Lawmakers are renewing a push to end the practice of Pennsylvania counties diverting Social Security benefits owed to children in foster care into their own budgets, after new federal directives called on states to take action.
For decades, child welfare reformers have sought ways to create a less adversarial system. But parents with dependency cases still need one thing above all else: a good lawyer.
A Philadelphia mother’s fight to reunite with her children offers a grim window into the problems of the American cities’ child welfare systems – and how they can be improved.
Community members are lobbying ahead of a City Council hearing this week for long-sought reforms to Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services, citing years of systemic problems.
The hearing, the second convened by City Council members Nina Ahmad and Cindy Bass, was sparked by a Philadelphia Journalism Collaborative investigation, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, which exposed chronic understaffing, turnover in the workforce and the needless separation of families. Advocates had offered a list of concerns early this past summer.
For years, people with intimate knowledge of foster care practices at the Department of Human Services cited similar problems: random and subjective decision-making, the confusion of poverty and neglect, an unstable workforce riven by turnover — and more.
The Philadelphia police special victims unit is investigating the death of a child who apparently drowned in a bathtub when his foster mother left him unattended to go to the microwave.
Records obtained by The Inquirer and Resolve Philly show that a Harrowgate foster parent left 19-month-old Sy’vir Hill and a second child unsupervised and returned to find Sy’vir submerged in the water.
Woman holding “Reunite Our Families” sign in Center City. (Photo taken by Josh Childs)
How Philly can look to New Jersey to fix its child welfare system By: Steve Volk | The Philadelphia Inquirer April 14, 2025 | Tagged: Foster Care and Child Welfare, Our Kids. The problems bedeviling Philadelphia’s child welfare system — too many kids in foster care, worker vacancies, and lawsuits stemming from child injuries and…
Los problemas que aquejan al sistema de bienestar infantil de Filadelfia —como el exceso de niños en hogares de acogida, la escasez de personal y demandas relacionadas con lesiones y muertes infantiles— han disminuido progresivamente en Nueva Jersey en las últimas dos décadas. Entonces, ¿qué puede aprender Filadelfia del Estado Jardín? En la década de…
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