Supporting the Needs of Students Involved with the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice System in the School District of Philadelphia
In January 2013, PolicyLab at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) was commissioned by the Mayor’s Office of Education (MOE), School District of Philadelphia (SDP), Philadelphia School Reform Commission (SRC), and Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) to examine the distribution, concentration, and academic outcomes of youth in Philadelphia’s public schools involved with the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system. The research was requested to inform policy decisions intended to improve educational success for youth involved with DHS in Philadelphia. This report presents data from a targeted cross-system review of students in the 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 12th grades from the 2011-2012 academic year across all schools within the SDP.
The goals of the review were to (1) describe the level of both ongoing and previous child welfare and juvenile justice involvement of students in the SDP and (2) better understand these students’ educational needs.