Parker signed an executive order Tuesday establishing a 15-person Child Welfare Review Committee made up of experts in child advocacy, social work and related fields. The panel will examine how city agencies coordinate with one another and with local foster care agencies to prevent abuse-related injuries and fatalities. It will also evaluate the foster care selection process, oversight procedures, licensing, visitation requirements and other related matters.

The committee is required to submit a report within 120 days of being established, including recommendations on how city officials can "better ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children in foster care," according to the executive order.

"This is a crisis of unimaginable proportions," Parker said in a statement Tuesday. "The death of Malayshia Alford has shaken me and our city to its core. The review required by law must take place, but I am requiring the city to do more. We must examine our foster care system thoroughly and independently, identify where it must improve and act to better protect our children."

Alford was last seen alive on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 22, at her home on the 500 block of North Simpson Street in West Philadelphia. Her foster mother, Caprice Williams, reported her missing the following Monday. Alford's remains were found in a car trunk in Lindenwold nine days after she was reported missing. Surveillance footage from Monday, Oct. 26, showed her body being moved from her home in a bag, according to the city District Attorney's Office. Medical examiners ruled her death a homicide by blunt force trauma.

Williams, a fifth grade teacher in the Philadelphia School District, has been charged with murder, endangering a child, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and other offenses. A police report also found that in the days after Alford was reported missing, Williams impersonated the girl and sent text messages to herself implying that Alford's biological parents had taken her, the Inquirer reported.

Williams had a long track record of abuse as a foster parent, according to police reports obtained by the Inquirer. Witnesses told law enforcement that she withheld food from Alford for as much as a week, beat her with a phone cord and threw her down the stairs. Williams was also the subject of a 2021 investigation after allegations surfaced that she severely injured a 4-year-old child in her care; that investigation never moved forward, CBS reported.

Alford's death is also subject to a separate interdisciplinary review by the city's Act 33 Team, which is required by state law to investigate every death or near-death incident that occurs in the foster care system.

"We will leave no stone unturned as we seek answers for what happened in this case, to understand more fully how it happened and to make any changes necessary to ensure that it never happens again," Parker said. "We grieve Malayshia Alford's loss. Every child matters in Philadelphia."

The executive order comes as West Philadelphia continues to mourn the girl, whose former teacher recently shared a video of her singing Keyshia Cole's "Love" with classmates. Community members have demanded answers about how a child with documented signs of abuse remained in a home that had previously been investigated for harming another child.

The review committee's findings could have broad implications for the city's child welfare practices, which have faced scrutiny over caseworker caseloads, oversight of foster parents and coordination between the Department of Human Services and private foster care agencies. Advocates have long argued that early warning signs of abuse are too often missed or not acted upon, and that the system lacks sufficient resources to monitor vulnerable children.

Parker's order directs the committee to look specifically at how the city selects foster parents, how it oversees placements and whether licensing and visitation rules are adequate. The panel's recommendations are expected to inform potential policy changes and budget requests in the coming year.