Industrial Home School for Colored Children A well-ordered modern cottage institution. CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA A STUDY OF AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS FOR THE CARE OF DEPENDENT AND DELINQUENT CHILDREN By HASTINGS H. f^RT, LL.D. DIRECTOR OF DEPARTMENT OF CHILD-HELPING RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION NEW YORK RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION 1924 Copyright, 1924, by Russell Sage Foundation WM • F. FELL CO. PRINTERS PHILADELPHIA TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE List of Illustrations vi List of Tables viii Preface ix Introduction i Child Welfare Legislation 2 The Juvenile Court 3 The Board of Children's Guardians • 5 Institutions for Delinquent Children 6 Institutions for Dependent Children 8 Institutions for Care of Mothers with Children 13 Day Nurseries 13 Preventive Agencies 13 Surplus Space in Institutions for Children 14 The Need of Getting Together 15 Chapter I Juvenile Court of the District of Columbia 19 Features of the Best Juvenile Courts 19 The Juvenile Court Law 22 Needed Improvements in the Juvenile Court Law 27 Juvenile Court Salaries 29 Chapter 11 Board of Children's Guardians 31 Standards and Methods of the Board of Children's Guardians 36 An Unwarranted Attack 45 Chapter 111 Institutions for Delinquents 47 I. National Training School for Boys 51 IL National Training School for Girls 56 111. Industrial Home School for Colored Children 60 IV. House of the Good Shepherd 63 V. House of Detention 65 III TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter IV Institutions for Dependent Children 68 I. Baptist Home for Children 79 II. Bruen Home 80 111. Children's House of the Gospel Mission 81 IV. Children's Temporary Home (for Colored Children) 82 V. Emergency Home for Children-Central Union Mission 83 VI. Episcopal Home for Children 84 VII. German Orphan Asylum 86 VIII. Industrial Home School 87 IX. Jewish Foster Home 88 X. National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children 89 XI. St. John's Church Orphanage (Episcopalian) 90 XII. St. Ann's Infant Asylum 91 XIII. St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum 94 XIV. St. Rose's Technical School 96 XV. St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum 98 XVI. Swartzell Methodist Episcopal Home for Children 100 XVII. Washington City Orphan Asylum 102 XVIII. Washington Home for Foundlings 105 Chapter V Care of Mothers with Children 108 I. Association for Works of Mercy, House of Mercy 112 II. The Florence Crittenton Home of Washington, D. C. 114 Chapter VI Day Nurseries 117 1. Friendship House Day Home 118 11. Holy Family Day Nursery 119 111. The Myra McCoy Andrews Day Nursery 120 IV. Neighborhood House Day Nursery 121 V. Providence Day Nursery 122 VI. Day Nursery of the Gospel Mission 123 IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter VII PAGE Preventive Agencies 124 I. Juvenile Protective Association 124 IL Child Welfare Society 126 III. The Christ Child Society 129 IV. Children's Hospital of the District of Columbia 132 V. Health Work 137 VI. Public Playgrounds and Recreation 138 Index 145 V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Industrial Home School for Colored Children-Frontispiece Juvenile Court of the District of Columbia 24 A Girl's Case A Boy's Case The Board of Children's Guardians, 1921 31 Wards of the Board of Children's Guardians 38 Making Good Citizens Out of Children in a Boarding Home Youthful Farmers in a Foster Home Board of Children's Guardians 44 Kindly Care and Fresh Air for the Tuberculous Tuberculous Children Boarded in a Family Home A Good Foster Home National Training School for Boys 52 One of the Cottages Where Some of the Boys Learn to Milk National Training School for Boys 54 Farmers in the Making Athletic Field National Training School for Girls 58 A Farm Group The School was so Crowded that Some had to Live in Tents Industrial Home School for Colored Children 60 The Superintendent in a Cottage Corner An Inviting Dining Room In the Workshop The New Juvenile Detention Home, Formerly the Emergency Hospital 66 The Children's Temporary Home 82 A Cozy Corner in the Working Boys' Home (Now Closed) 82 VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Industrial Home School 88 Main Buildings A Bare Indoor Playroom Washington City Orphan Asylum 103 The Gospel Mission 122 Nursery Dormitory Dining Room Bringing their Babies to an Infant Welfare Center 126 Medical Inspection in the Public Schools 126 The Children's Hospital 133 Medical Examination at an Infant Welfare Center 136 Weighing and Measuring Public School Children 136 A Dental Clinic in the Public Schools 136 Public Playgrounds 138 Tether, Swings, Seesaws, and Sandbox at the Columbia Heights Playground Children at Happy Hollow Playground Like Ring Games Fun in the Pool at the Georgetown Playground VII TABLE PAGE i. Population of Institutions for Delinquent Children in the District of Columbia 7 2. Dependent Children in Institutions per 100,000 Popula- tion 8 3. Population of Institutions for Dependent Children in the District of Columbia 9 4. Small Institutions in the District of Columbia 12 5. Per Cent of Beds Empty in Three Classes of Institutions 14 6. Juvenile Court Salaries in Washington and in Seven Other Cities in 1920 30 7. Dependent and Delinquent Children in Institutions and Rate per 100,000 Population 42 8. Summary Statistics of Institutions for Delinquent Chil- dren in the District of Columbia 49 9. Cost of Caring for Delinquent Children in 40 Selected Schools in the United States for a Fiscal Year Ending in Either 1921 or 1922 50 10. Summary Statistics of Institutions for Dependent Chil- dren in the District of Columbia 73 11. Yearly per Capita Maintenance Cost in 15 Selected In- stitutions for Dependent Children 74 12. Mortality of Inmates in St. Ann's Infant Asylum 93 13. Summary Statistics of Institutions for Mothers and Children in the District of Columbia 112 14. Comparative Statistics of the Child Welfare Society of Washington, 1916 to 1921 129 15. Appropriations for Playgrounds in the District of Colum- bia, 1919 to 1923 139 LIST OF TABLES VIII PREFACE IN 1918 the Monday Evening Club of Washington, through its committee on dependent and neglected children, requested the Department of Child-Helping of the Russell Sage Foun- dation to make an intensive study of child welfare work in the District of Columbia. The request had special reference to the dependent and delinquent children who require care in foster homes or in institutions, and the investigation was desired in order to furnish a basis of fact upon which action might be taken to improve the condition of such children in the national capital. This invitation was accepted partly because of the service which might be rendered in the immediate situation, and partly because of the influence which such a study in the national capital might have on child welfare work throughout the country. Mr. C. Spencer Richardson, who was then Assistant Director of the Department of Child-Helping, was assigned to conduct the in- quiry. During six months in 1918 and 1919 Mr. Richardson, with the assistance of Miss L. Josephine Webster, visited and investi- gated all the organizations in Washington which were concerned with the care of dependent and delinquent children, examining their equipment, their methods of work, the character and adequacy of their support, and their relation to other organizations engaged in the field. The results of Mr. Richardson's investigation, together with the recommendations of the Department of Child-Helping for imme- diate action, were placed before the Monday Evening Club shortly after the report was completed, and the findings respecting the various institutions visited were furnished to their directors. Since that time the Department of Child-Helping has maintained close touch with the situation in Washington. Further study has been made of the diverse phases of the work of the District for its dependent and delinquent children and the Director of the Department has been in frequent conference with those responsible for the direction of the work. IX PREFACE In 1922, nearly four years after the first inquiry was undertaken, the entire field was re-examined and most of the institutions were revisited by members of the staff of the Department. This study, while it is based on the original report of Mr. Rich- ardson, utilizes the findings of the entire investigation. The descriptions of institutions, unless otherwise specified, refer to recent conditions; and the recommendations made are offered in the light of these conditions. It has been necessary to use statis- tics of different years for different institutions because in some instances it was not possible to get as accurate figures for the later years as could be obtained for earlier ones. December, 1923. X INTRODUCTION WASHINGTON is one of the world's greatest capitals. Students of government, civics, and social institutions come to the United States from all parts of Europe, from South America, South Africa, Japan, China, India, and Australia, and they naturally turn to the heart of the nation for models of social and civic institutions. They find a city beautiful for situation and well planned. They find notable public buildings such as the National Capitol, the Congressional Library, and the White House. They find the noble monuments to Washington and Lincoln, worthy to stand with the monuments of Egypt, Greece, and Italy. They find public parks and playgrounds, splendid mansions, hotels, and apartment houses, multitudes of comfortable homes, and comparatively few poverty- stricken tenements. They find a city governed by a well-chosen commission, well- ordered courts of justice, an efficient and sometimes superior police department, with a fine force of policewomen, and an ex- cellent detention home for children awaiting the action of the courts. They find a District Board of Charities composed of dis- interested citizens, which has developed a group of model institu- tions for poor, insane, and delinquent adults, for the feeble-minded, and for delinquent Negro boys, and faithfully devoted to the interests of the unfortunate and offending members of the com- munity. They find a District Workhouse and a District Reforma- tory for young men, established by the Board of Charities, where offenders against the law are dealt with as human beings; where ancient prison traditions are disregarded, prison walls are absent, and intelligent efforts are made to restore the prisoners to decent lives and citizenship. They find an efficient and active Associated Charities which deals with family problems and family needs with intelligence and zeal. 1 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA They find a public health department and private, hospitals guarding sedulously the health of rich and poor alike; the depart- ment watchful of the water supply and the milk supply, the dis- posal of garbage, and the condition of public buildings and private homes. They find hospitals for the insane where the most competent and faithful care is given and the highest standards of efficiency prevail. They find a complete and admirable educational system with universities, colleges, normal schools, high schools, common schools, and kindergartens ranking with the best; while the facilities of the schools are not confined to the normal children of the community but are extended to the dependent, delinquent, and defective children who are in the custody of various institu- tions. It appears then that foreign visitors discover in the capital of the nation ample provision for those things which make for national and civic pride, the transaction of public business, the care of the adult poor, the criminal, and the insane. But when they undertake to study the arrangements made for neglected, delinquent, and defective children they discover a surprising lack of such adequate provision as is found in the best organized states of the Union. This is so far true that social students who are familiar with the facts avoid encouraging foreign visitors to study the institutions for children in the District of Columbia. A Surprising Deficiency CHILD WELFARE LEGISLATION For the past twenty years a movement has been progressing for the revision of child welfare legislation. In 1913 the State of Ohio passed a law establishing a children's code commission to revise the child welfare laws of that state. This commission pro- duced the first code of laws in regard to the care of children. This action was followed in 1917 by the establishment of children's code commissions in Missouri and Minnesota. The latter state has enacted the most comprehensive children's code yet produced. Similar commissions have been organized in more than 25 states. 2 INTRODUCTION In 1914 Attorney General T. W. Gregory of the Department of Justice of the United States appointed a children's code commis- sion for the District of Columbia. This commission reported a juvenile court bill providing for chancery jurisdiction, which passed both houses of Congress but was killed in conference com- mittee. Early in 1920 the District Commission appointed a chil- dren's code commission which is still in existence but which has never made a report. In the summer of 1920 Vice-President Thomas R. Marshall, recognizing the urgent need for comprehensive social legislation for the District, headed a movement for a code to create a board of public welfare and to cover the entire social welfare interests of the District. Experts told the Vice-President that such a measure could not be properly prepared in the brief time available. Never- theless a bill was drawn within six weeks. But the time before the adjournment of Congress was too short to give opportunity for hearings to the representatives of the many welfare agencies in- terested and the bill failed to become a law. The District of Columbia has certain concrete and well-defined social legislation: the acts creating the various courts of the Dis- trict, the Police Department, the Board of Health, the District Board of Commissioners, the District Board of Charities, the Board of Children's Guardians, the National Training School for Boys, and the National Training School for Girls. The remaining laws relating to dependent and neglected children for the most part have been enacted from time to time as riders to appropriation bills, without orderly procedure, careful consideration, or due reference to previous legislation. As a result the legislation of the District on behalf of children is in a hopeless state of confusion. It is doubt- ful whether anyone knows exactly what it is. THE JUVENILE COURT The District of Columbia has a juvenile court with a judge devoting full time to its work; but the Juvenile Court, unlike the juvenile courts in progressive states, is a criminal court, and it is necessary to convict the child of a crime before he can profit by the beneficent work of the court. Three distinct efforts have been made so to reconstruct the Juvenile Court as to make it a 3 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA chancery court in which each child can be dealt with in a way that will be to his greatest moral and physical benefit and thus to avoid the conviction of young children as criminals. But every effort has failed. The Washington court does exercise chancery powers in certain cases affecting children, but not in cases where children are charged with violations of the law. The Juvenile Court is at least equal to the other courts of the District in the importance and responsibility of its work, because it deals with the most sacred concerns of family life and its de- cisions affect the entire future of children, the most important asset of the community. Yet the salary of the judge of the Juvenile Court is fixed at $3,600, about one-third of the salary of other judges in the District. The salaries of the juvenile court judges in other cities, as compared with Washington, were as follows in 1920: Pittsburgh $8,000 Minneapolis 6,300 Cleveland 6,000 Louisville 5,000 Norfolk 4,500 Washington 3,600 In 1920 the salary of the chief probation officer (including bonus) was $2,040. Corresponding salaries in other cities com- pared as follows: Philadelphia $5,000 Pittsburgh 3,000 Cleveland 3,000 Louisville 2,400 Washington 2,040 Some fifteen years ago the writer heard a group of judges in the city of Minneapolis discussing the proposition to place the juris- diction of the juvenile court in the District Court, a court of record. One of the judges said: " It seems to me unfitting that the judges of the District Court should be asked to turn aside from the affairs of great corporations and important public interests to spend their time in settling the affairs of a few little children." His opinion did not prevail, and jurists of high standing have since sat upon the bench of the juvenile court in Minnesota. It is time that the District of Columbia placed its Juvenile Court on the same high 4 INTRODUCTION pedestal which is occupied by the high courts of the District, and the judge of that court should enjoy equal respect and equal com- pensation with her colleagues who deal with material interests and with the administration of the criminal law. The fact that a woman presides over the Juvenile Court is entitled to no weight in determining the rank and compensation of this position. THE BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS The Board of Children's Guardians has had an honorable history from the time of its creation in 1892, although it has had to contend with serious difficulties from the very beginning. The Board has committed to its care the sacred interests of the dependent and neglected children of the District. It has never had adequate appropriations; it has never had an adequate staff; and it has had to contend from the start with vigorous opposition. Every child welfare body which has the same responsibility encounters similar opposition. This opposition is not necessarily malicious. It is inevitable. The Board of Children's Guardians has taken part in the move- ment, which is general in the United States, to magnify the impor- tance of the family home, and the substitution of family home care, as far as practicable, for institutional care. Those who maintain institutions for children, especially those who maintain good institutions and believe in them, are likely to feel that this movement is unwise. They candidly believe that their particular Children's Home is a better and safer place for a child than the average home of poor and perhaps shiftless parents. The Board of Children's Guardians is also charged with the custody of children committed to its care by the Juvenile Court because of the gross incompetency, unworthiness, cruelty, or immorality of parents. Such parents, if they have any remnant of affection for their children, or if they see any prospect of profiting by the labor of their children, assume a hostile attitude. A father or mother who has neglected a child for years and has allowed the public to provide for it is apt to have a sudden revival of affection when the child reaches the age of fourteen and is eligible for a work certificate. Such people find opportunity and excuses for criticism when an 5 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA agency, like the Board of Children's Guardians, does not have a sufficient staff of competent people to select homes with deliberate care and to keep close watch over children in foster homes. The writer was a witness to a bitter attack of this kind before a committee of Congress, by some parents backed by a group of zealous people of limited social experience, upon the Board and its chief agent, together with the judge of the Juvenile Court. Any intelligent spectator could discern that the greater part of this attack came from prejudiced and irresponsible people. One would have expected that the valuable work of this respon- sible agency would have been backed by a strong delegation repre- senting not only the Board of Children's Guardians, but the District Board of Charities, the District Board of Commissioners, and other interested citizens, and that a competent attorney would have been present to explain the purpose and necessity of the Board of Children's Guardians, to represent it, to cross-question witnesses, and to object to the introduction of incompetent and irrelevant testimony. But only a single member of the Board appeared as a sponsor for its intelligent service to neglected child- hood in Washington. The Committee on Judiciary of the House of Representatives gave a fair and impartial hearing, but the case of those attacked was not adequately supported; and as a result both the press and the public received misleading impressions. INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENT CHILDREN The District of Columbia has five institutions for delinquent children. Of these, two are highly creditable. One is the De- tention Home for children awaiting court action, which is carried on by the Women's Branch of the Police Department and ranks with the best detention homes in the United States. The other is the Industrial Home School for Colored Children, a modern cottage institution under a competent colored superintendent. The equipment is inadequate, but is good as far as it goes. The buildings are simple and inexpensive but well adapted to their purpose. The House of the Good Shepherd, which receives delinquent and neglected girls, is administered conscientiously and in the spirit of humanity by a devoted group of Catholic Sisters; but 6 INTRODUCTION it is located in the city, it has not sufficient ground, and its building is of the old congregate type. TABLE I. -POPULATION OF INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENT CHILDREN IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA* Institution Capacity Number of inmates National Training School for Boys .... 400 345 National Training School for Girls .... 121 b 106 Industrial Home School for Colored Children 88 86 House of the Good Shepherd 100 80 Total Empty beds 709 617 92 a Omitting the Detention Home. b This school is not in a position to care adequately for more than 100 girls. The National Training School for Boys and the National Train- ing School for Girls are maintained jointly by the District and the federal government, the children being committed both by the courts of the District of Columbia and the United States district courts. The National Training School for Boys is not up to date either in its buildings or in its administration. The National Training School for Girls is inadequately housed and unfortunately located. Congress has appropriated $62,000 toward the erection of a new school for white girls, with the expectation that the pres- ent institution will be used for colored girls. The most satisfactory plan would be to sell the present property, which is valuable, and build new modern cottage schools elsewhere for both the white and the colored girls. Neither the department for the white wards nor the department for the colored wards of the National Training School for Girls can fulfil its proper function until adequate provision is made for the reformatory treatment of older young women in a separate in- stitution.1 A department of the District Workhouse at Occoquan, Virginia, is devoted to women convicted of misdemeanors, but they are kept in temporary wooden buildings in close proximity to the men's dormitories under conditions which make it impossible to do proper reformatory work. 1 See page 59 for proposed plan to establish such an institution. 7 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN Table 2 shows the four highest ratios of children in institutions for dependents to total population as compiled from the United States census reports on benevolent institutions for the years 1904 and 1910. It also gives the corresponding figures for the State of Maryland and for the entire United States. TABLE 2. -DEPENDENT CHILDREN IN INSTITUTIONS PER 100,000 POPULATION Census of 1904 District of Columbia . 321 New York . . . 317 California . . . 291 New Hampshire . . 229 Maryland . . . . 173 United States ... 113 Census of 1910 District of Columbia . 322 New York . . . 314 New Hampshire . . 261 California . . . 236 Maryland . . . 192 United States . . . 118 A more recent corresponding figure for the District, based on the latest available reports of institutions in it, is 216. Notwith- standing the sharp reduction in the ratio for the District from 322 in 1910 to 216, the proportion of dependent children in institu- tions in the District is still nearly twice as great as that for the whole United States in 1910. The states of New York and Cali- fornia have also made great reduction in the number of institutional children since 1910. Census figures for these states for a recent year are not available, but figures based upon local reports given on page 42 show that New York in 1921 had 253 children per 100,000 population in institutions for dependents, and California 142. There are in the District of Columbia 18 institutions for de- pendent children, including the Industrial Home School, use of which has temporarily been discontinued, but not including the Florence Crittenton Home and the House of Mercy, whose primary object is to care for unmarried mothers with infants. Our study of the institutions for dependents was made especially difficult by the fact that 10 of them had published no recent report at the time of our inquiry, and most of the 10 had never published any report. In Table 3 we give the capacity and population of these 18 institu- tions as supplied to us for a late year. With a total capacity of 1,506 children, the 18 institutions for 8 INTRODUCTION dependent children in the District of Columbia contained, accord- ing to Table 3, only 945 children, leaving 561 empty beds. In other words, they were filled to only 63 per cent, or less than two- thirds of their capacity. But these buildings must be kept in re- pair, heated, and kept clean at a large cost in money and labor. Notwithstanding these facts, some of these institutions are con- sidering plans for new and enlarged buildings. TABLE 3. -POPULATION OF INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Institution Capacity Number of inmates Swartzell Methodist Episcopal Home 25 25 Children's House of the Gospel Mission . 30 9 Emergency Home for Children, Central Union Mission 35 32 Baptist Home for Children 36 32 Jewish Foster Home 40 35 Episcopal Home for Children 50 48 German Orphan Asylum 50 33 Washington Home for Foundlings a .... 50 55 Bruen Home 60 60 St. John's Church Orphanage (Episcopal) 80 76 St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum (Catholic) . 90 90 Children's Temporary Home (for colored children) 100 65 National Association for Colored Women and Children 125 25 Industrial Home Schoolb >35 0 St. Ann's Infant Asylum (Catholic)a >50 104 St. Rose's Technical School (Catholic) >50 81 St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum (Catholic) >50 110 Washington City Orphan Asylum .... >50 65 Total Empty beds >,506 945 561 a This institution also receives a limited number of unmarried mothers, b Temporarily closed. But this is not the whole story. In New York, Cleveland, and other cities groups of institutions have combined to employ compe- tent case workers to inquire into the condition of the relatives of their wards, and they have invariably found a considerable num- ber of them who were in such circumstances that children could be safely returned to them. We have no doubt whatever that if such 9 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA a survey were undertaken by the Washington institutions for de- pendent children it would be found that not less than 20 per cent of their wards could safely and properly be returned to their relatives. In that case the number of children in the 18 institutions would be reduced to 50 per cent of the available capacity. Such a study should be immediately undertaken, and it should be a co-operative study. If the Catholic institutions do not feel at liberty to join with the non-Catholic institutions, as is being done by the Catholic and Protestant institutions in Cleveland, they should together invoke the assistance of the director of Catholic Charities in the District. The remaining institutions should unite to make such a study with the assistance of the Board of Children's Guardians, the Juvenile Protective Association, or the Council of Social Agencies. When such a study is completed they will be in a position to consider questions of building, enlargement, consolida- tion, and distribution of the work of all the institutions so that all needs of dependent children may be met without waste. If there are 561 empty beds, we are safe in making some sugges- tions. The first is that the Washington City Orphan Asylum and the National Association for Colored Women and Children, which have a united capacity of 275 but now contain only 90 children, should immediately close their present buildings, which are unfit for use, and temporarily provide elsewhere for their charges until they can secure more roomy sites on which to build modern cottage plants. Neither of these two institutions should plan immediately for more than 75 children. If each of them should build three or four cottages placed so as to admit of the harmonious addition of more cottages when needed, they would be in position to adapt themselves to the future requirements of the District. We may venture upon a second suggestion at this time. The Episcopal Home for Children in Anacostia is maintained by all the Episcopal churches in the Diocese except St. John's. The Episcopal Home has a very good small cottage plant, one of the best in the District, but the location is very unsatisfactory and the managers are considering the plan of moving to a new site and building an even better plant. St. John's Church Orphanage, located in the heart of the city of Washington, has an excellent plant of the congregate type and its management is superior. The 10 INTRODUCTION joint population of these two Episcopal institutions is 124, and if the present tendency to place children in family homes instead of in institutions continues, their population is not likely to increase in the near future. Why should not these two admirable organiza- tions unite their forces and establish a modern cottage home to rank with the new cottage institutions at New Haven, Cleveland, and San Francisco? In so doing, they would follow notable modern examples. Two Jewish orphanages have recently united in build- ing one small cottage plant at Baltimore; two Catholic orphan asylums are now building a single beautiful cottage plant at Cleveland; and two homes for children have lately made a similar combination at Paterson, New Jersey. We would suggest also that the Children's House of the Gospel Mission and the Emergency Home for Children of the Central Union Mission, now maintained in the downtown section by two city missionary societies, might either pool their issues by estab- lishing a joint home, or make arrangements with the Board of Children's Guardians to shelter their temporary waifs in the re- ceiving home which we understand that Board has proposed to establish in the old plant of the Industrial Home School. Con- gress has recently placed this home under the control of the Board. If the plans of the Central Union Mission and the Gospel Mission are carried out, and if the Board of Children's Guardians opens its proposed receiving home, there will be in the District the follow- ing institutions for temporary care of children: Capacity Detention Home for Children (Police Department) ... 60 Receiving Home (Board of Children's Guardians) . . . 135 Children's Temporary Home (for colored children) . . . 100 Emergency Home, Central Union Mission 75 Children's House of the Gospel Mission 100 Total 470 It is hard to conceive of any possible demand for this amount of purely temporary care. The tendency would be to use these institutions for both temporary and permanent cases, which is a highly undesirable plan. Under these circumstances it would appear that the Gospel Mission and the Central Union Mission ought to unite in maintaining one small emergency home instead of two large ones. This would be in line with the merging of the 11 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Jewish orphan asylums in Baltimore, Catholic orphan asylums in Cleveland, and the homes for children in Paterson, New Jersey. Apart from the institutions just mentioned, there are five insti- tutions for dependent children each of which occupies an old dwelling house unsuited to its purpose, but each of which main- tains a natural, homelike atmosphere. We are not prepared to say that these small homes should be abolished, because we like their spirit and the everyday home life and public school life of the children, but some of them are seriously overcrowded and some of them carry a dangerous fire risk. If they continue, the number of their inmates should be reduced to the point of safety of life and health, and the houses should be put and kept in perfect repair, especially as to good floors and plumbing, which are essential to sanitation. If our suggestions as to a survey of inmates and the restoration of children to parents whose homes are fit are followed, the population of these homes will probably be reduced to the safety point. Nine of the institutions caring for dependent children in the District are small, in terms of numbers of inmates. Each of them at last accounts had less than 50 children, as is shown by Table 4, which also gives what we would regard as the capacity of these institutions. In some cases this is less than the rated capacity in Table 3. TABLE 4. -SMALL INSTITUTIONS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Institution Capacity Number of inmates Baptist Home for Children 26 32 Children's House of the Gospel Mission . 12 9 Emergency Home for Children, Central Union Mission 35 32 Episcopal Home for Children 50 48 German Orphan Asylum 50 33 House of Mercya 42 40 Jewish Foster Home 23 35 National Association for Colored Women and Children <25 25 Swartzell Methodist Episcopal Home 25 25 Total 388 279 a One of the two institutions for combined care of mothers with children 12 INTRODUCTION INSTITUTIONS FOR CARE OF MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN The two institutions in the District for the combined care of mothers and children, the Florence Crittenton Home and the House of Mercy, have a capacity of 107 mothers and babies, with plants valued at $140,000, or $1,308 per bed. In 1922 both were full to their capacity. The former, as indicated farther on,1 is in need of a new building and is taking steps to secure it. In addition to these homes two institutions for dependent children, St. Ann's Infant Asylum and the Washington Home for Foundlings, occasionally take the unmarried mothers of the infants and children they care for. There is great need of a suitable institution for the temporary care of colored mothers and children. DAY NURSERIES Washington has only six day nurseries. The demand for such service is less than in manufacturing cities. The only day nursery for colored children has been closed. It would seem most desir- able that several day nurseries for colored children should be es- tablished with high standards and with well organized case work. PREVENTIVE AGENCIES We are impressed with the usefulness of the Juvenile Protective Association and the Christ Child Society (Catholic). The work of these societies is addressed to the prevention of delinquency and dependency among children by assisting in the rehabilitation of families and by giving wise counsel and encouragement to parents in dealing with children who are wayward or are in the early stages of delinquency. These efforts should be fostered and generously supported on the principle that " prevention is better than cure." The Child Welfare Society, which grew out of the Washington Diet Kitchen Association which is not now in existence, has done admirable work in guarding the health of young children and in the prevention of infant mortality. Its work has reached a large num- ber of children. It enrolled in 1920, 5,072 children; and in 1921, 6,001 children. It has established a series of infant welfare centers 1 See page 115. 