Harrisburg must reverse its persistent failure to protect children and older adults in Pa. | Editorial

A core responsibility of elected officials is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the most vulnerable citizens. Sadly, Pennsylvania lawmakers are failing both young and old residents.

To make matters worse, the breakdown in Harrisburg is taking place while the Trump administration guts funding and oversight of a wide swath of core government functions, essentially making the state the protector of last resort.

Of particular concern is the implosion of Pennsylvania’s recently created office of the child advocate and the persistent incompetence of the Department of Aging.

The child advocate office was created in 2019 out of a crisis, after The Inquirer exposed rampant abuses at the state-licensed Glen Mills Schools.

The state hired Maryann McEvoy as the child advocate in 2021. She was distinctly qualified for the role given her experience as a special-education teacher and longtime advocate for children with disabilities.

But as Inquirer reporter Samantha Melamed recently detailed, McEvoy’s efforts to access information and follow up on complaints were stymied at nearly every turn.

Uncertainty over whether Gov. Josh Shapiro would continue to fund the office prompted staffers to flee. In January, McEvoy resigned, leaving the office empty, though Shapiro supports legislation that would give the office more teeth to access case information.

Pennsylvania is now one of just a handful of states without a child advocate or ombudsman. That means there is essentially no independent oversight of the state’s $1.2 billion child welfare system.

That is particularly unsettling given reports of suspected abuse have increased by 35% since 2014, while many child welfare agencies are experiencing staffing shortages.

Pennsylvania’s child welfare system has a troubled history. Last year, as many as seven child welfare agencies were operating under provisional licenses, which means the state flagged serious issues.

In Philadelphia, young people in juvenile detention were regularly held in seclusion in violation of state guidelines. A separate Inquirer investigation found children were offered bribes to assault other children.

Such reports should be cause for concern. But it does not appear to be a top priority for Shapiro, who lately seems more interested in calling in to sports talk radio.

Yet, while the child welfare system remains in crisis, the state — in a shameful and misguided decision — allowed the Glen Mills Schools to reopen. Given that institution’s horrific track record, it’s hardly alarmist to wonder if it’s a question of when, not if, the next calamity there might occur.

The same goes for the state’s Department of Aging, which is charged with keeping older adults from abuse and neglect. Yet, the department appears to be dropping the ball.

There has been a jaw-dropping increase in the number of older Pennsylvanians who died during an open investigation of an abuse or neglect complaint, according to data obtained by Spotlight PA. In 2018, nearly 900 people died under these circumstances. By 2022 (the last complete year of data), the number was nearly 1,700 — a 91% increase.

Most of the 52 agencies charged with protecting older adults failed, in varying degrees, to swiftly review complaints of suspected abuse and neglect or craft plans to protect people, a 2024 Spotlight PA investigation found.

Many of the problems — ranging from neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and financial exploitation — have endured despite a 2018 report by the state inspector general’s office that recommended the Department of Aging develop a plan to improve timeliness in completing abuse and neglect investigations.

Philadelphia, in particular, has experienced a steep rise in deaths of older adults while the open investigations sputtered. Nearly a third of older adults who died amid open investigations in 2019, 2020, and 2021 lived in the city and were being served by the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, according to a recent investigation by Spotlight PA reporter Angela Couloumbis.

Staffing shortages and delays in investigating cases at PCA set off alarms and prompted officials to scramble to fix the problems. Some improvements have been made, but the Philadelphia agency has the worst track record for compliance, according to the Spotlight PA investigation.

To be sure, many of the problems occurred before Shapiro took office and the governor has budgeted funds for reforms and improvements to the monitoring system.

There is no excuse for the persistent failure to protect children and older adults. At the end of the day, the problem comes down to leadership.

Shapiro boasts — sometimes profanely — that he gets things done. Indeed, he moved mountains to repair a section of I-95 that collapsed in Northeast Philadelphia in 2023.

Shapiro owes Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable children and older adults the same kind of focus and attention.

Editor’s Note: This editorial has been updated with additional information about Gov. Josh Shapiro’s efforts to make reforms to state agencies designed to protect vulnerable children and older adults.