STOP THE HARM

“People often say it takes a village to raise a child,” LaTasha Hall told the Inquirer, her voice breaking. “That village was supposed to be Deveraux.”

Instead, Deveraux, the nation’s most trusted behavioral health nonprofit caring for children with intellectual disabilities and mental disorders, allowed Edward, her 16-year-old son, diagnosed with autism and developmental delays, to be raped for months by a male staffer.

He only broke his painful silence when he learned that a younger child, who he had been a big brother to, was also being raped by that same worker.

[If you have not already, please read the Inquirer’s invaluable reporting by Lisa Gartner and Barbara Laker in Hope, Help, Harm.]

What happened at Devereaux was cruel and grotesque, and it demands that every child be removed from their care immediately.

If there was any question whether state regulators and city officials charged with ensuring the safety of our children are doing their job, clearly, the answer is they are not.

For the State to respond by saying they are “reviewing allegations” but not also that they are rapidly finding safer living options for these children is unacceptable. You only need to consider what you would do if one of your own children was living at Deveraux to know what the state should be doing today.

Every day county child welfare agencies remove children from their homes because they have been abused or severely neglected. How, then, can the state and county take no action to remove children when there is clear evidence that children are not safe from sexual assault, mental or physical abuse in a state- or privately-run institution? 

From the harm caused to the children used in the “Cash for Kids Scandal” at Mid-Atlantic, to the death and rapes at Wordsworth, to the injuries, assaults and indignities at Glen Mills, to horrors that children suffered at South Mountain and other state run centers euphemistically called Youth Development Centers,  to the expose of Deveraux, we must ask ourselves how many children must be abused in an institutional setting before every state and county official says “Enough!” 

Clearly, the state licensing authorities have failed our children by not questioning the safety of these facilities.  Thankfully, Councilwoman Helen Gym and her Children and Youth Committee colleagues wasted no time demanding that the Philadelphia Department of Human Services act swiftly and responsibly calling for: 

• Removing all Philadelphia youth from Devereux facilities and permanently close intake at all Devereux facilities;
• Canceling all City and School District contracts with Devereux and offering alternative programs for families;
• Creating and funding an independent Youth Ombudsman Office to investigate complaints on all matters related to Philadelphia youth in placement;
• Establishing a City hotline for Philadelphia youth and families to report abuse without fear of retaliation and with the guarantee of immediate investigation;
• Funding a complete review of the safety and educational outcomes of residential placements. Estimates indicate approximately $500,000 will be needed to complete a review of 50 percent of the facilities each year;
• Communicating with families and guardians who have children in Devereux facilities.

Every county child welfare agency should do the same.

Months ago, PCCY urged Council and the City to pro-actively support systemic changes to protect the very sort of children we read about and wept for this week. Once again, we call for the City of Philadelphia to create an independent Ombudsman Office where children can call for protection from the predators working in the institutions charged with their safety. This must be top priority for any elected or appointed official that claims caring for our children is their top priority.