Feb 27, 2026
IT’S NOT ALL BAD NEWS Not all politics is conflict. For the first time in a REALLY LONG TIME, juvenile justice reform is progressing in Pennsylvania. Bipartisan Movement in Harrisburg State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle put aside partisan...
Feb 19, 2026
Testimony Presented to Philadelphia City Council Stefanie Arbutina, Vulnerable Youth Policy Director February 19, 2026 Good morning, Council President Johnson and members of City Council. My name is Stefanie Arbutina, and I am the Vulnerable Youth Policy Director at...
Jan 23, 2026
Government-Sanctioned Family Separation Goes Beyond Immigration Enforcement In these chaotic times when we are awash in videos documenting children used as bait in the ICE dragnet or swollen child detention centers filled with orphaned immigrant children, it’s...
Dec 5, 2025
Giving a Gift that Keeps on Giving As the Christmas song goes, “I don’t want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need.” For lots of us, that means love, family, health, or maybe a little gift or two. For the 17,000+ kids in the...
Oct 31, 2025
Sticks and Stones and Names Will Hurt You Troublemaker. Disruptive. Difficult. These labels can follow a child around their whole life with devastating consequences. At a Philadelphia City Council hearing organized by Children First, teenagers shared their...
Oct 29, 2025
Testimony Presented to Philadelphia City Council Children and Youth and Technology and Information Services Committees Stefanie Arbutina, Vulnerable Youth Policy Director October 28, 2025 Dear Chairs Phillips and Landau and Members of the Children and Youth and...
