COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:15 p.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER, CHAIR COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN JOAN L. KRAJEWSKI COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE L. BLACKWELL Bill 080750 - An ordinance amending Title 10 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Regulation of Individual Conduct and Activity," by amending Chapter 10-300, entitled "Minors," by providing for the establishment of a daytime curfew... - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2
Good afternoon, everyone. The Committee on Public Safety is now in session. Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum. We have Councilman Clarke to my left, Councilwoman Krajewski to my left, Councilman Greenlee to my left and Councilman Jim Kenney to my right. They are all members of this committee. We have one bill on the Calendar today. And we know it's late and we want to get started. Thank you. Would the Clerk please read the title of the bill.
Bill 080750, an ordinance amending Title 10 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Regulation of Individual Conduct and Activity," by amending Chapter 10-300, entitled "Minors," by providing for the establishment of a daytime curfew for minors of compulsory school age on days when such minors are required to be in 3 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 school, providing for penalties, adding definitions and making certain technical changes, all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks to all the Committee for their patience. It's been a long day. I just wanted to just quickly frame what we're doing here. Last summer right before the break, we had a hearing dealing with problems on SEPTA, particularly with youth, that Councilman Jones held, and out of that we came up with the idea, it was mentioned to us about a process in Baltimore called the "daytime curfew." We worked on that bill with folks from the School District and others. We feel this is an effective way. It's not the answer. It's certainly not the answer for what I would call the real delinquent 4 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 child, but particularly for the kid that on a day like today might take off a little early because it's a nice day or something like that, this would give a very small tap on the wrist and in the pocketbook to parents to get a little more attention to their student hopefully, because, as we know, if a student is not going to school, it leads to a multitude of problems, and we're hoping, to use the old phrase, to nip the problem in the bud. So we think this does this. It's been successful in other cities. And I thank everybody for coming. I know the Chairwoman is going to say the same thing. Since we're late, I appreciate everybody's time, but if everybody could be as brief as possible -- am I right, Madam Chair -- to try to get this bill 22 through, I'd appreciate it very much. Thanks to the Committee for hearing this.
You are absolutely correct. This is an important 5 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 issue, though. Truancy is a national problem, and it just begins to create problems and dysfunctional issues. So this is an important bill. Unfortunately, it's late in the day. I'm going to call all the witnesses up to the table, and on my witness list we have Dr. Lori Shorr, Lieutenant Fran Healy, Francis Pombar and Gregory Patton. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Is anyone here from the Mayor's Office, from the Education Committee? (Lori Shorr stepped out of room.)
When she comes back, just tell her to come up to the table. Okay? All right. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony, and we'll start off with Lieutenant Healy. 6 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 LIEUTENANT HEALY: Good afternoon, members of City Council. My name is Lieutenant Francis Healy. I'm a Special Advisor to Police Commissioner Ramsey and I'm here to testify on his behalf regarding Bill No. 080750, which would create a daytime curfew for school-age children. First, the Commissioner would like me to extend his gratitude for allowing the Police Department to voice its opinion on this bill. I've had an opportunity -- do you want me to continue with the whole testimony or just introductions?
The siren has actually impacted my ability to hear you. So what was your question? LIEUTENANT HEALY: Did you just want to do introductions or do you just want me to run through my testimony?
Can you just -- it's not really that long. If you want to -- we do have a 5 o'clock 7 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 meeting that we're all committed to go to, so we're trying to get there also. LIEUTENANT HEALY: I can speak faster.
Great. LIEUTENANT HEALY: It's estimated that each day about 7,500 students are truant in Philadelphia. While there are multiple reasons behind these numbers, I am here today to talk about truancy and public safety and why I believe this bill can fill a void that currently exists in the truancy system. From my own experience as a police officer, I can say with confidence that habitual truants that I have encountered usually become criminals, victims and, most often, both. So any legislation that can fill the void with the existing truancy system is welcomed. Truancy enforcement is currently spread across the School District, the Department of Human Services and Family Court. The School 8 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 District's portion of the system targets young people who have been truant one to seven times, with automated calls made to the home and possible referrals to in-school support services. If a student continues to be a truant for eight or more days, they are often referred to the City's Department of Human Services, where they may receive more services and possibly be referred to Truancy Court. In some serious cases of habitual truancy, a family may be fined or a student may be placed outside the home. Regrettably, under this system, only the most egregious truants get the attention they deserve and does not fully engage the parents until the problem is out of control. This is the void in the current truancy system that this bill 21 aims to fill. It creates immediate consequences for students and families when students skip school. The fines will bring attention to the parents sooner and will allow them to engage the 9 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 problem before the child becomes a habitual truant and starts getting into serious trouble or even gets hurt. For this reason, the Philadelphia Police Department supports this bill and applauds the efforts of Councilman Greenlee to protect the children of this city. That concludes my testimony.