13 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA in charge of resident nurses and attended by competent physicians. It has encouraged breast feeding and has carefully instructed mothers in bottle nursing where that was necessary. It is an open question whether or not the work of the Child Welfare Society should be merged with that of the District Board of Health. We are inclined to favor the continuance of the work of the Society in close co-operation with the District Board of Health. Such co-operation in the City of New York between private associations and the Department of Health has been most successful in producing an extraordinary decline of infant mor- tality in that city. The Children's Hospital holds a high place in the child welfare activities of Washington. In 1922 it cared for 2,125 children in the hospital and 7,025 in the dispensary. The expenses of the hospital for 1922 were $90,000, of which 20 per cent came from public appropriations; 33 per cent from pay patients; 30 per cent from donations, and the balance from income on investments. The value of this hospital to child welfare is inestimable. SURPLUS SPACE IN INSTITUTIONS FOR CHILDREN In view of the fact, shown in Table 5, that the capacity of the institutions there named is 28 per cent in excess of the needs of the present population, the generous givers of Washington have a right to insist that no additional institution shall be created with- out a careful consideration as to whether such a want, if it exists, cannot be met by the conversion of some of the existing plants. TABLE 5. -PER CENT OF BEDS EMPTY IN THREE CLASSES OF INSTI- TUTIONS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Capacity Number of inmates Empty beds Per cent empty Institutions for delinquents 709 617 92 •3 Institutions for dependents 1,506 945 561 37 Institutions for mothers and children 107 107 0 0 Total 2,322 1,669 653 28 On the other hand, there is an unquestionable need for additional institutional provision for delinquent Negro girls. Many such 14 INTRODUCTION girls are now going to destruction because there is no place pro- vided for their care. Conscientious lawyers should advise clients who wish to establish endowments to institute an inquiry before making their wills to find whether their contemplated bequest is required. Such inquiries as are above suggested should be made by quali- fied representatives of the philanthropic agencies of the District. These can probably best be undertaken by the District Board of Charities, which should also be authorized to pass upon applica- tions for the incorporation of new institutions and agencies and to issue annual permits to them. No certificate of incorporation should be granted except upon evidence that the proposed insti- tution is properly organized with a reputable managing board, with a reasonable prospect of sufficient financial support, and with satisfactory evidence that the proposed institution is needed and that its creation will be for the public interest. At the present time any group of people may organize, with or without incorporation, and may appeal for public support, while donors have no adequate means of deciding whether they should answer the appeal. The existing institutions and agencies for dependent and delinquent children in the District, public and private, are already costing the public about $750,000 per year. Every new institution creates an additional burden upon tax- payers and benevolent givers. While the people pay cheerfully for the actual needs of dependent and neglected children, they justly resent the unnecessary increase of such contributions. THE NEED OF GETTING TOGETHER The child welfare problem is perhaps the most urgent problem in the District of Columbia at the present time. We believe that it will never be solved satisfactorily on the present plan. At present the different child welfare agencies act independently. Legislation is formulated and presented by the Board of Charities, the Board of Children's Guardians, the Juvenile Court, the De- tention Home, the various institutions which receive public subsidies, and other independent groups without careful study and without mutual consultation. These bills go to the Committee on the District of Columbia, 15 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA to the Committee on Judiciary, or to some other committee of Con- gress, and the members of these committees become hopelessly confused by contradictory requests. For example, there have been at least three different efforts made in the last nine years to secure a new juvenile court law-one by the Attorney General, one by a children's code commission, one by the Vice-President of the United States. Only one of these bills was based upon a careful study of the existing legislation and no one of them com- manded the united support of the socially minded people of the District. In some cases the representatives of the different interests have contended with one another and have defeated one another's efforts for legislation. In other cases the effort has been made by a small group which did not represent anyone else. The effort made by Vice-President Marshall failed for lack of time to prepare a proper bill or to reconcile conflicting interests. In some cases political considerations have controlled. We would urge that there be formed a united body consisting of representatives of all the important child welfare interests in the District, the Departments of Justice of the United States and of the District of Columbia, the Board of District Commis- sioners, the District Board of Charities, the Board of Children's Guardians, the Associated Charities, the Council of Social Agen- cies, the Juvenile Protective Association, the Child Welfare Asso- ciation, the Christ Child Society, the League of Women Voters, the Federation of Women's Clubs, the institutions for delinquent chil- dren, the private institutions for children, and any other civic or philanthropic organizations which may deal with child welfare in- terests. All the religious societies which are interested in children's work should be well represented. Let these interests come together without reference to politics or religious affiliations and unite in a single-hearted effort to promote the welfare of the neglected chil- dren of the District of Columbia. This central organization would probably number from 25 to 40 individuals. Let this group select an executive committee of nine or 12 people to work out details, but with the understanding that no final action will be taken until the proposals have been submitted to the entire group for discussion and criticism. 16 INTRODUCTION Persuade all who are interested to agree that they will not ask that any bill be introduced in Congress until it has been submitted to the executive committee, and later to the full organization for discussion. Let the Welfare Code Commission which was appointed by the District Commission in 1921 proceed immediately to develop a carefully planned program for child welfare legislation. Let it first make a careful study of all existing legislation dealing with dependent, neglected, and delinquent children in the District of Columbia. Let it make a study of the most important children's codes, such as those of Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Con- necticut. Let it seek competent advice from those who have framed and administered child welfare legislation in the leading states of the Union. Let it prepare a series of bills covering such subjects as the juvenile court, the probation system, juvenile re- formatories, the parole system, unmarried mothers, children's health, and recreation. The commission should give patient hearings to all the local organizations which will be affected by such legislation as it pro- poses and should invite their suggestions and criticisms. Every effort should be made to meet the reasonable desires and needs of reputable organizations and to secure the united support of their representatives. The united organizations should stand firmly together against the demoralizing practice of attaching child welfare legislation as riders to appropriation bills. Legislation prepared and digested in the manner above sug- gested will represent as nearly as practicable the consensus of opinion of the people of the District and will command the patient and probably favorable consideration of Congress. The united organizations should undertake through their executive committee such studies of local conditions and local agencies as may be agreed upon. They should promote con- ferences of the local organizations which might well be held six or eight times a year but certainly not less than four times a year. These conferences should meet at the different institutions and agency headquarters to promote mutual acquaintance and under- standing of one another's work. The united organizations should promote a plan for establishing a school to train employes of child 17 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA welfare organizations similar to the one that has been successfully conducted in Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania School of Social and Health Work. The above proposition is not chimerical. It is in line with similar work which has been done in cities like Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and to some extent in the City of New York. 18 CHAPTER I JUVENILE COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IN 1899 the first juvenile court law was passed in Illinois. It provided for the establishment of a juvenile court for the hearing of cases against juveniles which was different from the ordinary criminal court. The law recognized the principle that the delinquent child should be treated as a child and not as a criminal; that he should be regarded, not as an enemy of the state to be hunted down and punished for his crime, but as its ward to be corrected and developed, if possible, into a good citizen. Following the Illinois law many other states have passed laws taking children's cases out of the criminal courts and putting them in civil courts, thereby removing them from the jurisdiction of criminal law and substituting in its place the principle of chancery proceedings under which the court becomes the guardian of the child and each child can be treated as may seem best for his welfare in view of all the circumstances of the particular case. A few states have established juvenile courts without eliminating the criminal proceedings, though in such cases the practice of the court has been to do away, as far as possible, with the atmosphere and formality of the criminal court. In 1910 the leading features of the best juvenile courts were care- fully outlined in the book entitled: Preventive Treatment of Neglected Children, as follows:1 FEATURES OF THE BEST JUVENILE COURTS 1 Hart, Hastings H.: Preventive Treatment of Neglected Children, pp. 254-258. New York, Charities Publication Committee (Russell Sage Foundation), 1910. 19 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA "First, the scope of the juvenile court. In most of the states where juvenile court laws are found on the statute books, the law covers both dependents (including 'neglected children') and de- linquents. . . . "Second, the character of the judiciary. Instead of the police courts and the justice courts, we have the care of children vested in probate courts, circuit courts, and district courts. ... It is recognized that no man is too eminent or too wise to deal with children's cases. . . . "Third, the character of the probation officers, . . . whose duty it is 'to investigate as may be required by the court; to be present in court in order to represent the interests of the child, . . . and to take such charge of any child before and after trial as may be directed by the court.' . . . Probation officers should be selected with the utmost care. . . . The court will generally be successful according to the character and ability of the judge and the wisdom and fitness of the probation officers. " Fourth, the recognition of the family home as the best possible institution for the care of dependent, neglected, and delinquent children. . . . This implies the use of the child's own home, whenever practicable, and involves the faithful and assiduous work of the probation officers to renovate unfit homes. When this cannot be done it involves the transfer of the child to some home other than his own, where he may enjoy the care and training which his parents are unable or unfit to give. . . . " Fifth, the supervision of child-helping institutions by the court. The law, in most states, gives the judge authority to make such an investigation as he may deem necessary into the management and spirit of such institutions as offer to receive the children from the court, and to refuse to commit children to any institution which, in his judgment, does not maintain a proper standard of efficiency. . . . "Seventh . . . the elimination of the idea of criminality. . . . This is seen in every step of the proceedings. There is no complaint or indictment, but a petition is filed, alleging, not that the child has committed a crime, but that he is ' delinquent.' There is not, ordinarily, a warrant or an arrest, but a 'summons' is issued to the parent or custodian of the child requiring him to produce 20 THE JUVENILE COURT the child in court at a certain time, and the child comes into court not in the hands of an officer of the law but in the company of his father or mother. The warrant is issued only when it is shown by a sworn statement that the summons will be ineffectual in securing the presence of the child. . When the case comes to trial, there is no prosecutor present, but a probation officer is there 'to represent the interests of the child.' The effort is not to establish the guilt of the child but to ascertain a condition. Is the child in the condition of delin- quency? That condition does not necessarily involve an implica- tion of crime. The child may be delinquent because he is incor- rigible, unmanageable, or because he associates with vicious per- sons or because he frequents a gambling place. "When the trial is concluded, the child is not found guilty but is simply found 'delinquent.' There may or may not be a jury, but if there be a jury, that is their only finding. When the child is found delinquent, he is not sentenced to any punishment. He may be committed to the care of a suitable institution for training and education, or he may be committed to the care of a child- helping society which has been duly approved by a state board of public charities and by the court, or he may be committed to the care of some suitable individual; or the judge may do what is done in the majority of cases, namely, return the child to his own home, after suitable admonition from the court both to the child and to his parents, and there the child may remain, under the friendly oversight of a probation officer, as a ward of the court, subject to return for further proceedings whenever the probation officer may find it necessary. " It will be observed that these proceedings, from beginning to end, eliminate the idea of criminality." The past decade has witnessed a still further development in the effectiveness of juvenile courts.1 Two leading factors in this advance have been a steady improvement in the technique of probation and a larger use of physical and mental examinations. Principles of Juvenile Probation. Following are some of the principles of juvenile probation that have been finding increasing 1 See "Courts in the United States Hearing Children's Cases," by Evelina Belden. Children's Bureau, Publication No. 65, Washington, D. C., 1920. 21 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA favor and have been put into practice, at least in part, in many localities: The supervision by one probation officer of not more than 50 probationers at one time; the preparation in advance by the probation officer of a definite plan for a child, taking into account his personality, his home, his neighborhood, and also any helpful co-operation from such social agencies as school, church, settlements, and clubs; constructive efforts by officers to help probationers by means of home visiting, friendly guidance, securing of employment or assistance in other practical ways; use, where possible, of the individual assignment system, under which chil- dren are assigned to an officer on the basis of personality rather than of home location; cultivation among probation officers of esprit de corps through weekly conferences of the staff and attend- ance at local, state, and national conventions; higher standards regarding the character, ability, training, and experience of officers; and an increase in their pay. An increasing number of juvenile courts are having the ad- vantages of physical and mental examinations of children; for instance, in Boston the judge has at hand a complete record of the physical and mental conditions of children that appear before him. He is thus able, in judging cases of misconduct, to make proper allowance for the part played by physical defects, under- nourishment, feeble-mindedness, and mental disease. This aid is of incalculable benefit in assisting the judge to reach a wise conclusion regarding the disposition of cases. Ohio has a State Bureau of Juvenile Research, to which is referred for mental examination any minor who, in the opinion of the juvenile court, is delinquent or is suspected of having tendencies toward delin- quency. The Iowa State University has a Child Welfare Research Station. New York, Chicago, and other cities are making increas- ing use of the physician and the psychologist. The law which created the Juvenile Court of the District of Columbia in 1905, only six years after the enactment of the Illinois law, provided for a separate court and a separate judge who should be appointed by the President of the United States, with the con- currence of the Senate, and should hold office for a period of six THE JUVENILE COURT LAW 22 THE JUVENILE COURT years, being eligible for reappointment. The court was given juris- diction with certain few exceptions over cases of delinquent, de- pendent, and truant children under the age of seventeen years. A dependent or neglected child was defined in the act as "any child who is destitute or homeless, or abandoned, or dependent upon the public for support, or who has not the proper parental care or guardianship, or who habitually begs or receives alms, or whose home by reason of neglect or cruelty or depravity of the parents is an unfit place for such a child, or any child under eight years of age found peddling on the streets"; and a delinquent child as one "who has been convicted more than once of violating any law of the United States, or any laws, ordinances, or regula- tions in force in the District of Columbia." Probation officers were authorized to take children under wise and kindly oversight and to seek to re-establish them in good con- duct. The court was empowered to commit children to three organizations: the Board of Children's Guardians, the National Training School for Boys, and the National Training School for Girls. Moreover, it was given jurisdiction of the cases of adults who were responsible for the wrongful acts of children or who failed to support them. The Court is declared by law to be a criminal court, a very serious fault. A bill was introduced in 1916 to amend the law so that children under seventeen years of age would not be tried and adjudged guilty of crimes, but would become wards of a chancery court.1 There was no opposition on the part of Congress to having children in Washington tried in chancery, but unfortunately differ- ence of opinion arose with reference to other provisions in the bill which resulted in its defeat. The Court has now been in operation eighteen years. Its pres- tige and influence have grown and it has been accepted by the community as an effective factor in the social system. Six judges have presided over the Court since its establishment, namely, 1 See quotation from Preventive Treatment of Neglected Children, page 20. See also "Legal Problems Involved in the Establishment of the Juvenile Court," by Julian W. Mack, in The Delinquent Child and the Home, pp. 181-201. New York, Charities Publication Committee (Russell Sage Foundation), 1912. Also The Legal Aspect of the Juvenile Court, by Bernard Flexner and Reuben Oppenheimer. United States Children's Bureau, Bulletin No. 99, Washington, D. C., 1922. 23 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA William H. DeLacy, 1906-13; J. Wilmer Latimer, 1913-17; George C. Aukam, 1917-18; Kathryn Sellers, 1918- . Each of these judges has emphasized the importance of preserving the child from being branded as a criminal, but each has been hampered by the criminal provisions of the law under which the Court exists. Special Orders of the Court. The unsatisfactory conditions existing under the present law are illustrated by the fact that the judge of the Juvenile Court, Honorable Kathryn Sellers, although she is most anxious to avoid classing children as criminals, felt constrained to issue the following order, dated July 22, 1919: "It is by the Court this 22d day of July, 1919, ordered that hereafter no preliminary investigation of children's cases before trial be made by the Probation Office; future investigations will be ordered by the Court after and in the event the child is adjudged guilty, in such cases as by the Court may be deemed proper." Judge Sellers continued: "Formerly when a complaint was filed against a child, an in- vestigation was made before the child was tried. This Court is a criminal court and I am of the opinion that we have no right to make any investigation until the child has been adjudged guilty." Under this construction of the law it is necessary to find the child guilty of a criminal offense before the court can make an investiga- tion to discover whether the child should or should not be treated as a criminal. It seems manifestly most desirable that the law should be recast so as to permit the careful study of the case from every point of view before it becomes necessary for the judge to make a decision which places the child in the ranks of the criminal class. The Court. The sessions of the court are held in a four-story brick building at 203 I Street, N. W. Children's cases are heard in a small room on the first floor, furnished with a plain desk, chairs, and other equipment similar to that found in an ordinary office, and pleasantly lacking the appearance of a court room. Here the judge seeks to have the hearings informal and friendly, yet impressive. The public cannot be legally barred from the sessions but their presence is discouraged, and usually the only persons present besides the judge are the court officials, the chil- dren and their relatives, and the witnesses. Adult cases are tried in a larger room across the hall, which has the more formal equip- 24 A Girl's Case A Boy's Case Juvenile Court of the District of Columbia The atmosphere is informal but the court is handicapped by a law which requires the procedure of a criminal court. THE JUVENILE COURT ment of the usual court room. The law provides that defendants may have a jury trial if they wish, but usually the case is tried by the judge. The other rooms in the building are occupied by the probation officers, assistant corporation counsel, office clerks, and stenographers, and by the Juvenile Protective Association, which is a private organization, but which co-operates with the Juvenile Court by making case studies of special children on request. Probation Officers. There is a staff of probation officers five of whom are men and five women; three of the latter are Negroes. All boys over fourteen are under the charge of male probation officers. Last year there were on probation i ,002 boys and 202 girls, the largest group being colored boys from fifteen to seventeen. The chief probation officer is making an earnest effort to bring the court into close touch with public schools, relief societies, hos- pitals, settlements, and other social organizations. All court cases are registered with the confidential exchange at the Asso- ciated Charities. Judge Sellers has endeavored to improve the practice of the court in several respects. By an order dated July 22, 1919, she provided for "Preliminary informal hearings before the chief probation officer," at which "only the parents or guardian, or custodian of the child and the complaining witnesses" should be present "in cases of children of tender years and trivial offenses."1 By an order dated December 31, 1919, she enlarged the authority of the chief probation officer to hear "unofficially" all first com- plaints, not involving sex offenses, except serious offenses of older children. Judge Sellers states that "Under this order practically all first offenses, not involving sex offenses, of children under twelve are heard by the chief probation officer, and do not estab- lish a court record against the child." She states further that "the chief probation officer, after careful inquiry, discourages the filing of the case unless there is sufficient evidence for conviction"; and adds, " I believe that the machinery of the Court should be used to keep the child away from the Court if possible. . . . This order protects the children from twelve to seventeen, who previously came before the Court automatically upon complaint." 1 This accompanied the order of the same date recorded on page 24. 25 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Judge Sellers has invited a representative of the Juvenile Pro- tective Association to be present at the unofficial hearing and, when requested by the chief probation officer, "to send a friendly visitor to the home to make such adjustments and suggestions as may seem wise." By an order dated March i, 1920, Judge Sellers provided for a special conference respecting children who are about to be dis- missed from probation, or who have violated their parole, at which a representative of the Juvenile Protective Association is invited to be present in order to advise the court and to co-operate in further action for the benefit of the child. In order to mitigate the effect of the court order previously quoted, which forbids preliminary investigations of children Until after they are found guilty, Judge Sellers reports the following change of procedure: "Under our new rules the child charged with a serious offense ... is summoned with its parents and upon a certain day appears, is arraigned and tried. If found guilty the case is set for investigation and sentence upon a date generally two weeks ahead. The Court then asks the consent of the parents to have the child given a mental and physical ex- amination in the Court clinic. When the child comes up for sentence the Court has before it a record of the mental and physi- cal examinations and these records are given to the parents in Court to read if they desire. . . . "The Court finds the report of the mental and physical examina- tions to be of the greatest possible help in determining what course should be followed with the child." The Public Health Service of the United States has maintained a clinic at the Juvenile Court for the examination of all proba- tioners. This clinic has been in charge of Dr. L. O. Weldon, a very competent psychiatrist who made the mental examination of boys and girls and the physical examination of the boys. The medical examination of the girls was made by a competent woman physi- cian from the Public Health Service. Unfortunately this clinic is not protected by legislation and its continuance is uncertain. It appears very desirable that the juvenile court law of the Dis- trict should be so amended that the court will have authority to make preliminary investigations through its probation officers 26 THE JUVENILE COURT before the trial, and to order mental and physical examinations without waiting for the consent of parents who may themselves be vicious or feeble-minded, or may object to such examinations from ignorance or superstition or because they fear the findings of such examinations. In 1921, at the request of Judge Sellers, a bill was introduced in Congress for the establishment of a mental clinic in connection with the Juvenile Court, with an annual appropriation of about $10,000. This bill was favorably reported by the committee but was rejected on the floor of the House of Representatives on grounds of economy. Volume of Work of the Juvenile Court During the year ending June 30, 1921, the court heard 377 cases of dependent and neglected children and 1,206 cases of delin- quents; also 586 cases of adults for non-support of legitimate chil- dren and 113 cases for non-support of illegitimate children were filed. There were 88 convictions in the former cases and 44 in the latter. The court also tried 137 cases of alleged violation of the Child Labor Law, with 33 convictions. Out of the 377 dependent children before the court, 265 were committed to the Board of Children's Guardians and five to the National Training Schools. The cases of delinquency were distributed by color and sex as follows: White Negro Total Boys .... • 451 553 1,004 Girls .... _59 143 202 Total 510 696 1,206 The disposition of these cases was as follows: Committed to the Board of Children's Guardians . . 108 Committed to the National Training School for Boys . 82 Committed to the National Training School for Girls . 47 Returned to their own homes (mostly on probation) . 969 Total 1,206 NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JUVENILE COURT LAW The facts already cited indicate certain features of the Juvenile Court law which are greatly in need of revision; for instance, as 27 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA has been explained, a child must be adjudged guilty or not guilty of a specific offense in accordance with the evidence presented. This feature is found in a criminal court but not in a chancery court. Moreover, the wording of the law makes the conviction of adults who have contributed to the delinquency of children well- nigh impossible. The law says that a delinquent child should be held to mean one who has been convicted more than once; there- fore an adult contributing to a child's delinquency cannot be legally reached until the child has been convicted at least twice. The difficulty of reaching adult offenders is disclosed by the fact that the records of the Juvenile Court showed the trial during 1918 and 1919 of no cases of adult contributory delinquency. The following order was issued on August 15, 1921: "It is this day by the Court ordered that on and after Septem- ber 5, 1921, cases of children arrested and taken into custody and detained will be heard at 10 a. m. every day in the week except Sunday." This order was designed to furnish a speedy trial for the child who had committed an offense for which the Police Department believed bail should be deposited before the child could be re- leased in cases where the parents of the child were unable to fur- nish it or the collateral. Under the former custom of hearing chil- dren's cases only on Tuesdays and Fridays, a child arrested on Monday morning would be kept in the House of Detention until the Friday morning hearing, and the child arrested on Thursday morning would have to remain in the House of Detention until the next Tuesday morning. This order is receiving the co-operation of the superintendent of police, and as a result the policeman who sends a child to the House of Detention in default of bail appears the following morn- ing at the Juvenile Court and the case is heard. It is believed that this order operates to reduce very largely the number of children held in the House of Detention. Family Relationship. There is another aspect which we feel should be considered at this time. Every study made of the causes of juvenile delinquency leads back to the home, where often wrong social conditions are found for which the parents are to blame. The records of the District of Columbia Juvenile 28 THE JUVENILE COURT Court for the past two years give striking testimony to this fact. Out of every 2,000 cases of delinquency heard by the court more than one-half disclosed the presence of abnormal conditions among the parents, such as divorce, desertion, imprisonment, or some other condition which led directly to the neglect and delinquency of the children. The evidence in Washington and elsewhere shows that a delinquent child must be considered not by himself alone but as a member of a family group. The law which created the District Juvenile Court recognized this fact by conferring on the judge a jurisdiction over adults in certain kinds of cases, as we have noted, but this jurisdiction is limited and does not cover the entire field of family relationship. A Family Court Suggested. It is believed that the establish- ment of a family court would make possible a wider consideration of the family as a unit and would reach all those causes that result in the anti-social conduct of children and their distress. The plan is not original. It has been advanced and endorsed for several years by the National Probation Association, and has been largely worked out in Cincinnati and to some extent in other cities. It is favored by leading judges, probation officers, and other workers for children, and has been the subject of consideration by some friends of social work in Washington. This family court should be given jurisdiction in the following kinds of cases: desertion and non-support; paternity cases; all matters pertaining to the adoption and guardianship of the persons of children; all divorce and alimony cases. It may be attached to the Juvenile Court as contemplated in a bill which was con- sidered by the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representa- tives in 1922 or it may be attached to the Supreme Court. The salaries paid to the judge and to the chief probation officer of the Juvenile Court are inadequate; the salaries of the other pro- bation officers, clerks, and stenographers compare more favorably with those in the other cities, as will be seen from Table 6. The table shows that the salary of the judge, $3,600, was lower than that in any of the other cities named, in which the salaries range from $4,500 to $8,000. The Washington salary is not only JUVENILE COURT SALARIES 29 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA inadequate for so important a position but is humiliating from the standpoint of the self-respecting taxpayer. TABLE 6.-JUVENILE COURT SALARIES IN WASHINGTON AND IN SEVEN OTHER CITIES IN I92O City Judge Chief proba- tion officer Other probation officers Clerk of court Clerks Stenog- raphers Washington $3,600 $2,040 $1,240-1,440 $2,240 $1,140-1,720 $1,320 Norfolk 4,500 2,000 1,080-1,800 1,350 *,35° 1,000 Buffalo 5,000 1,740 1,500 2,100 720-2,100 Louisville 5,000 2,400 1,000-1,200 1,000-1,800 1,500 800 720 Cleveland 6,000 3,000 1,400-1,800 Minneapolis 6,300 2,000 1,140-1,380 1,800 900 900 Philadelphia 8,000 5,000 1,200-2,500 4,000 1,200 Pittsburgh 8,000 3,000 1,080-1,440 1,200 1,200 The salary of the chief probation officer in Washington, $2,040, was exceeded by the salaries in Louisville, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, where the salaries ranged from $2,400 to $5,000. In Buffalo, Minneapolis, and Norfolk the salary is lower than in Washington. 30 Copyright by Underwood & Underwood The Board of Children's Guardians, 1921 A capable board of an excellent type of public organization but handicapped by insufficient funds. From left to right: Mrs. R. Thomas West, Mr. George E. Fleming, Mrs. Thomas H. Carter, Mr. W. W. Millan, president, Mrs. Walter S. Ufford, secretary, Dr. William A. Warfield, Mrs. Gilbert H. Grosvenor, Mr. Lee Baumgarten, Judge J. Wilmer Latimer, Judge George C. Aukam. Same members in 1922 except Mr. Fleming, who had resigned and been succeeded by Mr. Norton M. Little. CHAPTER II BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS THE writer has been familiar with the work of the Board of Children's Guardians ever since it was created in 1892. The Board has always worked under disadvantages because of the lack of adequate legislation and adequate appropriations. It has had on its staff a number of first-class people, but it has never been able to pay sufficient salaries to hold them. When the Board was first created with a small budget and little responsibility, the salary of the Agent was $1,800. That is the salary at the present time, in 1923, with the addition of the annual bonus of $240 a year. It is understood that the compensation of the Agent will be increased under the new salary schedule in 1924. The sum of $5,000 or $6,000 would not be an excessive salary for this responsible position. The subordinate employes, especially the field workers, have always been underpaid. The position of field worker in such an organization is extremely responsible, be- cause he has to make decisions of vital importance to the child at a distance from his base where it is often impossible to avail himself of advice and instruction from his superior officer. The Board of Children's Guardians is not an accident; it is a part of the advancing child welfare movement of this period. The most important feature of that movement was brought conspicu- ously to view in the White House Conference called by President Roosevelt in Washington in 1909. That conference declared as follows Home life is the highest and finest product of civilization. It is the great molding force of mind and of character. Children should not be deprived of it except for urgent and compelling reasons. . . . Except in unusual circumstances, the home should not be broken up for reasons of poverty, but only for con- siderations of inefficiency or immorality. . . . As to the children who for sufficient reasons must be removed 31 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA from their own homes, or who have no homes, it is desirable that, if normal in mind and body and not requiring special training, they should be cared for in families whenever practicable. The carefully selected foster home is for the normal child the best substitute for the natural home. Boards of children's guardians exist in New Jersey and West Virginia and in the District of Columbia. There are departments of state boards of charities, or similar organizations, which have powers and duties akin to those of the boards of children's guar- dians, in Massachusetts, Ohio, Minnesota, and in other states. The Board, created by Congress in 1892, is composed of nine mem- bers, three of whom must be women, each appointed for terms of three years by the commissioners of the District. The first presi- dent of the Board was Simon Wolf, and the first agent, Herbert W. Lewis, who had been the field agent of the Minnesota State Public School for dependent children. This Board is charged with the immediate oversight and legal guardianship of children dependent on public support, all of whom are committed to it by the Juvenile Court, except some feeble-minded children who are received by the Board with the consent of their parents. During the thirty-two years of its existence the work of the Board has steadily increased. Starting in the first year with 34 children under its care and with an appropriation of $24,200, the work has enlarged until in the year ending June 30, 1922, the number of children cared for was 2,454, and the total appropria- tion, $235,400. Perhaps the two outstanding characteristics of this agency have been the high type of men and women who have been members of the Board and the totally inadequate amounts appropriated for its work. From the outset the members have taken a large interest and devoted much time to their official problems, a fact which has helped to offset to a degree the lack of sufficient funds. The members of the Board are divided into an advisory com- mittee, a committee on institutions, and one on estimates and appropriations. The Agent, who is the executive officer, is as- sisted by a staff of 20 persons, 14 of whom are placing and investi- gating officers or field workers, and the remainder office assistants. The work of the Board falls into two main divisions, which 32 BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS correspond largely to that done in other communities by societies for the prevention of cruelty to children and placing-out agen- cies. The first is the investigation of reported cases of cruelty, neglect, and mistreatment of children, followed either by efforts to improve home conditions or by bringing cases needing judicial action to court, and the investigation of cases of destitute children. The second is the reception of dependent, neglected, and delin- quent children coming under the agency's care, their placement in family homes, and their subsequent supervision. Investigation of Children's Cases The Board employs four investigating officers who are known as "court workers." Their duties are numerous. In the first place they investigate all complaints affecting children which come to the notice of the Board by letter, telephone, or personal call at the offices. The complaints may be made by the Police Depart- ment, the Juvenile Court,, the Associated Charities, sympathetic neighbors, or any other organization or private citizen in the com- munity. The worker first secures as full data as possible from the complainant; then she hears the story of the child and, if need be, examines its body for evidence of cruelty, immorality, neglect, and so forth, on the part of adults; locates other witnesses and gets other evidence; makes a thorough study of the home, the parents, and other relatives of the child; with the aid of the confi- dential exchange consults any agencies which have had previous relations with the family; and finally reviews carefully all the evidence to determine what disposition should be made of the case. Her decision is guided by the policy of the Board, which is indi- cated by the following quotation from an annual report: " In cases of the investigations of complaints of cruelty, neglect, and improper guardianship the investigators' efforts have been directed toward keeping families intact whenever possible. The Board realizes that no child should be deprived of its home life except for urgent and compelling reasons, that the normal and natural family in- fluence is better for a child than any home that it could offer, and that there is no adequate substitute for real parents if those parents are suitable. With this in view, the investigators have tried to influence the parents to raise the standard of the home and 33 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA to change their mode of living in order that they may offer a proper home for their children."1 If the investigator decides that harmful home conditions will probably yield to treatment without the removal of the child, she brings pressure to bear upon the parents through her own warning and advice, and also through the co-operation of other social agencies which she may call in. She refers cases of destitution to one of the private relief societies. If, on the other hand, she feels that the aid of the court should be had, she reports the facts to the assistant corporation counsel assigned to the Juvenile Court, who signs her petition to the court that the child be committed to the care of the Board of Children's Guardians. The parents are summoned to bring the child to the court and the case is heard in full, including witnesses for both sides. She brings to the Juvenile Court also cases involving paternity of illegitimate children (under the Bastard .Non-Support Act) and non-support of children (wards of the Board), and takes to the United States Criminal Court cases against men who have wronged girls under sixteen years. Charges of cruelty are heard in the Police Court. Juvenile Court Commitments. The Juvenile Court commits children to the Board either for a temporary period extending from several weeks to several years or during minority. In all cases of temporary commitments, when the end of the period draws near, an investigator must visit the child's home to ascertain whether the conditions which occasioned the former removal of the child have so changed that it may with safety be returned, or whether re-commitment to the Board is advisable. Again the worker is called upon to investigate cases involving wards of the Board who have got into trouble through larceny, incorrigibility, or other cause. She often needs to obtain data as full as those sought in any new cases and, if the circumstances seem to warrant it, she brings the case to court. Parents or relatives of children committed to the Board may petition that the children be returned to them, under supervision, before the end of the period of commitment. Every such case must be fully considered. If upon examination of the child's home the adult's claim seems to be justified, the child is returned; 1 Annual Report of Board of Children's Guardians, Washington, D.C., 1918, p. 5. 