Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker exits SEPTA's Allegheny Station before walking along Kensington Avenue on Thursday, April 11, 2024. Parker took the El to attend an event marking her 100th day in office in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia., and it is to be lauded. But addressing crime and grime alone will not be enough without also overhauling how the city delivers care to its most vulnerable populations.
Fixing how we “do” health and social services in city government can go a long way in reducing costly pain and suffering and, not incidentally, combating “crime and grime.”Philadelphia’s major “care” systems — behavioral health, child welfare, homeless services, and public health — often get a pass when it comes to the great budget and policy debates in City Hall because they are overwhelmingly funded not by city tax dollars, but by state and federal governments.
Parker is at the beginning of what many of us hope will be an eight-year mayoral tenure. That’s plenty of time to step back and take a look at the billion-dollar bureaucracies that today make it hard to get the help you need. She should make them more efficient and focused, less complex for regular people and for those trying to help them.
rather than the client having to navigate multiple hidebound systems that usually rely on ancient technology.