Philadelphia FIGHT failed to report abuse that led to death of child in foster care, lawsuit says

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by Abraham Gutman Published Nov. 25, 2025, 1:43 p.m. ET

Three-year-old Hope Jones weighed 24.5 pounds, less than 99% of children her height and age, just a month before she died in July 2022.

The child was starved and beaten up by her foster parent , a distant relative from Southwest Philadelphia who pleaded no contest to third-degree murder over Hope’s death.

A child welfare agency, Northeast Treatment Centers, paid $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of failing to supervise Hope’s care. And in a rare move, one of their social workers was charged criminally but later cleared of wrongdoing in trial.

A new federal lawsuit is pointing a finger in another direction. It accuses medical providers from Philade