Title
Authorizing City Council's Committee on Education to hold hearings to examine the potential benefits of establishing a program, entitled "School-Based Family Services", through which the Philadelphia School District's schools would function as neighborhood-based community hubs for the delivery of key social services to children and their families.
Body
WHEREAS, Children come first and represent the future of our community; and
WHEREAS, There is a collective obligation among all who live and work in Philadelphia, and particularly among those who work in the public sector, to nurture and protect our children, and to provide them with the opportunities and supports they need to thrive, to dream, and to achieve their highest potential; and
WHEREAS, The economic, social, and environmental challenges facing many children and their families are complex and daunting, requiring that they interact frequently with numerous agencies to obtain supportive services. For example, according to a report prepared by PolicyLab at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 17 percent of Philadelphia School District students have been involved with the Department of Human Services (DHS) or the juvenile justice system, with that percentage reaching 20 percent by high school, or one out of every five students; and
WHEREAS, Essential programs supporting these children are increasingly beyond the capacity of the financially distressed School District itself to provide, and the City must develop means and ways to step in; and
WHEREAS, In addition to the School District of Philadelphia, numerous agencies are involved in assisting children, including, for example, DHS, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Parks & Recreation, the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the Office of Housing and Community Development, the Mayor's Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, the Office of Supportive Housing, and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services; and
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