning.
This
is
not
the
end.
This
is
where
we
start.
R
This
is
not
where
we're
going
to
end
up
and
I
think
you
Councilwoman
for
reminding
us
all
of
that
message,
because
it's
extremely
important.
Thank
you
for
this
hearing
today
and
the
opportunity
to
talk
about
these
issues
Councilwoman
again
and
with
that
I
will
share
just
a
couple
of
things.
We
support
the
recommendations
that
have
been
made
by
Cynthia
Figueroa
today
in
particular,
we
very
much
support
opportunities
for
children
to
remain
closer
to
home
and,
in
fact,
inside
of
Philadelphia.
R
We
spend
in
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia
a
little
less
than
30
million
dollars
a
year
to
educate
children
who
are
going
to
locations
all
across
this
state,
and
it
is
an
investment
that
we
think
that
if
they
were
closer
to
home,
we'd
be
in
a
much
better
position
to,
and
they
would
be
in
a
much
better
position
to
receive
an
education
that
is
better
than
what
we
think
that
they
are
receiving.
Otherwise
we
particularly
want
to
avoid
silos.
You
talked
about
that
earlier.
We
want
to
be
a
collaborative
organization
that
works
with
others.
R
We
have
found
that
to
be
our
success
in
the
past
and
currently,
and
so
we
are
very,
very
eager.
We
partner
with
DHS
on
good
number
of
services
and
programs
that
are
related
to
ensuring
that
children
receive
much
better
services
than
they
do,
and
we
know
that
that
we
can
do
better.
We
know
that
we
can
make
a
difference.
We
also
collaborate
with
cbh.
My
partner
to
the
left
is
here,
and
we
know
we
have
to
do
better.
R
I
also
wanted
to
share
that.
There
is
an
opportunity
in
this
issue
for
the
state
to
do
much
better
than
what
they
do
right
now.
We
come
from
jurisdiction,
not
very
far
from
here
in
Maryland,
where
the
state
regulates
this
process
much
better
than
is
regulated
here
in
Pennsylvania.
The
state
sets
not
just
licensing
requirements,
but
also
funding
requirements,
salary
required
charges
and
that
state
also
monitors
the
efforts
of
of
providers
of
service
much
more
closely
than
what
is
the
experience
that
we
have
in
Pennsylvania.
R
We
know
that
when
the
state
is
involved,
then
jurisdictions
all
across
the
state
have
a
much
greater
onus
and
there
is
greater
accountability
and
responsiveness
when
we're
talking
about
courses
that
are
offered
the
rates
that
are
charged,
the
conditions
that
exist,
the
way
that
children
are
treated
and
the
experiences
they
have.
So
we
urge
that,
in
your
efforts,
there's
also
consideration
of
increasing
the
importance
with
the
state,
what
role
they
have
and
what
opportunity
they
have.
R
The
young
man
who
spoke
earlier
talked
about
credits
and
transfer
of
credits
and
what
transcripts
look
like
when
they
come
to
us
our
process
in
the
district.
Is
that
there's
any
opportunity
to
include
the
credits?
If
there's
any
opportunity
to
look
at
a
course
title
and
extend
credits,
we
try
and
do
so
too
frequently
we
don't
receive
the
records.
The
courses
are
not
courses
that
are
credit
bearing,
and
we
see
that
the
experiences
that
students
have
is
not
one
where
they
are
taking
the
courses
that
are
at
their
level
or
their
ability.
R
Another
trend
that
we
see
is
that
will
that
students
will
leave
as
general
education
students
and
come
back
as
special
education
students.
We
recognize
that
this
is
because
the
providers
of
service
see
an
opportunity
to
increase
the
rate
of
serving
children,
and
so
when
that
rate
is
higher,
when
the
student
is
special
education
identified
that
rate
that
they
receive
will
be
higher.
R
We
have,
in
the
past
few
years,
increased
our
accountability
to
the
our
portion
of
this
effort,
which
is
primarily
to
pay
for
the
educational
services
for
children
that
we
do
not
place,
and
we
have
done
everything
from
ensuring
that
that
the
cost
that
they
are
charging
are
within
reason
and
more
standardized,
and
not
for
services
that
have
not
been
provided.
We
recognize
that
children
who
are
in
these
facilities
across
the
state
in
instances
can
be
going
to
on-ground
school.
R
In
other
instances,
they
could
be
going
to
a
school
within
their
community
where
they
are
not
familiar
with
anyone,
they
are
their
experience
and
their
backgrounds
are
very,
very
different
than
the
people
that
are
there,
and
it's
not
a
great
opportunity,
so
in
closing
I
would
share
that.
This
is
something
that
we
take
very
very
seriously.
R
F
F
So
the
good
news
I've
heard
is
that
98%
of
our
young
people
are
in
Pennsylvania,
speak
to
me
about
the
difference
between
congregate
placement
and
residential
placement,
and
I
would
ask
only
that.
Keep
your
your
responses
tight,
because
I
have
several
and
I
need
to
be
able
to
punt
the
ball
to
the
chairwoman,
so
she
could
put
it
back.
Okay,.
Q
Q
So,
instead
of
saying
institution
group,
home
emergency
shelter,
we
say
congregate
care
to
to
unit
to
apply,
there's
different
levels
of
care.
That
happened
and
there's
different
things
that
happen
in
those
particular
facilities.
But
it
Congress
is
more
of
a
universal
term
used
for
residential
placement.
Okay,.
F
Relying
on
the
testimony
offered
by
the
young
people
and
actually
looking
back
at
my
own
professional
experience
where,
when
I
work
with
the
city,
I
was
in
the
division
that
was
responsible
for
going
out
and
evaluating
programs
providing
services
to
children,
and
so
with.
With
that
context,
what
type
of
evaluative
evaluation
protocols
procedures
standards
are
in
place
for
anybody
taking
care
of
one
of
our
child
in
congregate
care?
What
are
the
protocols.
Q
So
we
could
send
you,
because
it's
an
exhaustive
list
in
terms
of
the
requirements
and
there's
a
few
different
elements.
This
is
part
of
the
confusion
that
always
the
the
facilities
are
all
licensed
by
the
state,
so
they
are
required
to
meet
3800
regulations
that
in
which
there
are
also
site
visits
and
compliance
that
happens
related
to
that
visit.
Q
Where
we
have
co-funded
programs
with
community
behavioral
health,
we've
actually
moved
to
sharing
some
of
our
work
in
terms
of
providers
so
where
I
would
say
we're
much
better
when
you
asked
earlier
what's
better
now,
what's
better
now
is
that
we
work
in
key
partnership
with
cbh
around
particular
the
the
visitation
and
issues
with
our
congregate,
ment
facilities.
So.
F
What
reflects
you
get
room
when
there
we
hear
of
instances
and
children
being
locked
in
a
solitary
confinement
on
metal
benches,
the?
Where
is
it
that?
Where
is
that
fact
and
reports?
Do
we
get
that
kind
of
information
from
the
state
and
then
what's
the
consequence
of
that
kind
of
treatment
of
young
people.
Q
So
there's
a
lot
of
different
ways
to
answer
this.
One
is
that
we
do
get
information
directly
from
the
providers.
Sometimes
we
don't
get
information
directly
from
the
providers.
There
is
a
requirement
that
the
state
is
to
notify
us
of
things
that
happen
outside
of
Philadelphia
County.
That
may
not
be
brought
to
our
attention.
This
is
another
area
I've
spoken
actually
with
council
looming
them.
Quite
a
bit
about
is
that
a
number
of
the
facilities
that
we
use
are
also
used
by
other
counties.
Q
So
there
could
be
an
incident
that
happens
with
a
child,
that's
not
from
Philadelphia
County,
but
I
would
still
want
to
know
that
incident
a
causative,
the
yes
right
now,
there's
a
delay
in
the
notification
of
a
critical
incident.
We
have
made
it
explicitly
clear
to
our
providers
that
we
expect
to
hear
from
them
directly
and
a
number
of
them
will
provide
us
information
as
it
occurs.
Well
before
we
hear
anything
from
the
state.
We
also
work
with
our
provide
our
advocate
partners.
Q
F
Let's
build
down
what
has
been,
what
are
the
improvements
with
regards
to
the
linkages
between
the
school
district
and
DHS
and,
and
that
goes
to
gee-whiz,
continue
to
strengthen
partnership
with
the
DHHS
education
support
center
and
the
school
district
of
philosophy?
Is
there
an
office?
Is
there
Department?
Are
there
professionals,
specifically
with
the
responsibility
of
tracking
monitoring
everything,
that's
happening
with
DHS,
Children
and
Youth,
so.
Q
Q
They
work
to
help
navigate
the
issues
with
any
children
who
are
in
care
with
one
of
the
improvements
that
we've
made
is
that,
in
terms
of
the
initial
placement,
doing
an
assessment
with
in
partnership
with
the
school
district,
to
determine
how
we
can
maintain
that
child
in
their
school
of
origin
and
if
we
can't
what's
the
planning
for
transportation,
transfer,
etc,
when
we
can
stay
within
the
district
and
we've
been
working
on
improving
the
process
by
which,
when
a
child
is
sent
to
a
placement.
Okay,.
F
So
that
was
not
in
place
two
years
ago,
so
that
is
progress.
Let's
fast
forward,
it's
72
months
from
now
it's
five
years
from
now
Karen
Lynch
has
has
gone
on
to
her
dream
gig
in
Hawaii.
Okay,
what
do
we
have
in
place
that
ensures
that
the
work
that's
been
done
under
dr.
heiss
administration
is
intact
long
after
those
professionals
go
to
Hawaii,
because
this
this
happened
because
of
the
commitment
of
the
current
administration.
R
So
for
the
record,
I
will
share
that.
This
is
my
dream:
job.
Okay,
welcome
and
I
love
Philadelphia,
and
it's
not
in
my
plan
just
yet
to
move
on
to
something
else,
but
in
all
seriousness,
I
think
it's
really
important
for
what
I
call
roads
and
bridges
to
exist.
There
has
to
be
processes
that
are
in
place.
We
talked
about
sharing
information.
We
talked
about
the
processes
that
exist
on
both
sides.
The
education
support
center
is
in
fact,
physically
located.
That
does
not
happen
overnight
and
it
doesn't
happen
easily.
R
It
happens
as
a
result
of
a
process
that
is
including
a
lease
agreement
and
funding
and
funding
and
commitment,
and
even
once
individuals
are
co-located,
it's
absolutely
essential
that
they
are
sharing
the
work,
sharing
the
information
and
focused
on
how
they
are
addressing
the
issues
in
the
of
of
children
that
we
are
serving
in
common.
So
the
short
answer
to
your
question
is
that,
in
order
for
it
to
be
sustainable
over
time,
it's
absolutely
important
to
be
able
to
build
those
roads
and
bridges
and
those
processes
within
our
systems
so
that
they
don't
fall
apart.
Q
F
Q
So
not
knowing
what
particular
we're
talking
about
an
exact
case
to
what,
when
we're
made
aware
of
a
situation,
it
is
required
that
the
staff
member
involved,
who
is
going
to
be
investigated
by
the
Pennsylvania
Department
of
Human
Services,
that
there
is
what's
called
a
plan
of
safety
and
so
that
staff
person
is
supposed
to
be
removed
physically
from
the
physical
plant.
Again.
Q
Q
In
a
number
of
times
there
have
been
positions
taken
in
the
report
that
don't
necessary,
align
with
I
what
what
I
would
like
to
see,
and
so
we
have
told
providers
that
we
refused
to
pay
for
that
staff
person
to
remain
on
our
contract
in
some
instances
we're
the
majority
payor
of
that
provider.
So
that
kind
of
is
a
clear
message.
We,
if
they're,
not
found
indicated
of
child
abuse.
We
can't
tell
somebody
to
fire
that
staff
person,
but
we
can
say
we
will
note
we
will
not
pay
for
them.
A
You
thank
you,
madam
vice
chair,
so
once
again,
I
just
want
to
acknowledge
the
work
that
the
three
of
you
in
particular
have
done:
Commissioner,
Figueroa,
Joan
and
Karin.
Thank
you
very
much
for
the
work
you've
done
on
on
taking
a
look
at
this
issue.
I
just
wanted
to
clarify
for
Commissioner
figure
out.
You
know
just
acknowledge
your
support
in
your
testimony
about
recognizing
how
complicated
this
issue
is.
A
It's
been
going
on
for
a
very
long
time
and
we
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do
along,
not
just
within
the
city
and
or
councils
and/or,
the
advocacy
end,
but
really,
as
that
coalition
to
talk
about
what
it
would
take
to
you
know,
bring
our
kids,
home
and
I.
Think
I
heard
you,
but
I
just
wanted
to
make
it
clear
that
you
have
a
commitment
to
to
creating
that
coalition
of
advocates
and
city
agencies,
and
you
know
potentially
others
to
see
about
what
we
can
do
to
take
a
look
at
those
efforts.
A
Is
that
correct,
yes,
100%
yeah?
Thank
you
very
much.
I
also
wanted
to
thank
both
you
and
Joan
Ernie
on
your
work
in
shortly
after
the
Wordsworth's
situation
and
making
sure
that
you
visited
all
these
residential
treatment
facilities
in
which
our
young
people
are
held
and
I'm
wondering
if
you
can
talk
a
little
bit
about
those
visits.
The
assessments
that
you
seen
and
some
reflections
on
that
and
if,
if
you
could
just
say
your
name
for
the
record,
Johnny.
