New curfew center to open at
Frankford Group Ministries

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

The Northeast curfew center is expected to open in mid to late April at Frankford Group Ministries, 4620 Griscom St., as a processing center for youngsters taken into police custody for curfew violations.
The decision to establish it at FGM ended months of speculation of where the curfew center might be located within the 15th Police District.
Although several organizations had made inquiries about hosting the center, FGM was the only one to actually submit an application, said Ronald George, project manager for the city’s Department of Human Services.
For FGM, hosting the center is an extension of the work that the coalition of Frankford churches does with youth and their families.
Catherine Bowers, FGM executive director, explained that providing a site for the curfew center was a logical move.
"We’ve done a lot of work with youth, so it’s natural in that sense," she said. "We do want to offer more to the youth and the family than just a place to be held; we want to find more ways to support those families, to help them stabilize, especially for those that come through the curfew center."
Curfew centers are part of Mayor John Street’s latest strategy to curb violence in the city. Staffed by professionals and more than 70 community volunteers, the first center opened in July at the Dixon House in South Philadelphia.
The concept requires parental involvement. Under the plan, rather than pick up curfew violators on the street and take them home, police will transport a youngster to the curfew center. A staff member calls a parent, who must come to the center to get the child.
If that doesn’t happen, or if there may be questions about the child’s safety in the home, the youth will be taken to the city Department of Human Services in the morning.
The FGM center will be open from 9 at night to 6 in the morning on Thursday and Sunday, and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The program eventually will expand to daily operation, according to Bowers.
George, the DHS project manager, said the first training session for volunteers was held last week. Volunteers also must undergo criminal-background checks and receive child-abuse clearances. The FGM center has 17 volunteers to date, but George expects more volunteers to come forward now that a location has been selected.
As of last week, Philadelphia police had picked up more than 860 youths for curfew violations since the opening of the South Philadelphia center.
It was stressed during a January meeting at FGM offices that the objective of the centers isn’t to give kids the criminal treatment if they’re out too late — at least not the first time. However, if violators are found to have drugs or weapons while being frisked, or if officers discover the existence of outstanding warrants, they will be taken instead to the police station.
The program will be tougher on repeaters. After a third curfew offense, the young violator will receive a court date.
Street announced last week that two curfew centers would open at the Presbyterian Children’s Village in Southwest Philadelphia and at the Lighthouse Youth Services Building in West Kensington. Eight more centers also are slated to open citywide by July.
The announcement follows Street’s move last month to sign Bill 06044 into law, creating a stricter curfew for children under 13. They must be off the streets by 9 on weeknights during the school year and by 9:30 on summer weeknights. They are required to be off the street by 10 p.m. on weekends. The curfew for older children remains the same — 10:30 on weeknights and midnight on weekends.
Since the start of the South Philadelphia center, juvenile violence has dropped dramatically in districts serviced by the center. Juvenile shootings have dropped 46 percent in the 1st Police District (from 15 shootings down to 8) and 72 percent in the 17th Police District (from 18 shootings down to 5) in relation to the same period last year, according to the Street administration. ••
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com