Thank you. We're going to actually hear everyone's testimony and then we'll have questions. Please identify yourself for the record.
Good afternoon, Chair Donna Reed Miller and members of the City Council Committee on Public Safety assembled this afternoon. I am Francis Pombar, Deputy Chief of Attendance and Truancy for the School District. I'm accompanied by Gregory Patton, Coordinator of our citywide 10 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 truancy sweeps, who will also bring brief remarks. Also present are Kelli Lofton-Oglesby from the District's Office of Attendance and Truancy and Joseph Meade, Director of Government and Public Relations for the School District of Philadelphia. It is a privilege to offer testimony this afternoon regarding Bill 10 080750 on behalf of Superintendent Dr. Arlene C. Ackerman and the School District. I am here today to offer the School District's support for Bill 15 080750. This legislation, by establishing a daytime curfew between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. for minors of compulsory school age on days when minors are required to be in school, has the power to significantly bolster the elimination of truant activity in our city, if enacted. Dr. Ackerman and the School District of Philadelphia are fully committed, engaged and very serious about 11 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 the absenteeism and truancy challenge facing us today. At Dr. Ackerman's direction, the District has moved this issue to the forefront of the educational agenda by reorganizing the Office of Attendance and Truancy and elevating it to a cabinet-level function in order to better meet this challenge for a better Philadelphia. The School District of Philadelphia further continues to enhance partnerships with the Mayor's Office of Education, Department of Human Services, Family Court and other partners to help every child to excel in the years ahead. We realize this work cannot be done in silos, as each of us plays a pivotal role in combatting absenteeism and truancy. The School District recognizes that the City of Philadelphia may always face truancy in its school system. However, Bill 080750 indicates that the City and the District are indeed partners in combatting truancy, as the concerns that led to the introduction of this bill 12 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 are closely aligned with the School District of Philadelphia's guiding principles, our four core beliefs. One, children come first. Decisions are always to be made in the best interest of all of our children. Two, parents are our partners. Parents must be fully involved in all aspects of a child's education, in and out of school. Three, victory is in the classroom. And this is at the heart of our core beliefs. Quality teaching and learning takes place in the classroom, facilitated by a strong instructional leader. Four, leadership and accountability are the keys to success. Not just for the child, but for the adult as well. And, five, it takes the engagement of the entire community to ensure the success of our public schools. Thank you again for allowing 13 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 the School District of Philadelphia to participate in this afternoon's hearing. We very much appreciate the sponsor of this bill, Councilman Bill Greenlee, in his efforts on behalf of the children of Philadelphia. Absenteeism and truancy are problems that extend much further than the schoolhouse. They affect the student, the family and the community. We value our partnership with the City, and in particular, we appreciate City Council's consistent support for our public schools. Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, Chairman, members of Council. I'm Gregory Patton, Sr., and I coordinate truancy pick-up in Philadelphia with the ten law enforcement agencies. We go out every day with the mission for the safety and education of children that we pick up students who are on the streets of 14 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 Philadelphia. And our partners are the Philadelphia Police Department, SEPTA, the School Police, Philadelphia Housing Authority Police, Amtrak, the University of Penn, Temple University and the Delaware River Port Authority Police. In the last several years, the numbers have been growing, but not because there are more truants. We believe there's been more enforcement and more collaboration with our ten partners. But last school year we picked up 35,000 students from September to June of Philadelphia County. The previous school year we picked up 32,000. The students that are picked up in the sweeps are in grades kindergarten through 12 and they are ages 5 through 19 and occasionally above the age of 19 if they're still enrolled in high school. Of the students who are picked up, about 14 percent are taken to our Truancy Support Center. They're in West Philly and South Philadelphia, and the 15 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 other students are taken back to their home, to their school or to an age-appropriate school in that area. And for brevity, we'll stop, but the process has been ongoing. We can't do it without all our partners. And when we first started, it seemed that the system with SEPTA was out of control and the streets, and we can now claim that we have the streets pretty much under control from 9:00 to 11:00.