S
So
my
name
is
Joan
Ernie
and
I'm.
Actually,
the
CEO
of
community
behavioral
health,
not
the
Commissioner,
Commissioner
Jones-
might
take
some
pause
about
that
so
appreciate
being
here
and
just
want
to
echo
the
amazing
voices
of
our
youth,
always
inspire
and
I
think
change.
What
we
do.
Two
things
I
wanted
to
just
highlight.
One
is
that
I
think
you
hear
from
all
of
us
a
real
village
approach
that
it
is.
We
have
all
the
same
commitments
to
bring
young
people
back
closer
to
home.
S
We
have
the
same
commitment
to
make
it
a
safe
and
secure
environment,
to
have
community
options
and
to
have
a
future
and
I
think
those
are
kind
of
systems
goals
that
we
have
really
worked
hard
to
have
a
lot
of
synergy
between
us
and
with
all
our
child
serving
partners.
We
see
our
role
at
times
as
some
of
the
convening
to
bring
folks
together
for
our
young
people
specifically
to
follow
up
on.
You
know
the
tragedy
at
Wordsworth.
S
It
really
does
make
us
all
take
stock
and
councils
request
for
us
to
go
out
to
the
residential
programs.
We
formed
a
multidisciplinary
team.
We
had
young
adults
and
family
members
on
the
team.
They
made
significant
contributions,
things
that
we
would
miss
similar
to
what
you
hear
hear
from
the
young
people.
They
would
say
well
now
what
is
that
exactly
over
there
and
it
turned
out
it
was
a
quiet
room
which
we
don't
permit.
So
I
think
it's
really.
S
You
know
tremendous
and
when
we
do
our
monitoring
trying
to
include
young
adults
and
family
members
who
really
have
a
certain
perspective,
had
really
made
a
difference
for
us.
We
found
that
there,
as
with
most
things
there
were
both
strengths
and
challenges
at
each
of
the
residential
programs.
We
went
to
visit
18
that
were
here
in
the
in
the
state
of
Pennsylvania.
S
We
don't
use
many
out
of
state
resources
anymore,
which
is
positive,
and
most
of
anything
that
we
are
using
at
this
point
is
in
New
Jersey,
so
we
try
to
keep
kids
close
to
home
and
we
had
a
number
of
findings
and
I
think
there
are
things
that
we
are
actively
working
on.
I
think
one
of
the
things
that
we
found
is
Israel
around
workforce
and
we
are
making
I
think
strides
on
trying
to
pull
together
with
our
provider
community
and
our
advocates.
S
What
is
the
workforce
that
we
need
and
how
do
we
make
sure
they
get
trained
adequately
and
really
are
able
to
be
committed
to
public
sector
work?
How
do
we
keep
them
safe
as
that
both
an
employee
and
also
feeling
really
good
about
the
work
and
the
commitment,
so
we
had
some
best
practices
associated
with
that
and
so
we're
doing
a
community
of
practice
session.
We've
done
one
with
agencies,
we're
doing
a
second
and
we're
deep,
diving
into
workforce
and
finances,
etc.
S
S
Look
for
those
red
flags
identify
areas
that
we
might
have
concerns
about
and
then
really
try
to
have
a
plan
going
forward.
We
also
review
young
people
who
are
an
inpatient
or
in
settings
that
we're
not.
You
know
where
we
want
to
move
them
on
and
we're
doing
that
on
a
on
a
regular
basis.
We
also
have
found
that
you
know
we
do
have
to
have
some
attention
to
restraints.
The
wordsworth
death
was
as
a
result
of
a
really
poorly
Institute.
You
know
poorly
enacted
restraint,
and
so
we
have
really
seen
some
promising
work.
S
Our
goal
is
to
have
no
restraints,
so
psychiatric
residential
treatment
facilities
are
a
little
different
than
than
a
general
congregate
care
setting,
because
it
has
some
additional
requirements.
However,
it
is
it.
There
are
also
restraints
that
certainly
happen
there,
and
so
we
embarked
on
a
lot
of
attention,
as
well
as
provided
some
tools
and
some
new
training
opportunities
that
really
are
targeted
to
eliminate
restraints
and
we've
seen
a
pretty
significant
reduction.
S
S
There
is
currently
only
one
program,
that's
in
Philadelphia
since
Wordsworth
closed
and
it
really
treats
a
small
population
of
individuals
who
have
mental
health
and
intellectual
disabilities.
We
issued
an
RFP
request
for
proposal.
We
had
two
organizations
who
applied
for
the
RFP
and
we're
working
through
moving
them
forward.
They
will
develop
two
small
residential
programs
in
Philly,
one
for
nine
boys
and
one
for
nine
girls,
because
that
will
again
help
us
stay
closer
to
home
and
our
our
commitment
is
to
build
a
continue
to
build
more
community
infrastructure.
S
So
that
was
part
of
the
other
lessons
learned
is:
we
can't
have
big
facilities,
we
can't
have
mixed
facilities.
We
need
to
have
our
kids
in
communities
attached
to
the
local
supports
and
schools
and
family
that
they
need,
and
so
we've
built
a
whole
crisis
system
up
to
try
to
respond
differently
to
crisis
ease
and
we're
trying
to
build
more,
both
trauma,
impacted
care,
etc.
So
we
think
we're
making
some
progress
as
a
result
of
that,
but
we
are
not
going
to
let
up
our
attention
to
this.
It's.
A
S
It
was
either
two
or
three
one
of
the
things
we
did
at
each
facility
was.
We
did
review
tapes
if
there
were
tapes
available.
We
review
tapes
of
restraints.
I
know
that
at
least
in
two
instances
we
found
the
tapes.
You
know
indicated
to
us
that
it
was
not
appropriate
restraint,
so
we
did
suspend
and
we
and
that's
a
regular
activity.
If
we
have
a
restraint,
we
do
closed
admissions
until
we
are
able
to
kind
of
see
a
record
talk
to
the
young
person,
talk
to
staff,
etc
and
see
what
really
happened
and.
A
Q
A
Q
Were
based
on
their
quality
and
our
our
feeling
that
the
kids
were
gonna
be
safer
in
areas
that
we
were
you
know
and
in
one
instance,
as
you
know,
we
had
to
make
that
decision
quickly
and
we
had
to
temporarily
bring
the
children
back.
Some
of
them
were
at
the
Juvenile
Justice
facility,
as
we
found
the
appropriate
placements
for
them.
Yeah.
Q
Your
yeah
and
I
just
want
to
highlight
that's
another
one
of
those
circumstances
where
the
facility,
while
we
had
an
opportunity
to
visit
youth
on
a
monthly
basis.
There
were
challenges
happening
in
that
facility
that
the
state
was
aware
of
that.
We
were
not
notified
of
until
things
had
really
gotten
to
a
really
poor
place,
and
then
we
had
and
then
we
were
left
no
choice
but
to
act
in
a
very
expedited
manner
and.
A
Q
We
at
the
time,
because
it
was
CVH
and
DHS-
we
only
inquired
in
terms
of
the
types
of
certainly
we
DHS
doesn't
have
jurisdiction
to
actually
evaluate
the
educational
offerings.
That's
definitely
something
that's
on
the
future
horizon
is
how
do
we
coordinate
those
efforts
differently?
How
do
we
work
with
PDE,
so
we
saw
like
Joan
would
would
tell
you
a
variety,
a
really
tremendous
sort
of
from
district
run,
to
private,
to
some
of
the
examples
that
our
young
people
talked
about
and.
A
Again
for
clarity,
I
think
this
is
an
issue
that
we've
been
you
know
deeply
concerned
about,
but
it's
my
understanding.
The
school
district
philadelphia
does
not
have
oversight
over
the
quality
of
education
of
the
facilities
or
is
able
to
currently
at
this
time,
evaluate
the
educational
program
at
any
of
the
residential
treatment
facilities.
Is
that
correct?
Yes,.
R
A
I
think
we
had
her.
You
know,
as
some
of
us
have
noted,
PDE
only
takes
a
look
at
the
educate.
Pennsylvania
Department
of
Education
only
looks
at
the
educational
programs
once
every
six
years
and
it's
our
understanding
that
they
primarily
look
at
it
in
terms
of
their
ability
to
meet
the
needs
of
students
with
IEP
s,
but
don't
necessarily
evaluate
it
against
the
quality
of
instructions
grade
to
grade
or
standard
to
standard
within
each
school
district
is.
Is
that
correct?
Yes,.
R
A
Think
we
heard
today
miss
Lynch
from
students
like
jihad
and
Lily,
who
talked
about
really
troubling
situations,
including
jihad,
said
he
had
completely
missing
records.
He
had
no
credit
for
work
that
had
been
completed,
Lily
discussing
that
she
spent
months
at
a
facility
in
which
absolutely
no
program
was
given.
What
does
the
school
district
do
when
a
youth
returns
from
placement
to
establish
whether
there
have
been
any
violations
of
the
educational
program
and
needs?
What
what
is
our
capacity
to
do
on
this
end?
Like?
A
R
Yes,
in
fact,
we
have
transitional
services
in
this
next
school
year.
We
are
enhancing
our
transitional
services
so
that
we
can
spend
more
time
with
students
before
they
are
transferred
or
enrolled
in
schools
within
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia.
What
we
find
frequently
is
that
the
records
are
missing,
essential
documents
we
make
calls.
We
make
enquiries,
it's
really
important
for
there
to
be
transcripts
that
include
coursework,
that
is
transferable.
R
The
content
of
the
course
in
the
description
of
the
course
is
frequently
not
there.
So
we
do
make
calls
in
order
to
find
out.
We
send
correspondents
in
order
to
find
out.
We
establish
contacts
at
the
various
locations
in
order
to
find
out
what
was
the
course.
What
was
the
course
offering
and
whether
or
not
we
can
offer
credit
transfer
yep.
A
I
mean
I
think,
as
we
talked
about
doing
this
coalition
and/or
task
force,
whatever
we
want
to
call
it
to
take
a
look
at
the
the
situation
around
the
institutional
placements.
This
is
one
of
the
areas
that
we
want
to
figure
out,
because
in
fact
these
individuals
are
paid
is
that
right?
Are
they
paid
per
diem
by
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia
for
the
educational
program?
Yes,
lunch?
Okay,
so
do
you
know
how
much
we
pay
them
per
diem?
The.
A
A
And
I
know
that
we
have
a
little
bit
of
questions
about
the
exact
amount
of
money.
I
think
there
was
a
back-and-forth
with
the
CFO
about
some
clarity.
The
district's
budget
book,
for
example,
says
78
million
in
institutional
placement.
There's
questions
about
whether
that
does
include
about
25
million.
A
A
S
If
you
can
indulge
me
in
just
one
moment,
I
did
want
to
highlight
something
that
I
think
is
so
positive
and
I.
Think
it's
indicative
of
that
of
the
strong
work
as
a
result
of
some
of
what
we've
done.
The
hi-fi
rap
team,
which
is
over
there
on
the
side,
and
it
includes
a
family
member
and
a
young
person
as
well
as
a
coordinator
and
their
role,
is
to
assist
young
people
to
get
them
in
community,
and
we
decided
to
do
a
little
bit
something
different.
As
a
result
of
our
reviews.
S
We
partnered
with
DHS
to
have
a
child
fine,
so
that
these
are
young
people
who
often
don't
have
anyone.
They
don't
have
a
foster
family
or
no
one
has
been
able
to
find.
So.
Our
team,
along
with
DHS,
really
looks
to
find
an
opportunity
for
people
to
these
young
people
to
come
back
home
and
have
a
life,
and
we've
had
already
one
success
story,
and
so
we're
really
excited
about
the
opportunity
to
really
do
things
differently
and
have
some
great
successes.
Yes,.
A
Thank
you
very
much
one
other
quick
question.
Commissioner
Figueroa,
could
you
clarify
before
when
we,
when
a
councilmember
Reynolds
Brown,
asked
the
question
about
what
what
requirements
of
notice
when
a
child
is,
you
know,
put
in
solitary,
restrained,
injured
anything
like
that.
It's
you
mentioned
that
these
situations
are
self-reported
by
the
agency
to
DHS.
Is
that
correct
poppy?
A
decision
to
this
day?
Yes,.
Q
Q
A
E
For
having
us
here
and
raising
this
important
issue,
but
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
didn't
cite
two
things
number
one.
You
have
the
hardest
job
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia
and
I
recognize
that
mostly
because
I
deal
with
the
criminal
justice
side
of
things
with
my
colleague
but
I
was
educated
by
Ms
gray.
E
We'll
also
educate
all
of
us
in
this
room
that
this
is
the
flipside
of
the
point
that
if
good
things
happen
here,
they're
better
outcomes
going
forward
for
dumb
people.
If
bad
things
happen
here,
there
is
a
predictability
that
there
will
be
bad
outcomes.
I
literally
am
late,
because
I
met
with
a
person,
won't
say
male
female
who
HIPAA
laws,
but
they
were
going
through
those
kinds
of
crisises
and
are
just
now
coming
out
of
that
cloud
to
realize.
Okay,
maybe
I
have
a
shot
at
getting
my
stuff
together.
E
E
A
bunch
of
folks
who
had
no
fun
but
just
wanted
to
do
good
things
for
young
people
in
that
area
and
by
the
way
that
is
not
my
district,
which
is
like
totally
uncharacteristic
for
me,
but
they
were
doing
such
good
things
that
we
went
out
to
take
a
look
at
them
and
now
they
are
a
part
of
the
system
because
they
were
in
fact
penetrating
that
hard
case
issue
in
that
neighborhood.
