PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Declining enrollment and the financial impact of COVID-19 are the main factors behind the recent decision by the Philadelphia Archdiocese to close the St. Gabriel’s Hall program for delinquent teens in Audubon, Montgomery County, on Nov. 30.
Archdiocesan spokesman Ken Gavin said a shift in Philadelphia’s focus on placements of delinquent teens in recent years contributed to declining enrollment at St. Gabe’s.
“COVID-19 sort of had an accelerating impact on something that we were already seeing as a trend in a care model for court-adjudicated youth over time,” Gavin explained. “Ten years ago, we had close to 200. Five years ago, there were 150. Before COVID-19, there were about 100 youth who were residing at St. Gabriel’s Hall.”
Now, he said, there are only 30 young people left in the program, and the Philadelphia Department of Human Services is in now in the process of moving them out.
Gavin said the archdiocese is looking for work for the 170 St. Gabe’s employees who will lose their jobs when the program closes.
He said there has been no determination yet on the future of the property.
“The building’s been a fixture in the area for a very long time,” Gavin said. “I think the first step in that process would be to talk to local civic leaders about what they see as the best use and disposition.
“But the focus for the immediate future is going to be the impacted residents and impacted employees who may be dealing with job loss here.”