Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health is planning to open a shelter that will house up to 42 undocumented migrant children in Devon, writes Jeff Gammage for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The national behavioral-health agency is renovating its Stone & Gables campus on Highland Avenue for youths who entered the country alone or were separated from their parents.
“The staff at Devereux believe it is our moral and ethical imperative to provide the highest quality care for any and all children in need,” said Devereux executive Leah Yaw.
According to Yaw, the nonprofit will use the previously shuttered property to shelter children ages 5 to 12. The youngsters to be housed at Devon have no special needs or disabilities and no behavioral problems.
The shelter is still in the planning stage, particularly after residents offered opposition and concerns during a recent meeting of the Easttown Township Board of Supervisors earlier this week.
At the meeting, which was attended by around 40 people, residents promised to challenge the zoning for the shelter in an attempt to block it from opening.
“We heard really clearly we have community work to do, and community relationship-building to do,” Yaw said.
Read more about the planned shelter in The Philadelphia Inquirer here.
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