In March 2025, a concerned parent contacted the Office of the Youth Ombudsperson (OYO) regarding her son’s treatment while placed at Abraxas South Mountain, a juvenile delinquent facility located more than three hours from Philadelphia. Initial interviews with the youth and his mother raised concerns regarding racial and religious discrimination, unsafe restraint practices, confidentiality breaches, unfair behavioral expectations, and barriers to submitting grievances. In addition, the mother raised concerns regarding delayed notice of her son’s injury and access to prescribed medication. Based on these allegations, the OYO requested a formal assessment by Philadelphia DHS’ Performance Management & Technology (PMT) team.
Over the next year, the OYO repeatedly advocated for a more comprehensive review after PMT initially moved toward closing the case without conducting a site visit, interviewing current youth and staff, or reviewing facility policies. Following continued advocacy by the OYO, PMT ultimately participated in a joint site visit to Abraxas South Mountain, where youth, staff, and facility leadership corroborated many of the concerns raised by the complainant and subject youth.
Despite the evidence gathered during the assessment, PMT ultimately declined to validate most of the concerns identified at Abraxas South Mountain and issued corrective action only for health-related service concerns. In its written response, DHS asserts that the subject youth denied being subjected to racial or religious discrimination and that he could not identify specific staff involved in the incidents he described. However, OYO’s review of the interview notes found that the youth reported staff using the n-word and other racial slurs and discussed concerns regarding religious accommodations, including examples involving prayer rugs. OYO believes these allegations warranted further review as potential indicators of discriminatory treatment.
Additionally, OYO’s review found that the youth did provide information regarding the staff involved, including the units on which the staff members worked. The OYO is of the opinion that PMT could have narrowed down the staff members based on this information. While DHS stated that it would continue assessing these concerns, more than a year and a half has passed since the original complaint was filed. OYO maintains that allegations of discrimination should be promptly and thoroughly investigated regardless of whether a youth can immediately provide every detail requested by investigators. The responsibility to determine the validity of a concern rests with the contracting agency responsible for assessing youth’s concerns in placement, and youth reports should serve as the starting point for further inquiry rather than a basis for dismissal.
The OYO’s report details the findings uncovered through its oversight process and highlights concerns regarding both conditions at Abraxas South Mountain and shortcomings in PMT’s approach to investigating youth service complaints.
Following PMT’s assessment, the OYO received a separate complaint from another young person alleging similar concerns at the facility. The OYO is currently working with PMT to review and respond to those allegations.
