City of Philadelphia - File #: 180719

• File #: 180719
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 6/21/2018
• In control: CITY COUNCIL
• Final action: 6/21/2018
• Title: Authorizing the creation of a Youth Residential Placement Task Force, to make recommendations and provide guidance to safely reduce both the number of Philadelphia youth in residential placements and the use of placements outside of city limits.
• Sponsors: Councilmember Gym, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Parker, Councilmember Green, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember Domb, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Jones

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
6/21/2018	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed on This Week's Final Passage Calendar - Rules Suspended	Pass
6/21/2018	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED

Title
Authorizing the creation of a Youth Residential Placement Task Force, to make recommendations and provide guidance to safely reduce both the number of Philadelphia youth in residential placements and the use of placements outside of city limits.

Body
WHEREAS, On May 17, 2018, the Committee on Children and Youth held a hearing on the quality of services and impact that out-of-county residential placements have on the care, treatment, and development of Philadelphia youth; and

WHEREAS, Over 1,300 Philadelphia youth currently reside in congregate care settings, and approximately 900 of those youth are placed in residential institutional facilities; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia's Department of Human Services ("DHS") and Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services ("DBHIDS") contract with residential facilities to provide placement for Philadelphia youth, many of which are located outside of city limits; and

WHEREAS, Education and youth advocates and juvenile justice leaders, along with young people who have been placed in residential facilities, all testified at the May hearing to the need of ending out-of-county placements to the extent possible and bringing Philadelphia youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare system closer to their homes, loved ones, and communities; and

WHEREAS, Young people and families who have been directly impacted by or involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice system have already shown courage in speaking about their experiences and the need for reform, and recognizing that future reform efforts must continue to center the voices youth and families; and

WHEREAS, DHS, DBHIDS, and CBH have shown strong leadership in reducing the number of youth in residential placement and diverting children to community-based options when possible, as well as creating a specialized evaluation team that visited each providers over the past year, closing intake and severing contracts with sever...