Thank you. I certainly do support the concept of this particular piece of legislation and do hope to be able to vote for it in the end. There's just one area, though. I was talking with the Chairperson earlier before this hearing started. A number of years ago I had attended Truancy Court, which I think is a tremendous -- I'm not sure whether the 16 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 money is still going to be there for it, but when it was in full swing, it was doing a very, very good job. And I remember being in a particular hearing where there was this lady who had came, a mother, because she had been subpoenaed because her kid didn't go to school, and when she got up to the bar of the court, the judge said, Where's your son? She said, Well, he's 6'3", 240, and he wouldn't come. So I'm here because I got subpoenaed. And it was an interesting rest of the morning, because we were lucky enough to have the Police Captain from the 25th District send a wagon to his house and pick him up and bring him in in handcuffs and have the judge ask him in front of his mother why he disrespects his mother so much and makes her come here without him. And, actually, the kid -- we followed the case later. The kid actually got back on track and started going to school. 17 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 What would you suggest we do to provide some way for a parent who is responsible and who just can't control her adult son? I mean, my son is 6'1", 230. I'm not going to fight him. And I don't -- I need to know or I can have the sponsors think about -- I mean, I don't want to hit that lady with a $300 fine, because I don't think she deserves it. Is there some way we could document that she or he has attended counseling, has gone to the school, has tried to do everything that they can to get the kid back on track but the kids just won't do it? You know, I agree with the entire concept of the bill and I want these kids off the street and I want them in school, but when you have a kid that's -- she may be a single mom, whatever. She just can't deal with him. I'm sure you've run into that circumstance.
Right now our 18 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 concept and process that we use now is still using that Truancy Court that you went to. DHS provides services to the family of truant students before they go to court. They're assigned a community-based organization, funded and paid for by DHS, look into the issues, give the parent support, give the child support. At the school level, we have our counselors, the CSAP process and everything possible that the family and child has done prior to court. The first court hearing is more or less to see what we can do to help you and move this family along. But ultimately you're going to have that parent that has not the control, and that's going to be a rare case, Councilman. You're going to find out for the parent who thought they couldn't do it, when they get that fine, they may find another way to do it. There will be a percentage that can't move their children, but there's a large 19 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 number sitting there right now because there are no consequences, they don't engage and get involved.
As the sponsor of the bill, was it intended to have these adjudicated at the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication?
Correct. That's part of the amendments that I put in.
And, remember, the initial fine is $25, and if the person -- just like with any code violation, if you will, once they go in and argue their particular circumstances --
So there's an opportunity for them to present to a hearing examiner, Look, I've been trying to help this kid for the past two years and --
And just on top of that, if I may, Madam Chair. Councilman Kenney, in the amendments that we're circulating, one of the reasons -- we tried to make it as attention-grabbing but also as light penalty as possible. That's why instead of putting it up in increments, we just kept it at $25, because we know there are those kind of situations. But I think as Mr. Patton said, I think the majority of people, because there are parents and kids, we hope, want to do things right. Once we grab their attention with this fine, I think it will -- because let's face it, just human beings what they are, sometimes you need to just touch their pocketbook a little bit to get their attention.
I don't disagree. I just wanted to make sure that there was some safety valve for a responsible parent who has a kid they 21 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 just can't -- is too big to move.
I want to recognize that Councilman Rizzo and Councilman Jones, members of this Committee, are also in attendance. And I have one question, too, and then I'll call on Councilman Jones. Please tell me about a five-year-old that's truant.
Actually, Councilwoman, that five-year-old was the brains of the operation with a group of eight- and nine-year-olds. He was the brightest in the group.
They were hookying. And, actually, they were on the train tracks. They decided to walk from North Philly to 23rd and Winter Street on the train tracks. It's one of 22 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 the scariest events we've had, because we actually had to get Amtrak, SEPTA, Philly Police involved, stop the trains, get the little children off the track. But the five-year-old planned the mission and got a group of followers. They were cousins and neighbors.
If I may, on an average day, we have 15,000 of our children not going to school. Half of those are unexcused. And that's one less day of instruction, whether you're excused or unexcused from school.
That's unfortunate. Okay. Thank you. Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Madam Chair. 23 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 I want to thank all of the people that worked hard to bring this bill to this Committee, and I'll say that my staff in their research of it found a couple truisms. One, that the School Board is an integral partner in this, and I was encouraged by the new Superintendent's comments as to use truancy as an early warning detecting system for problem children, and that this companion ordinance is a key part of that. As my colleague said, Councilman Greenlee, it's not designed to be financially punitive. It is designed to get parents' attention and jar them into being responsible. And even if they are incapable of parenting their child, we as society need to know it, and it needs to be brought to our attention so that we can intervene. The idea here is not to financially burden people who have already -- in a lot of cases, the reason 24 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 that their child is out of control is that they're single parents, head of household, trying to make ends meet by an extra job, so, therefore, the supervision isn't always there. But priorities are priorities, and the priority is to be a parent and to supervise your child, and where the individual parent cannot, then society often has to step in, and that these early warning signs are important. Why? In my first -- even before the ink was dry on swearing in, I stood over the body of a teenager who was out beyond a curfew period that already is established, and in so doing, when the police from the 19th Police District were questioning the witnesses, 50 percent of them were underage and in curfew violation. So by them being on the scene, by them being not where they're supposed to be, in this case in school, they're putting themselves in harm's way. And I think this ordinance goes a long way of trying to right that direction for 25 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 these young people. Thank you, Madam Chair.