34 BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS then a worker is required to supervise the home regularly until the period of commitment is ended. Other Duties. The discussion thus far has been concerned entirely with field work involving such important and far-reaching decisions as to require in every case an expenditure of time sufficient for thorough investigation, careful consideration, and painstaking subsequent treatment. But the duties of the investigators do not end here. Full particulars regarding every case must be recorded at the office of the Board of Guardians, summaries prepared for the Juvenile Court, the Police Court, or the Supreme Court; consultations must frequently be held with the chief investi- gator; weekly staff meetings attended; parents, relatives, friends, or others interested in children interviewed at the office, and many other administrative details performed. Family Rehabilitation. The Board of Children's Guardians, like other progressive child welfare organizations throughout the country, has been paying special attention during recent years to the rehabilitation of families. It has followed this course in the belief that the child's own home is the best place for him if it can be made reasonably fit. As a result the number of children who are members of families brought into court is much less than formerly, co-operation being sought from relatives, church, and social agencies with the idea of correcting conditions and raising the family standards so that the children can properly remain at home. In cases of temporary commitments of delinquent children, probation officers of the court keep in touch with the families from whom these children have been removed. In cases of neglect, immorality, and so forth, the workers from the Board of Children's Guardians or of other agencies who can be interested in family rehabilitation are called in to help. Until recently this branch of the work has suffered greatly for lack of visitors, but recent additions to the field staff will allow greater efficiency. 35 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STANDARDS AND METHODS OF THE BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS Case Study. The system under which all wards of the Board are received by commitment from the Juvenile Court provides opportunity for full case studies. The Board and the Juvenile Court share in preliminary investigations: the Board through its investigating agents conducts inquiry in all cases where complaint is made to them that home conditions are unfit for the proper rearing and training of a child; the Juvenile Court through its probation officers conducts inquiry where the child has been con- victed of some offense. After children have been committed to the Board their problems receive further consideration, since the responsibility of determining their disposition rests with the Board. The members of the Board through their advisory committee or through the whole Board deliberate and pass upon many cases. The weakness in the system is that the Board does not always receive full data from the Juvenile Court regarding cases investi- gated by the latter. An examination of the court records shows that many of the face sheets are scantily filled in. Physical Examinations. Each child upon reception receives a full physical examination at the hands of a competent paid physi- cian, and the defects disclosed are remedied as soon as possible. The close attention paid to the physical welfare of children who are apt to be received in a poorly nourished, run down, or actually diseased condition, is one of the best features of the work of the Board. Mental Examinations have not been carried to the same high point as have the physical examinations. A few children who showed obvious symptoms of abnormality were formerly examined without charge by Dr. D. Percy Hickling, the District alienist, who still examines those sent to the Washington Asylum Hospital for observation. Dr. Thomas V. Moore, Dr. Loren Johnson, and Dr. Percival Hall made many examinations. All of these physicians have generously served without compensation. Altogether 428 wards of the Board received mental examinations in 1922, but the work is very inadequate. A medical and mental clinic for the benefit of all dependent, neglected, and delinquent children should be established. 36 BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS Temporary Care. Many placing-out agencies have temporary re- ceiving homes where children are kept until they can be given needed physical examination and treatment and mental tests, be properly clothed and fed, and be studied by the worker with a view to the best possible placement in family homes. A short period of good care improves the chance of a child's placement in a desirable home 100 per cent. The work of the Board has been seriously embar- rassed by the lack of proper provision for its newly received wards. The supply of boarding homes, especially for white children, has greatly increased but is still inadequate, and the Board has never had a receiving home. The result has been a makeshift policy. Institutions, some boarding homes, and the children's own homes when possible, have all been used for temporary care. The chil- dren have come to the offices of the Board in the District building for medical examination, and the supply of clothing for them has been kept in the District building. This inadequate method is a positive drawback to the best case work. We would advise the establishment of a small, well-equipped receiving home for brief temporary care of children, pending more permanent provision. The joint Congressional Committee, appointed in 1917 to in- vestigate the local charities and reformatory institutions of the District of Columbia, recommended the establishment of such a home for the Board of Children's Guardians. District commis- sioners in many of their annual reports have urged Congress to supply an appropriation for it, and the Board of Charities in its reports has emphasized this need.1 Transfer of Guardianship. The lax conditions which prevail in many states, under which parents or guardians may give their children to placing-out agencies without any court action by the signing of an informal surrender, are not found in the District. The Board of Children's Guardians is the only placing-out agency, and every transfer of guardianship to it is made through the Juvenile Court. Placement of Children. Each child differs from every other; each is a separate problem to be studied by itself. Many of the 1 As already noted, it is the intention of the Board of Children's Guardians to use the Industrial Home School, which has recently come under its charge, as a temporary receiving home, a plan which we approve. 37 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA failures in placing-out-failures with bright, affectionate, promising children-can be laid to their placement in homes ill-adapted to their individual characteristics. The fitting of the child to the home, the "fine art of the placing-out method," as it has been called, rests upon thorough case study followed by the careful selection of a home by wise, experienced agents. It is at this point that the most skilful and conscientious work should be done. Selection of Homes. The methods used by the Board in selecting boarding and free homes do not differ materially from those found in many placing-out societies. When applications for children are received, a blank form asking for detailed information on numerous points regarding the applicant and his home is for- warded to be filled out and returned. If the reply seems promising, letters are sent to five references furnished by the applicant, and if these in turn are satisfactory a personal visit is made to the home by a placing and investigating officer. The assigned references and independent references are visited. Home-finding and placing-out are done by the same agents. Supervision. The strongest obligation connected with placing- out work is the supervision of children after placement in foster homes. The home may be perfectly satisfactory, but conditions may change in a very short time. The woman may lose her health; another child may be born into the family; the husband may have financial reverses or may lose his position; the husband and wife may disagree, or other changes of condition may occur. Only faithful supervision can guard against the ill effects of such contingencies. The amount and frequency of supervision will vary according to circumstances. A child who is in a boarding home or one who is working for wages may need very frequent supervision; a young child placed for adoption with competent and affectionate foster parents may need infrequent supervision. It is sometimes a mistake to interfere too much when the foster parents desire to treat the child as their own. Prompt and faithful action will olten prevent the loss of a foster home by the adjustment of diffi- culties or by the giving of wise advice to the foster parents. This branch of the work of the Board of Children's Guardians has been admittedly imperfect in the past, because the number of 38 Making Good Citizens Out of Children in a Boarding Home Youthful Farmers in a Foster Home Wards of the Board of Children's Guardians BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS cases assigned to each visitor has been much too large. It has now been strengthened by the recent addition of five new members to the corps of field workers, but the number is still too small. We have asked several placing-out executives who are recognized as experts, for an opinion as to the number of children that a field worker should be asked to supervise. J. Prentice Murphy, Execu- tive Secretary of the Children's Bureau of Philadelphia, said: "A well trained visitor cannot handle more than 50 to 60 active cases of children in foster care and do the job well." Wilfred S. Reynolds, formerly superintendent of the Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society, Chicago, said: "I think that for children living in free foster homes ... a visitor can be responsible for 100 . . . provided they are within ... a radius of not more than 75 miles. . . . For children in board- ing families . . . one visitor should not have more than 50 children." Miss Mabelle B. Blake, General Secretary of the Boston Society for the Care of Girls, wrote: "No visitor should have over 40 chil- dren under her care." C. V. Williams, Superintendent of the Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society, formerly Director of the Children's Welfare Department of the Board of State Charities of Ohio, wrote: "The Children's Welfare Department of the Ohio Board of State Charities has based its request to the Legislature for field agents on the basis of 60 children per visitor. . . . We are now planning to place some of our difficult boys and girls under much more intensive supervision; ... a small group of girls (this group may not exceed 25 or 30); and a similar group of boys to be under the super- vision of one of our young men field workers." Number of Wards. On the first of July, 1922, the Board of Children's Guardians had under care 1,876 children, including wards and those not wards but under care as feeble-minded. Of this number, 1,672 were carried as normal and 204 as feeble- minded; of the latter 128 were in institutions. These figures give a much smaller number of children to each visitor to supervise than was formerly the case. In 1919 each visitor had 222 children to supervise, while in July, 1922, with 14 field workers and 1,672 normal and 76 feeble- 39 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA minded children subject to visitation, there was one agent for every 125 children. Nevertheless, the ratio of field workers to children is still much below the recommendations of the experts above quoted. In 1922 the only wards of the Board living in any distant state were a very few who had recently moved out from the District of Columbia with relatives and had not yet been discharged from guardianship. As the workers of the Board of Children's Guardians do not now have to visit wards outside the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, the territory to be covered is not nearly so great as formerly, when many were sent to other states. Disposition of Cases We have stated that children are committed by the Juvenile Court to the Board for temporary periods or during minority. Temporary commitments are made of children needing care for a short time because of the search for relatives to receive them, further investigation by the court of any matters pertaining to the cases, or for other like reason; of semi-delinquent children who have got into trouble of one kind or another but have not gone far enough on the downward path to warrant being sent to a training school; and victims of neglect who are removed from their homes for a period in hope that the erring parents will mend their ways and become worthy guardians. Permanent commitments are made where children have no relatives to care for them, or where parents are so degraded, cruel, or immoral as to warrant a removal of their children for a long time, or permanently where there is incorrigibility or some other condition requiring such a separa- tion. While the Board is authorized by law to place its wards either in private family homes or in institutions, its policy from the first has been whenever possible to use family homes. It uses boarding homes extensively for infants, for children requiring temporary care, for some of its feeble-minded wards, for the sick, and for cases where free homes are not available. It uses free homes including some that receive children on trial for adoption; and wage homes which offer paid employment to older boys and girls. It employs institutions for semi-delinquent children who are in special need of 40 BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS industrial training, for difficult children who require a period of institutional training to prepare them for life in family homes, for the feeble-minded, and for normal dependents until suitable family homes can be found. The following figures give the distribution of 1,878 wards in 1919, and show the relative use of family homes and institutions at that time: Number Per cent Private boarding homes 506 27 Free homes (including 60 on trial for adoption) 739 39 Apprentice and wage homes .... 83 5 Institutions 550 29 Total < . 1,878 100 It is seen that 71 per cent of the children were in private family homes, and 29 per cent in institutions. The total expenditure of the Board for the board of children in 1922 was $150,411, of which amount $109,466 was paid for the board of children in private homes and $40,945 for board in institu- tions. In addition to the sum of $150,411, the cost of maintenance of children in the two industrial home schools is met by appropria- tions from Congress on a per capita basis. During the three years, 1920 to 1922, all babies and very young children among the wards of the Board have been removed from institutions, and none are now so placed except for very tempo- rary periods. As a rule no older children are now being placed in institutions except feeble-minded or delinquent or special problem children, who seem to do better in an institution than in a family home. Others of the older children are placed temporarily in in- stitutions until it can be determined what is best to do for them. Fewer Children Sent to Institutions The Board of Children's Guardians could not but take notice of the fact that the District of Columbia has always had an over- large number of children in institutions, as is shown by the reports of the Census Bureau for 1904 and 1910. From its establishment in 1892, the Board of Children's Guardians has labored to promote the use of the family home for the care of dependent, neglected, and delinquent children as far as practicable. The result has been 41 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA a reduction of the number of children in institutions. This reduc- tion, however, is not confined to the District of Columbia, as is shown in Table 7. TABLE 7. -DEPENDENT AND DELINQUENT CHILDREN IN INSTITU- TIONS AND RATE PER 100,000 POPULATION 1904a 1910a 1921b Num- ber Per 100,000 population Num- ber Per 100,000 population Num- ber Per 100,000 population Per cent decrease in rate Dependent United States 92,289 U3 108,070 118 New York 24,907 3'7 28,577c 3'4 26,273 253 20 Indiana 2,934 110 2,600 96 1.778 61 45 California 4,680 291 5,620 236 4,877 142 5i District of Co- lumbia 967 321 1,063 322 945 216 33 Delinquent United States 23,034 28 24,974 27 New York 5,826 75 5,255c 58 5.385 52 31 Indiana 872 33 1,099 4' 882 30 9 California 474 30 745 31 837 25 17 District of Co- lumbia 405 136 409 124 557 127 7 Dependent and delinquent United States 115»323 141 133,044 <45 New York 30,733 392 33,832 372 31,658 305 22 Indiana 3,806 M3 3,699 137 2,660 91 36 California 5J54 32i 6,365 267 5,714 167 48 District of Co- lumbia 1,372 457 1.472 446 1,493 342 25 a Compiled from the United States census reports on Benevolent Institutions and on Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents, 1904 and 1910. b Our compilations from local reports, in most cases for the year 1921. c Number as reported by New York State Board of Charities. This table illustrates the general trend in the diminution of institutional care in different parts of the country. We have taken New York, Indiana, and California, three typical states, representing the Atlantic coast, the interior, and the Pacific coast. In each of these states the same tendency is visible. The ratio of dependent children in institutions to population 42 BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS during the period covered by the table is seen to have decreased as follows: New York .... 20 per cent Indiana .... 45 per cent California . . . . 51 per cent District of Columbia . 33 per cent Notwithstanding the marked decrease in the ratio of institu- tional population to total population in the District of Columbia, it is still far above the average. In 1910 the general ratio through- out the United States was 118. It is doubtless less than that at the present time. California has come down from a ratio of 236 dependent children in institutions per 100,000 population in 1910 to 142; Indiana from 96 to 61; New York from 314 to 253; and the District of Columbia from 322 to 216. Staff. Many societies are requiring today that their agents shall have a period of instruction in a school of social work. But whether or not the subordinate agents have attended such schools, the general agent, who is the executive officer, should certainly have had several years of training in children's work. In addition, he or she must have administrative ability, tact, initiative, resource- fulness, love of children, patience, common sense, and open- mindedness. He or she should also have had a college education. The investigating and supervising agents, while not needing to have executive ability, should have had training and experience in chil- dren's work and at least a high school education. The salary ratings proposed in the District budget made in 1923 gave the employes of the Board of Children's Guardians a lower rating than other government employes performing similar duties. The members of the budget commission apparently failed to perceive the gravity and responsibility of the work of these agents. Appropriations for Board of Children's Guardians The appropriations for the Board of Children's Guardians since 1916 have been as follows: 1916 . . . $95,250 1917 . . . 109,200 1918 . . . 148,050 1919 . . . 174,650 1920 . . . $189,55° 1921 . . . 179>3°° 1922 . . . 165,450 There was a decrease in the appropriation of $24,000 between 43 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 1920 and 1922. This was of serious concern to the Board because it had at the same time to pay for the keep of all the children it had formerly sent to the Industrial Home School, now closed, the cost of whose maintenance at the School had been met by appro- priations from Congress. Children per Family At the close of 1922 the Board of Children's Guardians was using 245 boarding homes. Of these homes, 52 contained three children each; 20 contained four children each, one contained five, and one contained nine. In most cases, where the number of children exceeded two, there were included children who were members of the same family and therefore should be kept together. The undesirability of boarding more than two children in the same family is recognized by the Board of Children's Guardians, except in cases where brothers and sisters are involved. The location of the wards of the Board at the end of 1922 was as follows: In the homes of relatives and friends 722 At board with other families 418 With families as apprentices or on wages .... 72 Total in family homes 1,212 In hospitals 29 In homes and schools for children 373 Total in institutions 402 Total absconders 139 Grand total 1,753 Mothers' Pensions During the past few years laws have been passed in more than 30 states providing for the payment of funds to deserving mothers to enable them to keep children in their own homes who otherwise would have to be cared for elsewhere. The principles underlying mothers' pensions, or allowances, as this form of aid has been called, are that every good mother has the right to the society of her children, and that a good mother's care is the best care that can be had for the children. In 1921 a bill was indorsed by a number of social organizations in Washington and introduced in Congress which provided that the Board of Children's Guardians 44 Kindly Care and Fresh Air for the Tuberculous Tuberculous Children Boarded in a Family Home A Good Foster Home Board of Children's Guardians BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS should "grant out of appropriations for the board and care of children allowances to mothers with children under sixteen years of age dependent upon them for support; provided that in the judgment of such Board such mothers are deemed proper persons to be the recipients of such funds." The bill did not state the specific amounts to be granted, but left the determination of them to the Board with the sole condition that "the aid furnished shall be sufficient to enable the mothers to care for their children properly in their own homes." It did not, however, provide for the neces- sary workers to pass upon applications. It is a cause for regret that the bill did not pass, for the fund would have made it possible to keep many children in their own homes who are now placed under the care of strangers. We recommend the passage of such an act. The Board of Children's Guardians, with its existing machinery and knowledge of the chil- dren's homes, would seem to be the proper agency to administer aid if such a fund should be provided. The creation of a new body would be unnecessary. AN UNWARRANTED ATTACK A very bitter assault was made upon the Board of Children's Guardians and the Juvenile Court in 1922 and 1923 by a group of women who claimed that children were improperly committed to the care of the Board and were carelessly placed and cruelly treated in the homes where they were placed by the employes of the Board of Children's Guardians. It is freely admitted that the case work and supervision of the Board of Children's Guardians has been inadequate in the past for lack of a sufficient staff, but there seems to be every reason to believe that the Board has been doing as much as it could with the means at its disposal. With the recent additions to the staff the work has been materially strengthened. Congress has amended the appropriation bill for the Board of Children's Guardians so that cost of the support of children in the Industrial Home School is paid directly to the Board. This places the School under its control. While the School, as stated, is closed at present, it is proposed, after it has been repaired, to use it as a receiving home for temporary care of wards of the Board. 45 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The Board of Children's Guardians is the most important and useful children's agency in the District of Columbia. At its recent session Congress wisely placed the appointments of the members of this Board in the hands of the commissioners of the District, who will doubtless see that they are selected from the most competent and interested citizens in the District. The Board should then have generous and faithful support from the District commissioners, the people of the District, and the Congress of the United States. The most important duty of the Board of Children's Guardians is to secure and hold the best possible person as Agent of the Board. Unfortunately the salary allowed by Congress has not permitted the Board to compete with other social agencies for experienced people, who readily command salaries of double the amount offered. Under these circumstances the Board will be compelled, as in the past, to make the position of chief agent a missionary enterprise, and to try to find some devoted person who will accept an inade- quate salary and seek reward in the work rather than in the financial compensation. To commit this labor to cheap people is like em- ploying cheap doctors, cheap lawyers, or cheap school teachers. It involves the danger of sacrificing the most sacred of interests to false economy. 46 CHAPTER HI INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS THERE are five institutions for delinquent children in the District of Columbia: the National Training School for Boys, the National Training School for Girls, the Industrial Home School for Colored Children, which cares for semi-delinquent colored boys, the House of the Good Shepherd, and the House of Detention, which receives temporarily children awaiting a hearing in the Juvenile Court. The House of Detention, because of the short stay of its inmates, performs a different work from that of the other institutions, but for convenience it has been grouped with them. In this chapter these Washington institutions for delinquent children are described in detail and suggestions are made regarding their development. Let us now consider the institutions as a group to see how they measure up to the reasonable and generally accepted standards for institutions of this class. The House of Detention should be omitted from this discussion. Administration. Washington institutions for delinquent chil- dren, with the exception of the House of the Good Shepherd, are public institutions. They are financed by public funds and are supervised by a public board. They thus follow the generally accepted belief that it is the duty of the state to maintain and train its delinquent children. Purpose. The purpose of the institutions as a group is educa- tional. They seek to train the children in useful subjects rather than to exploit their labor for the financial gain of the institutions. Separate Institutions for Boys and Girls. Each of the institu- tions is devoted to children of one sex, and thus is free from the handicaps of extra supervision and curtailed activity found in institutions caring for older boys and girls together. Sites. Three of the group, the National Training School for Boys, the National Training School for Girls, and the Industrial 47 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Home School for Colored Children, have locations in the country which permit instruction in farming, gardening, and other agri- cultural subjects. The House of the Good Shepherd, while on the outskirts of the city, has less than two acres, and such training as it gives consists of laundry work, sewing, and domestic service indoors. It should secure additional ground and instruct its girls in such subjects as gardening, poultry raising, and floriculture. Buildings. Modern plants for delinquent children are con- structed upon the cottage plan. Only one of the five schools for delinquents in Washington, the Industrial Home School for Colored Children, is rated as a cottage plant; the other four are of the congregate type. The Industrial Home School for Colored Chil- dren, however, is not fully equipped, as it has no hospital and the cottages are so crowded that the superintendent, his wife, and three children sleep in a single small room. It is to be hoped that as cottages are added in the future they will be built to house not over 20 or 25 children. Clinics. The institutions have made only a beginning in pro- viding mental examinations for their wards. Some mental ex- aminations have been made by volunteer psychologists and psychiatrists, but systematic and organized clinics have not yet been established. Careful physical examinations are provided by all of the insti- tutions for delinquents, and medical or surgical treatment of any defects shown thereby is provided. Individual Treatment. The schools for delinquents, like the orphanages, are somewhat weak in their provision for the individ- ual treatment and development of children. This is due in part to a lack of small cottages which afford opportunity for individual training. However, it is possible even for a congregate institu- tion which houses all its children under one roof to adopt special measures for developing ability and character. Some means that have been used with success by institutions are self-government, military organizations, acting plays, debating, bands, literary clubs, and the honor system. One or two institutions have made an effort toward individualization, but all could further develop this branch of training with much profit to their wards. Expenditures. The expenditures of these institutions are lower 48 INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS than those of similar progressive institutions elsewhere. The aver- age per capita cost of maintenance of the four institutions, not including the House of Detention, for the latest years for which the figures are at hand, are shown in the accompanying summary table. TABLE 8. -SUMMARY STATISTICS OF INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENT CHILDREN IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Name Year Value of plant Capac- ity Number of inmates Number of employes Inmates per employe Total expen- diture Expen- diture per inmate National Training School for Boys 1922 $300,000 400 345 60 5.8 $127,000 $368 National Training School for Girls 1922 170,000 121 106 17 6.2 34,800 328 Industrial Home School for Col- ored Children 1922 100,000 88 1 86 22 3-9 31.100 362 House of the Good Shepherd 1921 139,000 100 80 27 3-0 30,800 385 Total $709,000 709 6i7a 126 4-9 $223,700 $363 House of Detention 1922 60 30 10 3-o Grand total 769 647 136 4.8 • • "There are 92 empty beds in these institutions exclusive of the House of Detention. For the purpose of comparison, Table 9 shows the per capita expenditures of 40 selected schools, half of which are for boys and half for girls, in a fiscal year ending in either 1921 or 1922. These 40 schools represent all sections of the country. They are for the most part large schools and together care for nearly half of the delinquent children in institutions in the United States. For con- venience of presentation the schools are indicated by location rather than by name, the schools from Washington, D. C., being the two National Training Schools. The schools for each sex are listed in the table in order of the per capita costs, and it will be seen that both the National Training Schools rank low. The per capita expenditure for the National Training School for Boys is $67 below the average of the per capita figures of the 20 schools for boys, and that for the National Training School for Girls is $194 below the average for the 20 schools for girls. But both these averages are below a reasonable figure, being brought down by unduly low per capita costs in some of the schools included in the table. While the per capita costs for both the National Training Schools, as is indicated, are now and have been too low, it should be stated 49 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA that per capita expenditures vary considerably and figures for another fiscal year might have placed either school higher in its respective group. The per capita expenditure for the National Training School for Girls in the fiscal year ending in 1923, as is shown on page 59, was $493. This is much higher than the corre- sponding figure for 1922, $328. But the 1923 figure is still below the average of the per capita costs for the 20 schools for girls shown in Table 9. TABLE 9. -COST OF CARING FOR DELINQUENT CHILDREN IN 40 SELECTED SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES FOR A FISCAL YEAR ENDING IN EITHER 1921 OR I922 20 schools for boys 20 schools for girls Location of school Number of inmates Expendi- ture per inmate Location of school Number of inmates Expendi- ture per inmate Whittier, Calif. 272 $933 Ventura, Calif. 152 $873 Industry, N. Y. 665 568 Gainesville, Texas 75 79i Westboro, Mass. 467 558 Middletown, Conn. 187 788 Red Wing, Minn. 312 539 Adrian, Mich. 266 767 St. Charles, Ill. 831 523 Sauk Center, Minn. 334 663 Monroe, La. 87 508 Atlanta, Ga. 86 606 Loch Raven, Md. 214 503 Hallowell, Maine 132 563 Salem, Ore. <45 448 Grand Mound, Wash. 113 528 Glen Mills, Pa. 610 424 Geneva, 111. 