Toothless ‘child advocate’ position should be replaced by empowered abuse watchdog, former officeholder says

Stoneleigh Youth Advocacy Fellow Bree Hood spoke to Spotlight PA about the impact of injustices in Pennsylvania’s youth justice and foster care systems.

Pennsylvania’s foster care and juvenile justice systems leave a lot of kids with scars, said Bree Hood.

Hood was abused by a worker at a facility where she lived as a teen, but didn’t report it. She now advocates for youth with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, and said that too many vulnerable kids are getting hurt and staying silent out of fear.

“You can’t really trust none of the staff in the system, because all the staff talk to each other,” Hood told Spotlight PA.

Physical and sexual abuse of youth in Pennsylvania detention and treatment centers is widespread, according to investigations by news organizations and lawsuits. More than 200 suits have been filed in the past year alone, some of which name state-run centers.

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