Philly moves forward with plan to make youth ombudsperson office permanent

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Philadelphia’s Office of the Youth Ombudsperson was established in 2022 under an executive order signed by then-Mayor Jim Kenney. On Monday, City Council advanced a measure that could make the office permanent via a change to the city’s charter.

The office is an independent agency set up to improve the safety and quality of services for youth in residential treatment facilities. It was established after a series of abusive incidents was brought to light. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said the work is vital as the ombudsperson is an advocate for at-risk youth.

“The young people in congregate care facilities are Philadelphia’s most vulnerable children,” Gauthier said during a committee hearing Monday. “We owe them a thorough, effective process for evaluating the quality of care we are providing, and the youth ombudsman’s office is a critical part of meeting that obligation.”

Gauthier went on to explain that there is abuse in the system. Without the ombudsperson, she said young people’s rights cannot be defended as, in many cases, the abuse is hidden because of redacted reports that are commonplace in some residential placements.

“The mission of the Office of the Youth Ombudsperson is to promote the health, welfare, education, safety, well-being and re-entry of Philadelphia youth placed in juvenile justice, child welfare or behavioral health residential care facilities,” she said.

She said her office’s research found children in Pennsylvania residential facilities were physically maltreated 156 times (114 times by staff), exposed to inappropriate sexual contact 73 times (39 times by staff), and suffered at least 43 incidents of verbal maltreatment by staff over an eight-year period in the 2010s. The report revealed that 44% of the facilities reviewed had repeated violations of physical or sexual maltreatment of children.

Jazmin Banks has raised 15 foster children and said the ombudsperson is key to ferreting out the horrors in the residential treatment system.

“Marginalized, stigmatized and invisible families like mine need a consistent organization we can trust and turn to — hopefully before a crisis — that will listen to us, work with us and save our children and families,” she said. “Especially when they are in these peculiar institutions where oversight and accountability are desperately needed.”

Others spoke about how the system has its flaws and cannot police itself, and cited that as the primary reason why the ombudsperson is desperately needed.

The executive order does not give the ombudsperson the ability to do independent investigations. Tracie Johnson, currently in the position of ombudsperson, hopes the office will have that ability once it becomes a full city office.

The voters will eventually have a final say on the charter change if the bill passes in the full City Council.