412 5'6 Concord, N. C. 150 423 Lancaster, Mass. 292 494 Meriden, Conn. 401 414 Alexander, Ark. 51 469 Eldora, Iowa 483 399 Samarcand, N. C. 181 468 Washington, D. C.a 345 368 Darlington, Pa. 454 460 Plainfield, Ind. 554 350 Mt. Morrison, Colo. 146 459 Marianna, Fla. 345 329 Claymont, Del. 75 444 Lancaster, Ohio 1,156 324 Indianapolis, Ind. 363 364 Chehalis, Wash. 215 310 Tullahoma, Tenn. 76 329 Grafton, W. Va. 398 302 Washington, D. C.a 106 328 Eastlake, Ala. 338 25' Delaware, Ohio 478 302 Gatesville, Texas 868 217 Birmingham, Ala. 69 228 Average 443 $435 Average 202 $522 a National Training School. With relatively low per capita costs the salaries in the National Training Schools are correspondingly less than those in the best state institutions; for example, the salary of the superintendent of the National Training School for Girls is now only $1,400, whereas $2,500 to $3,000 would be a reasonable salary. Under these circumstances the two National Training Schools cannot 50 INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS and do not render service equal in quality and efficiency to that which should be found in schools of this class. A School for Semi-Delinquent Colored Girls Greatly Needed. The Industrial Home School for Colored Children has shown what an institution located in the country and conducted on educational lines can accomplish with colored boys of wayward tendencies. It is desirable that a similar institution should be provided for colored girls. Summary. Summing up the foregoing points, it is seen that the leading features of excellence in the Washington institutions for delinquent children are that with a single exception they are public institutions; that the purpose of the institutional work is educa- tional; that no institution cares for children of both sexes; that three of the five institutions are located in the country; that the executives are devoted and able people; that all the institutions provide a physical examination of each entering child. The weak points of the four institutions, which need to be strengthened, are that none of the four has a modern, well-equipped cottage plant; that the provision for the mental examination of children is limited; that in large measure children are treated in the mass rather than as individuals; and that the yearly expenditures for maintenance are low as compared with similar institutions else- where. I. NATIONAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR BOYS Bladensburg Road, three miles north of Washington. Founded and incorporated, 1866. In 1862 President Lincoln approved an act to incorporate the Guardian Society, an organization whose purpose was to reform juvenile offenders in the District of Columbia. The Society raised about $6,000 and obtained the use of a large building, but funds soon became exhausted. An act was passed by Congress in 1866 creating the House of Correction for Boys in the District of Columbia, for the "safe- keeping, correction, governing and employing of offenders legally committed thereto by the authorities of the courts and magistrates of the District of Columbia." The new institution took over the building of the Guardian Society, and with the aid of a congres- 51 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA sional appropriation of $12,000 finished equipping it for the recep- tion of boys. The first boys were admitted January 13, 1870. However, Congress failed to make an appropriation to meet the expenses of the School for the year ending June 30, 1871, and the $ 12,000 having been used up in paying for equipment, the trustees found them- selves in the spring of 1870 facing the alternative of turning 63 boys into the streets or of endeavoring to carry on the work by private means until Congress should come to their assistance. The latter course was adopted. The site of the institution proved unhealthful and sickness soon broke out among the boys. In 1872 Congress appropriated $100,000 for the purchase of the present site and the erection of buildings thereon. The property comprised at first 150 acres, but later was increased to 350 acres. The name was changed, first to the Reform School of the District of Columbia, and later to the National Training School for Boys. It is supervised by the Department of Justice. The School is a federal institution. It receives boys between the ages of ten and seventeen who are offenders against the laws of the United States or the District of Columbia. Those coming from the District of Columbia are committed by the Juvenile Court and the Supreme Court of the District; those from outside states are committed by the United States courts. Those com- mitted from the District are usually committed during minority, subject to parole, in which case they remain under supervision of the School until the age of twenty-one. Those from the states are committed partly for indefinite periods, subject to parole, and partly for definite terms. The population is at present nearly evenly divided between those coming from the District of Columbia and those from states east of the Mississippi River. Very few are received from the West. In 1922 the number of white boys received was 136 (56 per cent) and the number of colored boys was 107 (44 per cent). The average age was about fifteen years. The School is administered by a board of seven male trustees who are appointed by the President of the United States upon recommendation of the Attorney General. The cost of main- 52 One of the Cottages Seventy boys live in it. Institutions for delinquents should have not more than 30 in a cottage Where Some of the Boys Learn to Milk National Training School for Boys INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS taining the institution is shared between the United States govern- ment, the various states sending wards, and the District of Colum- bia. The maintenance is paid upon a per capita basis, the District paying for all wards sent by its courts, as does each state repre- sented in the population of the School. The United States Congress appropriates funds for the upkeep of the plant and for any improvements or new construction. There are special needs at the present that it is hoped Congress will recognize and provide for. The site commands a splendid view of the surrounding country for many miles and could not be improved upon from a health standpoint. There are an administration building, assembly hall, six so-called "cottages" (really congregate buildings), industrial building, barns, poultry houses, and boiler house. The main buildings are of brick and are substantial. There are three athletic fields. The administration building is an imposing structure containing the offices, sleeping quarters of employes, and a congregate dining room for the boys which is well lighted and cheerful and supplied with tablecloths. The hospital building is of two stories, with a bedroom for each patient. The first floor is devoted to non-contagious cases, a dispensary, and an operating room; and the second floor to any contagious cases. The hospital is in charge of two graduate nurses. Every boy receives a physical examination upon entrance. Recently the School has begun giving mental tests, which are made by one of the nurses who has had experience in this work, aided by the school principal. The six houses, too large to be properly called cottages, hold from 60 to 73 boys each. The boys sleep in dormitories which have cross-ventilation from windows on three sides and are fur- nished with single beds. Each house is well equipped with run- ning water and set bowls, showers, and toilet arrangements. A guard is on duty in each dormitory throughout the entire night. The central school building contains two large study halls, one for white boys and the other for colored, the class rooms, a gym- nasium with bowling alleys, living quarters for about 40 of the youngest boys, training room, wash room and toilets, and an 53 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA assembly room where the boys gather and are told off in squads to their appointed tasks. The academic education is the most satisfactory part of the Training School. The work is well organized with six experienced women teachers, most of whom are normal school graduates. Classes are conducted in all the eight regular grammar grades. The pupils are retarded like the inmates of all schools of this class. The following tabulation shows how 345 boys were distributed by color and by school grade in September, 1922: School grade White Colored Total First 20 23 43 Second 26 27 53 Third • 33 33 66 Fourth • 36 37 73 Fifth • 30 26 56 ■ ■ -l-ll ■ II ■ 1 ■ Total five lower grades • 145 146 291 Sixth 9 10 •9 Seventh >5 6 21 Eighth 7 7 14 ■ --- Grand total . . . . 176 169 345 The foregoing table shows that 82 per cent of the white boys and 86 per cent of the colored boys were in the first five grades, while 18 per cent of the white boys and 14 per cent of the colored boys were in the three upper grades. The colored boys make a better showing than usual in this school. Military training is an important feature in the school life. Each building has its company, the boys wearing uniforms. The company officers are chosen from the boys on the basis of fitness and merit. The military training teaches the boys prompt obedience and respect for authority. The military drill and setting up exercises contribute to good health, physical develop- ment, erect carriage, and good walking. A wholesome interest is stimulated in athletics; especially in baseball, basketball, and various gymnastic exercises. Three baseball diamonds on different athletic fields give opportunity to groups of boys of different ages. On the athletic field the boys learn to respect the decisions of the umpire, to be good winners and good losers. They learn team play, endurance, and self- sacrifice for the sake of victory. 54 Farmers in the Making Athletic Field National Training School for Boys INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS The Training School is disappointing in the matter of vocational and pre-vocational training. The industrial shops are large, located in a brick building almost as large as the school house, but the boys get imperfect and unsatisfactory training. It must be remembered that the average stay of the boys in school is only about sixteen months. Since most of the boys are backward in their studies, the effort is probably made to give them as much school work as possible. It is necessary also that they shall do the domestic work of the institution, cultivate the garden, and do the ordinary chores. These leave but little time for voca- tional training. The most that can be done for the majority of them is to give them pre-vocational training, whereby they may gain some knowledge of tools and the use of their hands and learn that useful work is honorable and worth while. Much of the work assigned to the boys has no vocational con- tent, as will be seen from the following statement. At the time of our inspection of the school, the assignment of boys to employ- ment was as follows: Vocational or semi-vocational work Bakery 6 Barns and dairy . . . . 16 Blacksmithing .... 8 Carpenter shop . . . . 13 Engineer's department and auto- mobile repair work . . . 10 Greenhouse 4 Orchestra and band ... 26 Poultry ...... 4 Plumbing and steamfitting . . 4 Painting and glazing ... 8 Shoemaking and repairs . . 12 Tailoring department . . . 16 Total . . . .127 Grand total .... Domestic service and other non- vocational work Boys' dining room . . . 16 Officers' dining room . . . 12 Kitchens 15 Preparing vegetables (kitchen) . 20 General housework . . . 53 Laundry .22 Hospital 8 Sewing room 12 Office boys 2 Storeroom 2 Farm and premises ... 70 Small boys (no particular work) . 15 Total .... 247 374 Farm work may give some vocational training, but there is always a temptation when a boy has learned to do a thing well, like driving a team or milking a cow, to keep him at it instead of teaching him something new. The truth is that in the National Training School, as in many schools of its class, the farm training amounts to very little. Note the following actual illustrations: Twenty-five boys to feed slop to hogs and only one pail in which 55 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA to carry the slop; 25 boys planting potatoes, all running with hands full on one row and no effort to put them on separate rows or to systematize the labor; 25 boys turning manure in the barn- yard when visitors were at hand, but stopping work when they were gone until another set of visitors appeared. The corrective discipline of the School is that of the last genera- tion. Whipping is administered by family officers when author- ized by the superintendent or assistant superintendent, for serious offenses "when all other methods fail." The instrument is a rub- ber hose. A written record of such punishments is kept. Boys are sometimes compelled to stand in constrained positions, and various other punishments are used. On the whole, we received the impression of a school which is maintaining the standards of twenty years ago and which lacks the life, spirit, and morale that are manifested in such schools as the Massachusetts Industrial School for Boys, the New York State Agricultural and Industrial School, the Hawthorne School, the New Jersey State Home for Boys, the Maryland Training School for Boys, and the St. Charles School for Boys in Illinois. The National Training School must wake up and get in step with the modern movement. Value of plant $300,000 Capacity 400 Number of boys 345 Number of employes 60 Number of boys per employe 5.8 Expenses year ending June 30, 1922 $127,000 Average expense per boy $368 II. NATIONAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS Conduit Road and District Line. Founded and incorporated, 1888. The annual report of the Superintendent of Police for 1882 recommended the establishment of a reformatory for young girls in the District of Columbia. Such an institution had long been favored by many people in Washington, and as a result of their interest an act was passed by Congress in 1888 creating a reform school for girls. No appropriation was made, however, until 1892, when Congress voted $35,000 for buildings to be erected on land belonging to the government. The site selected was an old farm of 19 acres overgrown with thickets. 56 INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS The School, as its name suggests, is a federal institution. It has a board of nine trustees, three of whom must be women, appointed by the President of the United States upon recommendation of the Attorney General. Like the National Training School for Boys it is supervised by the Department of Justice and receives its inmates from the Juvenile Court and the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia and from the United States courts in various states. However, the proportion of those committed from out- side the District of Columbia has been much less than in the case of the Training School for Boys. Of 102 girls in the school in 1919, only three were federal cases, and the total of such cases received during the last four years has been 21. In February, 1922, there were no girls from the United States courts. The School is maintained entirely by public funds, the cost being divided equally between the District of Columbia and the United States. Both white and colored girls are received. In February, 1922, the population consisted of 31 white girls and 80 colored. Since that time the number of colored girls in the School has decreased because a large number of them have been paroled for lack of suffi- cient accommodations. Girls from the District may be paroled after a stay of seventeen months. The School has two parole officers, one white and one colored. The total number on parole in February, 1922, was 39 white girls and 53 colored, total 92. Girls from outside the District are usually committed for definite terms and therefore leave the jurisdiction of the School when dis- charged. The average age of the girls on admission in 1922 was 14.7 years for colored girls and 15 years for white girls. The average length of stay for colored girls was 2.3 years, and for white girls 2.1. The School has four buildings, no one of which is adequate or satisfactory. The administration building has three floors and a basement. The basement contains the laundry; the first floor, a school room with well-lighted but insufficient blackboard space, a dining room with small tables, a kitchen with cross-ventilation and screened windows, together with the office of the superin- tendent and parole officers. The second and third floors contain sleeping quarters for members of the staff. The only private 57 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA quarters for the superintendent in 1921 consisted of one room di- rectly across the hall from the girls' toilet. The difficulties of the situation were greatly aggravated by the presence of the two races in the same school without adequate means of classification and separation. Even in Northern schools for delinquent girls it has been found necessary to segregate the two races, not because of race prejudice, but in order to secure good discipline. The difficulties of the situation were further aggravated by the close proximity of the buildings to the public highway, which has given rise to much annoyance from thoughtless and malicious passers-by. During the year 1921, while building was in progress, much trouble was experienced from irresponsible workmen and teamsters, whose presence made it necessary to maintain strict surveillance over the girls and to deprive them of outdoor work and recreation. In February, 1923, Congress appropriated $62,000 for the pur- chase of a site and the starting of buildings for a separate training school for white girls.1 This wise action will give opportunity for a new departure and for the creation of a modern institution with adequate facilities. When this is accomplished the United States courts will doubtless make use of the National Training School for Girls, as they are now using the National Training School for Boys. The board of trustees in 1922 secured as superintendent Mrs. F. F. Morse, a woman recognized as a leader in this line of work and who had had many years' experience, first as superintendent of the Massachusetts State Industrial School for Girls, and recently as superintendent of the Minnesota Home School for Girls. We are deeply disappointed to learn that after less than a year's service Mrs. Morse felt obliged to resign the position to become superin- tendent of the New York State Training School for Girls. In her brief term she did much to improve the School. The appropriation of $62,000 to erect a new training school for white girls was secured 1A farm has been purchased in Prince George's County, Maryland, on which a cottage institution for white girls is to be built. It is to be hoped that the site of the present Training Schoo! for Girls, entirely unsuited for its present purpose but valuable for city residences, may be sold and the proceeds applied to the building of a new institution for colored girls on a less valuable site. It is probable that the sale of the land will produce sufficient funds to build the new training school for these girls. 58 A Farm Group The School was so Crowded that Some had to Live in Tents. National Training School for Girls INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS largely through her activity; but little can be accomplished for the complete renovation of the School until the new institution is ready. The salary of the superintendent is fixed by law at $1,400 per year, which is less than is now paid for a first-class stenographer and much less than that of a first-class school teacher in many cities. If both the school for white girls and the school for colored girls continue under one head, a salary of $3,000 per year would not be excessive for the superintendent of the National Training School for Girls. We recommend that the Act of Incorporation of the National Training School for Girls be amended by omitting the following words in the statement of classes of girls eligible for commitment: "Any girl under seventeen years of age who is destitute of a suit- able home and adequate means to obtain an honest living, or who is in danger of being brought up to lead an idle and vicious life." Destitution should never be recognized as a cause for commitment of children to an institution for delinquents. There is reason to hope that the institution has entered upon a new era, and that it will henceforth take its place among the fore- most schools of its class in the United States. Value of plant $170,000 Capacity, estimated 12 ia Number of girls, 1922 106 Number of girls, 1923 57 Number of employes, 1922 17 Number of employes, 1923 16 Girls per employe, 1922 6.2 Girls per employe, 1923 3.6 Expenses, year ending June 30, 1922 $34,800 Average expense per girl $328 Expenses, year ending June 30, 1923 $37,000 Average expense per girl $493b a Under the present living conditions at the School only about 100 girls can be properly accommodated. b Reduction in numbers increased per capita cost as overhead cost was practically unchanged. Congress in 1923 had under consideration a plan to establish a national reformatory for women which should receive both United States prisoners and District prisoners. The bill failed to pass but will undoubtedly be re-introduced. Such an institution is abso- lutely necessary. Heretofore many young women have been kept 59 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA in the National Training School for Girls who should have been in a reformatory for women. The United States maintains three penitentiaries for men-at Atlanta, Georgia; Leavenworth, Kansas; and MacNeil's Island, Washington, but thus far has not provided a prison for women. The government has been boarding out its women prisoners in state institutions under unsatisfactory condi- tions, but it is increasingly difficult to find boarding accommoda- tions for the federal women prisoners. HI. INDUSTRIAL HOME SCHOOL FOR COLORED CHILDREN Blue Plains, District of Columbia. Founded, 1907. In 1887 Professor William H. H. Hart of Howard University offered the use of his 300-acre farm and buildings at Fort Wash- ington, Maryland, for a training school for mild-delinquent colored boys. The Board of Children's Guardians had found it extremely difficult to keep boys of this type in private family homes because they were untrained, unruly, and liable to run away. The offer was therefore accepted. The institution, known as the Hart Farm School, was main- tained as a private undertaking until 1906, when the Board of Children's Guardians withdrew its wards. Congress soon voted an appropriation for the establishment of a public institution to take its place. About 100 acres of land belonging to the District, situated in the southeast corner of the District of Columbia, were made available. The cottage plan was adopted, and the first cottages were opened in 1907 under the name of the Industrial Home School for Colored Children. It is used exclusively for boys. They are committed by the Board of Children's Guardians, which retains guardianship and removes them at its discretion. The institution is governed by the District Board of Charities. The average age of the boys is fifteen years, and the average stay is about fifteen months. The plant consists of six principal buildings comprising an ad- ministration building, a school building, and four cottages, each having two stories and a basement, with an aggregate capacity of 88 boys. There are also two barns, a blacksmith shop, a wheel- wright shop, a wagon shed, and a poultry house. 60 The Superintendent in a Cottage Corner An Inviting Dining Room In the Workshop Industrial Home School for Colored Children INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS The plant is modern in construction and is the only real cottage in- stitution for delinquents in the District of Columbia. The cottages are well ventilated and are supplied with well-equipped lavatories, individual steel lockers, attractive living rooms, and dining rooms with small tables, tablecloths, and chairs. Each cottage has its own kitchen. The cottages are cheerful, homelike, and well kept. The school rooms are well lighted and have good adjustable desks. There is a sewing room, and a manual training room equipped with four pieces of electrical woodworking machinery, individual benches, and simple tools. The small blacksmith and wheel- wright shop offers some instruction in those branches. The administration building contains the superintendent's quarters, rooms for the staff, employes' dining rooms, laundry, storerooms, and a clinic room where each boy upon entrance re- ceives a bath. Each boy receives a physical examination from the physician of the Board of Children's Guardians before commit- ment. Dental treatment is given in the clinic when needed. In February, 1922, special mental tests were proceeding with interesting results. Twenty-seven boys had been pronounced positively feeble-minded, and about 20 per cent of the others were found to be subnormal. The presence of these defective children emphasizes the need for an institution for the feeble- minded. The superintendent was meeting this situation as far as possible by organizing special classes for training and instructing feeble-minded and very backward boys. During the regular school term, boys attend school half a day and spend the other half in vocational training or in the routine work of the institution. Over half of the boys were working at farming or gardening, comparatively small groups at carpentry, blacksmithing, and wheelwrighting, and about a fourth were employed at housework and laundering. The superintendent felt that too large a proportion of the boys were spending their time in routine housework such as scrubbing, bed-making and dish- washing, but he had been forced to use the boys in the absence of a sufficient number of women caretakers. To provide more room the offices have been moved from the administration building to a small separate building. In another small building a well-equipped sanitary barber shop with four 61 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA chairs has been installed, where a group of boys is receiving thorough instruction in the barber's trade. Academic instruction is given through the grammar grades. Sixty acres out of a total of i io in the tract are under cultiva- tion; the other 50 are woodland, pasture, playground, and building site land. Excellent crops of grain, vegetables, and fruit are raised, practically sufficient for the needs of the institution. The livestock consists of nine cows, ten horses, two mules, and 150 chickens. The superintendent in his annual report to the Board of Charities for the year ending June 30, 1919, writes frankly of the inferior instruction in farming given to the boys. He says: "At no time in the School's history have the salaries paid to our farmers been lucrative enough to employ the right kind of men as instructors in farming at this School. I would like to emphasize the fact that the School requires teachers of agriculture and not mere unskilled farm laborers." The importance of skilled teaching in agricul- tural subjects cannot be overestimated, and sufficiently large appropriations for the School's work should be made to provide it. The School has been economically administered. An illustra- tion of this is found in the superintendent's latest annual report: "Many sheets and gowns were made from sacks in which hominy and other grains were delivered to the School. Our suspenders are made of bed-ticking, at an average cost of eight cents a pair. The neckties were made of seersucker and cost the School five cents each. A hundred or more pairs of overalls were made of discarded cement sacks at a cost of about 50 cents a pair. The sewing room turned out 12 good comfortable horse blankets made of old feed sacks and padded with scrap materials." Moral and religious training is conducted upon a high plane. Church services and Sunday school are held weekly, and chapel exercises daily. The staff has caught the spirit of self-sacrifice and enthusiasm of the superintendent and his wife, and in spite of unusually long hours of work have performed their tasks uncom- plainingly and set an excellent example to the children. The superintendent, Leon L. Perry, is a graduate of the Wash- ington City Normal School. He is a competent executive and is thoroughly interested in the work. He has shown remarkable 62 INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS ability to accomplish good results with a meager equipment. The superintendent, his wife, and three children are forced to share one medium-sized bedroom in the administration building. Such a condition is disgraceful. A separate cottage for the superin- tendent should be built. An assembly room is very much needed. The most economical way to secure it would be to erect a one-story building without excavation. A small hospital is greatly needed because of the distance from the city hospitals. The Industrial Home School is a credit to the District and is an example of faithful, economical, and efficient work. Value of plant $100,000 Capacity 88 Number of boys 86 Number of employes 22 Boys per employe 3.9 Expenses, year ending June 30, 1922 $31,100 Average expense per boy $362 Thirty-sixth and T Streets, N.W. Founded, 1883; incorporated, 1884. The object of this institution, as given in the Articles of Incor- poration, is "to afford a refuge to females who have had the mis- fortune to lead an evil life, and who wish to abandon their vicious course and to reform their lives." A delegation of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who came from Baltimore, started the insti- tution nearly forty years ago. As the work grew, larger quarters became necessary, and in 1890 the present site was purchased and an imposing structure of four stories and a basement was built. Congress appropriated $23,000 toward the purchase of the land. The institution, like others conducted by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd throughout the country, has been supported largely by the income from its commercial laundry. A two-story brick dwelling has been used for this purpose. The work is done by the inmates. The total income of the institution in 1918 was $19,925, of which $17,356 came from laundry work and $2,569 from the following sources: board of inmates paid by relatives, $261; Board of Children's Guardians, $860; donations and miscellaneous, $1,448. The income for 1921 was about $30,000. IV. HOUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD 63 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA During the past twenty years the yearly amount of public funds received has been less than $1,000. Beneficiaries are white girls over fourteen years of age coming largely from Washington and adjoining towns, although there is no territorial restriction. They must be free from contagious disease. Girls may be sent by parents or other relatives, by the courts, or may be placed by the Board of Children's Guardians. Those over eighteen years old who come directly from private homes are free to leave at any time, while those under eighteen are required to remain at least a year. The Mother Superior is authorized to admit and discharge; her decisions are based upon correspondence or personal interviews, and a recommendation is usually required from the priest of the parish in which a girl lives. At the time of our visit there were 60 girls in the institution. One was between fourteen and sixteen years of age, 24 were be- tween sixteen and eighteen, and 35 were over eighteen. The institution has features common to congregate institutions. There is a central dining room for the girls, a large sewing room, a congregate dormitory having good cross-ventilation and single beds, and a chapel. Outdoors there is an enclosed recreation space with bricked sur- face, green lawns which the girls are permitted to use at times, and a fair-sized garden which raises part of the institution's supply of vegetables. The girls do not work in the garden. The institutional routine of the inmates consists principally of laundry work, in which one-third of the total number are en- gaged at a time; the performance of the usual household tasks, such as sweeping, scrubbing, mending, making beds; plain sewing including the making of work dresses and underwear; devotional exercises; and recreation. The girls are under the care of 18 Sisters, who receive practically no compensation and who are devoting themselves in a beautiful spirit of self-sacrifice to the moral and physical well-being of their unfortunate wards. The policy of maintaining a commercial laundry is open to ques- tion. Some institutions have discontinued it on the grounds that the work is difficult and monotonous and that the working hours can be better used in other occupations. It is respectfully sug- 64 INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS gested that the institution consider whether other forms of voca- tional work should not be substituted. It is recommended: (a) That provision be made for some outdoor work for the girls. Outdoor life, affording interesting work and enjoyable play, gives a wholesome tonic not only to the body but to the character. The Sisters of the House of the Good Shepherd have under con- sideration the sale of their present property and removal to a country site where the girls can have more outdoor life and exercise. We heartily advocate such a plan. (b) That arrangement be made for psychological examinations. Many schools for juvenile delinquents have proved the great ad- vantage of such examinations. Several children's institutions in Washington, including the House of Mercy, the National Training School for Girls, and St. John's Church Orphanage, have adopted the plan. (The foregoing statement describes conditions as they existed in 1918 and 1919.) Value of plant $139,000 Capacity 100 Number of girls 80 Number of employes 27 Girls per employe 3 Expenditures for year ending December 31, 1921 . . $30,800 Average expense per capita $385 Corner of Ohio and 17th Streets. Founded 1900. V. HOUSE OF DETENTION The House of Detention is located in a building erected and formerly used as a hospital. The House stands on a triangular piece of ground with streets on each side giving abundance of light and fresh air, but the building is very close to the street. At the rear of the building is a yard 125 by 50 feet used as a playground, with suitable playground equipment and a play director furnished by the Playground Department of the City of Washington. The House of Detention is under the control of the Police De- partment and is directed by Lieutenant Mina C. Van Winkle, who is Director of the Women's Bureau and Detention Home. Chil- dren are brought to the House by the police. 65 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The staff consists of one superintendent, two caretakers on the boys' floor, two on the girls' floor, a cook, a janitress, a laundress, and two automobile drivers. A telephone girl and police guards are furnished by the Police Department. On the first floor of the building are a receiving room for boys with two bathtubs and a shower, two rooms for dependent chil- dren, and a room which is temporarily used for stranded girls. (In this room a girl was detained as a witness for 161 days.) On the first floor also there are two empty rooms suitable for clinic purposes and an interviewing room, a record room, and a medical clinic. At the time of our visit the clinical work was being done by a volunteer physician under the direction of the Health De- partment, there being no public provision. On the second floor are a large cheerful school room, rooms for employes, and a storeroom. Good teachers are furnished by the public school authorities. The children have received some in- struction in rug making, toy making, and other simple employ- ments. On the third floor are the dining room for all the children and playroom for boys, 15 by 36 feet, with five tables. The playroom is in charge of a man and woman who relieve each other. There are also three dormitories for white boys, one containing two beds, one four, and one five, making a total of 11 beds. There are two cheerful dormitories for colored boys, one containing five beds and the other 11. There is an emergency room with four beds. It would be desirable to have more classification. At the pres- ent time all the boys have to be kept in one playroom, and all the girls, except in special cases involving contagious disease or unusual viciousness, in another. There should be at least one more dining room, for classification. But, on the whole, facilities of the House of Detention are far superior to those of most of the detention homes which we have seen. There are shower baths for the girls, with separate baths for the white and colored and for diseased girls. There is a well- lighted girls' sitting room 14 by 42 feet. There is an excellent kitchen, as clean and orderly as that in a good dwelling-house. It contains a sterilizer and all dishes are thoroughly sterilized. A fireless cooker is in constant use. The 66 I he New Juvenile Detention Home, Formerly the Emergency Hospital INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS pantry is scrupulously clean. The supplies are purchased by a competent dietitian, and they include a quart of milk daily for each child. The dining room has small round tables with good chairs. It contains 28 seats. There is an attractive sitting room for employes, 1 5 by 9 feet, and another 14 by 9 feet. The total floor space of the dormitories is 2,600 square feet, giving an average floor space of 43 square feet per bed. This is a limited capacity, but is sufficient in view of the excellent window ventilation. While there is a strong room for the detention of the unruly children, the superintendent stated that only one girl and two boys had been confined therein during a period of fifteen months. The visitor was very much impressed by the quality of the staff. They appeared to be intelligent, competent, and vitally interested not only in the proper physical care of the children, but in their improvement. Great credit is due to Lieutenant Van Winkle and the superintendent. They have not only secured public appro- priations and gifts of linoleum, pictures, cooking utensils, and so forth, from merchants, but have themselves contributed furniture and pictures and other furnishings. It is not practicable to get a financial statement of the House of Detention, because the expenses are provided partly from the funds of the Police Department, partly by the School Board, partly by the Department of Playgrounds, and partly by private donations. 