So
I
want
to
thank
you
and
say
that
there
are
certain
jobs
that
are
indispensable.
E
Heroes
and
she
rose
out
of
it,
but
I
just
want
you
to
know,
at
least
for
me.
Then
I
recognize
the
difficulty
of
your
job
and
thank
God
for
you
when
I
call
when
people
are
in
crisis,
because
all
of
the
elected
officials
swearing
in
in
the
world
does
not
make
me
prepared
to
handle
some
of
the
things
you
add
I'm
saying.
Thank
you
on
a
record.
Thank
you.
Alright.
Thank.
F
Rhetorical
question
it
and
then
a
very
brief
comment:
a
geography
and
logistics
aside
when
it
comes
to
educating
young
people
who
have
these
extraordinary
circumstances.
At
some
point
there
was
a
charter
school
that
captured
young
people
in
that
circumstance,
I
know
that
it
closed
I,
don't
fully
know
why,
but
I
know
it
had
great
value
because
I
visited
it
many
times
to
speak,
to
those
young
people
and
and
the
teachers
they
were
saviors
to
those
kids.
F
And
so
my
rhetorical
question
is:
is
that
financially
it
more
economical
to
place
the
money
there
than
the
31
million
as
being
state?
That's
being
spent
for
students
of
well
that's
across
the
state
and
education?
So
that's
a
think
about
a
question.
Secondly,
meaningful
meeting
safe
is
unproductive
so
to
pull
together.
A
task
force
will
be
important.
My
historical
experience,
having
worked
closely
with
mayor
Street
for
the
Blue
Ribbon
Commission,
we
met
for
a
solid
year.
We
came
up
with
recommendations,
we
put
those
recommendations
in
place
and
then
they
were
executed.
F
So
there
needs
to
be
a
beginning
and
there
needs
to
be
an
end.
That's
attached
to
very
specific
goals
related
to
the
type
of
testimony
we're
hearing
today
to
get
a
report
and
then
places
on
the
shelf
waste
everybody
time
so
I'm
for
meetings,
but
I'm
not
for
meetings
for
meetings
sake.
Thank
you,
madam
chair.
Well,.
A
B
A
O
This
is
it.
Thank
you.
Thank
you
so
much
for
having
me
here
this
afternoon
and
thank
you
so
much
for
this
hearing.
I.
Think
it's
really
important
and
I
want
to
start
off
by
saying
that
we're
not
here
to
point
fingers
we're
here
to
come
to
some
resolution
and
solutions,
and
we've
been
working
with
a
number
of
these
agencies
to
do
just
that.
We
all
have
an
ownership
in
this
and
we
all
want
to
fix
it.
So
I
definitely
want
to
start
off
with
saying
that
I
will
introduce
myself.
O
My
name
is
Kiera
Bradford
gray
and
I
am
the
chief
public
defender
of
the
defender,
Association,
where
we
do
represent
youth
both
on
what
we
were
called
dependency.
Those
are
children
that
have
been
deemed
to
be
abuse
and
neglected.
I
am
here
with
my
remarkable
team
of
lawyers
and
social
workers
from
our
child
advocate
unit
and
I
can
say
this
I'm
here
as
the
face
presenting
this.
O
But
the
work
is
being
done
by
these
professionals,
who
are
committed
every
day,
and
we
do
recognize
that,
while
we're
doing
the
work
that
we
want
to
do
and
that
we
need
to
do,
we
have
further
to
go
and
we're
always
willing
to
make
sure
that
we're
doing
what
we
need
to
do
for
these
young
children
who
are
brave
enough
here
to
talk
about
their
experiences.
I'm
also
here
joined
today
by
my
staff
on
our
delinquent
unit,
and
that
is
mr.
O
While
they
were
in
the
placements,
we
used
to
go
out,
and
actually
we
have
a
contract
with
DHHS,
where
we
they
provide
us
funding
to
go
out
visit
our
children,
while
they're
in
placement.
But
what
we
found
is
that
when
we
go
out
there,
we
ask
them.
How
is
their
experience
they're
really
afraid
to
talk
to
us
while
they're
in
that
placement
for
fear
of
retaliation?
O
So
we
found
it's
a
better
model
to
talk
to
them
once
they're
out,
and
we
will
be
compiling
all
of
that
data
and
bringing
it
to
the
forefront
so
that
we
can
find
out
some.
You
know
solutions
to
some
of
the
glaring
things
that
we've
seen
I'm.
Also
here
with
our
education
specialists,
like
I,
said
one
of
the
things
that
the
defender
Association
lawyers
understand
is
that
we
cannot
do
everything
and
we
don't
know
everything
and
one
of
the
main
drivers
of
our
juvenile
justice
systems.
O
Access
to
our
kids
have
been
special
education
needs,
so
we
did
hire
a
woman.
Catherine
van
Greta's
and
she's
been
amazing
to
our
lawyers
to
understand
what
the
school
district
must
do
before
we
send
kids
to
our
juvenile
justice
system
and
we've
been
instrumental
in
getting
cases
stopped
from
from
criminal
prosecution
and
getting
the
school
to
better
address
those
needs.
We
can
do
it
much
more.
O
Thank
you
so
much
for
that,
because
I'm
very
proud
of
that,
we
can
do
it
much
more,
but
the
more
we
understand
what's
driving
the
behaviors,
the
better
off
we'll
be
in
coming
to
resolutions
and
then,
lastly,
we
have
our
policy.
Analysts,
who's
been
doing
amazing
work
and
she's.
Her
name
is
Leo
lahardee.
She
actually
did
reach
out
to
juvenile
law
Center
to
build
this
coalition
called
closer
to
home
and
Helen.
Give
me
your
office
has
been
involved
in
yours,
too.
O
Councilwoman
Brown
and
we've
been
looking
at
models
of
people
who
had
less
reliance
on
placement.
Now
with
that
said,
I'm
gonna
go
into
just
a
brief,
PowerPoint
demonstration,
just
to
kind
of
illustrate
some
of
the
information
that
we
provided
in
our
written
testimony.
This
just
talks
about
how
many
children
we
represents,
so
we
really
have
an
understanding
of
a
vast
majority
of
our
youth
as
to
what
their
issues
are
related
to
coming
into
our
systems
and
what
their
needs
are.
O
Unfortunately,
some
of
our
resources
do
not
fit
the
needs,
especially
as
it
relates
to
our
young
girls.
You
can
flip
to
the
next
one
now
before
I
show
this.
This
is
kind
of
illustrative
of
the
point
that
we'll
be
talking
about
using
placement.
We
need
to
when
I
hear
that
we're
looking
at
compliance.
It's
not
just
compliance.
We
need
to
be
worried
about.
We
need
to
be
worried
about
culture.
O
Now
before
I
show
this
video
I
want
to
give
anyone
in
the
audience
an
opportunity
to
leave.
If
you
want,
there
are
going
to
be
some
disturbing
visuals
in
this
video.
The
faces
are
blacked
out,
so
we
can't
tell
who
they
are.
We've
gotten
written
and
expressed
permission
from
our
client
to
show
this
video
the
the
this
is
going
to
feature
what
happened
in
a
situation
in
a
case
where
we
had
where
it
was
recommended
that
a
child
of
ours
go
to
placement
because
of
mental
health
needs
once
they
got
there.
O
There
were
some
issues
related
to
the
interaction
with
the
staff,
the
interaction
the
staff
had
some
physical
ways
of
dealing
with
our
child
and
our
child
was
actually
arrested
and
put
into
adult
custody
for
and
sat
in
adult
custody
for
about
two
months
until
Elin
Sapir
was
able
to
get
the
video
show
that
it
wasn't
our
child
that
actually
was
aggressive
toward
the
staff.
She
gave
the
video
to
our
DHS
partners
and
DHS
reached
out
to
the
district
attorney
in
Pike
County,
where
all
charges
were
dropped.
O
Unfortunately,
at
the
time
that
the
the
case
went
to
court,
our
child
was
now
considered
an
adult
in
sat
in
adult
prison
which
had
a
lot
of
psychological
trauma
on
him.
So
this
is
a
state
facility.
It
is
not
a
local
facility,
but
if
anyone
would
like
to
leave
I'll
give
you
an
opportunity
now.
Otherwise
we're
going
to
show
the
video.
A
O
A
O
O
So
when
we're
talking
about
looking
at
placements,
we're
not
just
talking
about
it
from
taking
our
kids
away
from
their
homes,
we're
talking
about
it
from
an
area
of
respect
and
dignity
that
we
should
have
for
our
kids
and
understanding
that
they
are
kids
who
are
very
impressionable
and
whose
trauma
exacerbates
with
some
of
these
issues.
So
without
being
able
to
see
this,
we
would
have
accepted
the
version
that
our
kid
was,
the
one
that
took
an
aggressive
posture.
Our
kid
was
the
one
that
escalated
the
situation.
O
Our
kid
was
the
one
that
needed
to
be
arrested
and
placed
in
in
in
handcuffs
and
sent
to
court
and
I'm
glad
that
DHS
helped
us
get
that
reversed.
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
didn't
say,
or
talk
about
the
fact
that
just
yesterday,
I
received
a
call
from
Carson
Valley
and
the
judge
out
there
who
said
that
10
of
our
youth
that
were
placed
in
Carson
Valley
were
now
arrested
for
issues
or
challenges.
That
related
that
were
that
were
in
that
that
facility,
where
people
were
acting
rowdy
and
some
were
fighting
our
children.
O
The
Philadelphia
kids
were
actually
arrested,
so
sometimes
we're
sending
these
kids
to
facilities
because
they
have
dependent
needs
and
they're
coming
out
with
criminal
convictions,
and
these
are
the
things
that
we
do
not
want.
These
are
the
things
that
the
defender
Association
works
hard
to
to
avoid,
but
unfortunately
these
are
now
in
another
County
I
used
to
be
the
chief
defender
of
Montgomery,
County
and
I
can
tell
you.
Montgomery
County
does
not
send
its
kids
to
Carson
Valley,
because
there
is
an
influx
of
Philadelphia
kids
there.
O
O
We
would
have
a
zero-tolerance
for
them,
so
people
know
that
we
are
using
these
these
outside
of
our
County,
and
they
are
looking
at
our
kids
as
if
they
are
different
and
they
are
actually
overly
policing
them,
overly
critical
of
what
they're
going
through
and,
in
fact,
exacerbating
their
trauma
once
again.
So
this
is
this
is
what
I
was
I
wanted
to
bring
to
the
forefront
of
this
hearing,
and
it's
a
real
urgent
need
to
rely
less
on
these
placements
and
build
up
community
resources.
O
Now,
one
of
the
things
that
we
didn't
talk
about
a
lot
is
race
and
who's
in
these
facilities,
who's
in
our
system
and,
as
you
see,
73%
of
the
killed
of
the
children
and
our
juvenile
justice
system
or
black,
that
is
glaring
and
I
think
that's
worthy
to
be
said.
As
we're
talking
about
race
in
our
country
and
issues
related
to
how
we
treat
people
of
color.
O
We
know
that
their
african-american
kids
are
coming
into
our
system
and
they're
only
getting
even
more
stereotyped
by
the
fact
that
they
are
now
a
delinquent
kid
or
if
they
go
to
to
a
dependent
facility,
they
may
come
out
a
delinquent
kid.
16
percent
are
Hispanic
and
11
percent
are
white,
so
this
is
glaring
when
we're
talking
about
our
youth
than
their
opportunities
to
prosper
and
we're
looking
at
the
disparities
and
who
is
prospering
and
who
is
not.
O
Some
of
the
more
recent
studies
that
have
come
out
in
terms
of
looking
at
school
discipline
shows
that
young
African
American
kids
are
discipline
at
a
rate
of
almost
eight
times
more
than
their
white
counterparts.
I
can
tell
you,
as
a
person
has,
that
has
been
privileged
to
send
my
children
to
private
schools.
I
see
the
difference
in
the
way
that
children
are
disciplined
and
I
see
the
difference
between
the
way
that
children
are
even
related
or
referred
to
the
juvenile
justice
system.
O
If
I
were
a
kid
growing
up
in
this
day
and
age,
I,
don't
think
I'd
be
able
to
become
a
lawyer
based
on
some
of
the
Disciplinary
practices
that
we
have
here
and
the
labeling
as
a
result
of
that,
one
of
our
areas
of
main
concern
for
the
defender
Association
is
to
look
at
and
understand
the
effects
that
policemen
have
on
our
youth
to
turn.
We
want
to
understand
what
are
the
resident
residential
placements
and
what
do
they
use
for
and
some
of
our
you
know.
O
Our
judges
make
determinations
to
place
our
youth
based
on
what
we
would
call
a
a
referral
process
through
a
mental
health,
social
cycle
cycle,
psychiatric
evaluation
and
sometimes
the
psychiatric
evaluation
labels,
our
kids
differently
than
what
we
see
in
terms
of
their
life
experience.
For
instance,
we
have
seen
children
that
have
been
mirrored
with
abuse
and
trauma,
but
then
would
be
labeled
as
oppositional
e
defiant
disorder
as
well
as
ADHD.
These
things
set
off
the
course
for
treatment
I
recently
raised
with
some
of
our
treatment
providers.
Why
aren't
there?
O
The
defender
association
off
also
has
partnered
with
the
University
of
Pennsylvania
so
that
we
can
start
looking
at
these
evaluations
and
making
recommendations
for
community-based
options,
and
so
this
is
something
that
has
been
a
really
big
game.
