Philadelphia Regional Office

Throughout the initial period of its second decade of kinship care service delivery, A Second Chance, Inc. has been in dialogue with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) to collaborate in the creation of a new system of kinship care services for the benefit of children and families engaged in the Philadelphia child welfare system.  The result is a project to service kinship families that recognizes the strength, stability and vitality of relative caregivers as a resource to protect children and youth in the least restrictive setting possible when separation from birth parents or caregivers is necessary.

The Philadelphia Regional Office of A Second Chance, Inc. is located in the heart of Center City within walking distance of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services and the local Court House. The office location at the corner of Seventeenth and Arch Streets is easily accessible by SEPTA and other modes of public transportation.

The Philadelphia Regional Office of A Second Chance, Inc. will work in tandem with Philadelphia DHS authorities to conduct kinship emergency caregiver home inspections, process criminal and child abuse clearances, provide immediate tangible needs for families and complete an emergency kinship family assessment with domains parallel to the home study required for Commonwealth approval as foster parents. Services begin with a kinship family assessment by ASCI with DHS following a telephone referral to initiate the 15-day Emergency Kinship Family Service Plan.   Thereafter, between Day 14 and Day 17, a Kinship Family/Provider Transfer Meeting occurs to ensure that the kinship family will have a seamless transfer of kinship care services to a local performance-based contractor to complete the home study process. 

The 15-day Kinship Family Emergency Service Plan models the integrated, holistic and culturally responsive case management services and supports of ASCI to address unique clinical issues and identify family-based strengths of kinship caregivers to ensure child safety, stabilize the relative placement and begin permanency planning. During the 15-day service period, ASCI staff will conduct an initial kinship family assessments (w/a DHS social worker); perform a comprehensive DPW home inspection; complete ongoing assessments to evaluate safety/risk factors and family well-being; process documents required for comprehensive background investigations (HB 2308); and complete a Kinship Family Emergency Response Profile (home study domains).

While our kinship care services are delivered in the surrounding communities, the staff of the Philadelphia Regional Office is available on-site from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. Importantly, program staff is also available to provide crisis intervention 24-hours a day to kinship families through its on-call response system by calling (215) 564-0790.

The Kinship Family Emergency Response Plan contains fundamental elements of a positive and collaborative relationship between ASCI, DHS and local service providers. Importantly, ASCI acknowledges that processes and procedures may be modified through the initial phase of the 15-day Kinship Family Emergency Service Plan as a pilot project. As such, program evaluation components, quality assurance features and after-care client satisfaction surveys will be employed by ASCI to assist in future project modifications.

Concern Line : 267-597-3995