Authorizing the joint committees on Public Health and Human Services and Housing Neighborhood Development and the Homeless to examine the progress anti-poverty organizations and agencies such as the Mayor's Office of Community Services are making in the alleviation of poverty in the City of Philadelphia and, in furtherance of such investigation, authorizing the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

WHEREAS, In the 1960's, poverty threatened to ravish the nation. A federal mandate was passed in 1964 to fight the war against poverty. As a result, the Mayor's Office of Community Services (MOCS) was established; and

WHEREAS, For over 45 years, the Mayor's Office of Community Services (MOCS) has been working to combat poverty in our City, help Philadelphia's low-income residents realize economic security, and move into the middle class; and

WHEREAS, With more Philadelphians struggling to find work, make ends meet, and provide for their families, MOCS needs to play a critical role in not only providing a safety net for families across the City, but in stabilizing communities and keeping our neighborhoods safe and vibrant; and

WHEREAS, According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the City's unemployment rate as of January 2012 was 10.7% and since January 2007 the average unemployment has been 8.9%; and

WHEREAS, According to data collected by the Philadelphia Research Initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, the poverty rate shows no sign of declining and in over half of Philadelphia's neighborhoods, the poverty rate is at least 20 percent; and

WHEREAS, Unemployment for Philadelphia's youth aged 18 to 24 is 19.4 %, almost double the overall unemployment rate in the City. Furthermore, since 2010, just 54% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have been employed, the lowest since 1948, when the government began keeping track, according to the Pew Research Center; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia's poverty rate stands at 25 percent, according to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau, as high as it has been in years, with 48% of individuals having an annual income of less than $35,000; and

WHEREAS, The persistence of poverty remains one of the great obstacles to Philadelphia's aspirations for a better future; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby authorizes the joint committees on Public Health and Human Services and Housing Neighborhood Development and the Homeless to examine the progress anti-poverty organizations and agencies such as the Mayor's Office of Community Services are making in the alleviation of poverty in the City of Philadelphia.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That in furtherance of such investigation, this Council hereby authorizes the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

End