On Friday, March 3, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. (note new time), Councilman Kenyatta Johnson is coordinating a hearing on the impact of fines and fees levied by the juvenile justice system on Philadelphia youth and their families. The hearing will be at City Hall, in the Council’s main chamber, Room 400. We hope you will join us.
This hearing will be focused on the City’s practice of charging parents for the cost of their child’s incarceration. Affected parents, advocates, and the City’s Department of Human Services are scheduled to testify. The practice of charging parents for the child’s cost of confinement has been occurring in Philadelphia since the 1990s, with little oversight, and acts as a second punishment for children and families. Double Punishment, a report by Justice Lab and the Youth Sentencing and Reentry Project, contains more information on the practice and its harm to families.
If you or your organization know of parents affected by the City’s practice of charging parents for their children’s incarceration costs and would like to submit their stories to be part of the record, please reach out to us. It is also possible to have additional parents testify in-person if we can connect with those parents quickly. If you have any questions, please contact Wes Stevenson at Wesley.stevenson@temple.edu.