PHILADELPHIA- The City of Philadelphia today submitted to the 2017 Bloomberg Mayors Challenge a proposal for “The Hub for Juvenile Justice Services,” to create a new national model for how children are treated at point of entry to the justice system.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies issued its challenge earlier this year as part of its American Cities Initiative. Cities were urged to submit ideas and to “think big, be bold, and uncover inventive — and, ultimately, shareable — ideas that tackle today’s toughest problems.” According to the Philanthropies, more than 500 cities are expected to submit ideas. Ultimately, one city will be selected for a grand prize of $5 million and four other cities will receive $1 million each to implement their ideas. The Challenge specifies that this must be a new idea for that city, and something no other city has done to scale.
“Philadelphia’s submission for a Hub for Juvenile Justice Services is indeed bold and inventive,” said Mayor Kenney. “How juveniles interact with the criminal justice system and the opportunities they receive are significant factors in avoiding negative outcomes such as incarceration. The Hub would create a center that would make a difference in the lives of young Philadelphians struggling amid pervasive poverty.”
Under the proposal submitted to the Bloomberg Challenge, the Hub would be a 24/7 integrated service center that is trauma-informed and technology-driven. Staff at the Hub would receive training to respond to youth and families and make referrals to prevention or other social service programs and to pretrial programs when appropriate. The Hub would provide juveniles immediate and long-term access to social services and diversion programs through a centralized, non-police facility.
The Hub would pool resources from police, prosecution, the Department of Human Services, probation and other partners and allow for immediate assessment, custody determinations, and access to various City social service agencies and diversion programs. A digital platform will allow for both integrated case management across systems and continuous access to services for youth and their families.
“We would expect more than two thousand young adults to come through the Hub each year,” said Judge Benjamin Lerner, Deputy Managing Director for Criminal Justice. “And for the first time in one location, they would have access to a centralized assessment, followed by referral to a variety of services that would include educational opportunities, medical treatment, counseling, mentoring, and workforce development, all in a trauma informed environment. It could truly be a transformative effort.”
The Hub for Juvenile Justice Systems proposal was created by two members of the Philadelphia Police Department, Lt. Stephen Clark, PPD (Strategic Planning/PPD 2020) and Sgt. John Ross, PPD (Strategic Planning/PPD 2020). Joining them in the effort was Rhonda McKitten, a Stoneleigh Fellow currently service as a Youth Policy and Training Specialist in the Police Department.
“The current system of juvenile post-arrest case processing causes additional trauma to youth and misses a vital opportunity to connect with youth and families when they are at the point of greatest need for support,” said Police Commissioner Richard Ross. “I remain hopeful that through the support of the Bloomberg Philanthropies, and with the vision of the team that created this proposal, we can change the course of young lives.”
The idea is an outgrowth of the work of a stakeholder group including the Managing Director’s Office, PPD, the DA’s office, DHS, Juvenile Probation and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The group has been meeting since May 2017 to look at ways to reduce the amount of time that youth spend in police custody, mitigate youth trauma, and support Philadelphia youth and families.
The need for a Hub for Juvenile Justice Services is supported by stark PPD data on the post-arrest detention of juveniles, including a database of the time spent at different stages of processing and narratives with case specific detail. In 2017, 2,233 youth were held in police districts or other police facilities following arrest. During this time, youth were not assessed for mental health and social service needs. They were held in cells designed for adult prisoners, not for children who are very likely to have experienced significant trauma already.
In January 2018, the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge will narrow the field of cities applying for the grants to 35. Those cities will be awarded $100,000 each to test and refine the ideas. Full applications would be due in August 2018, with the winners announced a year from now, October 2018.