Changer
in
the
way
we
advocate
for
our
children
before
we
had
hadn't
had
the
wherewithal
their
experience
to
refute
some
of
the
evaluations
or
the
diagnosis
that
have
been
given.
O
But
now
we
have
what
we
call
our
own
in-house
experts
that
are
allowing
us
to
understand
that,
based
on
the
information,
that's
in
the
report,
a
diagnosing
diagnosis
of
oppositional
defiant
disorder
is
not
warranted
in
this
in
this
particular
case,
and
we're
able
to
bring
that
information
to
the
courts
as
well
as
DHHS
as
well
as
community
behavioral
health.
So
we
can
have
a
different
plan
of
treatment,
one
where
the
kid
will
actually
get
the
if
we
get
the
rehabilitation
that
addresses
their
needs
before
it.
Another
area
of
concern
is
the
rising.
O
The
rise
of
young
women
in
our
juvenile
justice
system
and
the
lack
of
resources
that
we
have
to
deal
with
their
issues.
If
you
look
at
this
map,
this
is
these
are
the
placements
by
gender
across
the
states
and,
as
you
see,
the
square
equals
they're
the
placements
that
are
strictly
for
women
there's
only
one
in
the
state
and
the
circle
is,
are
those
four
that
are
strictly
for
males
and
then
the
shaded
and
triangle
are
those
that
are
that.
O
We
have
sent
girls
as
far
as
New
Mexico
and
and
when
we
had
a
young
girl
that
was
in
New
Mexico
and
she
was
really
having
a
hard
time
adjusting
and
she
needed
hospitalization
and
so
New
Mexico
took
her
to
Las
Vegas
to
be
hospitalized,
and
these
are
the
types
of
things
that
our
kids
are
seeing
all
the
time.
We
really
need
to
focus
on
our
girls
and
what
we
need
to
do
even
in
our
communities,
for
those
that
are
not
even
in
placement,
but
those
are
on
probation.
We
don't
have
a
lot
of
resources.
O
F
Your
testimony
is
very
very
consistent
with
the
testimony
that
was
presented
by
our
district
attorney,
underscoring
than
the
lack
of
programming
for
girls.
We
don't
even
have
a
sense
of
what's
out
there
for
girls,
so
we've
my
staff
and
I
have
already
introduced
a
resolution
calling
for
hearing
to
let's
get
a
finger
on
the
pulse
of
what
exists
what's
in
the
universe
and
that
that
guide
us
on
what
we
need
to
do.
More
of
so
you're
a
testimony
for
only
punctuation
what
he
stated
on
the
record
as
well.
Thank.
O
You
so
much
for
that.
Thank
you.
Our
lawyers
and
our
social
workers
look
in
that
in
our
community
and
I
will
tell
you.
The
resources
are
very
limited,
so
I
appreciate
the
fact
that
you
have
your
finger
on
that
pulse.
We
really
need
more
opportunities
for
girls
to
stay
in
their
communities
and
get
what
they
need.
O
Again,
I
talked
about
some
of
the
assumptions
that
of
why
kids
are
going
into
placement.
Thirty
percent
of
the
people
or
the
children
that
the
defender
Association
represents,
go
to
go
to
placement
for
truancy
purposes
and,
as
we've
heard
time
and
time
again,
that
they
go
to
placement
because
they're
not
going
to
school
or
they're,
not
doing
well
in
school,
and
they
go
to
these
placements
and
they're,
really
not
getting
the
education
that
they
need.
O
O
You
said
the
meetings
into
a
plan
of
action
as
to
how
we're
actually
going
to
attack
this,
but
it
is
something
that
stone
leaf
foundation
had
done
an
extensive
recess
of
research
on
and
really
found
that
many
of
these
placements
were
not
meeting
the
educational
needs
of
our
kids.
If
you
go
there
and
you
actually
see
the
areas
that's
designated
for
learning.
O
Most
of
them
are
sitting
by
themselves
to
do
packets,
or
some
of
them
are
looking
on
the
computer
without
instruction,
if
you
actually
go
and
see
it,
and
it's
something
that
is
an
eye-opener
and
I,
think
that
we're
all
willing
to
address
that
and
I
hope
to
be
a
part
of
that
movement
coming
soon.
Other
reasons
why
that
we
place
kids
are
because
of
their
mental
health
needs.
But,
as
we
just
learned
through
a
hearing
we
had
called
closer
to
home
is
that
New
York
has
stopped
relying
on
placements
to
deal
with
mental
health
needs.
O
So
with
that
I
will
end
my
segment
and
I.
Think
some
of
the
possible
solutions
is
to,
of
course,
bring
our
youth
that
are
in
faraway
residential
placements
back
to
Philadelphia.
We
have
to
build
our
understanding
of
our
needs
here.
I
think
we're
all
in
agreement
that
sending
them
away
far
away.
Is
it
serving
no
purpose?
O
And
then
we
cannot
understand
what's
going
on
in
that
culture
and
environment
that
may
be
different
than
Philadelphia,
they
are
looking
there
they're
being
met
with
people
who
don't
look
like
them,
who
don't
understand
some
of
their
cultural
environment
and
backgrounds.
So
these
things
are
really
not
making
for
the
best
opportunities
for
rehabilitation
and
we're
going
to
be
working
collaboratively
stakeholders
to
assess
these
things,
the
compliance
standards
that
we
use.
O
We
need
to
to
look
at
culture
and
environment
as
well,
and
not
to
think
that
just
some
kind
of
you
know
checkmarks
on
a
paper
will
do
it,
but
also
understanding
what
type
of
culture
and
environment
should
our
kids
be
in
and
working
with
these
placements
to
understand.
Diversity
needs
diversity.
Inclusion
needs,
as
you
saw
in
that
video,
there
were
no
diverse
staff.
None
and
I
know
when
I
was
a
young
practitioner
and
I
went
into
these
placements
to
see
reviews
I
often
saw
kids
getting
what
they
call
disciplinary
infractions
for
listening
to
rap
music.
O
These
are
things
that
would
protect
on
months
in
their
placement
because
they
were
listening
to
rap
music
when
they
were
told
they
could
not.
You
know
you
can't
strip
away
someone's
culture.
You
can
only
talk
about
them
about
the
healthiness
of
what
they're
listening
to,
but
also
kind
of
give
some
feedback
and
understanding
of
why
this
is
a
part
of
their
culture.
I
myself
do
listen
to
rap
music
and
I,
don't
feel
like
it's
something
that
can
be
stripped
away,
but
it's
something
that
should
be
discussed
in
a
healthy
way.
O
A
Our
next
two
witnesses
and
then
we'll
have
a
brief
round
of
questions
and
then,
but
in
the
interest
of
time,
and
because
we
have
our,
you
know
a
wonderful
stenographer
who
actually
does
need
a
break.
We're
gonna
have
to
limit
testimony
to
four
minutes.
A
piece
is
that
okay
and
that
we
have
written
testimony
also
for
the
audience
members
who
are
here
if
you'd
like
to
pick
up
any
of
the
written
testimony,
including
the
testimony
of
the
young
people
who
spoke
earlier.
A
P
You
so
much
Councilwoman
Kim.
Thank
you
for
this
opportunity
to
address
City
Council
and
the
committee
regarding
the
impact
of
residential
placement
on
the
education
of
children
and
youth
in
foster
care
and
the
juvenile
justice
system.
My
name
is
Maura
McInerney
and
I'm.
The
legal
director
at
the
education
law
center,
a
statewide
nonprofit
legal
organization
dedicated
to
ensuring
that
all
Pennsylvania's
children
have
access
to
a
quality
public
education.
We
represent
the
most
educationally
at-risk
children,
those
living
in
poverty,
children
of
color,
English,
learners,
children
with
disabilities,
etc.
P
Over
our
45-year
history,
ELC
has
handled
hundreds
of
individual
and
impact
cases
on
behalf
of
children
in
foster
care
and
the
juvenile
justice
system.
My
testimony
today
stems
from
Elsie's
years
of
experience
in
addressing
the
educational
needs
of
children
and
youth
in
residential
placement.
Our
clients
stories
are
heartbreaking.
We've
been
fortunate
to
intervene
in
many
cases,
but
too
often,
youth
returning
from
and
in
placement
find
themselves
far
behind
their
peers.
They
give
up
and
drop
out
of
school.
It's
a
loss
that
follows
them
for
the
rest
of
their
lives.
P
Children
who
our
system
involved
are
among
the
most
educationally
at-risk
of
all
student
popular.
They
graduate
at
lower
rates
score
lower
on
standardized
tests,
have
higher
rates
of
special
education
eligibility
and
are
more
likely
to
repeat
a
grade
in
Philadelphia.
Half
of
youth
in
foster
care
and
65%
of
youth
in
the
juvenile
justice
system
do
not
graduate
from
high
school.
However,
children
and
youth
placed
in
residential
placements
are
at
even
higher
risk
of
school
failure
and
are
more
likely
to
drop
out,
and
the
reasons
for
this
are
very
clear.
P
First
children
in
residential
settings
are
required
to
change
schools
they're
often
placed
far
away
from
their
families
and
their
communities,
and
this
educational
disruption
undermines
any
academic
progress.
A
student
loses
four
to
six
months
of
Educational
Progress
with
every
school
move.
In
contrast,
you
are
50%
more
likely
to
graduate
if
you
stay
in
the
same
school,
children
in
residential
care,
more
often
attend
one
or
more
different
placements,
and
they
don't
have
the
option
to
remain
in
the
same
school.
Second,
children
and
institutional
placements
commonly
attend
on
ground
schools
rather
than
local
public
schools
on
ground.
P
Schools
are
predominantly
private.
Academic
schools:
they
exist
largely
in
the
shadows,
with
little
oversight
of
any
local
Education,
Agency
or
the
state.
Pursuant
to
state
policy.
These
programs
are
subject
to
on-site
monitoring
only
once
every
six
years,
only
with
regard
to
students
with
disabilities,
they
have
wide
discretion
and
educational
programming
they're
not
required
to
follow
the
same
rigorous
or
curriculum
requirements
or
academic
standards
of
public
schools.
So
students
attending
on-ground
schools
are
taught
in
multiple
grade
classrooms,
sometimes
with
uncertified
or
improperly
certified
teachers
who
are,
and
they
frequently
receive
below
grade
level.
P
Coursework
52%
of
child
welfare
providers
report
that
the
curriculum
at
on
ground
school
is
far
below
grade
level.
It's
often
limited
in
instruction
hours,
resize
heavily
on
worksheets
and
fails
to
advance
any
basic
skills.
In
some
cases,
students
receive
no
education
at
all
or
they
spend
their
days
completing
worksheets
or
they
engage
exclusively
in
credit
recovery
programs.
They
receive
minimal
or
no
live
instruction.
In
addition,
upon
entering
these
schools,
they're
rarely
evaluated.
P
Moreover,
the
culture
that
exists
in
institutional
placements
undermines
a
child's
ability
to
learn.
How
can
a
child
learn
if
they
are
subject
to
fear?
Intimidation
restraints,
physical
and
emotional
abuse,
obviously
they're
going
to
struggle
in
school
many
parents
and
education
decision-makers
are
never
apprised
of
a
child's
legal
right
to
attend
a
local
public
school
and
in
many
cases,
judge
judges
are
placing
students
and
on-ground
schools,
specifically
under
a
misguided
attempt
to
solve
a
truancy
problem.
P
Instead,
children
with
the
history
of
absenteeism
find
themselves
farther
and
farther
behind
they
when
they
return
to
their
neighborhood
schools,
and
they
are
more
likely
to
drop
out.
Third
students
with
disabilities
are
more
likely
to
be
placed
in
residential
facilities,
and
these
are
particularly
harming
to
these
children.
Cyber
school
does
not
differentiate
instruction.
They
are
in
credit,
recovery
programs
or
one-size-fits-all
program
that
will
not
work
for
them.
P
The
problems
are
myriad
from
not
obtaining
a
child's
IEP
to
failing
to
do
an
appropriate
and
timely
evaluation
or
progress,
monitoring,
failure
of
school
staff
to
differentiate
instruction
failure
to
implement
an
IEP
and
providing
no
related
services.
Students
with
disabilities
are
denied
a
free,
appropriate
public
education
to
which
they
are
entitled
and
they're,
never
educated
in
the
least
restrictive
environment
with
non-disabled
peers.
P
Finally,
when
youth
returned
from
residential
placements,
they
find
themselves
through
no
fault
of
their
own,
far
below
grade
level,
having
few
credits
and
having
made
little
progress,
because
private
academic
schools
are
not
obligated
to
meet
the
same
educational
standards.
The
courses
a
youth
takes
will
not
align
with
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia,
to
which
they
return.
The
courses
they've
had
in
residential
schools
may
be
electives,
and
they
will
not
count
to
our
graduation.
P
A
few
on-ground
schools
do
not
even
provide
credit
bearing
courses
at
all,
guaranteeing
that
a
student
already
behind
academically
will
not
be
able
to
graduate
with
their
peers.
In
an
our
survey.
85%
of
youth
and
50%
of
child
welfare
professionals
reported
difficulties,
transferring
credits
at
all
to
public
school.
In
addition,
upon
their
return,
the
school
district
Philadelphia
many
of
our
clients
experienced
delays
of
days
or
weeks
in
being
placed
in
an
appropriate
classroom
or
approved
private
school.