67 CHAPTER IV INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN TWENTY of the 25 children's institutions of the District of Columbia care for dependent children: 18 are orphan asylums or children's homes caring for dependent children,1 and two are institutions receiving both mothers and children. Orphan asylums and children's homes were founded, one by one, in response to special needs by the generous sympathy of friends of children. They differ from one another in size, character of plant, and classes of children cared for. Some receive the aid of public appropriations; all are private enterprises. Those institutions which receive children by commitment of the District Board of Charities are subject to the supervision and visitation of that Board. The last available report showed that 72 per cent of the children in the District institutions were supervised by the Board and 28 per cent were not. The right and duty of a state or community to supervise its charitable or correctional institutions are now generally granted. The supervision of public institutions has long been approved, and within recent years the conviction has rapidly grown that institutions accepting the guardianship of dependent children have assumed a public duty and should be subject to governmental supervision, just as the guardian of an orphan child is subject to the supervision and direction of the probate court. The public supervision of private institutions rests upon the following basic principles: first, that it is the right and duty of the state, in the exercise of its police powers, to protect the life and health of those who are under the care of voluntary organizations, particularly children, because of their helpless condition; and, second, that it is the right and duty of the state to protect the benevolent public, including the institutions themselves and those who administer them. Well-administered institutions have noth- 1 It has already been noted that two of these institutions for dependent children receive a limited number of unmarried mothers. 68 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS ing to fear from public supervision; on the contrary, the approval of the state is of direct benefit by increasing their standing in the community. If there are any institutions that cannot bear public inspection they should certainly have the limelight thrown upon them. An illustration of the possible results attending a lack of public supervision occurred in Washington in 1919. The proprietors of a local bakery were found guilty by the Juvenile Court of ex- ploiting 11 children who were ostensibly receiving kindly institu- tional care. The deplorable conditions had existed for years. Finally they were discovered, the owners of the bakery were fined, and the children removed. Supervision of Institutions Another illustration came to our attention in the course of this study. An institution was visited which was publicly supposed to be conducting a considerable work for dependent children. It solicited funds from the public, principally through appeals by paid collectors and through a house to house soliciting of old paper, which was converted into cash. In this institution nine children were found, of whom seven belonged to the family of the superin- tendent and only two were dependents. It was found further that although a sign bearing the name of the organization spread across the entire front of the building, giving the impression that the building as a whole was being used as an orphanage, half of it was being sublet to boarders, producing considerable additional income, and that there were left accommodations for less than half a dozen dependents. Repeated requests were made to the treas- urer of the institution for a financial statement, but none was forthcoming. Washington, like many another community, has a voluntary committee which passes yearly upon its private charitable institu- tions and issues lists of those of which it approves and of which it disapproves. Such committees, however, are concerned chiefly with the general type of administration of the institutions and their methods of financing. They do not make the frequent visita- tion and searching inspections which the District Board of Charities is expected to make and for which it is especially qualified. 69 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA We recommend a law requiring that the Board of Charities shall supervise all children's institutions within the District, that every institution shall be required to obtain a license yearly from the Board, and that new institutions in order to operate must be approved and licensed by the Board. It is also recommended that a law be enacted to provide public supervision of so-called baby farms, or private homes where babies are kept at board, and of day nurseries. In one of the hospitals we saw a baby that had been brought from a baby farm to the hospital in a shocking condition of dirt and neglect. Any person in the District who desires to maintain a boarding home or day nursery for young children should be required to secure a license from the Health Department, and the home or nursery should be subject to inspec- tion by that Department. Preliminary Investigations The institutions as a rule have committees which pass upon applications for admission and authorize dismissals. In some cases this authority is delegated to one member of the board or to the superintendent. It is usually the duty of the superintendent to supervise those who have left the institution. She may per- sonally visit some of them, correspond with others, and talk with those who return from time to time to visit the institution; but she is an exceedingly busy person whose time is well taken up by administrative duties, and it is impossible for her to give adequate attention to graduates. Some institutions have volunteer committees of ladies who per- form many such services for them. These vitally important duties require longer hours than is possible for members of volunteer committees who have obligations to meet in their own homes; and so we find that in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Newark, New Jersey, Wilmington, Delaware, and other cities there are co- operative bureaus or societies which undertake this extra-mural work for large groups of children's institutions. They make pre- liminary investigations, or place out and supervise children, reporting in detail to the managers of the respective institutions. 70 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS Co-operation with Board of Children's Guardians It is suggested also that institutions endeavor to establish co- operative relations with the Board of Children's Guardians with reference to children who are to be placed out in private foster homes. Under the present law a child, before it can come under the care of this Board, must be committed to it by the Juvenile Court. The same reasons apply in the placing of children as in the making of case investigations; namely, that the Board has a corps of trained workers and has in its files information respecting many families from which such children may come. The Board would doubtless, when requested to do so, be glad to furnish reports to the institutions regarding applications for children, and also to keep in touch with wards whom the institutions have placed in homes. The Board of Children's Guardians is a member of the Child Welfare League of America, through which it can arrange for supervision of placed-out children whose foster parents may have removed to another state of the Union. We need offer here no brief to prove the value of united action. Its rapidly increasing use in a keen business world has long since established its worth. We shall simply call attention to the fact that the world of social work is adopting the principle, as is seen in the growing number of co-operative organizations, such as councils of social agencies, children's bureaus, and infant welfare associations. Architecture. Thus far the District of Columbia has only begun the adoption of the modern cottage system in private insti- tutions for dependent children. Of its 18 orphan asylums and children's homes, only four have the cottage system: the Episcopal Home for Children, the Jewish Foster Home, the Baptist Home for Children, and the Swartzell Methodist Episcopal Home for Chil- dren; and the united capacity of these four is only 150, which is 10 per cent of the total capacity of the 18 institutions. We have counted as a cottage institution one where no building contains more than 30 children and where the system of care approaches that of a private family. Of the four institutions above named, three occupy houses built for private residences, and are ill-adapted, therefore, to their 71 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA present use. Only one, the Episcopal Home for Children, was built as an institution. Its cottages are good but the site is unfortunate, and the trustees now propose to build a new home on a more suitable site. They expect to sell the present buildings for residence purposes. It is to be expected that any future institutions for children erected in the District of Columbia will be of the modern cottage type, which is rapidly superseding the congregate plan throughout the United States. Table io on page 73 shows that the 18 institutions, with united capacity of 1,506 children, are valued at about $2,000,000, or about $1,330 per bed. This valuation, however, is based upon pre-war prices. Cottage institutions of the same class, with sufficient land and with proper equipment, now cost from $2,000 to $2,500 per bed. Some recent institutions have cost as much as $3,000 per bed. It will be seen that the 18 institutions with 1,506 beds have only 945 inmates, leaving 561 empty beds. These include the now closed Industrial Home School which has 135 beds. As we have indicated elsewhere, the 945 inmates give the District a ratio of dependent children to population which exceeds that in most of the states of the Union. It would appear, therefore, that anyone who contemplates the building of a new orphan asylum in the District of Columbia ought to make careful inquiry as to the need of a new institution before investing money in it. Current Expenses. The expenses of the 18 institutions for dependent children in the District of Columbia, as is the case in regard to the care of delinquents, are considerably lower than those of progressive institutions of the same class in other communities. In some cases they are too low to permit of adequate provision for the care, comfort, and training of the inmates. It should be borne in mind, however, that nearly all these institutions send their children to public or parochial schools, which diminishes their expenses. On the other hand, most of these institutions are small and the small institutions usually show a greater per capita expense than large ones. Table 1 o summarizes the statistics of plant, population, employes, and expenses of the institutions for dependent children. Before the war, children could be maintained in health and comfort at a 72 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS TABLE IO. -SUMMARY STATISTICS OF INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Name Year Value of plant Capac- ity Number of inmates Em- ployes Inmates per employe Total expen- diture Expen- diture per inmate Baptist Home for Children 1922 $35,000 36 32 6 5-3 $9,420 $300 Bruen Home 1922 15.000 60 60 8 7-5 12,000 200 Children's House of the Gospel Mission 1923 28,000 30 9 6 Children's Tem- porary Home (for colored children) 1921 28,000 100 65 8 8.1 21,600 332 Emergency Home for Children, Central Union Mission 1922 35 32 5 6.4 7,100 233 Episcopal Home for Children 1921 65,600 50 48 8 6.0 12,650 263 German Orphan Asylum 1921 76,000 50 33 4 8.3 9,200 279 Industrial Home School* 1923 300,000 135 I Jewish Foster Home 1922 30,000 40 35 6 5.8 9,500 271 National Associa- tion for Colored Women and Children 1922 40,500 125 25 3 8.3 4,900 196 St.John's Church Orphanage 1922 92,600 80 76 9 8.4 17,650 232 St. Ann's Infant Asylum6 1922 103,000 150 104 25 4.2 39,200 377 St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asy- lum 1919 60,000 90 90 10 9.0 10,620 118 St. Rose's Tech- nical School 1921 500,000 150 81 16 5-1 20,750 288 St. Vincent's Fe- male Orphan Asylum 1918 171,000 150 IIO 13 8.5 12,000 109 Swartzell Meth- odist Episcopal Home 1922 10,000 25 25 5 5.0 6,340 254 Washington City Orphan Asy- lum 1920 240,000 150 65 13 5-0 23,600 348 W ashington Home for Foundlings6 1922 117,000 50 55 20 2.8 16,500 458 Total $1,988,200 1,506 945 166 6.0° $233,030° $249° Empty beds 561 » Temporarily closed. b Occasionally takes unmarried mothers. 0 Sixteen institutions. cost of from $150 to $250 per child a year, though this sum did not provide the medical and psychological examinations, or the medical, surgical, dental, and psychiatric treatments which are coming to be regarded as indispensable, nor did it provide ade- quately for the primary case study or the careful placement and supervision of children after their discharge. 73 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Since the war, the cost of the proper care of children has in- creased from 75 to 100 per cent over that of eight or ten years ago. Instead of $150 to $250 per inmate, the legitimate cost will now run from $250 to $400, and if the institution maintains its own schools the expense per capita may run as high as $500 a year. We submit a further table, Table 11, exhibiting the actual per capita cost of maintaining children in 1918 or in 1919 in 15 repre- sentative orphan asylums of the best type. The minimum per capita cost was $197 in the Oxford (Masonic) Orphan Asylum, North Carolina. It is situated in a southern climate where clothing and fuel cost less. The highest cost, $511, was in the New Haven Orphan Asylum, which is a congregate institution, but which main- tains a high standard of care. TABLE I I .-YEARLY PER CAPITA MAINTENANCE COST IN I 5 SELECTED INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN Name Year Average number of children Per capita maintenance cost Cottage institutions Albany (N. Y.) Orphan Asylum 1919 132 $458 Chicago Orphan Asylum 1918 201 283 Colored Orphan Asylum, New York City Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Orphan Asy- 1919 309 354 lum, Pleasantville, N. Y. 1919 611 416 State Public School, Coldwater, Mich. 1918 255 287 National Orphans' Home, Tiffin, O. 1919 490 303 New York Orphanage, Hastings, N. Y. <9'9 220 367 Oxford Orphan Asylum, N. C. 1919 335 197 Rochester Orphan Asylum, N. Y. >9'9 158 274 Rose Orphans' Home, Terre Haute, Ind. 1919 7' 338 State Orphans' Home, Atchison, Kan. 1919 185 310 Average, 11 cottage institutions 270 $326 Congregate institutions Hebrew Orphan Asylum, Brooklyn Jewish Foster Home, Philadelphia '9'9 722 $271 1919 '73 330 Jewish Orphan Asylum, Cleveland New Haven (Conn.) Orphan Asylum 1919 500 316 1919 108 5" Average, 4 congregate institutions 376 $357 The table shows that the average of the per capita costs of 11 cottage institutions was $326 per year, and of four congregate 74 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS institutions $357 per year. It is a fact that good care in congre- gate institutions costs quite as much as in cottage institutions. The average per capita cost for the 15 institutions, cottage and congregate, was $334, while the per capita cost for all dependent children in institutions in the District of Columbia, as shown in Table 10, was $249, which is $85, or 25 per cent, less. If the institu- tional capacity in the District were reduced one-third and the total expenditure was the same as now, better results might be expected. Some of the institutions do not now maintain proper standards either of quality of service or of provision for the health and comfort of the children. Salaries. An inspection of the payrolls of Washington orphan- ages shows a prevailing low wage and explains in part the low total expenditures. For instance, in 1919 salaries for superintendents ran from $41 a month to $100 a month, and the average salary was $69. The wages of matrons or caretakers were between $10 and $40 a month, the average being $29. Sewing teachers received from $20 to $40, with an average of $29. Laundresses were paid from $20 to $30, and on the average, $26; cooks from $20 to $35, the average being $32. In all of the above cases board and lodging were furnished in addition to the wages. The salaries in 1922 did not vary very much from these rates. When one considers the prevailing high cost of living, the lowest amounts which should be paid to workers in children's institu- tions are $100 a month for the superintendent of a small institu- tion and $50 for other members of the staff. The superintendent of an institution caring for from 100 to 200 children should properly receive a larger salary, running up to $2,000 or $2,500 a year, and other staff members should receive adequate pay accord- ing to their responsibilities. It is important to remember that young children receive lasting influences from those with whom they daily associate, and that, therefore, the obligation is laid upon an institution to employ only adults of good character, who are refined and who speak grammatical English. Such persons should not be asked to work for $25 or $30 a month. Physical Examinations. The practice of institutions in regard to the physical examinations of entering children varies. Some require the entering child to present a health certificate issued by 75 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA his family physician or any other to whom he may be taken for examination. Other institutions provide the examination through their own physicians. The latter course is preferable. An insti- tution can gain a thorough knowledge of the physical condition of its new children from a physician in whose judgment and skill it has confidence, while a health certificate based upon a superficial examination and not accompanied by detailed information re- garding the child's various physical organs, but simply stating that he has been found to be free of disease, is too frequently furnished by the ordinary physician. However, the attitude of Washington physicians in general toward the needy children of the District has been most generous, and they have shown a fine volunteer spirit in the care they have given them. Feeble-Minded Children. Most of the institutions have had no means of determining the mentality of children offered for their care, and it has been a common experience for orphanages to re- ceive feeble-minded children unknowingly and to be handicapped later by their presence. Feeble-minded children retard the work of school classes and are the subjects of ridicule from their mates; they become indifferent and unhappy and are unable to profit by the training of the institution. When such children are once re- ceived it is exceedingly difficult to get rid of them. The conse- quence has been that they have stayed on indefinitely and have become an increasing burden. Heretofore the District has had no institution for feeble-minded children, but has boarded out a few in the state institutions and among private families. Congress has now provided for a school for feeble-minded so that there will no longer be any excuse for keeping them with normal children, and the Dis- trict Board of Charities has already taken steps for its erection. The Federal Children's Bureau, in a study made at the request of a citizens' committee of Washington organized under the leader- ship of the Monday Evening Club, found 800 feeble-minded chil- dren in the city who were in need of special care. The inquiry showed that a considerable number of these were in local institu- tions not at all suited to their needs, in which they embarrassed greatly the legitimate work of the institutions, and that many were at large in the community, a constant danger to public morals and safety and themselves in jeopardy. 76 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS The following figures show the distribution of feeble-minded children under the care of the Board of Children's Guardians on June 30, 1919: Location White Colored Total In family homes Boarding homes 0 37 37 Free homes with relatives and friends 9 8 17 Apprenticed and on wages . . i 1 2 In special institutions for feeble-minded Gundry Home and Training School, Va. • 32 0 32 Pennsylvania Training School • 38 2 40 Training School, Vineland, N. J. . 11 0 11 In other institutions 3 29 32 Whereabouts unknown .... 2 8 IO Total . 96 ~85 181 Of 96 whites, 10 were in family homes, 81 were in institutions especially adapted to the care of feeble-minded, and three were in other institutions not so adapted; of 85 colored, 46 were in family homes, two were in institutions especially adapted to the care of feeble-minded, and 29 were in institutions not so adapted. Crippled Children. There is no institution in Washington de- voted exclusively to the care of crippled children. The Home for Incurables, which receives adults mainly, has a ward for children. For the year ending June 30, 1919, three children were in the Home at the beginning of the year, one was received during the year, and four were under care at its close. Hospital cases of dependent children needing orthopedic care are all sent to the Children's Hospital; 100 cases of this kind were treated there in one year. Individual Treatment. Washington institutions are giving too little attention to individualization. They are handicapped by the lack of cottage plants, which are in themselves great aids in the development of personality. Also, few superintendents have made a study of this vital matter of individual treatment. Any means which leads a child to think for himself and to express his thought in action has a definite value in developing individu- ality. Play acting, debates, musical clubs, contests in gardening, athletics, and self-government plans are being profitably used in progressive institutions. A pamphlet issued by the Department 77 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA of Child-Helping of the Russell Sage Foundation, entitled " De- velopment of the Individual Child in Institutions for Dependents,"1 gives detailed suggestions on this subject for the use of managers, trustees, and superintendents. Dietary. The menus found in the institutions were fairly satisfactory. A common institutional breakfast in Washington consists of a cereal with milk, and bread with or without butter, Some institutions give a cup of diluted coffee. Dinner usually consists of meat or a stew, beans, or some equivalent, with one or two vegetables, bread with or without butter, and, rather infre- quently, a dessert. Supper includes a cereal and milk, fresh or dried fruit, and bread with or without butter. If at least a pint of milk is furnished, and plenty of bread, this may suffice, although it is a rather light supper for a growing boy or girl. Other dietaries showed an over amount of starchy foods, like potatoes, rice and bread, with too small an amount of vegetables and fruits. Per- haps the leading lack was variety, a fault common to orphanages everywhere. Someone has said that one of the deepest ruts of an institution leads from the kitchen to the table, which explains why a meal of potatoes and beans is so often followed by one of beans and potatoes. Dietaries have been published which give a variety of well-balanced appetizing meals. One of the best of them is A Standard Dietary for an Orphanage, published by the California State Board of Charities and Corrections.2 It is recommended that every institution have its menus super- vised regularly by the attending physician or by a competent dietitian. This practice not only affords competent criticism of the menus, but also safeguards an institution against attacks which are made, oftentimes unjustly, by unfriendly persons. Records. None of the institutions had a satisfactory system of record keeping. It may be said that this is a point on which not infrequently orphanages of fairly high standards in other respects fail. For instance, the only record kept by an institution in one 1 Richardson, C. Spencer: "Development of the Individual Child in Institutions for Dependents." New York, Russell Sage Foundation, 1916. See also Atkinson, Robert K.: "Play for Children in Institutions." New York, Russell Sage Founda- tion, 1923. 2 Jaffa, Dr. Adele S.: A Standard Dietary for an Orphanage. San Francisco, State Board of Charities and Corrections, 1915. 78 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS case was: "Jones child gone." There was no item showing the date of admission or the date of discharge, the address of the parents or other relatives, or even the first name of the child. Suppose that twenty years later the Jones child comes back to that institution and asks for information regarding himself! A simple but adequate system of record keeping for an orphanage consists of a card index, and folders or envelopes to hold the records and papers. A card index should give the child's name, date of birth, sex, color, religion, source from which he was received, the date of admission and discharge, and the number of his folder. The folder should contain the family history of the child himself, his commit- ment papers, if any, his physical, psychological, and school records, correspondence about the child (originals of letters received and carbon copies of letters written), and miscellaneous records. This material should be chronologically arranged. The Russell Sage Foundation has published a handbook of suggestions and forms for record keeping.1 Annual Report and Auditing of Funds. Many of the institu- tions for children in the District of Columbia, as already indicated, have kept very imperfect records. Some have issued no reports. This deficiency makes appraisal of their work and cost difficult. Well-conducted institutions publish an annual report giving information upon the finances and upon the year's work of the organization. They do this, first, to keep a permanent record; second, to inform those friends who have assisted in the support of the institution; and, third, to educate prospective donors. Also such institutions have their accounts audited yearly by an outside accredited accountant. 904 Newton Street, N.E. Founded and incorporated, 1915. The Home is maintained by the Columbia Association of Baptist Churches of Washington to care primarily for children of Baptist parents. It cares for white boys and girls between the ages of three and eleven. Parents are required to sign a written surrender of the children. No public funds are received. I. BAPTIST HOME FOR CHILDREN 1 Ralph, Georgia G.: Elements of Record-Keeping for Child-Helping Organiza- tions, Chapter 7. New York, Russell Sage Foundation, 1915. 79 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The Home is a three-story frame dwelling house with an addi- tion. A portable one-story cottage, costing about $5,000, has been built recently to accommodate 10 older boys and a caretaker. This inexpensive building is quite satisfactory. The rooms in both buildings are light and cheerful. The dining room and the playroom have a pleasant, homelike appearance. The children eat at small tables with tablecloths, napkins, and good dining chairs. The windows are screened throughout. There are steam heat, city water, and sewer connections. The atmosphere is friendly, cheerful, and Christian. The num- ber of children, 22 in one building and 10 in the other, permits the maintenance of family conditions. The children attend public school where they associate with outside children. It is imprac- ticable for the Home to maintain systematic vocational training, but two girls took a course at a business high school, and another was in training as a nurse. A physician examines every new child and gives a Wassermann test in each case. Sick children go to a hospital. There is no quarantine for incoming children. The superintendent and employes appeared interested and efficient. The general impression was good. Value of plant $35,000 Capacity 36 Number of inmates 32 Number of employes 6 Inmates per employe 5.3 Expenses, year ending October 31, 1922 .... $9,420 Average expense per child, about $300 II. BRUEN HOME 3535 Eleventh Street, N.W. Founded and incorporated, 1895. The Home receives white boys and girls, usually from the Dis- trict of Columbia, boys between the ages of two and twelve, and girls between two and fourteen; they are usually dismissed at the age of fifteen or sixteen. The Home aids parents who are in temporary distress but who expect to re-establish their homes. No surrender of the child is required. The parent may remove him at any time. Applications are disposed of by the superintendent at the institution without visiting the home of the applicant. The administration is in the hands of a board of women man- 80 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS agers. The Home is maintained entirely by private funds. The support is inadequate. The superintendent, who has served for eighteen years, is a cripple from arthritis, going about in a wheel- chair. She works under difficulties but is active and deeply inter- ested. The Home is located in an old private residence. It has a reasonable capacity for about 30 children but it contains 60. This necessitates using the basement and the attic for living pur- poses, entailing a dangerous fire risk. The objectionable use of double beds prevails to some extent. The trustees contemplate building a rear annex. The staff consists of eight workers, whose aggregate salaries in 1922 were $175 a month, an average of only $22 a month. Value of plant . $15,000 Capacity 60 Number of inmates 60 Number of employes 8 I nmates per employe 7.5 Expenses, year ending November 1, 1922 .... $12,000 Average expense per child $200 III. CHILDREN'S HOUSE OF THE GOSPEL MISSION 326 C Street, N.W. Opened, 1918. The Children's House of the Gospel Mission occupies two adjoin- ing dwelling houses which have been adapted to its use. It co-op- erates with the Child Welfare Society, which has one of its clinics with a free dispensary in the House. The home receives for tem- porarycarewhite boys and girls under the age of twelve living within the District; parents may remove them at any time. Those old enough are sent to the public school. The atmosphere of the home is intensely religious. A space in the rear provides a playground. A competent nurse is in charge. A medical examination is given each child on entrance. The physical care of the children is excellent. The Gospel Mission has undertaken a $100,000 campaign to increase the capacity from 30 to 100.1 An accurate statement of expenses cannot be given because it is very difficult to separate the expenses of the Children's House from the expenses of the other departments of the Gospel Mission, xThis plan of expansion is discussed in the Introduction on page n. 81 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA which maintains it. However, we append certain statistics which also include the figures of the day nursery1 conducted in the House. Value of plant $28,000 Capacity 30 Number of inmates 32a Number of employes 6 Inmates per employe 5.3 Average number in day nursery 20 a Including day nursery children. IV. CHILDREN'S TEMPORARY HOME (FOR COLORED CHILDREN) 2300 Fifteenth Street, S.E., Anacostia. Founded, 1899. In 1899 Miss Susan Cook, a trained social worker, after consult- ing the Board of Children's Guardians and noting that there was no place for the temporary care of colored children, established the Children's Temporary Home. She invested in it all her own savings, raised money from other sources, and has maintained the Home by her personal efforts ever since with marked fidelity and great personal self-sacrifice. The Home receives, for temporary care, colored boys who are dependent, neglected, or delinquent. The Temporary Home is located on the heights of Anacostia with six acres of ground. The children are kept in wooden build- ings which are meagerly furnished and but moderately well kept. There is a good dining room, a fairly good kitchen, and a school room with desks which do not fit the pupils. The public school authorities furnish three teachers, and good school work is done. A playground is being graded by the labor of the boys and there is room for a good garden. There are shower baths and individual towels; wash-cloths and toothbrushes are provided. In view of the excellent work which is being done, the com- munity should provide the means to improve the buildings, fur- nishings, and grounds. There can be no question as to the need for this Home. The Home is run as a private enterprise without any board of trustees. In justice to the superintendent and the Home, the enterprise should be incorporated and Miss Cook's property rights should be properly adjusted and protected. 1 See description of day nursery of the Mission, page 123. 82 The Children's Temporary Home Twelve of these boys are feeble-minded. A Cozy Corner in the Working Boys' Home (Now Closed) INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS Boys are being retained in this Home for a considerable time. It would appear that the population should be carefully sifted and that those who are clearly delinquent should be transferred to the Industrial Home School for Colored Children, which is distinctly intended for that class. Value of plant $28,000 Capacity 100 Number of inmates 65 Number of employes 8 Inmates per employe 8.1 Expenses, year ending June 30, 1922 $21,600 Average expense per child $332 V. EMERGENCY HOME FOR CHILDREN-CENTRAL UNION MISSION 1207 First Street, N.W. Founded, 1917. The Central Union Mission opened the Emergency Home be- cause of the lack of a suitable place for temporary care of white children. The Mission is supported by the Protestant churches of Washington. The Emergency Home receives children whom no one else will take. They remain on the average about two months; many remain only a few days. The chief purpose of the Home is declared to be to enable a distressed mother to have her children temporarily cared for without the necessity of giving up guardian- ship. Children may be reclaimed by parents at any time. The Home occupies rented quarters, but the Mission has $65,000 in hand with which they propose to erect a building with two wings, one of which is to contain the Emergency Home. The children's wing will be 85 by 37 feet, with four stories accommodating 75 children. No ground space will be available. It will therefore be necessary to provide a roof garden for recreation and exercise. It is stated that the care of children in the new Home is to be " more temporary than before." There can be no question of the benevolent purpose of the superintendent and her associates. It is a grave question, however, whether the city of Washington ought to maintain so many temporary homes. As we have already pointed out, the execution of this plan will inevitably result in unnecessary and excessive provision for temporary care.1 1 For additional discussion see pages 11 and 81. 83 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Value of plant Rented Capacity 35 Number of inmates 32 Number of employes 5 Inmates per employe 6.4 Expenses, year ending September 30, 1922 . . . . $7,100 Average expense per child $233 VI. EPISCOPAL HOME FOR CHILDREN Head of Talbert Street, Anacostia. Founded, 1894; incorporated, 1898. There are two Episcopal homes for children in Washington: St. John's Church Orphanage, capacity 80, maintained by St. John's Episcopal Church, and the Episcopal Home for Children, capacity 50, maintained by the other Episcopal churches of Washington. The Episcopal Home for Children is a cottage institution with two attractive cottages, one for boys and one for girls, connected by a corridor, and a small central building containing the kitchen on the first floor and the superintendent's apartment on the second floor. The Home is located on a high ridge reached by a long steep hill. The grounds contain five and one-half acres, but the topog- raphy is such as not to offer a suitable site for additional buildings or room for playgrounds and gardens. The outlook is very beau- tiful, but the Home is largely surrounded by a Negro district through which the children must pass in going to and from the public school. The cottages are well arranged with good dormitories, reception room, dining room, and accommodation for caretakers. The cottages are attractively furnished and very homelike. There is a good library but no sewing room. A central steam heating plant gives good service. The institution owns a summer home, called the Bell Home, at Colonial Beach, Maryland, on the Potomac River, where the children spend three months in summer. The Home is conducted under the authority of the Episcopal Church of the Diocese of the District of Columbia. The Bishop is chairman of the board of incorporators. There is a board of 84 INST1TUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS lady managers, assisted by 12 committees of ladies representing the leading Episcopal churches in the Diocese. Each committee serves one month and is responsible for one month's expenses of the Home. The superintendent is devoted, competent, and pro- gressive. The children attend the public school and the nearby churches. This is the correct policy, but it is subject to inconvenience because of the long steep hill and the necessity of their passing through an undesirable neighborhood. The location is inconvenient also because of the distance from the churches and the residences of its supporters. The board has therefore obtained a new site and is planning to dispose of the present plant and to erect a new home on the cottage plan. In view of the fact that a new home is to be built by the trustees of the Episcopal Home for Children and the fact that the managers of St. John's Church Home are contemplating extensive improve- ments, and in view of the decrease of the population of children's institutions in the District of Columbia as well as in other com- munities, it would appear that the board of managers of these two excellent homes might well consider the advisability of consoli- dating the two institutions and building a new and modern cottage home. This matter is more fully discussed in the introduction to this report.1 About seven years ago the Episcopal Home for Children re- quested the Russell Sage Foundation to make a study of the Home and to recommend improvements. Our suggestions were cordially received and resulted in an enlargement of the staff, an improve- ment in the clothing and dietary, the establishment of an isolation room, and a liberal increase of the budget which was formerly too small. Value of plant $65,600 Capacity 50 Number of inmates 48 Number of employes 8 Inmates per employe 6 Expenses, fiscal year 1920-1921 $12,650 Average expense per child $263 1 See pages io and 11. 