July 2004

Philadelphia Mayor John Street recently announced the formation of a new, reconstituted Children’s Commission.  Street announced the new commission during the release of Report Card 2004: The Well-Being of Children and Youth in Philadelphia.  For the fifth consecutive year, the city received an overall grade of “Mixed, with inconsistent progress”.

“Despite our progress in improving some outcomes for children, the city received an overall grade of ‘Mixed’ again this year,” the Mayor continued.  “There is cause for optimism, just as there is the need for renewed commitment to do even more for our children.  The reality is that Philadelphia’s city government cannot do the work alone.  We need a greater degree of public-private collaboration.  To that end, I am delighted to announce today the formation of a new Children’s Commission, which includes many of the most respected civic and child advocacy leaders in the city.”

Mayor Street created the original Children’s Commission during his first term.  The commission helped create data sources such as the Report Card and the Children’s Budget, an annual measurement and analysis of all government spending for children and youth in Philadelphia.  Philadelphia Safe and Sound works with the commission to produce the Report Card and Children’s Budget and to use the data to improve decision-making on how children and families are being served.

The Mayor said the reconstituted commission will build on that work.  “The new commission will convene regular meetings with members of my Cabinet and the leadership of the private child advocacy community,” the Mayor said.  “The commission also will author reports to me which will provide analysis of effective City programs and policies for children, as well as action plans to better address ongoing challenges in keeping the city’s children healthy, safe and prepared for a successful transition into adulthood.  By providing recommendations to city government and private agencies on building upon gains or addressing deeply-entrenched problems confronting Philadelphia’s children and youth, the commission will be a catalyst for positive change and a powerful voice for the city’s most vulnerable residents.”

Naomi Post, former executive director of Safe and Sound and long time child advocate, and Lynne Honickman, president of the Honickman Foundation, will co-chair the commission.

The 2004 report card, like the four previous ones, tracks Philadelphia’s progress toward achieving five desired results, reflecting the key factors affecting children’s lives: family, community, school, health, and behavior.  A total of 26 indicators, culled from reliable and recent citywide data, were used in the report card. 

“Philadelphia has realized improvements in many child and youth indicators over the past year, especially in the area of early childhood health,” said Mayor Street.  “Unfortunately, those gains were offset by extremely troubling challenges faced by older youth, especially around community safety standards.  A rise in youth violence and homicide should be cause for great concern for every resident of Philadelphia.”

One promising new development this year is the mapping technology being employed throughout the city in both public and private child-serving agencies.  Mapping allows city government and private organizations to pinpoint the location of problems and the need for deeper resources right down to specific communities.  “This is an important development because different communities face different challenges in improving the health, safety, education and overall positive development of their children and youth,” said the Mayor, who expects the City to begin producing “community report cards” later this year.

The 2004 Report Card is posted in pdf format on the Philadelphia Safe and Sound website here.  To request a copy, send an email to reportcard@philasafesound.org.