Toothless 'child advocate' position should be replaced by empowered abuse watchdog, former officeholder says
Pennsylvania’s foster care and juvenile justice systems leave a lot of kids with scars, said Bree Hood.
Hood was abused by a worker at a facility where she lived as a teen, but didn’t report it. She now advocates for youth with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, and said that too many vulnerable kids are getting hurt and staying silent out of fear.
"You can't really trust none of the staff in the system, because all the staff talk to each other," Hood told Spotlight PA.
Physical and sexual abuse of youth in Pennsylvania detention and treatment centers is widespread, according to investigations by news organizations and lawsuits. More than 200 suits have been filed in the past year alone, some of which name state-run centers.
Acknowledging failures at facilities including Glen Mills Schools — a Delaware County youth detention center where children were abused for decades despite state oversight — former Gov. Tom Wolf created the role of child advocate through a 2019 executive order. The advocate was tasked with triaging complaints about the child welfare system and making recommendations to improve it.
