June 10, 2014 — The School District of Philadelphia, the Mayor’s Office of Education, the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS), the Philadelphia School Reform Commission and PolicyLab at CHOP released an educational report examining the distribution, concentration and academic outcomes of children and adolescents attending Philadelphia’s public schools who have been involved in the city’s child welfare or juvenile justice system. PolicyLab’s Sophia Hwang, MSED, Heather Griffis, PhD, Lihai Song, MS, and David Rubin, MD, MSCE, co-authored the report.  

CHOP’s PolicyLab was commissioned to examine the academic outcomes of Philadelphia public school students who have been involved with the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The resulting report entitled, “Supporting the Needs of Students Involved with the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice System in the School District of Philadelphia” describes the level of DHS involvement in the public school system and the educational needs of those students involved with DHS.

In response to this report, the School District of Philadelphia and DHS have committed to improving the educational experience of students with DHS involvement. To this end, starting next school year, the Philadelphia Department of Human Services will deploy 27 social workers to be based in public schools.