In
summary,
we
know
that
placing
children
and
youth
in
institutional
placements
will
harm
them.
P
Academically
emotionally
and
sometimes
even
physically
institutional
placements
are
highly
restrictive.
They
undermine
academic
progress
and
they
set
our
most
vulnerable
youth
on
a
path
to
homelessness
and
unemployment,
and
all
of
this
occurs
with
no
oversight
of
children
who
are
far
away
from
families
and
communities.
Our
children
must
be
safe,
healthy
and
receive
all
services
to
which
they
are
legally
entitled,
including
a
quality
education.
P
We
urge
City
Council
to
devote
the
resources
that
are
necessary
to
end
the
segregation
and
isolation
of
our
youth
and
institutional
placements
and
to
build
community
based
trauma-informed
mental
health
and
educational
services
in
our
city
that
will
keep
our
children
close
to
home
with
the
educational
opportunities
and
the
stability
that
they
desperately
need
and
deserve
to
succeed
in
life.
Thank
you
thank.
A
T
Thank
You
councilmember,
Kim,
councilmember,
quinones,
Sanchez
and
committee
members.
My
name
is
Gabe
LaBella
and
I'm,
a
staff
attorney
at
Disability
Rights
Pennsylvania.
We
are
the
independent
statewide
nonprofit
corporation
designated
as
the
federally
mandated
protection
and
advocacy
agency
in
Pennsylvania
DRP
works
to
advance
and
protect
the
civil
rights
of
adults
and
children
with
disabilities.
T
Each
year
hundreds
of
Philadelphia
children
with
disabilities
are
removed
from
their
communities
and
isolated
from
their
families
in
distant
institutional
placements
for
long
periods
of
time,
with
some
even
placed
out
of
state
severing
connections
that
family
to
community,
where
the
youth
will
return.
I
am
here
to
ask
that
you
proactively
support
efforts
to
bring
our
children
home
when
a
child
is
adjudicated
as
the
pendent
in
Pennsylvania,
the
Commonwealth
for
DHS
office
of
Children,
Youth
and
Families,
and
the
child
welfare
program
in
each
of
the
counties
is
responsible
for
stability,
permanency
and
meeting
the
children's
needs.
T
According
to
the
American
Academy
of
Pediatrics,
nearly
one-third
of
children
coming
into
care
have
chronic
medical
conditions
and
many
more
have
mental
and
behavioral
health
needs.
Many
dependent
children
have
post-traumatic
stress,
disorder
or
other
mental
health
disabilities
due
to
abuse
they
suffered
in
childhood,
others
have
existing
or
developing
mental
health
conditions
that
are
exacerbated
by
abuse,
neglect
or
the
conditions
of
their
lives
in
the
dependency
system.
Still
others
have
physical
or
cognitive
disabilities
that
their
parents
have
found
too
overwhelming
to
deal
with
for
these
children.
T
The
child
welfare
system,
in
conjunction
with
a
medical
assistance
system,
is
responsible
for
providing
trauma-informed
mental
healthcare
and
other
community-based
mental
health
and
physical
health
services
to
preserve
or
reunify
children
and
their
families.
When
that
is
not
possible,
the
child
welfare
system
must
provide
appropriate
homes,
including
therapeutic
medical,
foster
homes
and
residential
treatment.
Yet
for
hundreds
of
these
children
with
disabilities
a
safe
home
with
the
parental
relationship,
inadequate
health
care
is
a
distant
dream
due
to
an
inadequate
array
of
appropriate
services
and
placements
children
and
youth
are
caught
in
a
vicious
cycle.
T
Children
are
left
in
residential
treatment
facilities
far
beyond
the
point
that
such
services
are
needed
or
beneficial,
because
there
is
nowhere
else
for
them
to
go.
The
children
who
actually
need
time-limited
RTF
placements
are
then
left
in
inpatient,
acute
care
units,
detention,
centers
or
sent
to
facilities
far
away
from
their
families
and
communities,
because
the
rtfs
have
no
beds
for
them
or
do
not
want
to
serve
their
complicated
needs.
Here's
a
story
about
a
young
woman,
Chabon
15
years
old
from
Philadelphia.
T
She
has
bipolar
disorder,
PTSD
and
ADHD
with
the
history
of
hospitalization
for
attempted
suicide.
Shabam
was
sexually
abused
at
the
age
of
five
and
was
adjudicated
dependent
in
2012.
At
the
age
of
ten
in
2016,
she
was
adjudicated
delinquent
on
a
simple
assault,
assault
charge
and
was
placed
that
did
juvenile
justice
service
center
in
March
2017.
At
that
time,
the
psychiatrist
recommended
that
she
be
placed
that
at
RT
F
and
received
trauma
therapy.
T
She
was
needlessly
locked
in
juvenile
detention
center
for
nine
months,
a
place
designed
for
youth
to
stay
an
average
of
10
to
15
days.
She
was
there
while
waiting
for
an
appropriate
placement
and
services.
Eventually,
Siobhan
was
sent
to
an
RTF
in
Virginia,
because
no
one
else
will
accept
her
in
Pennsylvania.
Similarly,
children
with
mental
health
disabilities
that
result
in
acting
out
behavior
are
often
ordered
into
punitive
placements
through
the
delinquency
court.
T
This
is
not
because
that
is
what
is
recommended
by
the
experts
and
not
because
it
is
what
the
judges
deem
appropriate,
but
because
there
are
no
other
options
available,
rather
than
getting
the
trauma-informed
care
that
they
need.
They
re
traumatized,
resulting
in
more
acting
out
behavior,
leading
team
and
worse
placements,
such
as
adult
prisons.
Right
now,
DRP
believes
there
are
more
I
can
skip
that.
Actually,
we've
had
the
data
and
I'm
almost
done.
T
The
RP
urges
city
council
to
support
a
plan
to
obtain
community
resources
that
our
children
need
to
significantly
reduce
the
population
in
residential
placements
and
to
reinvest
funds
in
community
based
trauma-informed
services,
and
pro
city
council
must
take
an
in-depth
inventory
of
the
needs
of
all
Philadelphia
children
who
are
currently
placed
in
institutional
or
residential
settings.
We
ask
that
you
call
for
a
citywide
task
force
of
stakeholders
to
address
this.
T
A
O
On
the
proactiveness
of
our
staff,
miss
Ellen
sapper
sitting
here
had
created
and
went
to
the
judge
to
get
an
order
that
whenever
there
are
restraints,
we
receive
notification
and
the
video.
So
we
often
do
get
that
information
relatively
soon
and
so
I'm
really
thankful
to
the
work
that
she
did
with
the
courts.
To
make
that
happen
and.
A
You
know
many
of
the
youth,
as
we
heard
earlier
are
struggling
or
behind
in
school.
You
know
really
need
assistance
in
receiving
their
diplomas
or
GEDs,
while
in
placement
do
these
placements
help
them
meet
their
educational
needs,
miss
McInerney.
What
would
I
think
your
testimony
is
pretty
compelling
around
those
concerns?
No.
P
They
do
not,
in
fact
some
of
them
are
not
equipped
to
assist
the
students
in
doing
that.
Unfortunately,
and
the
problem
is
that
we're
not
paying
any
attention
to
the
quality
of
the
education
when
a
child
is
placed
there,
the
court
should
be
considering
at
GHS
should
be
considering
it.
It
has
to
be
a
factor
when
we
decide
whether
or
not
to
place
a
child
in
a
particular
facility,
and
it
should
be
a
part
of
the
provider
contracts
as
well
to
ensure
that
a
child
can
read.
Sivan
will
receive
quality
education,
but.
P
A
P
County,
a
survey
that
we
did
statewide
through
the
office
of
children
and
youth,
as
well
as
a
survey
that
was
done
with
the
support
of
the
stone
leaf
foundation.
The
majority
of
students
are
attending
on-ground
schools
and
are
not
attending
the
local
public
school.
The
percentage
is
currently
unknown,
but
before
it
was
around
80
percent
that
we're
attending
the
on-ground
school
so.
A
A
O
You
for
asking
that
question
that
was
actually
something
what
we
provided
in
our
written
testimony.
The
there
are
not
many
facilities
that
can
take
information
or
or
or
support
the
needs
of
our
LGBTQ
population,
and
so
that
is
one
of
the
areas
that
we
are
really
lacking
in
and
understanding
for
their
needs
for
their
specific
rehabilitation
treatments.
I
would
say
that
there's
almost
I
don't
know
the
percentage,
but
I
can
tell
you
that
it
is
very
abysmal
if
we
start
to
look
at
those
populations
and
are
these
residential
treatments
meeting
their
needs
and.
A
P
P
However,
we
also
need
to
look
at
the
responsibilities
of
the
Department
of
DHHS
in
terms
of
placing
publicly
placed
children
there,
because
we're
certainly
responsible
for
the
welfare
of
those
children,
and
this
is
one
of
the
issues
that
must
be
taken
into
into
account
in
determining
where
a
child
is
placed
and
what
3,800
licenses
will
be
provided
to
these
facilities.
There's
not
enough
coordination.
P
O
May
I
just
also
bring
up
a
quick,
quick
point
of
reference
on
the
LGBTQ
population.
Some
of
the
foster
homes
and
group
homes
in
Philadelphia
are
commonly
rejecting
these
youth
because
of
their
status
of
LGBTQ
and
often
we
are
forced
to
send
these
youth,
who
have
misdemeanor
cases
very
minor
offenses
to
residential
placements
across
the
state.
So
I
don't
know
what
we
need
to
do,
but
if
we
are
contracting
with
group
homes
and
foster
homes
locally,
I
think
that
we
need
to
look
at
whether
or
not
they
are
practicing
discriminatory
practices
based
on
their
identities.
A
I
guess
the
last
question
I
have
would
be
for
the
Commissioner
I
know
that
Commissioner
Figueroa,
perhaps
if
you
could
come
up
and
maybe
answer
the
final
question,
which
is
you
know,
obviously
I
miss
Bradford
Gary,
showed
a
very
disturbing
video.
I
know
that
myself
and
my
colleagues
and
I'm
sure
many
of
people
in
the
audience
who
saw
it
were
deeply
troubled
by
it.
Are
we
aware
of
whether
we
still
contract
with
this
with
this
agency
and
whether
we're
still
sending
students
there
so.
A
Q
Q
A
Right,
thank
you
very
much.
Thank
you
all
for
your
wonderful
panel.
We
do
have
to
take
a
break
because
our
stenographer
is
fabulous
and
wonderful
and
she
needs
a
ten-minute
break.
So
we're
going
to
reconvene.
We
still
have
two
more
really
great
panels
that
are
coming
up
with
some
really
powerful
testimony.
So
I
hope
folks
can
come
back
for
the
rest
of
that.
Thank
you.
A
First
of
all,
thank
you
so
much
for
your
patience
and
presence.
Today
we
really
appreciate
you
and
thank
you
for
your
patience
in
this
time
very,
but
this
is
such
an
important
issue
and
we
wanted
to
give
the
young
people
especially
the
time
that
they
needed
to
to
spend
on
this
issue.
So
thank
you,
representative.
Brown.
Welcome,
thanks
for
coming
and
visiting
and
spending
time
with
us
today
here
in
City
Council.
A
G
Are
we
going
okay,
well
you're,
welcome
and
thank
you
so
much,
madam
again,
as
as
Councilwoman
rondell
Reynolds
Brown
has
said,
we
cannot
operate
in
silos
and
that's
just
not
exclusive
of
our
departments,
but
also
a
state
government
and
city
government
working
together.
So
thank
you
for
those
kind
of
remarks.
G
I
actually
I
just
came
down
here
today
to
listen
and
hear
the
testimony
regarding
our
children
and
the
placement,
but
after
hearing
I
decided
it
I
would
like
to
share
some
of
my
experiences
of
helping
to
advocate
for
the
children
of
the
190th
district
in
Western
North
Philadelphia
several
times
in
our
district
office
on
52nd
Street.
We
get
calls
from
family
members
asking
for
assistance
and
I
just
like
to
share
some
of
the
incidences
that
I've
been
actually
an
active
advocate,
not
only
a
representative
but
an
advocate
in
helping
to
bring
some
resolution.
G
But
then,
when
I
sit
with
the
state,
the
state
says
the
city
has
all
of
the
responsibility,
and
it
goes
back
and
forth
and
I'm
here
to
say
that
that
has
to
stop,
because
the
only
person
who's
suffering
in
the
end
is
our
children
and
to
have
a
child.
Who
is
the
responsibility
of
both
city
and
state,
lose
their
life,
while
their
parents
entrusted
their
children
to
us
or
whether
they
were
taken
away
from
their
families
and
given
to
us.
G
We
have
to
first
of
all
acknowledge
that
and
to
those
children
that
are
here
that
are
not
here.
We
have
to
say
we're.
Sorry,
we
have
to
atone
for
those
losses
and
those
grave
mistakes,
and
we
also
have
to
say
that
we
will
accept
responsibility
and
make
sure
that
we
can
do
whatever
we
can
so
that
no
other
child
can
be
hurt.
So
I
just
wanted
to.
G
All
of
us
care
about
these
children
just
as
much
as
anyone
else
in
this
room,
and
we
will
definitely
go
to
the
governor's
office,
which
I
have
done
on
several
times.
I've
sat
outside
his
door
when
I
found
out
that
Vision
Quest
and
were
for
having
great
incidence
is
occurring.
I
sat
at
his
door
and
demanded
his
attention
and
there
is
nothing
that
I
wouldn't
do
to
help
with
the
city.