85 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VII. GERMAN ORPHAN ASYLUM Good Hope Road, Anacostia. Founded and incorporated, 1879. The Home is located on a tract of 32 acres in a single building, erected in 1890, with a capacity for 50 children. The trustees con- template the erection of a second building similar to the first. It is to be hoped that they will build two small cottages, one at a time, instead of one large one. The institution is supported entirely by private contributions. It receives dependent white children of both sexes, ages four to eleven, of any nationality or religion and from any part of the country. The first floor contains the superintendent's office, directors' room, assembly room, dining room, and kitchen. The second floor contains dormitories for boys and girls, superintendent's quarters, and a small infirmary. The basement contains laundry, wash room, and a dining room and kitchen which are used in summer because the basement is cooler than the first floor. The dormi- tories are commodious and well-ventilated. The buildings are well constructed, but there is not proper arrangement for separat- ing the sexes. The house is well furnished. The land is not very good, but the institution raises its own vegetables, and also apples, pears, grapes, and other fruit. There are too few older boys to carry on garden- ing on a large scale. There is good opportunity for poultry raising and floriculture. There is little vocational training. Systematic instruction in the field is impracticable with such a small number. In 1922 one child was attending high school in Washington and two were attending a good business college, going back and forth daily. There is a well-selected children's library. The superintendent is an electrical engineer, a cheerful, fatherly man; his wife is an active, hard-working matron. The rest of the staff is inadequate. Value of plant $76,000 Capacity 50 Number of inmates 33 Number of employes 4 Inmates per employe 8.3 Expenses, year ending December 31, 1921 .... $9,200 Average expense per child $279 86 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS VIII. INDUSTRIAL HOME SCHOOL 2525 Wisconsin Avenue. Founded, 1867; incorporated, 1870. The Industrial Home School was started by a group of Wash- ington women to furnish a refuge "where children of the unfor- tunate or depraved could be properly cared for." For many years the school received only dependent children. The Board of Children's Guardians, founded in 1892, used it first for dependent children; but later it was used for "mild delinquents," and recently three-fourths of the inmates were committed by the Juvenile Court for incorrigibility, truancy, or stealing. The school is supported entirely by public funds. In pursuit of its policy to reduce the number of children in institutions, the Board of Children's Guardians gradually reduced its population until it discontinued sending children altogether, and as children came from no other source the school was finally emptied. This action provoked bitter criticism on the part of people who were friends of the school and considered it a necessary part of the child- helping system of the District. After much discussion the matter was finally taken up by Congress which, unexpectedly and without the request of the Board of Children's Guardians, took the ad- ministration of the Industrial Home School out of the hands of the nine trustees who had heretofore administered it, and placed it in the hands of the Board of Children's Guardians. It is understood that the Board of Children's Guardians will use this property as a temporary receiving home for wards of the Board. Such a receiving home has long been needed by the Board of Children's Guardians. While the plant of the Industrial Home School is quite imperfect, a portion of the buildings can be adapted to that purpose and can be used until a suitable permanent plant is provided. As the District already has three institutions for delin- quent children, and will soon have a fourth, it does not appear neces- sary to hold the Industrial Home School for that class of children. The site of the Industrial Home School comprises 17 acres, of which 12 acres are available for a garden, recreation grounds, and so forth. The old almshouse building, which contained a nursery for small boys with kitchen, carpenter shop, laundry, and boiler house, is no longer fit for use, but the remaining buildings 87 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA will furnish sufficient accommodations. There is a good cottage for 42 girls, and there are dormitories, living rooms, dining rooms, and playrooms for boys. There is a good school house with four rooms well lighted and equipped. Value of plant $300,000 Capacity 135 The school having been closed for some time additional statis- tics are lacking. IX. JEWISH FOSTER HOME 3213 Q Street, N.W. Founded and incorporated, 1911. This Home was established largely through the efforts of Mrs. Charles A. Goldsmith of Washington. The property, consisting of an attractive three-story brick house upon an acre of land, was purchased in 1911 at a cost of $20,000. An annex costing $10,000 was erected in 1920 to provide a dormitory for boys, service rooms, and a large playroom. There is one dormitory for 16 children; the rest contain five beds or less. The Foster Home receives Jewish boys and girls, aged three to thirteen, from the District of Columbia. Admissions and dis- missals are authorized by a committee of five of the trustees. The Home is maintained by private funds. The Foster Home has a cheerful, informal atmosphere, and the children look like youngsters in any private home. They wear individual clothing, sleep in small dormitories, attend public school, play games in a cement yard, and have a small garden. Each child, upon entrance, receives a careful physical examination by the Home's physician. Sample menus show a wholesome variety of suitable food. The superintendent is kindly and fatherly, but without special training for the work. This house does not provide adequately for classification and sep- aration of the sexes. Moreover, at the time of our visit the fire haz- ard was serious. The amount of land, only one acre, is insufficient. Value of plant $30,000 Capacity 40 Number of inmates 35 Number of employes 6 Inmates per employe 5.8 Expenses, year 1922 $9,500 Average expense per child $271 88 Main Buildings Right Hand Building was Once the Georgetown Almshouse, Erected in 1830 A Bare Indoor Playroom Industrial Home School INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS X. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE RELIEF OF DESTITUTE COLORED WOMEN AND CHILDREN 2485 Eighth Street, N.W. Founded, 1862; incorporated, 1863. During the Civil War thousands of colored people came to Washington from the South with hardly more than the clothing on their backs, and many, especially women and children, had to be cared for by the public. An organization was formed under the above name. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mrs. William H. Seward, and Mrs. Horace Mann were among those most actively interested. Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, then Secretary of War, set aside a confiscated house and 80 acres of land in Georgetown, which was occupied for three years. When the property was restored to the former owner, the Freedmen's Bureau, out of public funds, purchased a site and erected the present building. The association is administered by a mixed board of nine man- agers, eight of whom are Negroes. It has been supported mainly by governmental appropriations through the Board of Children's Guardians. It formerly cared for both women and children, but it now cares only for destitute, neglected, and delinquent children. In 1919 the Board of Children's Guardians withdrew many of its children because of the lack of adequate facilities. Most of the present inmates are children whose parents pay board at the rate of $10 to $15 a month. The Board of Children's Guardians now commits only a small number of girls for whom there is no other suitable place. The building is very much out of repair and has a very dark and gloomy aspect. On February 28, 1923, there were only 21 children in a building intended for more than 100. It was impossible to keep it in proper condition for lack of the necessary help. Either this building should be abandoned altogether or it should be thoroughly repaired. Apparently there is no need for a building of this size to provide for the class of inmates that are sent to it. There should certainly be some suitable place for the temporary care of colored girls. The boys are already provided for in the Children's Temporary Home for Colored Children. It would appear that this class of girls could be better provided for by purchasing a dwelling house of sufficient size to accommodate 89 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA perhaps 30 girls, and with two or three acres of ground. There should be sufficient ground so that additional cottages could be built in case of need. Value of plant $40,500 Capacity 125 Number of inmates 25 Number of employes 3 Inmates per employe 8.3 Expenses, year ending June 30, 1922 $4,900 Average expense per child $196 XI. ST. JOHN'S CHURCH ORPHANAGE (EPISCOPALIAN) The Orphanage is maintained entirely by St. John's Episcopal Church. All the trustees, except the treasurer, must be members of that church. It is maintained by donations, board paid by relatives, and interest from an endowment of $72,000. The present three-story brick building was erected in 1914. It is operated on the congregate plan, but is better constructed and equipped than the average orphan asylum. The first floor contains a large study room and playroom with other utility rooms, all well-lighted. The second floor contains boys' dormi- tories having cross-ventilation, single beds, and steel lockers; on this floor is also a boys' infirmary and an outdoor play porch, screened. On the third floor are similarly good dormitories, playrooms, and an infirmary for girls. The general aspect of the Orphanage is homelike and cheerful. At Arlington, Virginia, the Orphanage owns and operates a fine summer home with two excellent cottages; total capacity 50 chil- dren. This home has good equipment with new plumbing and sewerage connections. The Orphanage is admirably conducted by members of an Epis- copal sisterhood. The superintendent, Sister Cora Margaret, is a clear-headed, vigorous, and efficient executive who, though re- stricted by a limited budget and a conservative board of trustees, has done much to modernize the work and conditions in the Orphan- age during the last few years. The Sister-in-charge has full authority to admit and discharge wards. Admissions are made between the ages of four and five, 1922 F Street, N.W. Founded, 1870; incorporated, 1872. 90 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS and dismissions of boys at twelve or fourteen, and of girls at sixteen or seventeen years of age. Admissions are decided through personal interviews with applicants, through letters from interested parties, and occasionally through information obtained from the Associated Charities. Homes of applicants are not usually visited. Children as a rule remain not less than two years; often eight or ten years. Upon dismissal they ordinarily return to their relatives. We desire to repeat what we have already said in discussing the Episcopal Home for Children: In view of the fact that a new home is to be built by the trustees of the Episcopal Home for Children and the fact that the managers of St. John's Church Home are contemplating extensive improve- ments, and in view of the decrease of the population of children's institutions in the District of Columbia, as well as in other com- munities, it would appear that the boards of managers of these two excellent Episcopal homes might well consider the advisability of consolidating these institutions and building a new and modern cottage home.1 Value of plant (including summer home) .... $92,600 Amount of endowment $72,000 Capacity 80 Number of inmates 76 Number of employes 9 Inmates per employe 8.4 Expenses for the year 1922 $17,650 Average expense per child $232 XII. ST. ANN'S INFANT ASYLUM 2300 K Street, N.W. Founded, i860; incorporated, 1863. St. Ann's Infant Asylum, or the Washington Infant Asylum, as it was called at first, was started by the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. Its purposes according to the creating act are the support and maintenance of foundlings and infant orphan and half-orphan chil- dren, and also the care of poor unmarried women during their con- finement at childbirth. The institution was started and was maintained for seventeen years by private means; it then received its first appropriation from Congress, $5,000, and ever since part of its yearly income has been from public funds. These are paid to the Asylum for the care 1 This matter is more fully discussed in the Introduction to this report on page io. 91 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA of children received from the Board of Children's Guardians, as in the case of other Washington children's institutions receiving public money, on the basis of a contract fixing a definite amount a day per child. Those admitted are white dependent children, of any race and creed, from birth up to seven years, including foundlings and chil- dren born out of wedlock, and unmarried women who are prospec- tive mothers. A comparatively small part of the children come from the Board of Children's Guardians, and the rest from other social organizations, private homes, and individuals. The method of making preliminary investigations is varied. The Board of Chil- dren's Guardians investigates the children whom it sends; priests or other church officers make inquiry in their respective parishes in regard to children of Catholic families, and the superintendent interviews parents or guardians at the Asylum. The Asylum itself makes no investigations in the homes. Children on reaching the age of seven are either dismissed to the care of parents or relatives, are sent to St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum for girls or to St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum for boys, or are placed out for adoption in foster homes. The plant consists of a large three-story and basement brick building, together with pleasant lawns and a bricked playground for the children, the whole property being surrounded by brick walls. The Asylum maintains a country home where the children go for a summer outing. The city building has an abundance of light and fresh air. On the first floor are found the offices and parlors, a chapel, a dormitory with 23 single beds for "runabout" children, an infirmary, and a well-appointed dispensary in charge of a graduate nurse. On the second and third floors are dormitories, the largest having 49 beds for children of three to seven years. All of the dormitories have screened windows, single beds, and for the most part good ventila- tion. There is a detention room for the quarantine of entering chil- dren, with a connecting bathroom and a large playroom for run- abouts equipped with all kinds of suitable play apparatus. The maternity quarters consist of an operating room, a ward having 10 beds, a private ward with three beds, and three other single rooms. The superintendent said that in the history of the institu- 92 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS tion no mother had ever died at childbirth. There is a sleeping porch on the top floor having 11 beds for babies. The babies are usually bottle-fed; the bottles are carefully sterilized and pas- teurized milk is used, kept ice-cold until needed. The feeding formulae are made up by one of the Sisters, who is a graduate nurse. In the basement is a dining room for the older children, which is dark and has to be lighted artificially even at noonday. The whole building appeared clean and well ordered. It is pro- tected from fire by hand extinguishers and an outside metal escape. The play equipment in the outside court consisted of six swings. TABLE 12. -MORTALITY OF INMATES IN ST. ANN'S INFANT ASYLUM Year Admissions, including births Deaths Per cent deaths were of admissions 1902 82 40 48.8 «9O3 84 27 321 «9O4 8i 2! 25.9 •905 100 26 26.0 Total, 4 years 347 ' '4 329 •907 73 •5 20.5 1908 86 32 37-2 1910 82 23 28.0 1911 88 28 31.8 1912 73 9 12-3 Total, 5 years 402 107 26.6 I9B 75 26 34-7 •9'4 155 *9 12.3 '9'5 "7 26 22.2 1916 125 32 25.6 '917 "5 22 19.1 Total, 5 years 587 125 21.3 1918 126 6 4.8 1919 96 IO 10.4 1920 109 '5 13.8 1921 149 28 a 18.8 1922 124 15 12.4 Total, 5 years 604 74 12.3 Grand total, 19 years . 1,940 420 22.1 a Including 13 influenza cases. 93 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Medical service is furnished free by four physicians, who rotate in attendance during periods of three months each; and by special- ists in obstetrics, skin troubles, and affections of the eye, ear, and throat. A Wassermann test is given to special cases where the facts indicate a need of it. A dentist attends at regular periods. Cases of contagious disease are sent to a hospital. The Asylum maintains a nurses' training school in which the period of stay is one and one-half years. The students receive their living and $5.00 a month. In Table 12 there is given a statement showing the mortality of inmates in this institution from 1902 to 1922. It will be seen that the number of deaths in proportion to admissions has been steadily decreasing, from a maximum of 32.9 per cent for the four-year period, 1902 to 1905, to 12.3 per cent for the five-year period, 1918 to 1922. The figures, to be exact, should include deaths of chil- dren, who have been sent by the Asylum to the Children's Hospital and have died there. The number of these cases was not obtain- able, but it was probably very small. The figures for 1906 and 1909 are lacking. The table exhibits a most gratifying diminution both of the rela- tive and actual number of deaths in the asylum, which is due to the devoted care of the Sisters in charge and their readiness to avail themselves of the latest progress in medical treatment, feeding, and trained nursing. The extraordinary reduction in the mortality rate at this asylum is similar to that in institutions of the same class in New York, Philadelphia, and other cities during the same period. Value of plant $103,000 Capacity 150 Number of inmates 104 Number of employes 25 Inmates per employe 4.2 Expenditures for year 1922 $39,200 Average expense per capita $377 XIII. ST. JOSEPH'S MALE ORPHAN ASYLUM This institution is one of the oldest in Washington, having been founded seventy years ago. It was started by a group of promi- 924 H Street, N.W. Founded, 1854; incorporated, 1855. 94 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS nent philanthropic Catholic laymen, entirely by private funds, and was placed under the charge of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, by whom it has been conducted up to the present time. The Asylum has occupied several sites, but finally found permanent quarters at its present address in a house bought from the Washington City Orphan Asylum which was remodeled and enlarged. A history of St. Patrick's Parish,published in 1904,says: "For twenty-five years all the food used in the Asylum was solicited by the Sisters at the Washington markets, and every morning the little wagon drawn by a small donkey left the Asylum in charge of four boys to begin the work of collecting what the Sisters had received from the charitable. In 1895 Congress made a small appropriation to St. Joseph's ($2,000), and it was immediately determined to put an end to the begging tours. The old familiar donkey was sold, and for six years the annual appropriation continued. In 1898 the name of the institution was stricken from the appropriation bill, and now it has no means of support except the voluntary contri- butions of the charitable." The institution has no endowment. Beneficiaries are dependent white Catholic boys from the District of Columbia who are received between the ages of seven and thirteen and are dismissed at fourteen. The superintendent has authority to admit and to dismiss them. A few of the boys come from St. Ann's Infant Asylum, which sends out its children at seven years, a few from the Board of Children's Guardians, but a large majority directly from private homes. The superintendent bases her decision regarding the admission of the last named group upon talks with the parents, recommendations of responsible per- sons in the community, and sometimes upon visits to the homes. At dismissal the boys are sent, some to Baltimore for vocational instruction at St. James's Home or St. Mary's Industrial School, some to their own homes or to those of relatives or friends, and a few to other family homes in the country. The plant consists of a four-story brick congregate building, a small two-story brick structure containing a swimming pool and a gymnasium, and an enclosed outdoor playground with bricked surface. The interior of the main building was neat and clean. The dormitories had cross-ventilation. The unselfish, cheerful devotion 95 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA of the Sisters to their voluntary task was marked and offered a conspicuous example of self-denying service. The Asylum suffers from disadvantages found in many old con- gregate institutions located on restricted grounds in a city. The large dormitories, containing respectively 30 and 45 beds, afford no privacy nor opportunity for developing individuality. The indoor playrooms are too small. The dining room tables seat 16 each. The children do not go out to school, but are instructed within the institution by two teachers; one of them had 70 boys in her class. The outdoor bricked court gives little chance for the joyous outdoor pastimes and contact with growing things which children crave. The Asylum was visited first in 1919 and revisited February 24, 1922. No important changes had occurred since the earlier visit. Value of plant $60,000 Capacity 90 Number of boys 90 Number of employes 10 Boys per employe 9 Expenditures for year 1919 $10,620 Average expense per capita $118 XIV. ST. ROSE'S TECHNICAL SCHOOL 1878 Phelps Place, N.W. Founded, 1872; incorporated, 1895. The moving spirit in the founding of St. Rose's Technical School, or St. Rose's Industrial School as it was formerly called, was Sister Blanche Rooney, formerly Sister Servant of St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum. The Asylum dismissed the girls at the age of fourteen, and Sister Blanche was most anxious that some means should be pro- vided whereby the girls might receive vocational training. As a result the School was founded and began in small quarters at 20th and G Streets, N.W. The history of St. Patrick's Parish gives the following explana- tion of how the School happened to move to its present site: " One day in pursuit of information relative to one of the orphans Sister Blanche was wending her way through that part of the city where St. Rose's now stands, and she was struck by the advantages a cer- tain piece of property seemed to offer for the work. A child of faith, she planted some miraculous medals there and ere long the land was bought. Close to the property, contiguous to it, was the 96 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS house of a Protestant bachelor. 'Oh/ thought Sister Blanche, 'I wish him no harm, but if we had this, too, and if Mr. N. were only on the board of administrators!' After more praying the property was acquired, and Mr. N. was on the board of administrators." St. Rose's Technical School gives to the girls a post-graduate orphanage course, so to speak, of four to five years, principally in dressmaking but also in plain sewing, domestic science, and general housework. The School is conducted under the direction of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. It is open to dependent white girls of good character who may come from any part of the United States. The majority come from Washington and vicinity; some girls are received from St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum. While most of the girls are Catholic, Protestants are also received. In February, 1922, there were 59 in care; 52 Catholics and seven Protestants. The girls are received between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, and at the end of the five-years' course many obtain dressmaking positions paying $18 a week at the start. The building is a large, imposing four-story brick structure, with attractive grounds adjacent equipped with swings, basketball and croquet; the total capacity is 150. The School has many excellent features. The dining room has small tables furnished with cloths, attractive china, napkins, and chairs; and natural conversation is permitted. Dormitories contain single beds and have cross-venti- lation. The lavatories have better equipment than any other chil- dren's institution in the District-each girl has a separate set washbowl, liquid soap, a wall mirror, and a separate compartment containing toothbrush and powder, hairbrush, coarse comb and fine comb. The laundry is equipped with modern apparatus. The dressmaking room is well lighted and is equipped with eight sewing machines. A separate room is furnished for instruction in domestic science. There is an infirmary with its own diet kitchen and bath- room. Good fire protection is afforded by apparatus and outside metal fire-escapes. The grammar school is maintained for girls who have not yet finished the eighth grade, in which there were 15 pupils. Stenography, embroidering, and vocal and instrumental music are taught to those specially fitted to pursue these subjects. The institution is clean and well kept, and the relation between the Sisters and the girls appeared most friendly. All the girls are re- 97 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA quired to know how to cook and how to keep house, although com- paratively few enter domestic service. Upon graduation appro- priate exercises are held, with presentation of diplomas-a good feature which helps to emphasize the educational aspect of the work. The School has no trouble in placing its graduates in posi- tions, as the applications far outnumber the graduates. The Mother Superior wrote, February 17, 1922: "We are careful to secure a doctor's certificate when receiving girls." Although girls may have received examinations before entering the institu- tion, experience has proved the advisability of making re-examina- tions by the institution's own doctor. Value of plant $500,000 Capacity 150 Number of inmates 81 Number of employes 16 Inmates per employe 5.1 Expenditures for year ending November 1, 1921 . . $20,750 Average expense per capita $288 XV. ST. VINCENT'S FEMALE ORPHAN ASYLUM Fourth and Channing Streets, N.E. Founded, 1825; incorporated, 1831. St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum is the second oldest insti- tution for children in the District of Columbia, being antedated only by the Washington City Orphan Asylum. The Asylum has been supported for the most part by private donations. The only considerable public grant was in 1832, when Congress appropriated $20,000 worth of land to be divided equally between St. Vincent's and the Washington City Orphan Asylum. The present plant, which has now been occupied for nearly twenty years, consists of a four-story and basement building and 19 acres of land. The building is one of the finest examples of con- gregate architecture to be found in the United States. It is of red brick with stone trimmings, is 300 feet in length, and has a capacity of 150 children. It stands upon a high elevation commanding an extensive view of the city. The grounds are made beautiful by shade trees, shrubs, flowers, and lawns. Ten acres are under culti- vation and yield a supply of vegetables sufficient for the institu- tion's use during the summer and part of the winter. 98 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS The beneficiaries are dependent white girls from the District of Columbia, who are received between the ages of seven and fourteen and are dismissed at fifteen. Children of any denomination are admitted, but most of them are Roman Catholic. Part come from St. Ann's Infant Asylum, which dismisses its wards at the age of seven, a few from the Board of Children's Guardians, and the rest from private family homes. The Sister Servant is authorized to admit and to dismiss. The Asylum usually dismisses the girls to their relatives; on rare occasions girls under ten years are placed out in free foster homes, but this is not the policy of the institution. For the year ending July 31, 1918, 112 girls were in the institution at the beginning and 48 were received during the year; 32 were returned to relatives; six were placed out in family homes; two were disposed of otherwise, leaving 120 girls in the institution at the close of the year. The average population was 110. The rooms of the Asylum are of unusually good size and are well ventilated and lighted. The children's dining room has 12 tables, each of which seats 10 and is presided over by one of the older girls. The tables are attractive, with cloths, paper napkins, good crock- ery, and chairs. The dining room is in the basement, but is unusu- ally light as the building is on a sloping hill and the basement is level with the ground. The appointments of the other rooms on this floor, including kitchen, scullery, storeroom, and girls' wash room, are excellent; on the first floor are the reception room, school rooms, and quarters which were occupied for a year or more by 32 war workers. The school rooms are in charge of four teachers trained at the headquarters of the Sisters of Charity at Emmets- burg, Maryland. The amount of light and blackboard space in the school rooms is satisfactory. On the second floor is an infirmary with six beds. It is well venti- lated and connected with a well-appointed bathroom, a diet kitchen, and a small pharmacy, all in charge of a graduate nurse. There are also a separate room and bath on the fourth floor which can be used for isolation in case of contagious disease. The Asylum does not give a physical examination to girls upon entrance, but requires only the presentation of a health certificate issued by any physician whom the girl or her relatives may select. There is a sewing room in which older girls receive instruction for an hour daily in plain 99 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA sewing and dressmaking, and a locker room where each girl has in her own compartment five dresses of individual color, pattern, and make. The dormitories on the upper floors have cross-ventilation, single beds, and adjoining wash rooms with very good appointments. However, there are no single rooms for the larger girls. A substi- tute could be had through cubicles made by putting up partitions of wood or wire lath plastered with cement, six feet high, seven feet long, and about six feet apart. Free ventilation can be made possi- ble by raising the partitions four inches from the floor. Curtains can be hung at the open end. The plan is inexpensive and provides each girl with a room which she can call her own and can decorate according to her fancy. The rooms can be assigned as a reward or can be used to segregate those who are morally harmful to the rest. Outdoors, extensive grounds give opportunity for play equip- ment, such as basketball, giant stride, croquet, and baseball. In- dividual gardens could also be provided. Value of plant $171,000 Capacity 150 Number of girls no Number of employes 13 Girls per employe 8.5 Expenditures, year ending July 1, 1918 .... $12,000 Average expense per capita $109 XVI. SWARTZELL METHODIST EPISCOPAL HOME FOR CHILDREN 201 Rittenhouse Street. Founded, 1912; incorporated, 1920. This institution is under the general control of the Deaconess Board of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was incorporated in 1920 and now has its own Board of Managers. It receives by first choice any white children of families connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and then as accommodations are available any other white children. The Home was formerly an old colonial residence. It is situated upon attractive grounds of about an acre, shaded by tall trees, and in addition it has the free use of four adjoining acres for a garden. Its capacity is 25 children. Children of both sexes are received. 100 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS usually not younger than three years. Boys are usually dismissed at eleven and girls at fourteen, but in exceptional cases they may be kept longer. Parents or other relatives pay part board, in proportion to their income, for most of the children. The amount received for board in the year ending July i, 1922, was $2,244. The remainder of the income comes from donations. Emphasis is laid upon thorough investigation of applications for the admittance of children. Some of the investigations are made by the Home's investigating committee, whose chairman was for- merly a case worker with the Associated Charities; and in doubtful cases assistance is sought from the Associated Charities or the Juvenile Protective Association. The children attend a public school. The dining room is on the first floor and is attractive; the walls have suitable pictures; the small tables look inviting, with cloths, napkins, china, and cutlery; there is free conversation at all times during meals. Three children have entire charge of the dining room weekly, the duty being rotated; the older girls are taught cooking, so that they are capable of preparing and serving a simple meal. The sleeping quarters of the girls are on the second floor, and open on an outdoor sleeping porch with eight beds, for girls who are especially in need of being built up. The boys sleep on the third floor. In this building there is insufficient ventilation for the dormitories and some fire risk because there is no exit except a wooden stairway. At the time of our last visit the Board had ordered a steel fire- escape to diminish the fire hazard. Every child upon entrance should receive a careful physical ex- amination by the Home's physician; the institution now requires entering children to present health certificates, but experience of other institutions has shown that certificates are sometimes issued by physicians without a full examination. We learn that more care- ful medical and physical examination of incoming wards is to be made. There is a fair equipment for outdoor play. There is some pre- vocational training for girls in sewing and other trades. During 1921 and 1922 a debt of $5,000 was paid by a special drive and many new furnishings were provided. The Board expects to secure 101 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA funds and erect a separate cottage for children under three years. The good quality of the service given here is a pledge of even better when better buildings are provided. Value of plant $10,000 Capacity 25 Number of girls 25 Number of employes 5 Girls per employe 5 Expenditures for year ending July 1, 1922 .... $6,340 Average expense per capita $254 XVII. WASHINGTON CITY ORPHAN ASYLUM The Washington City Orphan Asylum was the first institution for children in the national capital. Because of the needs of the orphans of soldiers of the War of 1812, a meeting was called for "the ladies of Washington and neighborhood, to be held in the Hall of Representatives, October 10, 1815, to consider the propriety of instituting an Asylum for the relief and maintenance of orphans." An organization was effected and the orphanage was opened a few months later. At that time there were only 10 other orphanages in the United States.1 Later an asylum building was constructed which remained for thirty-eight years. At the end of the Civil War the present site of two and one-half acres was dedicated by W. W. Corcoran, and a new building costing $24,000 was opened in 1876. This building, now forty-seven years old, has a capacity of 150. Its estimated value is $240,000 and its endowment is $350,000, making the total assets about $600,000. The Asylum receives dependent white Protestant children found within the District: boys aged two to six and girls two to nine. Boys are dismissed at fourteen and girls at sixteen. Children known to be illegitimate are not received. Intake and outgo are determined by an admission committee and committee on relinquishments and indentures, members of the board of managers. A limited number of children are placed in family homes. The children attend public school. In February, 1923, there were present 27 boys and 38 girls, a 1 See address of John C. Harkness at the dedication of a new wing of the Asylum, May 26, 1885. Gibson Brothers, Washington, D. C. 102 Washington City Orphan Asylum The oldest orphanage in Washington. Dolly Madison was its first president. INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS total of 65, which is about the average number for the past two years. The present congregate building is entirely out of date. At our last visit, early in 1923, it contained only 43 per cent of its capacity, but nearly the whole building had to be heated and cleaned. The house was worn-out; the floors in very bad condition, the plaster- ing imperfect, the furniture decrepit. The dining room for the older children had old tables covered with oilcloth, and there were bow-backed chairs, much the worse for wear. The children's playrooms were furnished with backless benches; the children's study room was an old school room with desks screwed to the floor, so that it had not a homelike appearance. On the second floor was a dining room for the children from two to six years old. Low kindergarten tables covered with oilcloth were used. The seats were backless benches from which the chil- dren's feet did not reach the floor. Across the hall was a play- room for the little children which had not a single child's chair in it, though suitable chairs for them were found in the assembly room. The aspect of the house throughout was cheerless. It appeared more like an almshouse than a home for children. The beds were clean, but in many of them the woven-wire springs were sagging. The children were clean and comfortably clothed. They ap- peared well fed and happy. They attended the public school and made a good record. The matron appeared to be a kindly and faithful woman. These conditions were practically the same as those which had been observed on visits by members of our staff at different times from 1919 to 1923. The excuse for the run-down condition of the institution in each case has been that it was expected that a new home would be built in the very near future, when a strictly modern and well-furnished home would be provided. This property is valuable and can be sold for a sum which will go far toward the erection of a modern institution. The managers have an opportunity to imitate the recent wise example of two New England institutions. The New England Home for Little Wanderers in Boston aban- 103 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA doned its asylum with a capacity of 150 and built a small home for 40 children and 20 employes. It established a clinic for the social, physical, and mental study of children and organized a highly competent staff of specialists to remedy any defective con- ditions which might be discovered. This clinic serves children from the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and its work has become notable. The New Haven Orphan Asylum is building a small institution with about half the capacity of the old asylum, and is establishing a clinic similar to that of the New England Home for Little Wander- ers for children from all parts of the state of Connecticut. We understand that a new site has already been purchased for the Washington City Orphan Asylum and that the immediate building of a new institution is intended. We would earnestly advise that the trustees undertake a careful inquiry into the needs of the dependent children of the District of Columbia and deter- mine how they can best contribute to those needs. We would advise also that they make a careful study of the best orphan asylums and children's homes of the United States and of such new projects as the New Haven Orphan Asylum, Mooseheart, the new Catholic asylum at Cleveland, the proposed institution for children at Van Wert, Ohio, the Cleveland Jewish Orphan Asylum, and the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City, all of which were constructed only after a large amount of intelligent study. In the meantime we would advise that no money be expended on repairs of the present building, but that the children be provided for elsewhere, either in rented property or in boarding homes until a new cottage asylum can be built on a new site.1 Value of plant $240,000 Endowment $350,000 Capacity 150 Number of inmates 65 Number of employes 13 Inmates per employe 5 Expenses for the year 1920 $23,600 Average expense per child $348 1 We were informed (November, 1923) that the trustees are making extensive repairs and improvements. 