Authorizing the Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings to determine whether City Council should establish a Families Oversight Cabinet to review the impact of the City of Philadelphia's operating budgets and matching grants on the City's growing rate of poverty.

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia budgeted $1.302 billion to Community Based Health (CBH) via the HealthChoices Behavioral Health Fund in Fiscal Year 2017, an increase of $340.4 million from Fiscal Year 2016 alone, with many stakeholders already expected to leverage grant dollars through fee-for-services programs; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia budgeted $275.4 million to the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS) for Fiscal Year 2017, in addition to that department’s funding of CBH, to support the recovery, resilience, and self-determination of those under its care; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia budgeted $671.2 million to the Department of Human Services (DHS) for Fiscal Year 2017, for the purpose of providing and promoting safety, permanency, and well-being for children at risk of abuse, neglect, and delinquency; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia budgeted $366.7 million to the Department of Public Health (DPH) for Fiscal Year 2017, for the purpose of protecting and promoting the health of all Philadelphians and to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia budgeted $7.4 million to the Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) for Fiscal Year 2017, not including $9.4 million is pass-through funds to JEVS Human Services, for the purpose of aligning the City’s efforts to lift communities out of poverty and increase opportunities for low-income individuals and families; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia budgeted a grand total of $2.631 billion in Fiscal Year 2017 expenditures among CBH, DBHIDS, DHS, DPH, and CEO, to coordinate programs that provide a safety net and improve quality of life for Philadelphia families who live in poverty; however, the recent transformation of Community Umbrella Agencies (CUAs) has presented challenges to service delivery and accountability; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Kenney has articulated his Administration’s commitment to help families get out of poverty by improving our education system, through pre-K and community schools initiatives; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Kenney has articulated his Administration’s commitment to help build a workforce through training, retraining, employment opportunities within city government, and access to government contracts and projects, particularly within the Rebuild initiative; and

WHEREAS, The success of Mayor Kenney’s initiatives will require the re-alignment of departmental responsibilities and zero-based budgeting to ensure that services are leveraged; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Public Health and Human Services will review appropriations and contracts within CBH, DBHIDS, DHS, DPH, and CEO, to determine whether the City of Philadelphia’s cumulative investment in fighting poverty shall require City Council to establish a Families Oversight Cabinet, to ensure that contracted services and stakeholders consistently provide transparent and efficient service to Philadelphians in need.

End