G
To
advocate
for
them
on
a
state
level,
so
I
just
want
to
put
that
out
there
that
that
is
something
that
can
curr
can
happen
immediately.
As
of
tomorrow.
We
can
get
together
and
we
can
find
some
type
of
resolution
between
the
communication
of
the
city
and
a
state
anything
and
the
regulations
that
the
state
needs
to
do
better
than
let's
start
working
towards
that
tomorrow.
G
That
child
told
us
of
their
experiences
for
why
they
ran
away
and
they
ran
away
because
they
were
being
abused
and
they
were
being
neglected
and
one
of
the
nurses
who
had
formerly
worked
there
came
back
after
she
had
lost
her
employment
there
and
helped
those
children
to
escape.
So
there
was
an
adult
who
cared
enough
to
help
those
children
we're
not
looking
at
the
whole
story.
G
People
are
not
telling
you
the
whole
story,
so
the
children
are
getting
labeled
these
problems,
but
we're
not
understanding
why
the
children
are
acting
out
and
they're
acting
out,
because
they
are
not
being
treated
with
respect
and
dignity,
and
that
has
to
stop
the
chairwoman.
It
has
to
stop
so
I,
just
I
just
wanted
to
also
let
you
know
exactly
what
it
is
that
I
do
so
again:
I'm
state
representative,
Vanessa,
Larry,
Brown
I,
am
the
ranking
member
on
the
Health.
G
G
A
You
thank
you
very
much.
It's
a.
It
is
an
important
effort
for
us
to
work
together
and,
as
we
try
to
work
together
on
this
task
force
or
the
broader
coalition
group,
whatever
that
may
be
will
be,
will
be
making
sure
that
you
have
a
role
to
play
around
all
of
this,
because
I
don't
think
we
can
get
it
done
without
a
larger
group,
taking
a
look
at
what
we
need
to
do.
Thank
you.
Thank
you
have
a
good
day,
yeah
welcome.
A
Thank
you
very
much
for
your
patience,
ki
and
if
you
could
just
state
your
name
for
the
record
and
proceed
with
your
testimony
and,
as
I
said
to
other
individuals,
we're
just
going
to
keep
everybody
on
a
four
minute
testimony
time
and
of
course
we
have
your
formal
testimony
if
you
feel
like
you
can
summarize,
that
would
be
wonderful.
Thank
you.
My.
K
My
work
includes
providing
holistic
youth
friendly,
civil
legal
advocacy
to
system
involved
transition,
age,
youth
and
young
adults
experiencing
homelessness.
In
particular,
I
focus
on
reaching
youth
who
are
over-represented
and
underserved
in
our
systems,
including
LGBTQ
youth,
who
represent
over
40%
of
the
youth
homelessness
population
in
Philadelphia
and
girls
experiencing
homelessness,
34%
of
whom
are
pregnant
or
parenting.
In
addition
to
providing
direct
services,
I
also
provide
trainings
for
youth
and
youth
serving
agencies
and
serve
a
youth
and
service
providers
about
the
drivers
of,
and
solutions
to.
K
What
came
out
of
those
conversations
was
the
hard
truth
that
for
many
youth,
their
cyclical
interactions
with
homelessness
and
system
involvement
first
came
as
a
direct
result
of
the
lack
of
alternative,
community-based
housing
and
restorative
programming
for
LGBTQ
youth
and
girls
in
our
community
and
was
a
result
of
marginalization
and
lack
of
appropriate
resources
and
gender.
Specific
programming
inside
our
institutions
for
girls
and
queer
youth,
for
example,
consider
the
case
of
S,
who
is
a
22
year
old
masculine,
resent
a
young
woman
who
identifies
as
lesbian
and
is
currently
homeless.
K
Luckily,
s
and
her
family
were
given
DHS
prevention
services,
but,
as
his
parents
still
rejected
her
identities
and
the
family,
tension
remained
after
running
away
from
home,
multiple
times
and
missing
a
good
portion
of
school
which
led
to
truancy
and
loitering
charges.
S
was
placed
in
a
secure
residential
placement
role,
PA
and
her
rule
P
a
placement
she
faced
further
discrimination
targeting
and
punishment
from
staff
who
lacked
LGBTQ
confidence
and
whose
personal
bias
intensely
surfaced.
K
This
targeting
led
to
not
only
a
more
restrictive
confinement,
but
also
to
an
extended
confinement
once
finally
released
at
nearly
age.
20
s
came
home
to
the
same
issues
that
drove
her
into
placement.
Ss
family
still
rejected
her,
although
they
were
listed
as
her
L
housing
option
in
her
reentry
plan,
because
she
had
no
other
housing
option
other
than
to
remain
a
residential
placement.
K
Furthermore,
SS
confinement
outside
of
her
community
calls
her
not
to
be
aware
of
the
limited
resources
that
were
available
in
her
home
community
as
a
non-parent
teen
gender
non-conforming
lesbian,
as
did
not
feel
comfortable
or
safe,
with
the
shelter
options
for
girls
and
young
women
like
her.
This
led
us
back
to
street
homelessness
to
many
youth
share
stories
similar
to
s.
K
By
focusing
on
building
up
community
resources
here
in
Philadelphia,
we
can
continue
to
build
on
the
progress
that
has
already
been
made
under
the
leadership
of
Commissioner
Figueroa
and
reducing
the
use
of
congregate
care
for
all
youth
and
working
to
ensure
that,
whenever
safely
possible,
youth
remain
with
their
families
and
in
their
community.
We
can
also
ensure
those
who
do
end
up
in
placement
are
able
to
connect
early
and
effectively
with
the
services
and
resources
they
need
to
successfully
transition
back
home
in
a
safe
and
affirming
environment.
K
A
D
Kearney
and
I'm
the
supervisor
of
the
education
decision-makers
at
the
Court
Appointed
Special
Advocates
I've,
been
in
a
child
welfare
system
for
approximately
nine
or
ten
years,
and
also
so
constantly
I
feel
the
education
decision-makers,
our
court-appointed
to
dependent
and
delinquent
use
for
children
in
foster
care.
The
role
could
be
filled
by
a
resource
payable
for
youth
and
congregate
care,
there's
frequently
a
need
for
independent
education
decision-maker.
D
The
service
is
critical
because
use
without
a
parent
or
guardian,
acting
as
the
education
decision-maker
has
poor
access
to
appropriate
education
supports
and
which
they
are
entitled
at
Casa.
We
serve
about
100
youth.
At
this
time
we
know
the
capacity
is
far
beyond
once
a
juvenile
is
placed
on
a
residence
who's
setting.
They
typically
attend
our
own
ground
school
facility,
these
on
ground
school.
As
we
heard
before
in
Prior
testimony
council
women.
They
lack
the
potential
need
for
educational
success
and
they
also
are
placed
outside
afloat
after
school.
D
District
placement
on
ground
school
is
frequently
made
without
assessment
of
the
youth
educational
needs,
but
it's
rather
a
result
of
their
placement.
In
the
current
care
facilities,
the
Casa
idiom
is
appointed
by
the
court
so
that
youth,
who
do
not
have
a
parent,
a
resource
parent,
a
responsible
adult
acting
as
a
parent
for
education
decisions.
Our
EDM
volunteers
advocate
that
each
youth
is
evaluated,
assess
and
also
to
determine
the
type
of
placement
at
best
meet
their
need.
Youth
in
residential
placements
or
other
current
care
settings
can
attend
the
public
school
within
their
district.
D
And
also
with
advocacy
and
of
our
parent,
and
also
the
idiom
can
educate,
make
sure
that
the
child
is
educated
in
the
local
public
school
setting
with
support
and
accommodations
and
also
to
illustrate
this
I
want
to
bring
up
two
cases.
One
is
the
case
of
Mia
Mia
attended
since
her
high
school
in
Philadelphia,
and
due
to
an
unfortunate
series
of
events,
Mia's
mother
had
lost
their
home,
Mia
became
to
it
and
flunked
out
essential.
A
D
Very
emotional,
so
Mia
had
front
are
essential.
Emma
she
was
adjudicated
dependent
and
placing
a
residential
program
with
her
own
ground
school.
That
facility
was
located
in
the
flooring
area
with
Mia
got
there.
Mia
was
immediately
placed
at
the
on
ground
school.
She
was
given
packets
of
work
that
did
not
meet
her
needs.
The
idiom
the
school
and
DHS
are
collaborative,
so
the
child
could
attend
the
local
public
school
Mia
will
be
graduating
this
year
and
also
we
have
another
child
by
the
name
of
Tyrone.
D
D
He
is
now
in
placed
in
a
foster
home
with
a
note
with
the
new
IEP,
as
well
as
getting
support
services
in
his
school
setting,
and
my
experience
with
youth
who
needs
their
needs
met
I
see
that
youth
who
often
come
back
home
to
for
the
offer
they
often
drop
out
because
of
their
own
ground
on
school
experience,
and
they
do
not
have
an
access
to
educational
success.
We
stand
beside
our
youth.
We
make
sure
that
I
used
to
go
to
the
off-brand
school
facility.
D
We
make
sure
that
they
get
appropriate
educational
evaluations
and
tools,
as
well
as
Career
Exploration.
These
things
do
not
happen
at
the
on
ground
school
facility.
The
EDM
volunteers
walked
rectly
with
the
youth
to
make
sure
that
once
they
return
here
back
to
Philadelphia
that
all
records
is
coming
back
to
the
city
as
well
as
that
they
are
able
to
transition
into
a
local
high
school.
These
youth
that
we
talked
about.
D
They
are
the
youth
that
will
be
contributing
to
our
school
to
Prison
Pipeline
situation
and,
as
we
talked
about
it
earlier
Councilwoman,
these
are
our
youth
that
if
we
do
not
get
them
back
in
a
timely
manner,
if
they
languish
for
too
long
once
they
come
back
to
our
big
name,
schools,
our
bars
and
loud
West
Philly,
they
are
the
schools
that
cannot
handle
these
young
people.
These
are
our
young
people
that
come
back
and
really
do
not
matriculate
well
because
of
this
one
growing
school
experience
I.
D
A
D
D
A
A
K
Thank
you
for
that.
What
I
find
is
that
we
need
more
emergency
shelter.
I
am
excited
about
the
resources
that
were
recently
put
in
place,
but
we
definitely
need
more
emergency
shelter
for
queer
parenting.
Youth.
Our
youth
are
very
intersectional
they're
youth
who
are
also
have
disabilities,
so
we
need
more
emergency
shelter.
We
need
more
LGBTQ
affirming
counseling
and
prevention
services
for
LGBTQ
youth.
As
I
stated
in
my
story.
Dhs
had
connected
with
that
family.
K
We
need
to
make
sure
that
the
staff
are
being
LGBTQ,
trained
and
competent,
so
that
we
can
have
more
prevention
use
that
more
fully.
We
need
more
legal
services
and
social
services
organization
education
for
system
involved,
youth,
it's
vital
to
their
re-entry.
So
while
they
are
in
placement,
they
need
to
be
trained
on
the
resources
that
are
available
in
their
community.
Thank.
A
Thank
you
all
so
much.
We
really
appreciate
your
being
patient
through
this
hearing.
If
you
could
miss
verdict,
if
you
want
to
start
and
share
start
by
stating
your
name
for
the
record,
and
then
you
may
proceed
with
your
testimony,
as
we
say
with
everybody
else,
we're
keeping
folks
to
four
minutes
apiece
and
if
you
feel
like
you
can
summarize,
that
would
be
helpful.
Thank
you.
Certainly.
I
Please
thank
you
good
afternoon.
My
name
is
Shana
fizzle,
I'm.
The
national
policy
director
at
youth
advocate
programs
I'm
here
today
with
my
colleague,
Randal
Sims,
who's,
the
Regional
Director
for
Philadelphia
youth
advocate
programs.
Our
PI
up
our
mission
as
an
agency
is
to
D
institutionalize
young
people
through
intensive
in-home
supports
for
them
and
their
families.
We
were
established
as
an
organization
more
than
40
years
ago,
40
years
ago,
right
here
in
Pennsylvania.
I
Our
first
mission
was
in
Harrisburg
to
get
young
people
out
of
Camp,
Hill
prison
and
away
from
adult
prisoners,
and
all
of
our
work
that
follows
is
based
on
a
simple
premise:
that
families
and
communities
when
properly
resourced
and
supported
are
the
best
places
for
kids
in
need.
We
partner
with
government,
like
here
with
DHS,
to
provide
families
with
the
support
they
need
to
keep
their
kids
safely
home.
We
do
this
by
intentionally
recruiting
advocates
from
the
same
neighborhoods
as
our
kids
and
families
to
maximize
engagement,
credibility
and
connection.
I
Our
model
builds
on
youth
and
family
strengths
as
a
means
to
address
challenges,
build
competency
and
confidence
and
achieve
stability.
We
rely
on
several
principles
to
guide
our
work,
including
cultural
and
linguistic
competency
and
the
people
that
work
with
our
young
people,
24/7,
availability
and
individualized
services,
partnering
with
government
agencies
for
our
shared
missions,
maintaining
an
inclusive
intake
policy
and
unconditional
caring.
I
This
means
we
don't
turn
away
on
a
young
person
and
we
don't
kick
any
kids
out
of
our
program,
respect
for
our
families
as
equal
partners
who
have
voice
choice
and
ownership
over
what
happens
to
them
and
relentless
advocacy.