May I make a comment, please? Dr. Ackerman has placed 128 parent ombudsman and 128 student advisors. The responsibility of that parent ombudsman is solely to build a relationship between the school and the community and help that parent feel welcomed to that school, help with whatever situation that parent is facing early on and bring those resources to bear for that parent and that child's support. We're also collaborating very closely with the Mayor's Education Office, with DHS, the Family Court as far as data sharing, so that we all have a complete profile of that child so we can then better give those supports to that family.
I want to thank the Councilman, especially Councilman Rizzo. We started this conversation 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 probably about three years ago. Councilman Jones and Greenlee, we spoke last year. We moved forward. I thank you for finally getting to this point. The one thing that has been amazing in the seven years I've done this is the number of parents who drive their children to the front door of the school, pull off and junior or juniorette makes a U-turn, and without us informing them, they have no idea. I think the greatest appreciation we get from parents is the information that your child is not where you think they are, and that means we can actually help them.
All right. I used to work right down the street from Germantown High School and I've seen exactly what you're talking about. Parents drop their children off at the doughnut shop and that's where they stayed. The only sidewalk on the block they were not allowed on was our 27 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 sidewalk. We would not allow those children to hang on that sidewalk. Eventually the school actually did contact the parents, and that we see many a morning that the parent comes back and grabs their children off the step or whatnot. So it's difficult. It's not so easy. As Councilman Kenney said, many of these parents cannot control these children. Any other questions of these witnesses? Lieutenant Healy. LIEUTENANT HEALY: Actually, I'd like to comment on what Councilman Kenney brought up, a very good point, that I think it might be a good idea, in addition to the legislation, if the School District and other departments put together maybe a flyer to insert with the ticket so as services are made available, so the parents know what services are available. 28 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750
That's right. LIEUTENANT HEALY: They may have to pay the $25 fine, but letting them know what is available might be very -- and that would accomplish your goal, too.
Yeah. LIEUTENANT HEALY: But that's just an idea. That's not part of the legislation.
We actually think it's a great idea, because parents need to know what resources. I know many times we go to community meetings, people are saying, I need help, I need help with my child. Where can I turn? So I think what you're saying is we can sort of give them "where to go" information. LIEUTENANT HEALY: Right. If you need help, just insert it with the ticket in the envelope and they have the information and phone numbers. 29 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750
Yes. That's really great. I also just want to make sure that people know that we do have Dr. Lori Shorr in the audience, and what we'll do is actually turn her testimony in for the record. Okay? Unless it's something you want to say.
Okay. Great. Any other questions for these witnesses? (No response.)
And I just personally want to say thank you for coming. You've probably been here since like 2:30. (Audience member saying, "We know all about PVC.")
30 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 Councilman Greenlee.
Madam Chair, I certainly want to thank everybody involved. I have to mention Mr. Patton. It is clear he feels very strongly about this. It's easy to give up, I think, on these kind of problems, and he has not done that. He has kept at it for a long time, and I appreciate him bringing the information to us, and we're glad to have followed through. And if I could just add one other thank you, if I may. Ms. Leonard from the technical staff put this together and I think put in the amendments, and we must have rewritten this about five times. So I appreciate all her help always that she gives us. So thank you very much.
Are there any other witnesses to testify? (No response.)
Thank you. Seeing none, this concludes the 31 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 public hearing on the Committee on Public Safety. We will now go into our public meeting. Councilman Greenlee, you have an amendment to this bill?
Yes, Madam Chair. Thank you. I move the amendment to Bill 080750, but I also just quickly want to explain it so everybody is clear. A lot of it is just kind of cleaning up the language and make it consistent with what Councilman Kenney talked about. To make clear, it goes to the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication and how that would be handled, and also it takes out the incremental fines for a couple reasons. First, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, and also it would be kind of burdensome on the BAA, Bureau of Administrative Adjudication, to try to work all that out. So given that explanation, I move the adoption of the amendments to that bill. 32 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 (Duly seconded.)
Everyone has voted in favor of amending Bill No. 10 080750. So now we want to entertain a motion to move this bill, report this bill out of Committee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 16 080750, as amended, be reported out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation and, further, that the rules of Council be suspended to allow for first reading at our next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It's been properly moved and seconded that Bill No. 25 080750 be reported out of this Committee 33 3/18/09 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 080750 with a favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended. All in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. This bill has been properly moved and seconded, and the rules of Council have been suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session. Thank you. This concludes our hearing. Thank you for coming. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for staying. (Committee on Public Safety concluded at 4:40 p.m.) - - - 34 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on March 18, 2009, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)