104 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS XVIII. WASHINGTON HOME FOR FOUNDLINGS 1715 Fifteenth Street, N.W. Founded and incorporated, 1870 Joshua Pierce, who died in 1869, bequeathed about an acre of ground as the site of a " hospital for foundlings to be erected by any association that may hereafter be incorporated by act of Congress/' The founder's purpose was delayed nearly twenty years by litiga- tion and other causes, but by the year 1887 the sum of $31,500 had been received from private subscriptions and $3,500 from Congress, and the building was then erected. It is interesting to note that the care of foundlings has become a comparatively small part of the organization's work, and that therefore the use of the word in its name is somewhat misleading. A classification of 234 admissions to the Home during three years, 1915 to 1917 inclusive, gave the following results: Legitimate chil- dren, 114, or 49 per cent; illegitimate, 100, or 43 per cent; found- lings, 20, or 8 per cent. Out of 234 children received during three years only 20, or fewer than one out of every 12, were foundlings. Beneficiaries are white dependent boys and girls of any religious faith. They come mostly but not necessarily from the District. They are admitted between birth and six years of age and are dismissed when they reach the age of six. When possible, the Home also receives babies born out of wedlock, with their mothers. The superintendent is authorized to receive an applicant tempo- rarily until a committee of the Board is able to consider and decide upon the case. The parent or guardian does not sign over the child to the Home, but is free to remove him at any time. From the start the institution has placed out some children for adoption in private family homes. The annual report of the insti- tution for 1919 showed that out of 1,745 children received since 1887, a total of 388, or nearly one-fourth, had been arranged for in this manner. A committee of three lady managers passes upon the applications for children. The applicants are required to fill out a blank giving facts regarding themselves and their family, and providing the names of three references, one of whom must be a physician who will certify that the family is fit from a medical point of view. Families within the District are visited; in other cases a decision is based upon correspondence. 105 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The building, which is two-story and basement, is of brick and has a capacity of 50 children. In the basement are found the nurses' dining room, kitchen, boiler room, and a number of storage rooms. On the first floor are a dining room for children of three to six years, a school and playroom, bathroom, sleeping porch, diet kitchen, superintendent's quarters, and reception rooms. On the second floor are a dormitory for children up to three years of age, two sleeping porches for the younger children, children's dining room, diet kitchen, lavatories, nurses' bedrooms, and isolation rooms. The outdoor sleeping porches are the best features of the second floor. It is to be regretted that the isolation quarters are so limited. They consist of a single room with four beds, the only opening of the room being into one of the main corridors and having no connecting nurse's room, diet kitchen, bath, or toilet. The interior of the Home has recently been repainted, and radiators have been provided for the sleeping porch. Medical service is had through outside physicians of high reputa- tion, who take turns in attending the Home for periods of three months each. The superintendent is a trained nurse. One other trained nurse is employed who gives her entire attention to the baby ward. Reliance for ordinary work is mainly upon the unmar- ried mothers, who are required to stay with their babies at least two or three months, to feed them upon the breast, if possible, and to help in the care of other children. The Home has a generous amount of outdoor grounds as com- pared with the plants of most city institutions. There is a large pavilion for use in stormy or hot weather, and a large sand pile. Excellent playground equipment is also on the grounds for the use of the children. The death rate is the severest test which a foundling asylum is called upon to meet. During the fifteen years ending 1922, 632 children were received, of whom 109, or 17 per cent, died. The above figures do not include some who in recent years were sent to the Children's Hospital and died there. Figures for these cases were not available. As compared with similar institutions elsewhere, the rate of mor- tality at the Washington Home for Foundlings has been low 106 INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS during these fifteen years. On the other hand, it is felt that by utilizing all modern methods of care the number of deaths can be still further reduced. Many young women are received from the Florence Crittenton Home with their babies. The Home for Foundlings acts as a boarding home, and a large part of its support comes from pay- ments made by mothers. The managers of the Home plan to erect an annex or addition to the present building, to provide extra rooms for isolation and segre- gation and quarters for nurses and other workers. Value of plant $117,000 Capacity 50 Number of inmates 55a Number of employes 20 Inmates per employe 2.8 Expenditures for year ending June 30, 1922 . . . $16,500 Average expense per capita $458 a Not including 8 mothers at the Home with their babies. 107 CHAPTER V CARE OF MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN INSTITUTIONS for the combined care of unmarried mothers and children are usually under private control. They are either separate enterprises or are affiliated with a national movement such as the Salvation Army or the National Florence Crittenton Mission. Leading principles of the institutional care of mothers and chil- dren may be stated briefly. The vital importance of each principle has been emphasized by the experience of many institutions, and they are commended to managers in the belief that their adoption where not already used will result in more efficient work on the part of an institution and in greater happiness for its beneficiaries. Keeping Mothers and Babies Together. The best practice is strongly against the early separation of the mother and child. While there is some difference of opinion, the predominance of opinion among those who have had practical experience is: First, it is always a good thing for the mother to meet her maternal obligations as far as practicable. Second, the minimum of a mother's obligation is to nurse the child on the breast during the nursing period of at least six months, even if she is able to supply only a portion of the required milk. This rule should prevail unless competent medical authority de- cides that the mother is physically disqualified from nursing her child. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that mother's milk is the best food for an infant, a fact demonstrated by the low mor- tality rate and the vigorous health of breast-fed babies as compared with babies artificially fed. It is true that many infants raised upon the bottle thrive and develop into healthy children, but their chances of living and of having excellent health in their first years are considerably lower than those of breast-fed babies. Third, the question as to whether the mother shall retain her 108 MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN child permanently, and if not at what period the separation shall take place, is one to be determined by the wisest and most careful consideration, with the advice of experienced social workers. The chief considerations are, first, to secure the welfare of the child; and, second, to help the young mother, who has made a mis- take, into good womanhood. You cannot make a good woman of a girl by persuading her to disregard the most sacred obligation which the Creator puts upon a woman, and it is right to cultivate mother love even though it may involve some subsequent suffering. A solution of the question may be found in either of several ways: the father may marry the mother (in perhaps io per cent of the cases); the mother may marry a man not the father, who will take her with the baby and make a happy marriage (such cases are not infrequent); or the unmarried mother by herself may bring up the child successfully. The mother may take domestic service in a family where she can have the baby with her, or she may take out- side work and find a boarding place for herself and baby together. In such an undertaking she should have the sympathetic assistance and encouragement of a wise social worker. There are many un- written tales of heroic success in such endeavor. The grandparents or some other relative may adopt the child without publicity. 11 should not be forgotten that the grandparents have a direct responsibility for the child. In most cases the failure of the daughter is due in part at least to the failure of her parents; but even if the grandparents are free from blame, they have both a legal and a moral obligation for their own flesh and blood which should never be overlooked. The placing of an infant child in a foundling asylum or a baby farm should always be avoided, if possible. Mother love is an im- portant aid in preserving the life of the child. It is stated by com- petent authorities that three times as many children born out of wedlock die in their first year as do those of married parents. The main reason is that when children are separated from their mothers they do not receive sufficient individual care. Physicians tell us that many babies die simply for the lack of individual attention or mothering. Physical Examinations. Every entering girl should receive a physical examination from the attending physician of the institu- 109 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA tion. This is necessary to detect the presence of venereal disease, so that the girls themselves may be properly treated and other in- mates may not be subjected to danger of infection; also that defects of the throat, nose, eyes, ears, and other organs may at once be remedied. A leading factor in moral regeneration is physi- cal rehabilitation. This fact cannot be too often or too strongly presented. An infected tooth, strained eyesight, or diseased tonsils may and often do retard the moral development of an in- mate of an institution, and the best way to insure the removal of such obstacles to moral progress is by a thorough physical examina- tion at the beginning of institutional care. Mental Examinations. Every girl should receive upon entrance a mental examination by a competent person. Very few institu- tions for wayward girls and unmarried mothers are providing mental examinations, and through this lack they fail to use an exceedingly valuable aid in their work. Studies made in reforma- tories show that from 20 to 40 per cent of the inmates are feeble- minded and, therefore, that they have fallen into trouble simply because they do not have ordinary good judgment and, like young children, have become victims of wrong suggestion. Feeble- minded girls should be transferred to special institutions where they can receive the training and care designed to meet their special needs. Institutional Care of Unmarried Mothers. The work performed by unmarried mothers in an institution should be primarily for their benefit. It is necessary to emphasize this thought because many institutions make use of their inmates to do the chores and thus to save money for the institution, with little or no attention to the vocational education of their charges. When we remember that the average girl in such an institution is still in her teens and that many are between fourteen and eighteen years, we are im- pressed with the importance of giving them a training that will make it possible for them to gain a decent living later on. In those comparatively few cases where it is necessary to separate a nursing baby from the mother, the baby should be boarded out in a selected private family under the oversight of a physician and a competent visiting nurse. There is a legitimate institutional work to be done for mothers and babies together in such institutions as 110 MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN the Florence Crittenton Home and the House of Mercy. Even asylums or institutions like the Washington Home for Foundlings and St. Ann's Infant Asylum, whose primary object is the welfare of infants and children, at times receive the mothers of their un- fortunate charges. They, too, can give beneficent care and in- struction to these child mothers. All these institutions should be under the care of mature women qualified by thorough training, consecrated devotion to the work, a thorough acquaintance with the problems to be met, and unfailing patience and faith in the possibility of redeeming their wards. Vocational Training Should be Varied. It is true that the kind of work best suited to keeping mother and baby together is domestic service, but it is also true that many of the inmates have no children and are well fitted for other occupations. An institution should provide instruction in sewing, dressmaking, domestic science, stenography and typewriting, and also should arrange for those who have gifts in other lines to receive courses in special schools. An important feature in work for the fallen and disheartened is to arouse their ambition, and an excellent way to do this is to provide instruction in the subject which each one likes most and for which she is best fitted. Academic Education. The special appropriateness of academic, like vocational, instruction is seen when we consider that a major- ity of the girls are of school age. Many have been retarded through absence from school, physical defects, or lack of interest, and for these instruction in at least grammar school subjects by a sym- pathetic and capable teacher is worth while. Arrangement can often be made with a board of education whereby a teacher is de- tailed to conduct classes at regular periods in an institution. Outdoor Life. Fresh air and sunshine are powerful agents in effecting moral cures. The Mother Superior of a House of the Good Shepherd once remarked to the writer, "We find that we get much better results with our girls when they work out of doors." While some institutions for mothers and babies have realized this truth, unfortunately very many have not, and to these we earnestly recommend that where possible the shut-in property in the midst of a city block be sold and the proceeds used to help purchase a site of at least io acres in an outlying section where there will be room for a 111 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA large garden, orchard, greenhouses, poultry house, playgrounds, shrubbery, flower beds, shade trees, and lawns, all for the use and benefit of the mothers and their little ones. TABLE 13.-SUMMARY STATISTICS OF INSTITUTIONS FOR MOTHERS AND CHILDREN IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA3 Name Year Value of plant Capac- ity Num- ber of in- mates Num- ber of em- ployes In- mates per em- ploye Total expen- diture Expen- diture per inmate Association for Works of Mercy (House of Mercy) 1922 $100,000 42 40 6 6.7 $8,2OOb $i95b Florence Crit- tenton Home of Washing- ton, D. C. 1922 40,000 65 67 4 16.8 11,800 182 Total $140,000 107 ' 107 10 10.7 $20,000 $185 a Not including St. Ann's Infant Asylum and the Washington Home for Found- lings, already noted as receiving a limited number of mothers but classed as insti- tutions for dependent children. b Figure for 1920. I. ASSOCIATION FOR WORKS OF MERCY HOUSE OF MERCY Klingle Road and Rosemont Avenue, Washington, D. C. The object of the House of Mercy is "to help fallen girls by trying to raise them to a higher level and to teach them how to work, that they may grow into useful honest women; and if they have chil- dren, to care for their little ones properly." The House is directed by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, under the supervision of a deaconess of the Episcopal Church. There is a mixed board of trustees and a board of lady managers. The institution was founded and incorporated in 1884. In 1911 it occupied its handsome new home adjoining Rock Creek Park. The grounds comprise about three-quarters of an acre. There is a commodious stucco building of two stories and basement, with tiled roof. The place is attractive, well adapted to its purpose and well kept. Everything is immaculate, but the spirit is rather institu- tional. 112 MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN The House receives delinquent white mothers (first offenders) of any religious faith, from any part of the country, with their babies. A preliminary physical examination is required. The girls are required to remain at least a year, usually two years, after which most of them return to their homes or positions are found for them; some in domestic service, some in other lines of em- ployment. The capacity of the House is 24 girls and 18 babies. When visited it contained 21 girls and 19 little children ranging from birth to five years. In the nine years ending January 31, 1920, there were only three deaths in the House of Mercy, all of infants. The House is well equipped and well furnished, and the sanitary provisions, including plumbing, ventilation, and lavatories, are excellent. The staff are well provided for. There is a separate hos- pital for which there is little use. The wages of each member of the staff in February, 1922, were increased $10 per month, but they are still too low and should be further increased. The girls help in the care of the garden and of about 200 chickens. They have a large playground with play apparatus and spend much time out of doors. They visit the Zoological Gardens, moving pic- tures, and other places of recreation under care of a member of the staff. Religious instruction is given. Breast-feeding of babies is emphasized. The girls are taught to care for babies, to cook, sew, do housework and laundry work. The effort is to make the girls good home-makers. The superintendent stated that of all their wards, two-thirds had kept straight and one-third had lapsed. About one-half had married. Academic instruction should be given in grammar school subjects to the eighth grade. Value of plant $100,000 Capacity-24 girls, 18 infants 42 Number of inmates, 1922 40 Number of employes, 1922 6 Number of inmates per employe 6.7 Expenses for year ending January 31, 1920 . . . $8,200 Average expense per capita, 1920 $195 113 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA II. THE FLORENCE CRITTENTON HOME OF WASHINGTON, D. C. 218 Third Street, N.W. Founded 1888; incorporated 1895. The founder of the Florence Crittenton Home movement was Charles N. Crittenton, who came to New York City a poor boy and after years of toil achieved success and wealth in the drug business. After the death of his daughter Florence he devoted himself in her memory to the needy, and especially to outcast women and their babies. The result of this unique work was the establishment of the National Florence Crittenton Mission, and of a large number of Florence Crittenton Homes through the country. There were 57 such institutions in operation in 1919. The Florence Crittenton Home of Washington grew out of the Hope and Help Mission, which had been organized by the Women's Christian Temperance Union under the leadership of Mrs. S. D. La Fetra as a local work for fallen women. In 1913 the Hope and Help Mission moved into the building it now occupies, which had been purchased by Charles N. Crittenton for $30,000 and had been used by the National Florence Crittenton Mission as head- quarters and as a training school for workers. The National Mission then undertook the maintenance of the local Mission. In 1922 the Washington work became independent of the national organization and the name of the local organization was changed to Florence Crittenton Home of Washington, D. C. The most active adviser and helper of the Hope and Help Mission during its connection with the National Florence Crittenton Mission was Dr. Kate Waller Barrett, the president of the latter. The institution is a four-story and basement brick building for- merly a private dwelling. It has a capacity of 35 girls and 30 in- fants; total, 65. In the basement are the dining room, kitchen, and laundry; on the first floor, the sitting room, library, superintend- ent's quarters, and five bedrooms; on the second floor, the main dormitory with bathroom and a small sewing room; on the third floor, a nursery for the babies, children's playroom, and outdoor screened porch, and five single rooms for adults; on the top floor is a room in which infants are delivered, two small dormitories, a 114 MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN diet kitchen, bathroom, and sterilizing room; in addition, there is a small roof garden for outdoor air and recreation. The beneficiaries are homeless and wayward white girls and women from any part of the country, and their babies. A few of the girls are visitors to Washington, who for lack of money and friends have become stranded and are cared for at the institution until permanent provision can be made for them elsewhere. Each inmate is expected to pay, if possible, something toward the support of herself and her child, where present. There is no age limit for entrance or dismissions. An admirable feature of the work is that girls are expected to remain in the institution for at least six months to feed their babies on the breast. This is considered essential to the physical welfare of the child and to the spiritual welfare of the mother. It has been found that although many of the mothers regarded their newborn with aversion at first, their feelings almost invariably changed in time to natural maternal affection, and that after a few months, far from wishing to be separated from their children, they were willing to face the world with them. Other elevating influ- ences are religious services, which are held morning and evening daily, a midweek prayer meeting, and a formal Sunday service. Some instruction is given in cooking, sewing, and general house- work, and during nine months of the year a teacher, who is pro- vided by the District Board of Education, comes twice a week to conduct classes for two hours in grammar school subjects. Also, volunteers hold classes in crocheting and embroidery, and arrange for entertainments. Our main suggestion in regard to the improvement of the Home's work refers to the plant. The present building is old, insanitary, and poorly adapted to its use. It is highly desirable that the Home should have a model plant, which should not only be well suited to its local work, but should also be an example to similar institutions throughout the country. No organization in Washington is in more pressing need of a new plant. Plans are on foot to build a new institution on seven acres of ground, and a fund of $28,000 has been accumulated toward the execution of the plan. Every girl now has a physical examination, including Wasser- 115 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA mann and other tests for venereal diseases. A psychologist tests special cases. The institution has a new loom for weaving rugs. The Home is maintained by public funds paid by the District Board of Charities for the care of inmates, which amounted in 1922 to $3,000, and by board and "maternity fees" paid by the girls themselves, which amounted in 1922 to $1,871. The remainder of the income, $9,367, was received from donations. The daily average number in care reported in 1915 was 112, and in 1922, 67, indicating a very marked decrease. The monthly salary rate reported in March, 1923, for superin- tendent and nurses was very low for the kind of people required for these positions. An increase of 50 per cent would not be excessive. Value of plant $40,000 Capacity 65 Number of inmates 67 Number of employes 4 Inmates per employe 16.8 Expenses ending June 30, 1922 $11,800 Average expense per inmate $182 116 CHAPTER VI DAY NURSERIES FOUR principles underlying the care of children in the day nursery should be strongly emphasized f First, the day nursery must not relieve mothers unduly of their duty to care for their children at home. The best place for a child is with its mother in its own home, if the mother and the home are reasonably good. Second, every day nursery should have the services of a trained paid case worker to visit the home of an applicant for admission of children, study the family circumstances, and decide whether or not the child should be admitted. She may be able by enlisting the co-operation of other social agencies to make it possible for the mother to remain at home. If the children are admitted she will keep in touch with the family in order to ascertain the earliest date on which they may be returned. No day nursery is justified in taking the position that it is financially unable to employ a case worker, for she is as necessary a member of the staff as the super- intendent. If the institution is actually unable to employ a case worker it should go out of business. Third, the health of the children must be carefully looked after. A competent physician should be in regular attendance to make a complete examination of every new child and to look over all the children once a month. Arrangements should be made at once for the correction of any physical defects which the physician's exami- nation discloses. Other measures that should be part of the insti- tution's program are good milk for young babies; a well balanced meal at noon; lunches consisting of a glass of milk and bread and butter at mid-morning and mid-afternoon for the older children; a 1 For a full statement regarding the care of children in a day nursery, see " Day Nursery Standards," by Dr. S. Josephine Baker, formerly Director, Division of Child Hygiene, New York City. Published in Standards of Child Welfare Work, pp. 219-225, Publication No. 60, Children's Bureau, Washington, D. C., 1919. 117 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA daily rest period of at least half an hour; and cleanliness. The building should be well lighted, well heated in winter, and should have good ventilation. It should also have a good-sized sleeping porch for babies. There should be a fair-sized yard equipped with play apparatus, such as swings, seesaws, slide, and sand box. The staff preferably should include a trained nurse. Fourth, the day nursery should be under public supervision. This is necessary for the protection of the children, of the benevo- lent public who support the nursery, and of the managers them- selves. A nursery that has reasonably good standards of care has nothing to fear from public supervision, but, on the contrary, is materially aided by it; any other should not be permitted to operate. Washington Day Nurseries. There are six day nurseries in Washington. They are directed by intelligent, conscientious boards of managers and are in charge of devoted workers. The plants as a group are fairly well suited to their purpose. Three improvements are greatly to be desired; first, supervision by the Board of Charities, or the Health Department, or both. At present they are not supervised by any public body. Second, a mothers' assistance fund should be provided. This would enable many mothers who now place their children in day nurseries to care for them at home. Third, employment of trained case workers. At present only one nursery, the Providence Day Nursery, has the services of a case worker. Following is a brief description of each of the six nurseries, with some suggestion regarding each. 326 Virginia Avenue, S.E. Founded, 1909. I. FRIENDSHIP HOUSE DAY HOME This nursery and Day Home is connected with the settlement known as Friendship House. It was started in 1909 by Miss Lydia A. H. Burklin, headworker of the House. It receives white boys and girls over three years of age brought by working mothers. Mothers pay a small amount for the care of their children in the day nursery, the amount varying according to financial ability. The Home is open seven days in the week and last year cared for a daily average of 15 children. 118 DAY NURSERIES Friendship House receives its entire support from private sources. The total expenditure for the year ending October, 1921, was $9,117, of which about $3,000 was devoted to the Day Home. We received two impressions from our visit to the Home. The first impression was of the unusually cheerful, wholesome atmosphere. The children appeared to be receiving faithful, intelligent care and had a happy, healthy appearance. The basement, a playroom, was well equipped with toys and an assistant supervised the play; the dining room was well lighted and the table appointments were attractive. Children of school age go out to a nearby public school, and in the summer hospitable homes in the country are found to give an outing of a month or six weeks to as many of the children as possible. Seven of the older girls last year attended the sewing class for girls in Friendship House. Our second impression was that the building, although having three stories and a basement, is too small and it is hard to find space for its many activities and living quarters for its staff and the children. Larger quarters are greatly needed. II. HOLY FAMILY DAY NURSERY 519 Fourth Street, N.W. Founded, 1916. The Holy Family Day Nursery is a Catholic institution con- ducted by the Ursuline Sisters. It occupies a three-story brick building, formerly a private dwelling, with a yard in the rear. The estimated value of the plant is $15,000, invested funds $15,000, total assets $30,000. White children up to twelve years, of any religious denomination whose mothers work out, are received. Usually an applicant brings a letter from her priest. Mothers are asked to pay something for the care of their children, averaging $1.00 a week per child. The average number of children during the past year was between 50 and 60, of whom 20 were babies. Children usually receive their breakfast and supper at home and their noonday meal at the Nursery. On the first floor are the dining room and kitchen; on the second floor, two bedrooms equipped with single beds for the use of the children and a large front room used as a kindergarten; in the base- ment there is a large playroom for boys. The girls play in the 119 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA dining room in stormy weather, and in fair weather are out of doors in the yard. Children over six are sent out to a nearby public school. Seven Sisters care for the children with fine, unselfish devotion. It is recommended that the attending physician make a physical examination of every entering child and inspect all the children at regular intervals, and that a record be kept of all examinations. At present the physician comes on call. Subsequent to our study of the Holy Family Day Nursery the following communication, dated June 10, 1920, was received from Sister Bernadine, superintendent: "The children are not to be in the quarters in which you found them. We have the large double house remodeled to make it suit- able in every way for the work, also quite a piece of ground extra. This work is to cost from $20,000 to $25,000. Boys and girls will have everything separate except class room and dining room. They will have separate playrooms, cloak rooms, toilets, lavatories, play- grounds, with slides, swings, and sand piles." III. THE MYRA McCOY ANDREWS DAY NURSERY 472 1 Street, S.W. Founded, 1908; incorporated, 1914. The institution occupies and owns a good two-story frame house, with a fairly good-sized yard, at 472 1 Street, S. W. The property is valued at about $10,000. White boys and girls are received up to the age of fourteen years. Their mothers bring them to the Nursery by eight o'clock in the morning and call for them at the close of their day's work; the Nursery is closed only on Sundays and holidays. All the mothers are required to pay something, the amount depending upon their financial ability, not exceeding 25 cents a day. At the time of our visit 20 children were in the institution. The number cared for daily varies during the year from 15 to 30. On the first floor are a cheerful dining room and kitchen; and on the second floor are one large playroom having a piano, and a sleeping porch which is used for the smaller children who take after- noon naps, and two bedrooms for the workers. A volunteer physician calls at the Nursery once a week and some- times more often. The permanent staff consists of a matron and 120 DAY NURSERIES an assistant (her daughter). It was suggested that the interior of the house be repainted and repaired; that the unroofed porch on the second floor be covered over so that the children may have the use of the porch in all kinds of weather; that playground equip- ment such as slides, swings, teeters, and a sand box be installed in the yard; and that an assistant be provided to help care for the children. Mrs. William E. Andrews, president of the institution, wrote, under date of August 18, 1920, as follows: "Some of the things that you recommended have been done. The interior of the house has been repainted and repaired; a sand box, swings, and small toys have been provided; our staff now consists of a matron, a volunteer kindergarten worker, a helper, and a maid. We are bend- ing everything to the end of clearing a small debt on our property, and after this has been accomplished we expect to do all that you suggest." IV. NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE DAY NURSERY 470 N Street, S.W. The Nursery is open every working day and has a capacity of 15 children. The children may remain from 8 a. m. to 6 p. m. six days a week. There are two sunny playrooms, a crib room where each baby sleeps for part of each day, and a nursery kitchen where the latest child-feeding rules are observed. There is a sleeping porch for children and a playground. White children up to six years of age are taken. The daily attend- ance is approximately io children. The director and one nurse constitute the staff. A trained worker is employed to make investi- gations, and a full history of each child is taken. The worker does follow-up work in the homes. Monthly expenses of Nursery are approximately $ioo, only the nurse's salary being included in this amount as the director and social worker give part of their time to the other activities of the settlement. The alumnae of the Mount Vernon Seminary contribute $400 a year for milk. The children and their mothers participate in the annual Christ- mas party of the settlement. Neighborhood House also conducts a kindergarten open to children of suitable age. 121 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA V. PROVIDENCE DAY NURSERY The Day Nursery is a branch of the Providence Hospital and is conducted by the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. The present building, erected in 1913, was the gift of a friend of the work, and, with a play court in the rear, forms the best equipped plant for a day nursery to be found in Washington. The building is an attractive stucco two-story and basement structure with a tiled roof. The first floor has a large bright play- room, an office, a dining room, and a kitchen; and the second floor a large kindergarten room, its walls tastefully decorated with chil- dren's pictures, a well-ventilated bedroom having cribs for babies and beds for older children, and two bathrooms. The outside play court has a slide, a seesaw, and nine swings; and there is also a small garden plot where the children plant vegetables. At the rear of the property is a small building having a few simple carpenter's tools, in the use of which a volunteer has instructed the older boys one or two hours a week. White children up to twelve years of age of both sexes and of any religious denomination are received. Mothers are asked to pay something for the children's care, depending upon their financial condition; the average amount is about 13 cents a day. In 1918, 54 different children were cared for; average daily number 38. The staff consists of a Sister, a kindergarten teacher, a nurse, and a maid. The kindergarten teacher conducts class every morning. Children over six years of age go out to public and parish schools. Lessons in weaving rugs are given the older children; weekly classes in basketry, sewing, and crocheting have been conducted for 80 of them. Club meetings for girls are held once a week. Mothers leave their children at the Nursery early in the morning and call for them after their day's work. The children are first given a bath and then dressed in play clothes. At noon they re- ceive a hearty meal consisting of soup, meat, vegetables, and fruit. "At first," said the Sister, "they do not like such things; all they want is bread and tea; that is what they have been brought up on. But they soon learn; and then you should see them eat, making up for lost years." 