PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia voters will be asked to make the Office of Youth Ombudsman permanent under a bill that City Council passed last week.
The Youth Ombudsman was created by executive order after a study found that children in state residential facilities were abused with alarming frequency. Between 2010 and 2018, there were 156 cases of physical mistreatment, 43 cases of verbal mistreatment and 73 cases of inappropriate sexual contact.
Councilmember Jaime Gauthier said children had no recourse before the office; now they have an ally.
“They develop materials and educate young people about their rights. They build trusting relationships with young people and act as an independent entity to receive complaints,” Gauthier said.
That’s why she sponsored the legislation to put a referendum on the May primary ballot to make the office permanent. The bill also sets the Youth Ombudsman’s salary at $150,000 and gives the office a $1 million budget.
It will not be the only charter change voters will be asked about. They’ll also decide whether the city can create a board to oversee a new retirement plan for workers whose employers don’t offer one. And it appears council will soon advance a referendum that would end the rule that city officials must resign to run for a new office. The question has twice been voted down — the only losing ballot question in decades.