DHS chief opens 'a dialogue'

New DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose opened last night's town-hall meeting with a promise to better protect children and support families.

Then she acknowledged the we've-heard-this-before skeptics in the crowd of about 70 people.

"DHS is really good at starting things and maybe not so good at finishing them," Ambrose conceded.

But this time, with help and input from the community, Ambrose said she felt confident that changes within the long-troubled agency will stick.

"This work is really about the partnerships that we're able to form to help protect our children," said Ambrose, who outlined many of the reforms. "We're hoping this is the beginning of a dialogue with the community."

And so the dialogue began.

Parents complained about DHS workers whom they deemed as rude, insensitive and retaliatory. A foster parent griped that kids are moved from home to home like cargo. A community leader groused that grandparents who step in to raise their grandchildren don't get the same support from DHS as foster parents. Another fretted that the Family Court system is stacked against parents.

Zoraida Figueroa, of Northeast Philly, stood up and told Ambrose that her son's 2-year-old stepdaughter accidentally burned herself in hot bath water last October. DHS took the girl and her 10-month-old stepbrother away from her son. Even though the District Attorney's Office and police ruled the incident an accident, DHS still hasn't returned the kids, Figueroa complained.

"By removing the kids, you're not helping them," Figueroa said. "It's like no one is listening."

For nearly two hours, Ambrose listened.

As did Mayor Nutter, who showed up later in the meeting and expressed support for DHS workers.

Last night's gathering, held at the Police Athletic League, at 17th and Brown streets, was the first of four scheduled town-hall meetings being led by Ambrose.

About 70 people - many of whom work for DHS or the city - attended last night's meeting.

Perhaps the most tense moment came when Rachel Poller, sister of former DHS supervisor Martha Poller, spoke about how city leaders are driving her sister out of the agency in the wake of a blistering grand-jury report that accused DHS of doing nothing while Danieal Kelly, a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, slowly starved to death.

Rachel Poller said that her sister is being forced to retire after 29 years of good work.

"The truth is that since the tragic death of Danieal Kelly, the public, the media and officials have moved from a reasoned call for accountability to a frenzied witch hunt," she said. "The result is that your best employees will leave because they have learned that those at the top care more about looking good than doing good."

Ambrose answered her with silence. When pressed, Ambrose said that Pollar will have an opportunity to present her side at a hearing. *