Philly ballot measure could bolster education oversight for kids in foster care, juvenile detention
A measure on Tuesday’s ballot could make permanent a small Philadelphia program that monitors quality of life for youth in foster homes, behavioral health treatment, and correctional facilities.
The city established the Office of the Youth Ombudsperson in 2022, in response to sustained advocacy by a group of young people who testified to the City Council about how they were harmed by the foster and juvenile justice systems.
Ombudsperson Tracie Johnson took her post in April 2023. But because the office was created by an executive order from former Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney, it can be dissolved by executive order, too.
The measure, called Ballot Question 2, would change the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to make the office permanent. Supporters of the office say that’s an important change because it would allow the office to advocate for more funding and greater investigative power, which could lead to more oversight of the education, health, and safety of young people in residential placements.
Since its creation, the office has looked at seclusion policies in the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center, how facilities can support youth in placement during Ramadan, and created Know Your Rights training for students in foster homes and juvenile justice facilities. It also collects complaints about abuses in residential placement.
Malik Pickett, a senior attorney at Juvenile Law Center, was part of the initial advocacy that spurred the office’s creation. That movement came out of a long history of neglect and abuse in multiple juvenile facilities and group homes, he said.
“This office is extremely important, because [youth] are in a very vulnerable time in their lives, Pickett said. “Going to residential placements, being separated from your families and your loved ones, that causes real harm in these residential facility placements.”
