VisionQuest, under fire in Philly, explores moving migrant youth center to Norristown

The Arizona youth-services agency that intends to house 60 undocumented immigrant children in North Philadelphia — generating community anger and a contentious legal battle — is considering whether to move the center to Norristown.

VisionQuest center director James Smith characterized the agency’s approach to the Montgomery County seat as “exploratory” and “an introduction” during an appearance before the municipal council Tuesday. VisionQuest has no formal agreement on a site, nor other specifics, and sought only to present itself to the community, he said.

The council took no formal action or vote, but members showed little initial enthusiasm for helping VisionQuest relocate its center 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia, to a town of 34,000 people that’s already home to many social-service agencies and programs.

Councilwoman Rebecca Smith questioned why, if the agency’s visit was introductory, the official meeting agenda described “a presentation from VisionQuest’s [Philadelphia] center regarding their desire to move the program to Norristown.”

James Smith said VisionQuest employees had spoken highly of Norristown, and agency executives were pleased by what they had learned about the town’s efforts and progress on redevelopment.

In Philadelphia, he said, the process of creating the migrant children’s center had been backward, with neighbors afforded a chance to be heard only after the project was well underway.

In the “sanctuary city” of Philadelphia, the fight to keep VisionQuest from opening its facility in Logan has thrust the community into the national debate over the treatment of migrant children.

VisionQuest intends to house a rotating population of Spanish-speaking boys ages 12 to 17 at a property on Old York Road, just south of Einstein Medical Center. The children have been designated by the federal government as “unaccompanied minors,” having arrived alone at the southern border after fleeing gang violence and poverty in Central America. They have no parent or guardian in this country, and are held by the government as it seeks to place them with relatives or sponsor families.

Philadelphia Council members, union leaders, immigrant advocates, and local residents say the city should never allow immigrant children to be confined within its borders, and particularly not by VisionQuest.

The agency’s North Philadelphia shelter for troubled youths closed in 2017 after staff members were found to have punched and choked children there. Now, VisionQuest is to be paid up to $5.3 million by the federal government over three years to house migrant children at the same site.

“This is not about passing the buck from one county to another — VisionQuest is a terrible provider,” said Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym, a longtime advocate of immigrants and children. “They’re not fit to take care of vulnerable youth in our city or anywhere.”

On Wednesday, she urged Norristown officials to “use all the tools at their disposal to fight it.”

Kenney administration officials declined to comment on VisionQuest’s potential move to Norristown.

Philadelphia zoning officials initially blocked the migrant center from opening, but VisionQuest sued for the right to quickly accept children. Last week, the judge in the Common Pleas Court case said the agency is likely to prevail on the merits, and on Wednesday removed a short-lived legal barrier that would have had stopped VisionQuest from moving children into the facility.

The agency has said migrant children would begin arriving about two weeks after court approval.

Advocacy groups pledge to keep battling.

“We have fought for the rights of our community in Philadelphia and Norristown for years, and we’ll continue to fight until they understand that we don’t want them or their business,” Miguel Andrade, spokesperson for Juntos, the Latino advocacy organization, said Wednesday.

On Tuesday in Norristown, James Smith and VisionQuest faced harsh commentary from protesters in the audience — and from some council members.

Councilman Derrick Perry said his brother had been enrolled in a VisionQuest program, “so I know specifically what you guys do and how you guys operate.”

His immigrant mother was not familiar with American ways, he said, but otherwise there might have been a lawsuit against the agency.

Perry made a point of asking Smith where he lived.

Elkins Park, Smith said.

Did you try moving the migrant center to Elkins Park, Perry asked.

“Not yet,” Smith answered.

“I find that insulting,” Perry said to applause from the audience, “that you couldn’t go to your own town.”

Norristown hugs the banks of Schuylkill, an old Pennsylvania town built on land acquired in the 1700s by prominent Quaker merchant Isaac Norris. After being named the seat of government when Montgomery County formed in 1784, Norristown entered a period of industrial success that stretched through the early 1900s.

But after World War II, many of the foundries, lumber yards, and textile mills that offered steady work and decent pay either shrank, closed, or moved away, and in recent decades the community has struggled against poverty and blight.

Norristown’s per capita income of $23,453 is half that of Montgomery County as a whole, while its poverty rate is triple — 21.5 percent compared with 5.8 percent in the county.

Residents complain their town has become a dumping ground for mental-health and addiction-treatment programs. Earlier this year, for instance, a residential-treatment program sought to open a facility for teenage boys dealing with alcohol and drug problems — unanimously opposed by the Norristown council, the Norristown Times Herald reported.

On Tuesday night, even before Smith stepped to the lectern, speakers stood to denounce VisionQuest.

“I don’t think anybody who has children would be willing to support this organization,” said Nicte Ha Wurts. “VisionQuest has mistreated, abused children.”

“Please,” said another speaker, Denisse Agurto of Juntos, “no VisionQuest in Norristown.”

Smith, accompanied by Steve Bloom, a retired 40-year veteran of VisionQuest management, said VisionQuest seeks the best for the children in its care. Both men said the agency operates no locked facilities — so claims that the new shelter would be “a detention center” are untrue.

Bloom blamed the news media for interviewing “disgruntled people” and not telling success stories of VisionQuest children who, while they may have served time for an offense, turned out to be good and contributing adults.

“I feel very bad hearing what I’m hearing tonight,” Bloom told the council. “It’s really sad that this is all you’re going to hear.”

James Smith offered to bring VisionQuest alumni before the council to speak about how the agency had helped them.

But Councilwoman Smith said flatly, “It doesn’t sound like a program I would want in my town.”