City of Philadelphia - File #: 171142

• File #: 171142
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 12/14/2017
• In control: CITY COUNCIL
• Title: 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.
• Sponsors: Councilmember Gym, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Green, Councilmember Parker, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Domb, Councilmember Taubenberger, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez, Councilmember Blackwell

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
5/17/2018	0	Committee on Children and Youth	HEARING NOTICES SENT
5/17/2018	0	Committee on Children and Youth	HEARING HELD
5/17/2018	0	Committee on Children and Youth	RECESSED
12/14/2017	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed on This Week's Final Passage Calendar	Pass
12/14/2017	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED

Title
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.


Body
WHEREAS, A substantial number of Philadelphia youth are sent to institutional residential placements each year. Youth are sent to placement for a myriad of reasons, some overlapping: last year over 750 youth were committed for behavioral and emotional challenges, 950 youth were sentenced for juvenile delinquency, and still others are placed due to the lack of a parent or guardian to care for them; and

WHEREAS, Youth in residential placements are disproportionately people of color and those who identify as LGBT or gender expansive; many have suffered abuse, neglect, trauma, or violence; and

WHEREAS, Oversight of residential placements for Philadelphia youth is provided by Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, who licenses the placements, as well as Philadelphia's Departments of Human Services (DHS) and Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS) and Community Behavioral Health (CBH), who contract with the placements; additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Education licenses most of the schools located in such placements; and

WHEREAS, While significant work has been done to reduce the number of youth in residential placements over the last ten years, the DHS "Needs Based Budget for Fiscal Year 18-19" estimates that Philadelphia youth will spend a total of 408,114 days of care in residential placements next year: 252,434 for juvenile justice placements, and 155,680 for child welfare placements; and

WHEREAS, According to estimates, the School District of Philadelphia is mandated to pay $60 million per school year for the educational expenses of youth in residential placements despite having no control over which placement...