These
principles
and
our
strong
partnerships
with
government
agencies
like
DHS
our
families,
young
people
and
community
members
are
I,
would
have
led
to
our
success
here.
B
B
A
B
Name
is
Randall
Sims
and
I'm.
The
Regional
Director
of
the
Philadelphia
youth
advocate
program
commonly
known
as
Piatt.
We
have
been
in
Philadelphia
41
years.
We
have
been
funded
all
that
time
by
the
Department
of
Human
Services,
and
we
run
two
programs
which
are
designed
to
offer
post
and
pre
adjudicatory
services
to
young
people.
In
the
past
nine
months,
we've
served
over
300
young
people
and
their
families
and
three
of
our
programs
we've
achieved
some
results.
B
Some
data,
which
we
think
are
very
noteworthy
and
support
the
efforts
of
this
committee
today
to
prove
that
providing
services
to
young
people,
intensive
support
to
young
people
in
their
homes
and
in
their
communities
provides
remarkable
results
in
our
urc
program.
Ninety-Three
percent
of
the
young
people
who
we
served
remained
arrest
free
for
the
time
they
were
in
our
program.
82
percent
of
them
were
not
adjudicated
for
any
new
offenses
and
of
the
ones
who
were
only
two
percent
were
adjudicated
for
felonious
of
offenses.
B
We
helped
increase
the
rate
of
kids
remaining
in
their
homes
from
80%
to
90%,
while
they
were
servicing
them
in
our
day.
Treatment
program
was
a
community
based
program.
93%
of
the
young
people
in
our
program
remained
the
rest
for
you.
While
we
served
them,
84
percent
were
not
adjudicated
for
any
new
offenses
and
in
our
gender-specific
program,
a
program
we
run
specifically
for
girls,
90
percent
were
not
arrested,
93%
was
not
adjudicated.
We
feel
these
two
numbers
present
strong
evidence
that
keeping
kids
safely
home
with
intensive
support
works.
B
I
have
a
stories
of
two
young
people.
We
have
more
than
two
but
two
young
people
who
have
really
shown
remarkable
success
in
turnaround
by
being
involved
in
our
program.
We've
changed
your
name.
Their
names
just
for
privacy
say
Verdean,
a
young
woman
who
was
sent
to
us
through
the
family
courts.
All
of
our
referrals
come
to
Family
Court,
so
that
means
she
was
arrested
for
fighting
in
school.
B
She
came
to
our
program.
We
assigned
her
an
advocate.
We
helped
her
with
some
anger
management
classes.
We
hope
to
understand
what
triggered
her
feelings
of
anger.
We
hope
to
build
a
support
system,
a
team
of
people
she
could
go
to
when
she
needed
support
guidance
direction.
We
got
her
engaged
in
activities
that
appeal
to
her
interests
like
education
and
sports.
She
wanted
to
be
a
teacher
and
she
wanted
to
give
back
and
we
helped
her
improve
her
socialization
skills.
We
hope
to
get
some
employment
and
later
hired
her
as
a
part-time
receptionist.
B
In
our
offices
we
raise
funds
through
contributions
from
staff
and
caring
adults
in
our
community
that
enabled
her
to
participate
in
the
International
street
soccer
event,
international
and
event
in
Brazil,
which
she
had
participated.
She
completed
her
high
school
and
is
currently
engaged
in
post-secondary
training
at
community
college
and
worked
part
time.
She
also
still
interns,
occasionally
yeah
Rick
was
assigned
to
us
because
he
was
arrested
for
theft
in
the
workplace,
placed
on
probation.
B
His
probation
required
him
to
do
community
service,
have
a
curfew
and
be
restricted
to
places
where
he
could
go
and
with
two
people
with
whom
he
could
associate.
He
was
assigned
community
service
at
a
homeless,
shelter
Rick
revealed
to
his
advocate
that
he
had
fun
helping
people
and
he
realized.
He
meant
something
to
others.
B
He
developed
a
respect
for
the
value
of
life
and
wanted
to
continue
giving
back
to
the
community
he
volunteered
more
than
thirty
hours
at
the
chosen.
300Ms
Rick
worked
hard
to
improve
his
grades
by
getting
involved
in
a
summer
of
extra
and
a
number
of
extracurricular
activities.
He
demonstrated
a
sense
of
discipline
and
commitment
by
participating
in
various
after-school
activities
and
completing
his
program
playing
with
yeah.
He
was
admitted
to
drugs
from
University.
Both
of
these
young
people
received
thousand
$1000
scholarships
support
from
yaps
endowment
fund
to
help
them
with
educational
goals.
B
These
scholarships
are
renewable
yearly.
As
long
as
the
students
stay
in
good
standing,
this
approach
works.
We
need
more
of
it
in
Philadelphia.
We
need
more
resources,
more
investments
in
communities
and
families
and
the
supports
they
need.
We
thank
DHS
for
being
such
a
strong
partner
with
us
to
help
us
bring
and
keep
so
many
young
people
safely
home
over
so
many
years.
Thank.
N
Good
afternoon
and
thank
you
to
councilmember
Jim
and
the
committee
for
calling
today's
hearing,
my
name
is
Kate
verdict
and
I'm
a
staff
attorney
at
juvenile
Law
Center.
At
the
beginning
of
today's
hearing,
you
heard
from
quill
Ahad
and
Lily
young
people
from
Philadelphia
and
youth
advocates
with
juveniles
for
justice
who
describe
the
horrific
experiences
they
endured,
while
in
juvenile
justice
and
child
welfare
institutional
placements,
throughout
the
Commonwealth,
solitary
confinement,
abuse
from
guards,
strip
searches,
poor
quality
education
and
separation
from
their
families.
N
They
spoke
at
today's
hearing
on
behalf
of
the
more
than
1300
Philadelphia
youth
placed
in
institutions
and
group
homes
throughout
our
through
our
juvenile
justice
or
child
welfare
systems.
Quill
a
hot
and
Lily
have
shown
tremendous
courage
in
sharing
their
stories
stories.
They
and
other
young
people
so
often
keep
quiet
out
of
fear
of
retaliation
or
the
pain
of
reliving.
These
traumatic
memories,
quill
ahead
and
Lily
have
bravely
stepped
up
on
behalf
of
other
youth.
Today
and
now
we
as
a
community
must
all
step
up.
N
For
over
a
year,
juvenile
Law
Center
has
been
working
with
a
cross-section
of
advocates
to
consider
strategies
to
tackle
the
persistent
problem
of
youth
institutional
placements
we
know
placements
are
dangerous,
ineffective,
overused
and
expensive.
We
know
they're
creating
a
host
of
problems
for
youth
when
they
reenter
the
community.
We
know
placements
especially
hurt
youth
of
color
youth
with
disabilities,
LGBTQ
youth,
girls
and
youth
with
multiple
marginalized
identities.
Today
we
call
in
Council
to
take
notice
of
this
terrible
problem
that
has
too
long
escaped
public
attention
and
outrage,
but
also
today
we
are
tremendously
hopeful.
N
We
and
the
agency
leaders
you
heard
from
earlier
share
a
vision
of
replacing
these
harmful
youth
institutional
placements
with
family
and
community-based
services
right
here
in
Philadelphia,
DHHS
and
others
are
already
working
on
this
problem.
Dhs
has
shown
real
success
of
reducing
the
number
of
youth
in
child
welfare
facilities.
We
have
a
district
attorney's
office
that
recognizes
that
locking
up
kids
and
throwing
away
the
key
helps
no
one.
Other
jurisdictions
are
forging
this
path
and
are
willing
to
share
their
lessons
with
us.
We
have
reached
the
tipping
point
on
this
issue.
N
All
the
work
DHS
advocates,
youth
and
families
and
others
have
already
set
in
motion
on
this
issue-
has
prepared
us
to
make
a
joint
commitment
today,
a
commitment
to
a
campaign
where
all
youth
are
provided,
the
services
they
need
in
their
homes,
in
communities
and
in
Philadelphia.
We
are
especially
excited
to
announce
that
we
begun
working
with
DHS
advocates
and
other
agencies
to
launch
a
citywide
task
force
to
address
this
issue
and
we're
calling
on
city
council
to
support
the
new
task
force
and
assist
our
city
agencies
in
the
effort
we
are
calling
safely
home.
N
Philly.
Specifically,
we
propose
these
action
steps.
First,
we
ask
city
council
to
support
the
task
force
in
three
ways.
Council
should
ensure
relevant
stakeholders,
including
Family
Court
judges,
are
included
and
actively
engaged
in
the
process.
It
is
also
essential
that
the
task
force
foreground
the
voices
of
youth
and
families
in
all
aspects
of
the
reform.
N
Second,
the
task
force
will
identify
the
services
in
progress.
The
CIM
best
serve
our
youths
needs.
We
ask
to
support
that
effort
by
committing
the
resources
to
support
the
task
force's
recommendations.
We
are
specifically
calling
on
Council
to
approve
city
agencies,
future
budget
requests
that
reinvest
the
funds
currently
spent
on
institutional
placements
into
community-based
trauma-informed
services
and
programs.
Almost
any
service
offered
in
an
institution
can
be
offered
more
cheaply
in
the
community.
N
Let's
reinvest
in
our
communities
using
taxpayer
dollars
to
build
up
the
programs
and
resources
that
can
meet
our
youths
needs
right
here,
rather
than
using
them
to
send
youth
across
the
state.
Third
City
Council
should
also
provide
the
oversight
and
accountability
necessary
to
keep
the
initiative
on
track
within
one
year.
The
task
force
must
develop
a
comprehensive
plan
to
reduce
reliance
on
residential
placements
and
bring
our
youth
safely
home.
The
task
force
must
brief,
City
Council
on
that
plan
and
subsequent
progress.
N
In
addition,
we
asked
council
to
provide
city
agencies
with
the
support
they
need
to
reassess
contracts
with
current
providers
to
ensure
that
any
remaining
placements
meet
the
health,
safety,
developmental
and
educational
needs
of
youth.
As
long
as
any
children
remain
in
institutional
placements,
we
need
mechanisms
to
ensure
that
they
are
safe
and
that
their
needs
are
being
met.
Katie
City
Council
should
also
be
a
voice
for
Philadelphia
youth
at
the
state
level
and
advocate
for
necessary
changes
in
state
licensing
oversight
and
regulation
of
facilities.
N
In
conclusion,
we
know
that
institutional
placements
can
cause
long
lasting
harm
to
youth.
We
also
know
that
there
are
alternatives
that
work
better
and
are
more
cost
effective.
Our
youth
have
taught
us
how
and
devastating
this
problem
is,
and
our
leaders
have
come
here
today
openly
committed
to
reform.
A
dramatic,
lasting
change
is
absolutely
within
our
grasp.
Let's
commit
today
to
supporting
our
youth
families
and
community
by
investing
in
trauma-informed
community-based
services
and
programs,
so
we
can
bring
our
Philadelphia
youth
to
safely
home.
Thank
you.
Thank.
A
You
very
much
to
this
panel.
Thank
you
for
your
tremendous
advocacy
and
especially
to
mr.
Simms
and
mrs.
auld,
for
your
ability
to
show
us
that
things,
working
locally
and
small
and
in
a
very
personal
way,
can
make
such
a
difference
in
young
people's
lives.
That
was
very
encouraging
to
hear
that,
and
many
of
us
who
work
with
our
young
people
know
that
the
possibilities
of
their
resilience
and
their
ability
to
you
know
overcome
tremendous
difficulties
can
happen,
but
we
need
to
put
those
efforts.
Those
contra
to
concentrated,
supports
there
and
thank
you
very
much.
A
A
A
A
L
Councilwoman
Gunn
I.
Thank
you
for
calling
a
public
hearing
on
the
institutional
youth
placements.
This
is
an
important
issue,
that's
being
addressed
in
numerous
jurisdictions
around
the
u.s.
and
I've
been
worried
for
a
while
that
Philadelphia
and
Pennsylvania
are
falling
behind.
My
name
is
Jamie
fader
and
I'm.
A
soap
associate
professor
of
criminal
justice
at
Temple,
University
I've
conducted
over
20
years
of
research
on
Philadelphia's
system
involved
youth,
including
an
award-winning
book,
called
falling
back
incarceration
transitions
to
adulthood
among
urban
youth.
L
My
research
has
found
that
even
the
most
therapeutic
of
youth
placements
are
punitive
in
nature.
Therapeutic
messages
received
inside
these
institutions
are
often
stigmatic
telling
you
they're
to
blame
for
their
own
bad
decisions
and
that
even
with
treatment
change
is
unlikely
and
I'm
just
going
to
read
a
passage.
A
really
short
passage
from
my
book.
The
particular
facility
that
I
studied
doesn't
an
intake
process
where
they
read
through
kind
of
a
treatment
manual,
and
they
read
a
series
of
statements
to
each
incoming
youth.
L
The
last
statement
is
this:
we
are
aware
that
you
may
go
through
a
period
of
monasticism
where
you
will
try
to
avoid
all
criminal
thinking
and
actions.
You
will
eventually
grow
tired
of
this
and
start
looking
for
excitement
again,
violation
equals
excitement.
You
will
seek
it
out,
because
that
is
the
way
you
are
and
the
young
men
that
I
spoke
with
in
my
book
talked
with
me
about
their
counselor,
repeating
Li
repeatedly
predicting
their
failure
after
the
program
saying
that
they
were
going
to
end
up
in
the
adult
system
or
even
dead.
