In earlier newsletters, we have shared a bit about the costs and fees work we are doing with the Justice Lab at Temple Law, to try to end the practice here in Philadelphia of charging parents for the cost of their children's incarceration in the juvenile justice system. As you might remember, this practice has been occurring in Philadelphia since the 1990s, with little oversight, and a problematic fee structure paid to a private attorney. We have made significant headway on the issue in the past year, with Justice Lab doing tremendous advocacy and creating a reporton it, culminating in Philadelphia DHS committing publicly to wanting to end the practice. Even since the article ran, we have gotten closer to a moratorium, but we're not quite there yet.
Good news: City Council has taken an interest in this issue. On Friday, March 3, at 11:00am, Councilman Kenyatta Johnson is holding a hearing on the impact on Philadelphia. The hearing will provide an introduction to costs and fees generally, and then will focus specifically on the City's collection practice of charging parents for the cost of their children's incarceration. It is a response to the inaction of the City in changing this practice, despite the public pronouncement of a desire to end it, and all the interim steps they have taken to get there.
The hearing will be at City Hall, in the Council's main chamber, Room 400.
YSRP Co-Director Lauren Fine will be testifying alongside Temple student Wes Stevenson and YSRP parent advocate Kameelah Spears. Also testifying is Juvenile Law Center's Jessica Feierman, Stoneleigh Fellow and former Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and Cynthia Figueroa, the Commissioner of Philadelphia DHS.
We hope you can join us to show the City that people care about ending this unjust practice.
On behalf of the young people we work with who have been charged as adults, and those sentenced as adults when they were children,
we thank you so much for your support!
