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Authorizing the Committee on Children and Youth to hold hearings to examine policies and practices that keep children safe and support their families, including safeguards to protect children placed outside their homes through Philadelphia’s dependency system, engagement with relatives and supportive adults, coordination among agencies and service providers, and opportunities to strengthen accountability and prevent child abuse, neglect, and fatalities.
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WHEREAS, When a child is removed from their home and placed in the care of the child welfare system while their parents or guardians work to address the conditions that led to removal, that system assumes responsibility for the child’s safety. A family working toward a safe return should be able to trust that their child will be protected. No family should lose a child to abuse or neglect while that child is in the care of the very people entrusted to protect them; and
WHEREAS, In the first hours and days after removal, decisions about where a child will stay, whether siblings can remain together, and how the child will stay connected to school and family can shape the child’s experience in care. Relatives and other trusted adults should have a clear way to come forward and be considered for placement, and the child’s immediate health, educational, and emotional needs should be addressed during the transition; and
WHEREAS, Community Umbrella Agency caseworkers must receive the training and supervision needed to assess a child’s living conditions, recognize warning signs, and know when to seek immediate supervisory review. When a caseworker cannot verify that a child’s placement is safe, there must be a clear process for escalating the concern, deciding what protective action is needed, and confirming that someone follows through; and
WHEREAS, Provider organizations are responsible for preparing and supporting resource parents, including foster and kinship caregivers, and for training and supervising the staff who oversee those homes. The Department of Human Services must monitor the agencies and providers it contracts with and verify that identified deficiencies are corrected; and
WHEREAS, City Council should examine how the Department of Human Services tracks prior abuse or neglect investigations involving current and former resource families, how it records the disposition of those investigations, including founded and unfounded reports, and what information foster care providers can lawfully access when interviewing applicants, conducting home studies, or considering a family for approval or reapproval; and
WHEREAS, Children need advocates who listen to them, bring their wishes and safety concerns forward as appropriate to the advocate’s role, and give careful attention to whether the conditions that led to removal have changed. Continued separation should never become the default when a safe return home is possible, and the hearings should examine how child advocates address barriers to safe reunification while protecting the child’s safety and well-being; and
WHEREAS, The child welfare system fails in its responsibility when it cannot protect a child in its care, when a warning goes unaddressed because staff lack training or supervision, or when a child remains separated from family despite the possibility of a safe return. Council must examine where those safeguards break down, who is responsible for acting, and what must change to protect children and support their families, now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA hereby authorizes the Committee on Children and Youth to hold hearings to examine policies and practices that keep children safe and support their families, including safeguards to protect children placed outside their homes through Philadelphia’s dependency system, engagement with relatives and supportive adults, coordination among agencies and service providers, and opportunities to strengthen accountability and prevent child abuse, neglect, and fatalities.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the hearings shall focus on what happens after a child is removed from their parents’ or guardians’ care and placed outside the home through Philadelphia’s dependency system, including placement in kinship homes, foster homes, group homes, and residential facilities. The hearings shall examine the following:
1.
Initial placement. How emergency and initial placements are selected, who is responsible for the child during the transition, and how the child’s immediate needs are met. The hearings shall also examine how relatives and other trusted adults are identified and assessed for kinship care, how siblings are kept together when appropriate, and what happens when a suitable placement is unavailable.
2. Training and support for resource parents. What training placement providers are required to provide to foster and kinship caregivers before approval, before accepting a placement, and on an ongoing basis. The hearings shall examine what training providers actually deliver, whether it prepares caregivers to meet children’s needs and recognize and report safety concerns, how completion is verified, and what coaching, respite, and crisis support caregivers can access after placement.
3. Training and supervision of providers and Community Umbrella Agencies. What training DHS requires of placement providers and Community Umbrella Agencies, including their caseworkers and supervisors, and what training DHS and contracted providers deliver to those agencies. The hearings shall examine who sets and delivers the training, how often it is required, how DHS verifies completion and assesses whether staff can apply it, and what additional training or supervision is needed to assess placement safety, escalate concerns, and follow through on protective action.
4. DHS oversight of agencies resource family screening. How DHS monitors Community Umbrella Agencies and placement providers, verifies compliance, and requires corrective action. The hearings shall also examine how DHS records the outcomes of prior abuse or neglect investigations and what information providers can lawfully access and consider during interviews, home studies, and approval decisions, including when a former resource family applies through a different provider.
5. Child advocacy and representation. The respective roles and responsibilities of attorneys appointed to represent children, guardians ad litem, and other child advocates, including how they communicate privately with children, convey children’s wishes and interests as appropriate to their roles, raise and follow up on safety concerns, and address barriers to safe reunification.
6. Safety monitoring and response. How caseworkers verify a child’s safety after placement, including the frequency and quality of visits, opportunities to speak privately with the child, and follow-up when visits are missed. The hearings shall also examine how agencies, providers, schools, and other partners share information and who must act when someone reports harm, a child is unexpectedly absent from school, or the child’s whereabouts cannot be verified.
7. Family connections and safe reunification. How agencies preserve safe contact with parents, guardians, siblings, and other supportive adults, provide families with the services they need, and reassess whether a child can safely return home. The hearings shall also examine how agencies maintain continuity in schooling and health care and support children through placement changes or another permanent placement when reunification is not possible.
8. Accountability and prevention. How the City identifies recurring gaps, tracks corrective actions, and evaluates whether safeguards are working. The hearings shall consider what findings and outcomes can be reported publicly while protecting the privacy of children and families and complying with applicable confidentiality requirements.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Council requests that the Department of Human Services provide the Committee on Children and Youth with monthly reports for 24 consecutive months following the first hearing, with the first report due within 30 days after the end of the first full calendar month following the hearing and each subsequent report due within 30 days after the end of the month covered. Each report should include aggregate counts of children newly placed in kinship care, children newly placed in non-kinship foster care, children reunified with a parent or guardian, and children subject to a court order terminating parental rights. The reports should distinguish initial placements from moves between placements, define how each count is calculated, and protect the confidentiality of children and families.
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