By Neal R. Peirce

Neal R. Peirce is known widely as a lecturer and writer on regional, urban, federal, and community development issues. His weekly column, syndicated through the Washington Post Writers Group since 1978, appears in over 50 newspapers. An author of 12 books, Peirce has received the Distinguished Urban Journalism Award from the National Urban Coalition in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the cause of America's cities.

PHILADELPHIA. A comeback city, says Philadelphia's Mayor John Street, may purge its streets of abandoned cars. It can repossess tens of thousands of abandoned houses. It can clean up derelict lots, neighborhood after neighborhood. It may aspire, as Street's now trying, to green the empty fields and induce an historic wave of private reinvestment.

"But it's naive," says Street, "to believe that doing those physical steps will have a transforming impact on lives" of people in troubled neighborhoods.

For true transformation, he insists, poverty has to be alleviated. Latchkey kids-and Philadelphia has hundreds of thousands of them-must be provided supervision and given healthy alternative activities. Truancies (Philadelphia schools suffer some 25,000 a day) have to be nipped-perhaps by enlisting volunteer callers from faith-based institutions. Schools must be made full-service community centers for neighborhoods.

The city, in short, must effect a radical system change-transforming itself from a sometimes fearful, crime-plagued place to one that's supportive of, welcoming to, nurturing of children, even from poor families. It's a stunning challenge that lots of cities are discussing. What sets Philadelphia apart is that it's moving to embrace serious public accountability, not just for moneys poured into schools and children's programs, but in actual results-more first-graders ready to learn, fewer dropouts, long-term reductions in substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, and juvenile arrests.

Central to the effort is Naomi Post, 47, executive director of "Philadelphia Safe and Sound," a program to curb crime and enhance children's welfare funded by the Urban Health Initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Post is Mayor Street's wife. But her qualifications shine through in five minutes' conversation. An attorney and seasoned children's advocate, she was selected through a national search, before Street's election. "She has street smarts, political skill. She's tough and has made our effort in Philadelphia a star performer," says former Seattle Mayor Charles Royer, director of the national Urban Health Initiative.

And so Post has access to the mayor? Referring to companion programs in Detroit, Baltimore, Richmond and Oakland, Royer quips, "I'd ask all our executive directors to try to marry the mayor."

So what's Post's success formula? First, a major media campaign was launched. Its theme, "Be an adult; show kids the way," was intended to portray Philadelphia's children positively and hopefully and build public willingness to invest in their future.

Second, a "Philadelphia Childrens' Report Card" was released. It rated kids' welfare on 25 major indicators ranging from healthy births and childcare levels to incidents of abuse, school readiness, dropout rates, to college exam scores. The report's promised annually, so the city can truly "keep score."

Third came a Children's Budget-totaling what's now being spent on Philadelphia children, and how. The total: $3.8 billion a year. But a huge chunk is going for the schools and juvenile justice and a scandalously few percentage points on childcare, youth development and after-school programs that can reduce delinquency and give a big boost to kids' life prospects.

Safe and Sound's goal is nothing less than changing how the entire Philadelphia community-private charities on the one hand, but also what Post calls "the big gorilla"-government itself-change their funding habits for superior long-term investments, and results.

So what are the steps here?

As Royer explains it, people plotting a better future for kids need first to understand the basic political relationships, agency-to-agency-"How the plumbing in the basement of state house, county government, city hall really works." Then they need a hard-headed policy analysis-what really must be changed for more positive results. And finally a fiscal policy to get money flowing to kids' futures where it counts-for example more early prevention efforts and less after-the-delinquency punishment.

It adds up to a kind of realpolitik to benefit a population our policymakers rarely serve smartly-the next generation.

What's fascinating about Philadelphia, beyond the Streets' personal relationship, is how the Urban Health Initiative initially selected Philadelphia to test if a close relationship with government could improve children's lot in a truly massive, politically volatile big city.

But Post, the program's second director, found that with government department heads in charge, it was harder to push for public scrutiny and accountability.

So Philadelphia Safe and Sound, at her urging, switched to an independent board including such Philadelphia heavies as Janet Haas, president of the William Penn Foundation, and David Cohen, chief of staff and superstar of the recent Edward Rendell administration.

Obviously, the tie to the city administration remains very close. But the prestigious independent board, says Post, is intended to protect the effort when the Street administration ends.

Not often are children beneficiaries of such careful political maneuvering. It's a daring effort to focus public policy-for a change-on a community's future.

© Washington Post Writers Group, 2001.