Authorizing the City Council Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings concerning the Philadelphia Department of Public Welfare's practices against Master of Human Services graduates of Lincoln University.

WHEREAS, The Master of Human Service (MHS) degree is reportedly not being accepted by Philadelphia's Department of Human Services; and

WHEREAS, If a supervisor, director, or other management staff of a provider agency holds this degree, reportedly it will not be accepted and no waiver will be granted for it; and

WHEREAS, The graduates of Lincoln University's MHS Program have contributed many dedicated years of service and innovation to Philadelphia's Department of Human Services, as well as the field of human services in Philadelphia and many other cities across the nation; and

WHEREAS, Lincoln University's MHS Program supplements the theoretical knowledge learned within a classroom setting with the hands on real world experience required to become skilled in the field of human services; and

WHEREAS, There is no direct correlation between a bearer of Lincoln University's MHS degree and an increased risk to clients, or increased rates of failed services within the agency; and

WHEREAS, The students and alumni of Lincoln University's MHS Program have been singled out by Philadelphia's Department of Human Welfare, and Philadelphia's Department of Human Services without regard to an individual's skills, experience, or expertise; and

WHEREAS, Lincoln University of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was chartered by the state to offer both baccalaureate and graduate degrees in April 1854 as Ashmun Institute and was renamed in 1866 after President Abraham Lincoln; and

WHEREAS, Lincoln University has a proud heritage of academic excellence and notable faculty and alumni such as, Langston Hughes- world renowned poet, Thurgood Marshall- first African American Justice on the United States Supreme Court, Nnamdi Azikiwe- Nigeria's first President, and Kwame Nkrumah- Ghana's first President, to name a few; and

WHEREAS, In 1977, Lincoln University, along with Eagleville Hospital and Rehabilitation Center and eight other human service agencies, developed and launched the Master of Human Service Program; and

WHEREAS, In 1981, the MHS Program became officially known as the Lincoln University Master of Human Services Program; and

WHEREAS, It is of great concern that the Department of Human Service's practice, as it pertains to graduates of Lincoln University's MHS Program, will have a severe negative impact on graduates of Lincoln University and the people they serve; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, THAT PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL, Calls for the Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings to investigate the cause and impact of the discriminatory practices of Philadelphia's Department of Public Welfare as it pertains to Lincoln University.

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