Authorizing the City Council Committee on Public Safety to hold public hearings on the "First Chance Trust Fund" legislation introduced by Senator Vincent Hughes, which would aide children and youth impacted by the state's prison system.

WHEREAS, The First Chance Trust Fund legislation, introduced by State Senator Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia, seeks to establish a public charitable trust to help children impacted by the state’s prison system. The trust would be used to create scholarships and grants in order to provide access to programs to aide children of the incarcerated in the completion of their schooling; and

WHEREAS, This legislation has received bipartisan support from Senators representing counties across the state, including Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Richard Alloway (R-Adams, Cumberland, Franklin & York). If the legislation is passed, the fund will become the first of its kind in the country; and

WHEREAS, The First Chance Trust Fund, which is expected to generate up to $1 million per year, would be administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The money for the fund will be raised by private, tax-deductible donations and a 1% surcharge on vendors that have a contract with the Department of Corrections exceeding $5 million; and

WHEREAS, Sixty-five percent of Pennsylvania’s inmates have at least one child. The absence of a parent in a child’s life due to the parent’s incarceration can lead to long-lasting and detrimental social and economic issues for that child; and

WHEREAS, Money from the fund would go towards regions that have statistically higher high school dropout rates and risk of incarceration. As Philadelphia contributes the greatest to the incarceration numbers across the state, it is imperative that we learn how our City’s youth can benefit from this fund; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED,

BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby

authorizes the City Council Committee on Public Safety to hold public hearings on the “First Chance Trust Fund” legislation introduced by Senator Vincent Hughes, which would aide children and youth impacted by the state’s prison system.

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