Ahmad, in preparation for Tuesday\u2019s hearing, listened to community concerns this August at the city\u2019s main library in a two-plus hour event at which participants offered several key criticisms.<\/p>\n
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- Poverty is not neglect<\/strong>: The city still separates too many families for economic reasons, calls it \u201cneglect,\u201d and takes children into foster care, participants said. \u201cThey\u2019re taking people\u2019s kids for lack of food, lack of utilities, lack of housing,\u201d said dependency attorney Yalonda Houston, \u201cwhen it\u2019s cheaper to pay for these services than it is to pay for foster care.\u201d\u00a0 Monthly stipends for foster parents range from about $890 to $1,190 per child.<\/li>\n
- Community distrust<\/strong>: Families fear seeking help from DHS. \u201cFamilies should be able to access resources without facing an investigation,\u201d said April Lee, a co-founder with Houston of Philly Voice for Change, a nonprofit pushing for child welfare reform. \u201cThere needs to be some connection to resources that is based in the community \u2014 not DHS.\u201d<\/li>\n
- An end to \u201cbaiting\u201d parents<\/strong>: Multiple participants recalled traumatic experiences with DHS and how case managers leveraged a guardian\u2019s natural emotions \u2014 anger, grief, depression \u2014 against them. \u201cYou get upset with them because they have taken your children,\u201d said April McBride, who successfully fought a DHS case of her own. \u201cIt becomes, \u2018Oh you need anger management, a psych eval, parenting classes\u2019 \u2014 and retaliation.\u201d\u00a0 Ahmad indicated she would explore what training case managers receive to avoid taking outbursts personally.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
- Improved services for older youth<\/strong>: Two people who experienced foster care suggested older youth need improved support as they prepare for adulthood. \u201cI aged out some time ago,\u201d said Duane Price, who currently does peer advocacy for transition age youth. \u201cBut now I am working with youth and I can see, not much has changed.\u201d Price recalled a case manager had informed him he had 120 days to find independent housing. Then, during a DHS-led transition meeting for older youth, he learned he only had 90. He asked for support navigating this experience for the first time, but the case manager told him, \u201cYou\u2019re over 18. I don\u2019t have to do this for you.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Participants also raised concerns about \u201cvoluntary safety plans.\u201d In such cases, a child services investigator tells the parent to place their children with an approved relative or friend \u2014 or\u00a0 see them swept into foster care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re doing this without telling the parents their rights,\u201d said Bridget Powell, who has served as a foster parent and long fought with DHS to gain custody of a niece after a safety plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parents with children in voluntary safety plans receive fewer resources, yet still yield to DHS\u2019s control over their family\u2019s life. Families are typically not informed that they can end the plan at any time and force DHS to choose between reunification or starting an official case.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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City Councilmember Nina Ahmad in a 2024 photo. (Emma Lee\/WHYY)<\/p>\n - Community distrust<\/strong>: Families fear seeking help from DHS. \u201cFamilies should be able to access resources without facing an investigation,\u201d said April Lee, a co-founder with Houston of Philly Voice for Change, a nonprofit pushing for child welfare reform. \u201cThere needs to be some connection to resources that is based in the community \u2014 not DHS.\u201d<\/li>\n