DHS Town Hall forum in Phila. tonight
The city's Department of Human Services tonight will host the first of four Town Hall meetings to discuss reforms resulting from the deaths of children under the agency's supervision.
The city's Department of Human Services tonight will host the first of four Town Hall meetings to discuss reforms resulting from the deaths of children under the agency's supervision.
The reforms were ordered after a Philadelphia grand jury issued a report in July blasting the agency for its part in the starvation death of Danieal Kelly, the 14-year-old who died in her mother's West Philadelphia home in August 2006. Kelly, who used a wheelchair and suffered from cerebral palsy, was under the supervision of DHS. At death, she weighed 42 pounds and looked, the grand jury said, "like a child victim of a concentration camp."
Nine people, including the teen's parents, were charged with felonies and misdemeanors in connection with her death and the subsequent investigation.
Tonight's meeting, scheduled from 7 to 9 at Cozen PAL, 732 N. 17th St., will be led by DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose, who will provide information about the status of the department's reform efforts.
Mayor Nutter is scheduled to attend and make a few remarks. In addition, representatives of the Department's Community Action Response Office (CARO) will be on hand to help address case-specific issues with clients.
The other meetings are scheduled for: 7-9 p.m. Oct. 16 at Beloved St. John Baptist Church, 4541 N. Broad St.; 7-9 p.m. Oct. 30 at Lenfest PAL, 3890 N. 10th St.; and 6:30-8:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at Compassion Community Development Corp., 6150 Cedar Ave. The meetings are open to the public, and no registration is required.