L
Also,
my
book
documents,
how
removing
youth
from
their
communities
does
not
prepare
them
to
meet
the
structural
challenges
that
they
face
upon
return,
including
the
employment
issue
that
we
talked
about
earlier
in
this
hearing
and
don't
help
them
become
productive
adults.
These
youth
have
high
rates
of
failure
as
measured
by
new
arrests
and
continued
involvement
in
crime
and,
as
we've
talked
today
at
length
with
getting
back
into
school.
Other
facts
about
youth
incarceration,
now
I'm
going
to
kind
of
move
to
research
done
in
other
settings,
the
census
of
juveniles
and
residential
placement.
L
Their
most
recent
data
is
from
2015
and
that
has
Pennsylvania
at
over
2,400
court
committed
youth
and
residential
placement,
making
it
the
third
ranked
state
in
sheer
numbers
after
California,
which
has
almost
four
thousand
thirty
nine
hundred
and
just
below
Texas.
So
at
2,400
and
as
a
reference
New
York
State,
which
has
engaged
in
reform
to
move
youth
out
of
facilities,
is
only
was
only
in
2015
at
just
over
a
thousand.
The
use
of
youth
confinement
has
required,
declined
dramatically
nationwide,
as
research
has
notice,
is
expense
and
its
collateral
consequences.
L
Residential
facilities
are
descriptive,
disruptive
to
school
attendance
and
most
Philadelphia
youth,
who
come
home
from
placement.
Ultimately
drop
out
of
school
jurisdictions
that
have
embraced
embraced.
Smaller
cottage-like
placements
close
to
home,
like
Missouri
in
New
York,
have
demonstrated
that
it's
possible
to
keep
kids
in
their
own
communities
without
compromise,
public
safety.
And
finally,
incarceration
is
a
costly
alternative
to
addressing
youths
needs
in
their
own
communities.
Leading
Gladys
carrion,
director
of
New
York
State's
office
leaves
wrap-up.
This
is.
S
A
S
L
I
promise
yeah.
She
says
that
we
could
spend
system
involve
youth
to
Harvard
for
the
cost
of
out
of
home
placements.
The
u.s.
spends
between
eight
and
twenty
1
billion
dollars
to
incarcerate
youth,
including
the
cost
of
future
recidivism
lost
wages,
Medicare
Medicaid
spending
and
cost
of
sexual
abuse.
Thank
you
very
much
for.
E
One
more
time:
here's
what
happened!
I'm
saying
my
name
is
Miss
Bennett
Naima
I'm,
here
to
speak
for
my
daughter
and
other
children.
Long
from
the
system
she
considered
missing.
I
have
called
many
times
today.
Chester
chatter
could
regain
my
daughter
back
and
me
and
another
lady
by
the
name
of
Mary,
Lou
y'all
know
her.
She
don't
run
foster
daughter
and
they
wronged
her.
E
That
stolen
children
and
foster
care
needs
the
egg
even
from
the
hospital,
but
took
my
daughter
right
after
house,
so
I'm
trying
to
get
anybody
to
support
me
to
support
my
finding
my
daughter
back
and
being
a
boy.
So
all
the
children
wrong
food.
All
food
is
just
slipping
through
the
system
and
these
D
play
some
foster
care.
My
daughter's
care
Gayle
was
found
on
a
criminal
web
site.
I
must
ask
anybody.
E
Could
they
support
me
of
getting
her
back
and
be
an
advocate
and
being
the
voice
for
all
children
wrongfully
taken
plenty
of
chippies
children
and
they
should
have
gone
for
smell
to
get
long
for
some
legislation,
the
hair
threatened
and
all
around
this
country.
Getting
on
post
investigating
foster
homes
and
my
daughter
forgiver
was
found.
E
Anybody
in
here
and
city
hall
can
help
good
day
just
open
up
the
case
immediately
as
soon
as
possible.
To
get
my
daughter
back
with
me,
every
sources
put
her
on
college
or
have
based
our
betters
life
and
she
was
never
abused
and
I
had
kept
all
my
WIC
appointments
when
I
was
carrying
her
around
suspect.
An
error
now
she's
lost
in
sitting
up
at
the
age
of
22,
she's
still
lost
me
missing.
Assistant
I
think
she
got
pregnant
behind
my
back
and
I
wanna.
E
Let
y'all
know
some
of
the
young
girls
getting
pregnant
opened
a
chest.
Did
you
call
law
enforcement
investigator
passed
on
the
round
the
city
and
world
up
in
everywhere
else
never
saw
something
like
a
Pam
map.
A
me
move
it
for
all
the
children
lost
in
DHS.
Families
are
needles.
He
separated
for
no
reason.
I
heard
the
judge
get
paid.
The
DHS
workers
have
paid
an
appositive.
Could
parents
get
paid
to
keep
the
kids
in
the
system?
That's
what
they
earned
in
Easley
completely
kept
saying.
Was
she
a
good
mother
what
she
taught
in
there?
E
That's:
okay!
More
than
15
children,
a
certain
neighborhood
I'm,
a
good
mother
I'm,
a
people
person
I'm,
also
a
mentor
and
I
like
nice.
The
children
were
really
nice
to
children.
I
deserve
to
have
my
child
back
with
me.
It's
all
God's,
my
daughter's
was
considered
missing
now
and
I've
called
everywhere
possible.
Nobody
help
me
get
it
back.
Yet.
Imagine
y'all
to
help
me
and
pasinetta
station
is
the
four
digits
to
stop
ticking
children.
The
Family
Court
judges
to
first
up
from
the
parental
rights
needs
D
for
keeping
children
for
escape
or
profit.
E
Here's
a
number
two
agency
called
mother
worries.
The
number
is
two
on
five:
eight
four,
eight
one
one
two
zero
would
expose,
but
they're
just
isn't
doing
what
they're
all
sort
of
family
judges.
We
have
a
call
community
legal
services
and
all
these
be
legal
services.
They
turned
me
down
yeah
Ian
news.
When
you
take
my
story,
I
record
every
news
station
and
take
my
story.
My
story
can
have
many
other
children
can
be
United.
I'm
speaking
my
daughter,
Latasha
and
all
of
the
children
along
the
long
run
feel
awesome.
E
The
system
neatly
when
she
was
never
abused.
She
was
never
sick
or
nothing,
but
she
was
when
I
was
carrying
her
when
I
didn't
have
in
the
high
schools.
They
came
up
to
the
house
alone.
Room
to
and
I
went
to
the
base
with
a
face
to
face
from
there.
They
put
up
for
doubt
put
up
for
adoption
when
I
my
permission.
Thank.
A
A
E
E
A
E
R
E
E
So
that's
the
key
thing,
and
also
you
have
to
look
at
it
from
the
standpoint
of
the
workers
that
go
out
to
work.
Is
that
because
the
latter
of
workers
that
go
out
to
evaluate
the
homeless
don't
even
have
familiarity
with
the
cases
they
don't
keep
abreast
up
with
each
other.
They
don't
provide
transportation
aspect
because
a
lot
of
times
when
they
would
come
out
to
our
house
when
we
were
when
they
did
have
a
case
open
on
us,
then
they
well.
What
did
you
need?
E
E
A
You
thank
you
and
we
share
that
mission.
Thank
you
so
much
for
service
I
appreciate
it.
Thank
you
to
these.
Thank
you
to
all
of
you
for
testifying
and
for
saying
here
today.
You
know
today
is
not
the
end.
I
think
that
there
were
an
incredible
amount
of
things
that
were
raised
today,
that
we
can
pursue
I'm
specifically
interested
in
conversations
with
our
state
partners
on
reforms
that
specifically
strengthen
the
educational
component
of
our
education
programs
at
the
residential
treatment
facilities.
A
And
finally,
we
look
forward
to
a
conversation
with
our
district
attorney
and
his
efforts
to
reduce
the
number
of
kids
who
actually
make
it
into
the
system
and,
of
course,
a
resounding
yes
to
that
task.
Force
to
a
coalition
led
partner
belt
approach
to
a
very,
very
difficult
and
complicated
issue,
but
one
in
which
I
think
today
we
made
great
strides
forward.
I,
really
want
to
thank
Commissioner.
A
Figueroa
I
want
to
thank
Karen
Lynch
from
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia
for
staying
through
the
entirety
of
this
testimony,
some
of
which
was
very
difficult
to
hear
again.
Thank
you
so
much
to
our
incredible
partners
on
this.
The
defenders
Association,
the
juvenile
Law
Center
education
law,
Center,
community
legal
services
to
our
partners
at
Disability,
Rights,
PA
at
Casa,
and
so
many
others.
And,
of
course
this
hearing
happened
for
some
for
most
because
of
our
young
people,
because
of
because
of
jihad
and
quillo
and
Lily,
who
spoke
their
truth.
A
Who
spoke
to
their
pain
and
called
upon
us
to
do
so
much
better
than
we
thought
possible,
and
you
know,
demand
us
to
meet
their
needs,
and
that
is
the
most
important
and
highest
calling
that
we
can
have
as
officials
who
are
put
in
a
position
to
do
that.
So
I
want
to
thank
them.
I
want
to
thank
their
advocates
and
supporters.
I
know
they
wouldn't
be
here
without
so
many
of
the
adults
who
believed
them
first
and
foremost.
So,
oh,
is
there
anybody
else
who
would
like
to
testify
to
this
resolution?
A
A
R
Shoes,
thank
you.
While
she
was
in
Mayfair
school,
she
was
attacked
the
first
three
days
there
eight
times
in
one
year,
I
kept
reporting
it
asking
for
help
for
services
for
something
they
said.
My
daughter
is
too
sensitive,
so
okay,
I
asked
DHS
and
everybody
else
for
services.
Nothing
was
done.
They
said
they'll
look
into
it.
I
had
my
daughter
got
to
the
point
where
she
started.
Cutting
herself
I
had
her
put
in
the
hospital.
She
only
had
three
cuts
on
her
due
to
stress
DHS
guidance
involved.
R
Finally,
I
asked
him
for
therapeutic
services
behavior
services,
something
to
help
her
for
prevention
of
cutting
herself,
something
for
bullying
something
I
got
okay,
we'll
handle
it.
While
my
daughter
was
in
a
mental
health
facility,
they
decided
to
lock
me
for
43
days,
and
this
is
DHS
I'm,
asking
for
to
speak
to
my
daughter,
make
sure
she's,
okay,
making
sure
she's
getting
the
adequate
therapy
that
she
needed
talking
trying
to
talk
to
the
therapist
but
I
Clinton,
because
apparently
I
was
blocked
by
DHS
cowork
or
a
worker
from
DHS.
R
R
So
I
said,
okay,
I
told
I
told
her.
Let
me
talk
to
my
daughter,
my
daughter
said
mom
I
reported
that
I
was
raped
and
they
told
me
that
I
have
to
wait
to
make
sure
it
gets
put
processed
properly.
I
said:
okay,
I
said
I
was
always
taught
that
DHS
and
children.
Youth
will
always
help
you
when
you
ask
for
it.
R
We've
only
lived
in
the
city
for
two
years
and
DHS
and
children
out
of
it
completely
blindsided
me
with
whatever
they
call
help,
while
my
daughter
reported
it
twice
to
the
child
advocate
and
to
DHS,
the
children
called
me
I'm,
not
too
sure
that
the
police
department
called
me
asked
me
if
I
knew
the
person-
and
they
gave
me
a
name.
I
said
yes
and
I
told
him
where
to
locate
the
person
it's
funny
I.
R
Nothing
was
done
for
four
months.
I
went
to
the
police
station
and
found
out
that
there
was
no
call
no
electronic
inquiry.
Nothing
on
that
person.
Nothing
at
all,
so
I
took
my
daughter's
Diaries
from
while
she
was
in
the
facility
and
handed
it
over
to
the
police
to
have
them
properly
investigated.
So
they
would
be
getting
information
from
children.
R
News
from
Bucks
County
child
advocate
from
Bucks
County
from
all
the
services
Bucks,
County
and
I
want
to
make
sure
that
somebody
is
held
accountable
from
child
advocate
and
DHS
for
my
job,
my
child
safety,
because
she
was
put
through
a
exam,
a
very
intimate
exam
and
nobody
was
there
to
come
for
her.
Nobody
was
there.
They
wouldn't
allow
me
to
talk
to
her
to
let
her
know
what
she's
gonna
be
experiencing.
That
is
not
right
for
no
twelve-year-old
to
go
through.
R
While
she
was
there,
there's
a
nice
job
that
they
did.
I
Wow
I
was
blacked
out.
My
daughter
started
cutting
herself
while
they
were
doing
their
so-called
interrogation.
That's
what
my
daughter
put
it
as
she
said
it
wasn't
questioning
his
interrogation.
They
kept
telling
her.
If
this
person
didn't
do
it,
you
know
I'm
gonna,
you
can't
see
your
family
for
the
rest
of
the
time
you're
here
and
my
daughter
was
a
fear
because
of
this.
So
when
she
was
going
through
this,
the
number
she
has
when
she
went
in
was
only
three
cuts.
R
A
A
Is
there
anyone
else
here
who
would
like
to
testify
to
this
resolution?
See
no
one
else
here
to
testify
on
the
resolution.
This
concludes
the
business
of
the
Committee
on
children
and
youth
and
education.
For
today,
the
public
hearing
on
resolution,
one
seven
one,
one,
forty
two
is
recessed
to
the
call
of
the
chair
and
thank
you
all
very
much
for
your
time,
patience
and
attendance.
Thank
you.