(HARRISBURG) – State Senator Scott Martin (R-13) called on the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) to stop sending letters to children that threaten to remove them from their homes after being exposed to COVID-19.
“Bullying children by telling them that the court system and law enforcement may remove them from their homes and place them in another location to be cared for by the government is wildly inappropriate,” Senator Martin wrote in a letter to DOH and the state Department of Education “These intimidating letters are another example of the Wolf Administration’s unseemly COVID-19 response. The letters must stop immediately.”
The Wolf Administration was sending the letters to students who may have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Alarmed parents had reached out to Senator Martin about the letters addressed to their minor children.
“When an Acting Secretary of Health threatens children that they could be removed from their home simply because they MIGHT have been exposed to someone that was sick, the questionable actions of the Department of Health have reached a new low, and those involved should be held accountable,” Martin said.
Senator Martin, chair of the Senate Education Committee, also asked the Wolf Administration to respond to issues raised more than two weeks ago after the departments failed to attend a September 23 committee meeting.
“Please communicate with us your answers so we can provide this information to school districts throughout the state as we are continuing to hear concerns and questions regarding how schools are to work through the various and, at times, conflicting guidance provided by your departments,” the letter said.
Contact: Terry Trego
Here is the letter that the Department of Health sent to parents.