Inside Philly’s hidden foster care system, where parents ‘voluntarily’ give up their children

Stoneleigh Fellow Steve Volk has published part 2 of his 3-part series in The Philadelphia Inquirer covering Philadelphia’s foster care system.

In fall 2021, Tytianna Hawthorne received a phone message from an investigator with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services: Someone may have abused her 1-year-old daughter.

The investigator was acting on a confidential tip to ChildLine from a caller who said a photo of Su’Layah on a social media account showed “hookah charcoal burn marks” on Su’Layah’s inner thighs.

Hawthorne, a first-time mother at 20, had spent time in foster care herself and had no love for the system. She also knew DHS had the power to take away her child. She hoped that the evident good health of her daughter, Su’Layah Williams, would speak for itself, and she called the investigator back.

View Part 2

View Part 1