408 Third Street, S.E. Founded, 1908. 122 Nursery Dormitory Dining Room The Gospel Mission DAY NURSERIES There is provision for the mothers too. They are taught to pre- pare food and also to market. Seventy women attended sewing classes last year, where they were instructed in cutting and making simple garments for themselves and their children. VI. DAY NURSERY OF THE GOSPEL MISSION 328-330 C Street, N.W. Opened, 1912. (In the Children's House)1 The Gospel Mission began its work for children in 1912 when it opened a day nursery in its main building. It has made a con- siderable contribution to child welfare through its day nursery, dispensary, and by co-operation with the Child Welfare Society in conducting one of its infant welfare stations. The children re- ceived in the day nursery have been white boys and girls living within the District. 1 For description see page 8l. 123 CHAPTER VII PREVENTIVE AGENCIES THE agencies described in this chapter are not the only ones that do preventive work in the District of Columbia, but they include the organizations in this class which deal most directly with the interests of dependent and neglected children. It should be remembered also that the work of most of the institutions and agencies covered by this report is more or less preventive. Such organizations as the Juvenile Protective Society, the Christ Child Society, and the Child Welfare Society are dealing funda- mentally with the social problems relating to the children of the community and should receive generous support. The monumental instinct is a very strong one in human nature. Many people will give liberally to build and support an unneeded orphan asylum who take no interest in agencies which work to keep children out of the orphan asylums. Those agencies which work to preserve the health and happiness of the children of the community, like the medical and dental clinics, the visiting nurses, children's hospitals, and the public playgrounds, deserve the constant and intelligent interest of the entire community. While they involve considerable expense, they save large sums to the taxpayer in the long run and at the same time diminish greatly the total of human suffering. They have especially made visible inroads upon the infant mortality rate. I. JUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION The object of this Association as given in the by-laws is "to organize and coordinate the community's effort toward the pre- vention of delinquency and dependency among children." The main methods adopted by the organization for the attainment of this object were: first, the enlistment and supervision of volunteers for friendly visiting among children, especially children who were 203 1 Street, N.W. Founded, 1916. 124 PREVENTIVE AGENCIES in danger of committing acts that would bring them before the Juvenile Court; second, the study of various conditions in Wash- ington that might promote delinquency and dependency among children, and the informing of the public regarding the conditions disclosed thereby with a view to their elimination or improvement. The board of directors, numbering 21 members, among whom are leading men and women in the social work of the community, is an unusually strong body. The executive secretary, who is a trained case worker, one case worker, and a clerk have thus far comprised the paid office force. The kinds of service rendered by the Association are shown by the following examples: Young girls from other cities who were found living in dangerous surroundings in Washington were sent back to their own homes; the practice on the part of parents of allowing their young children to sell and solicit charity on the streets was called to the attention of those interested and as a result it was discontinued; a campaign for better employment was con- ducted for boys and girls working in a bad environment; active co-operation was maintained in the work of the Children's Year; investigations were made of a considerable number of poolrooms, dance halls, and motion picture theaters; upon request of the Juvenile Court, volunteers were supplied to take children to a dispensary or hospital, and Big Brothers to visit children at home; and investigations were conducted of cases referred by the Juvenile Court, Associated Charities, Board of Children's Guardians, and other organizations. In the year ending September 30, 1921, 299 families were under care, including 110 cases in which the problem was that of a broken home. In a large number of cases necessary school adjustments were made, and 46 persons were diagnosed as mentally defective, emphasizing the need of some supervision for defective children in the District of Columbia. In 92 cases the underlying problem seemed to be a lack of proper recreation, and the Association is urging the necessity for increased recreational opportunity for chil- dren of the District. The Association has its offices in the Juvenile Court building and co-operates with the Juvenile Court. It enlisted 152 volunteers who made 3,569 visits during the year. 125 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The Association expended in its work $6,400 during the seven months ending April 30, 1922, and dealt with 228 cases similar in character to those of the previous year. Increased co-operation of churches was reported. The Association has been working to re- duce street begging. Like other philanthropic organizations it has suffered from diminished financial support since the war. II. CHILD WELFARE SOCIETY 2100 G Street, N.W. Organized, 1901; incorporated, 1914. The Washington Diet Kitchen Association was organized in 1901 for the purpose of supplying food to the sick poor. After four years it started a milk station. The selling of pure milk at a low price proved to be of such benefit to Washington mothers and babies that the Association decided to abandon its work for adults and devote itself exclusively to promoting the health of babies under two years of age. Seeing the need of a place where mothers could have their infants examined and could themselves be instructed in baby hygiene, the Association in 1913 opened an infant welfare center. The number of such centers was gradually increased until in 1922 there were eight in different parts of the city. The moving spirit in initiating and conducting the work for babies has been Miss Mary Gwynn, who has been president of the Association for fifteen years. The name of the Association was changed in 1919 to the Child Welfare Society. Each infant welfare center is in charge of a registered nurse and is attended at regular periods by a competent physician. The physician makes a thorough examination of the child and the facts disclosed are carefully recorded. Mothers of infants are encouraged to feed them on the breast; where this is impossible and in the case of older babies, mothers are instructed in milk modification and in the necessity of keeping milk ice-cold and bottles and nipples scrupulously clean. All the mothers are instructed in proper meth- ods of bathing, clothing, and general care of children. The mothers are encouraged to bring babies under six months of age to a center once a week, during the following three months once in two weeks, and thereafter once a month. An important part of the nurse's duties is to follow the children to their homes to see that the instruc- 126 Copyright by Underwood & Underwood Bringing their Babies to an Infant Welfare Center Medical Inspection in the Public Schools A third of the children in Washington public schools are now examined-why not all? In one year 9,929 children were found to have physical defects. PREVENTIVE AGENCIES tions given at the center are carried out. Here she has an oppor- tunity to teach home hygiene and sanitation. There are two other equally valuable features of the Society's work. The first refers to pre-natal instruction. The expectant mother is taught proper care of herself during the period of gesta- tion; the necessity of proper diet, clothing, fresh air, and rest are urged upon her in order that her baby may have the best possible start in life. In many cases medical examination of mothers is made. The Society is placing increasing emphasis upon the development of this work. A second activity is in the field of children between two and six years of age. Until recently this group has been largely neglected throughout the country. The Child Welfare Society was among the first to recognize their needs and to see that physical defects originating during this period produce serious results later on, unless checked. The medical examination of children from two to six years and the instruction of mothers in their care follow much the same lines as in the case of babies. The extent of the Society's activities is shown by the fact that during 1919, 3,573 babies under two years of age, 393 children between two and six years, and 233 prospective mothers, or a total of 4,199 individuals, were supervised. The Society points to the fact that while the infant mortality rate for the city as a whole last year was 85 per 1,000 births, it was only 11 per 1,000 births for infants registered in its centers. The organization reached 32 per cent of the reported number of births in the city. The staff physicians give their services free. Co-operation is maintained with all the local social organiza- tions caring for children, and especially with the Health Depart- ment, the Instructive Visiting Nurses' Association, the American Red Cross, hospitals, and the Board of Children's Guardians. The Board of Children's Guardians gives the Society the address of every child under two years coming under its care, and encourages mothers to take their children to the centers of the Society. The organization is maintained partly by public and partly by private funds. Last year Congress for the first time voted an appropriation of $15,000. The balance of the budget, amounting to $10,465, was raised by private subscriptions. Six of the welfare 127 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA centers pay a rental ranging from $12.50 to $30 a month, while two, at the Children's Hospital and the Gospel Mission, have rent free. The average cost of maintaining a center last year was $2,830, while the average per capita cost of mothers and babies under supervision was $6.06. The Child Welfare Society has done a most important work among children's organizations in Washington. It has empha- sized right principles and has carried them out as far as its financial resources have permitted. An evidence that its work is not unappreciated was shown when Mrs. E. H. C. Slater gave a four- story house and a large lot at 2100 C. Street, N.W. The Society has established there its central offices, a model welfare center, and also laboratories for research in charge of experts. A national medical advisory board, including some of the leading specialists throughout the country, has been secured to advise in the general work of the Society and particularly in its research department. The question arises whether the Child Welfare Society should continue as a private organization, financed jointly by private and public funds, or become a public organization. There is an increasing tendency throughout the country toward the public control of health work for young children. Many cities have established bureaus of child hygiene as branches of their depart- ments of health, a part of whose work is to conduct welfare centers similar to those in Washington. In most of the cities private societies have blazed the trail by making demonstrations of the value of such work, and then public organizations have taken it over. In England there has been a similar development toward the public control and financing of work for young children. Recent figures published by the Ministry of Health show that out of a total of 1,583 infant welfare centers throughout England and Wales, 908, or 57 per cent, are operated by municipalities or county councils, and 675, or 43 per cent, by voluntary agencies. The infant mortality rate in England and Wales decreased from 138 per 1,000 infants born in 1901, to 97 in 1918, a fact which may be taken to indicate that the increase of public health work for infants has become effective in prolonging infant life. We believe that the procedure found elsewhere should obtain in 128 PREVENTIVE AGENCIES the national capital. The District Board of Health has recom- mended for years that money be appropriated by Congress for the establishment of a bureau of child hygiene, under the Health Department. If this recommendation is approved, the work for infants and pre-school children now conducted by the Child Wel- fare Society might well become a part of the new bureau; but until sufficient funds are supplied adequately to maintain and to de- velop still further this most important field, the Society should continue under its present auspices. TABLE 14.-COMPARATIVE STATISTICS OF THE CHILD WELFARE SO- CIETY OF WASHINGTON, 1916 TO I92 I 1916 •917 1918 1919 1920 1921 Enrolment Infants, registered at centers 1,879 1,624 1,578 2,055 2,5'7 2,817 unregistered. 449 1,017 1,046 1,518 2,022 2,027 Children, registered 55 192 704 836 unregistered. 73i 201 237 195 Expectant mothers, registered 422 283 135 104 75 54 unregistered. >39 107 129 217 72 Total 2,750 3,063 3,652 4,199 5,772 6,001 Visits to centers Infants 15,606 1 5,386 14,834 16,600 19,683 24,678 Children .... 119 1,725 3,100 4,045 Expectant mothers 957 1,347 662 • 614 509 443 Instruction to mothers 1,334 1,472 1,870 2,300 Total 16,563 16,733 16,949 20,411 25,162 31,466 Visits by nurses Infants 13,804 16,421 17,492 23,708 21,059 22,133 Children .... 957 2,885 4,326 3,770 Expectant mothers 1,424 i,54i 776 910 433 343 Nursing mothers . 535 Other visits .... 256 455 604 764 755 Total 1 5,484 18,417 19,225 28,642 26,582 27,001 III. THE CHRIST CHILD SOCIETY 324 Indiana Ave., N.W. Founded, 1890; incorporated, 1903. The Christ Child Society was organized by Miss Mary V. Merrick thirty years ago to provide for poor children the joys of more fortunate ones at Christmas time and to supply complete outfits 129 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA for newborn infants. These initial works have been continued and developed up to the present time. Later it was but a step for Miss Merrick and her associates to extend their service to other matters, such as clothing, summer vacations, and medical care. The spirit and work of the Christ Child Society have carried such an appeal that many similar organizations have started else- where. Each society is governed by local officers and a board, and the scope of the work is determined by the needs of the locality; but all are under the general direction of the parent society, of which Miss Merrick is the head. All send reports of their work and representatives where possible to the annual meeting of the organizations in Washington. Although the work of the societies varies somewhat, that of the original one in Wash- ington indicates in a general way the program of all. The purpose of the Christ Child Society as given in its by-laws is " to aid and instruct neglected children and to uplift and brighten their childhood." There are six principles which govern its work, as follows: "First, the guidance of all work undertaken on the lines of Catholic principles of charity. Second, an unrestricted membership open to all who wish to serve the Christ Child. Third, a generous co-operation with all social or lay work. Fourth, a readiness to do whatever is left undone in the field of charity and to seek only untilled fields for its labor. Fifth, the principle that social work must be conducted on a plane higher than a material level to be effective. Sixth, that no work is too small to engage the attention of a Christ Child worker nor too large for her ambi- tion in the service of the children of the poor." The Society's service, which is devoted entirely to children, consists of industrial clubs and classes, a dental clinic, the giving of relief and Christmas cheer, and fresh air work and temporary care in the Society's own institution. All the workers except one are volunteers, the number ranging from 100 to 200. The membership in Washington numbers 1,300. At headquarters a settlement is established where classes are held in sewing, dressmaking, knitting, and the study of religion; libraries and clubs are conducted, and kindergartens for the little children. A valuable health service is maintained through a free dental clinic which travels from center to center and a trained 130 PREVENTIVE AGENCIES nurse who examines the children, conducts them to hospital clinics, and reports back to the Society recommendations for braces, glasses, and so on. In 1922, 400 children attended the various industrial classes and clubs and an average of 60 were treated monthly at the dental clinic. The relief is given through a band of visitors who divide the city among them and visit the homes. It consists principally of clothing and shoes. In 1921, 150 layettes for newborn infants, 4,000 new garments, and 380 pairs of shoes were distributed. The original benefaction has not been lost sight of, for the hearts of many little children were gladdened at Christmas time. Every member of the Society agrees to give a happy Christmas to one poor child by supplying as far as possible the little petitioner's request contained in his own letter to the Christ Child. The extent of this joy-creating department is shown by the fact that last year the 1,300 members enrolled in the Society gave gifts to as many children. Fresh air work is carried on at a farm of 20 acres situated one- quarter of a mile from Rockville on the Norbeck, Rockville and Baltimore Pike. This property, recently purchased, consists of a two-story frame dwelling with all modern conveniences of heat, electric lights, furnace, and four bathrooms. The Christ Child Society was the first organization to conduct fresh air work in the District, beginning in 1903 on a small farm near Silver Spring, Maryland. The work outgrew the house and this new property was purchased. Here during the summer months delicate and convalescent children and those who require a change of air are sent for two weeks or more in parties of 25 girls between the age of two to fifteen years. The minimum time for each child is two weeks. This is extended indefinitely according to health conditions. No charge is made. In addition to summer outings, the Christ Child Fresh Air Farm is open all the year and cares for a small group of girls who need temporary care owing to family crises caused by ill health, unemployment or the like, or their own personal condition. The girls may be claimed by their relatives at any time. In the past these children have been sent from the Board of Children's Guardians or from private homes. When they are of school age 131 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA they attend the nearby public school and the Catholic church. The life of these girls is such as is led by other children on a farm, with the same simple pleasures. During the summer time they have the additional companionship of fresh air parties. The home is in charge of a married couple. The wife is a trained nurse who took her course in the care of children. It is under the supervision of the chairman of the fresh air work with her committee, one of whom resides at the farm during the summer. This committee provides amusement and entertainment for the children. The Society tries to make life on the Christ Child Farm as near the ideal home life as possible with the simple pleasures and pastimes of country life. Each child coming to the home for an outing or a prolonged stay receives a physical examination; a full report of her health is made out, defects are corrected and such care given as is necessary. It is recommended that the Society extend its services by offering preliminary investigations of applicants for the other Catholic children's institutions in Washington. For this purpose it should employ well-trained case workers. The Society now co-operates actively with the other social agencies like the Associated Charities, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Board of Children's Guar- dians, and the Juvenile Court. It would be only a step farther to render the service indicated for other organizations. A co-operative plan has been developed in other cities, under which a central bureau makes the preliminary investigation for the institutions and renders reports to them for their guidance. For instance, the Catholic Children's Aid Association of Newark, New Jersey, makes preliminary case investigations for a group of Catholic institutions in New Jersey. The plan has proved very satisfactory for the reason that the investigations are by paid case workers who have the necessary experience and time. 1 nstitu- tional executives and assistants are thus given more time for their proper house duties. IV. CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Thirteenth and WStreets, N.W. Founded and incorporated, 1870. As our study of Washington children's work has been confined to those organizations caring primarily for dependents and de- 132 The Children's Hospital Prevents juvenile dependency and delinquency by making sick bodies well. PREVENTIVE AGENCIES linquents, it has not included the general hospitals whose services are available to both adults and children. An exception, however, is made in the case of the Children's Hospital because its work is devoted wholly to children, a considerable percentage of whom are dependent. Moreover, the board of directors requested that the institution be included in the study, and that a full and frank statement be made concerning its work and needs. The first step in the founding of the Hospital was taken by Dr. S. C. Busey, who was impressed with the need to provide for sick children. He interested a group of physicians and also the managers of the Washington City Orphan Asylum. A meeting was held, and as a result the Children's Hospital of the District of Columbia was incorporated "to establish and maintain a hos- pital and dispensary for the gratuitous medical and surgical treat- ment of indigent children under the age of twelve years, without distinction of race, sex, or creed." The act provided also that children whose relatives could meet the expense of treatment might be admitted upon terms prescribed by the board of directors. The Hospital began work in 1870 in a small building having 12 beds. Two years later it sought larger quarters in a rented building. The number of applicants increased so rapidly, how- ever, that in 1875 the present site, bounded by W, V, 12th and 13th Streets, N. W., was purchased and a building was erected upon it. The cost of land and buildings was met by private subscriptions, with the exception of an appropriation of $10,000 by Congress. During the fifty-three years of its history the institution has re- ceived yearly public grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000; the bal- ance, the larger part of its receipts, has come from private sources. The public funds are paid through a contract made by the Board of Charities with the Hospital, on the basis of one dollar a day per patient. During the year ending June 30, 1922, the total receipts were $89,865, of which amount $18,149 was public money, and the balance, $71,716, was private, coming from the following sources: pay patients, $30,786; donations, $27,303; income from investments, $13,607; miscellaneous, $20. The estimated value of the plant is $316,000, and the amount of invested funds, $245,000, making the total assets, $561,000. The administration is in the hands of a mixed board of 20 di- 133 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA rectors, two of whom are physicians, and a "ladies'" board of 60 members which is concerned chiefly with the supervision of insti- tutional equipment and supplies. A staff of 18 physicians give their services free. The superintendent is a graduate nurse. While the institution is primarily for children living within the District, others from Maryland and Virginia are admitted when possible. Contagious diseases are not taken, as the Hospital is in a built-up residence section. During the year ending June 30, 1922, 2,125 children occupied beds in the Hospital, of whom 1,309, or 62 per cent, were dependent cases sent by the Board of Charities and paid for out of public funds; the remaining 816 cases, or 38 per cent, were paid for by their own relatives or friends. The Hospital maintains a dispensary for the medical and surgi- cal treatment of children living at home. For the year ending June 30, 1922, the dispensary cared for 7,025 cases. The Hospital assists in another branch of children's work by giving free office space to an infant welfare center of the Child Welfare Society. A Social Service Department has been maintained for the past five years. A trained social worker visits the homes of dispensary patients to see that the treatment prescribed is carried out and also that patients return for further treatment. She advises the family in matters of hygiene and sanitation, teaches mothers how to care for their children, and, where she finds that the family income is insufficient, seeks out employers and others and advises them of the fact. Also, she visits and similarly advises families of bed patients after their discharge. The Hospital maintains a training school for nurses, with an average attendance of about 25. Applicants must have had at least two years of high school instruction. During training they receive $12 a month and "home." The course lasts for three years and includes nursing of general, medical, and surgical cases, infant nursing, infant feeding and operating room technique, and practical work. The pupils spend five months in the Episcopal Ear, Eye, Nose and Throat Hospital and six months in the Gar- field Memorial Hospital, where they are trained in the care of gynecological and maternity cases and of contagious diseases. The plant consists of three imposing substantial buildings con- 134 PREVENTIVE AGENCIES nected by covered passageways, set in attractive grounds of about two acres. Its total capacity is for 135 children; 89 white and 46 colored. The central building contains the administration offices, surgical and medical wards for colored children, infants' wards, nurses' quarters, internes' quarters, isolation rooms, dining room, kitchen, storage rooms, and so forth. The wards have cross-ventilation; there are outdoor sleeping porches for tuberculous cases. The nurses' quarters, consisting of single bedrooms with a small living room and a dining room in the basement, are not well adapted to their purposes; the bedrooms and living rooms are too small, and the location of the dining room in the basement does not make possible the cheeriness that dining rooms should have, especially in hospitals. A most desirable addition to the plant would be a separate nurses' home, removed somewhat from the other build- ings, having ample sleeping and living rooms and a separate dining room on the first floor. Many hospitals make this provision for their nurses and find that it results in a higher quality of service. On the third floor there are quarters for four internes. The floors were worn and the rooms were not attractive. Fresh paint and wall paper, suitable pictures, new flooring, and a few homelike touches would transform these rooms. The isolation rooms for use in case contagious cases break out after the admission of children, include a bathroom. It was said that these rooms had not been used for over a year. Food comes from the main kitchen by a dumbwaiter. The dispensary building contains the surgical and medical wards for white children, the dispensary, X-ray room and laboratories, and an infant welfare center. The wards, like those in the central building, have excellent ventilation. The X-ray room should be equipped with modern apparatus. The laboratories also are insufficiently furnished. A recent report of a committee of the medical staff well says: "No investigation of illness is complete unless and until every chemical and microscopic examination has been determined which will throw light upon the nature of the illness in question. . . . While excellent work has been done and is being done in our present laboratory, our limitations are such as to preclude the possibility of securing the maximum of 135 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA efficiency with our present plant." A technician should also be secured to conduct the laboratories under the direction of the medical staff. The private building was in process of repair at the time of our visit. It was formerly intended for the reception of tuberculous children, but applications for admission of such cases were so few that the building is now used for private paying cases. The first and second floors have single rooms, and also suites for the ac- commodation of mothers who wish to remain near their children. In the basement is a large playroom well equipped with toys and games for the use of convalescents. A kindergarten teacher holds classes, lasting two hours, three times a week. The plant as a whole was found clean and orderly and appeared to be well administered. The central building is now nearly fifty years old and it shows the result of long usage. It needs new flooring, repainting, and repairing to put it in shape. Perhaps the most urgent need of the Hospital is for an isolation room where entering cases can be separated from the rest until the danger of their spreading infection is over. The best solution would be an arrangement by which every child would occupy a separate cubicle. Adenoid and tonsil cases, which form a con- siderable part of the total and which require only a brief stay in the Hospital, would not need to be admitted to the general wards but could be kept in the isolation department. Another urgent need is for a covered corridor connecting the operating room with the private wards. At present patients have to be taken by a roundabout way through the basement. If the corridor were enclosed with glass it could be used as a sun parlor. An additional staff member is needed to take charge of the Hos- pital records of both bed patients and out-patients. The social worker in the dispensary now has charge of the records for that department, and a considerable portion of her time is thus used which would be available for home visiting if she were freed of these duties. The importance of records hardly needs emphasis. Up-to-date institutions realize that the keeping of complete accessible records forms an important part of administration, both for the proper treatment of cases in the hospital and for the im- provement of general medical and surgical practice. 136 Copyright by Underwood & Underwood Medical Examination at an Infant Welfare Center Weighing and Measuring Public School Children Only a fraction of the children are now weighed and measured. A Dental Clinic in the Public Schools Washington has only four. It should have more. PREVENTIVE AGENCIES The Children's Hospital, as the only institution of its kind in the District, has performed a special social service. Disease and depletion of energy are leading factors in dependency and delin- quency; and therefore the Hospital, by virtue of its efficient ser- vice during more than two generations, has been one of the most valuable preventive agencies in the community and is entitled to full support. It is a pleasure to learn that the people of Washing- ton have recently recognized the value of the Hospital by a gener- ous financial contribution. Note: We learn that the Children's Hospital has been materially improvedin various respects since the foregoing report was made. V. HEALTH WORK The chief medical and sanitary inspector, who has charge of the medical and sanitary inspection of schools, is placed by law under the immediate direction of the health officer. Medical and dental inspectors and dental prophylactic operators and, in fact, all medi- cal inspection employes are appointed and paid by the Board of Education. The appointments are made on the recommendation of the health officer. Medical Examination of School Children Twelve medical inspectors of schools are assigned to districts, each containing an average of 12 schools. These they regularly visit to inspect children who are referred to them by the teachers because they are believed to be suffering from some illness or phys- ical defect. These examinations are made in cloak rooms and sometimes in the teacher's office. No special room or special equip- ment is provided for these physical inspections. Dental Examination and Treatment Four dental inspectors regularly visit all schools in the District and examine all pupils. They make records of the cases found and send requests for treatment to the parents. Four dental clinics are maintained for the free treatment of school pupils. Eight dental operators work half time throughout the year, and four dental hygienists work full time. 137 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Ten school nurses are employed to follow up and secure the correction of physical defects found by medical and dental inspec- tors. These nurses are assigned to an office in a school building in a district containing 12 or more schools each. School Nurses VI. PUBLIC PLAYGROUNDS AND RECREATION A Washington probation officer once said to a social worker: " We have noticed that when some attention is given to the small boy who steals small things, and he is taken to a playground and kept busy there, he refrains from all mischief." This testimony illustrates a great truth, a truth that concerns small and big boys and girls, which is that the best way to prevent juvenile delinquency is to fill the child's spare time full with wholesome, interesting activi- ties where youthful energies may find a safe outlet. Henry W. Thurston found in Cleveland that in the case of three-fourths of the delinquents brought before the juvenile courts in 1916, a clear relation existed between their delinquency and their spare-time habits.1 If a similar study were made in Washington, undoubt- edly it would show similar facts. The District of Columbia has a Department of Playgrounds directed by a paid supervisor who reports annually to the com- missioners. In 1921 the Children's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor made a report upon the playground facilities of the District. The report showed that the Department of Play- grounds was conducting 22 playgrounds, 17 for white children and five for colored. These playgrounds were open during the year from 166 to 246 days, averaging 230 days each. The average number of visits daily at all playgrounds was reported to be 9,592. During the summer of 1921 the Department of Playgrounds super- vised 13 school playgrounds operated during vacation. In addition to the public playgrounds maintained or supervised by the Department of Playgrounds, the investigation made by the Children's Bureau in 1921 showed that 43 school yards had been equipped with play apparatus by the school authorities and were 1 Thurston, Henry W.: Delinquency and Spare Time. Ohio, Survey Committee of the Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland, 1918. 138 Copyright by Underwood if Underwood Tether, Swings, Seesaws, and Sandbox at the Columbia Heights Playground Copyright by Underwood if Underwood Children at Happy Hollow Playground Like Ring Games Copyright by Underwood if Underwood Fun in the Pool at the Georgetown Playground Public Playgrounds PREVENTIVE AGENCIES open to children but that they were not supervised by trained play directors. In 1923 the Department maintained 30 playgrounds. Formerly a number of them had been maintained on ground temporarily lent by private individuals, but within the past two years Con- gress has appropriated $96,000 for the purchase of sites, and at the present time nearly all the playgrounds belong to the District or are on public ground lent by the United States government. The Department supervised in 1923 three school playgrounds, which were open for ten months in the year. The total amount of land in the public playgrounds is approxi- mately 35 acres. The Children's Bureau estimates that at least 100 acres should be provided to give adequate space for the normal activities of the children of the District. The amounts appropriated by Congress for the use of the De- partment of Playgrounds for the past five years are shown in Table 15. TABLE 15.-APPROPRIATIONS FOR PLAYGROUNDS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, I919TO I923 Year Salaries Maintenance and equipment Swimming pools Purchase of sites Total 1919 $40,830 $25,000 $4,200 $70,030 1920 45,980 35,ooo 3,000 83,980 1921 46,220 35,ooo 3,000 $49,000 84,220 1922 46,220 35,ooo 3,000 133,220 1923 50,720 35,ooo 3,000 47,000 135,720 It is expected that the appropriation for 1924 will be about the same as that for 1923. The 1921 appropriation for salaries pro- vided a superintendent at $2,500 a year; 22 playground directors for ten months at $75 a month; eight assistant directors for varying terms at $60 a month; 26 play leaders, for short terms, at $50 a month, with $800 allotted for extra play directors at the rate of 35 cents an hour. The salaries of regular employes were supple- mented by a bonus of $20 a month. In 1923 the salaries were practically the same as in 1921. There was an increase in the number of workers, however. The Board of Children's Guardians has urged an increase in the 139 CHILD WELFARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA appropriations for playgrounds, pointing out the inadequacy of salaries and the insufficient amount for maintenance and equip- ment. In support of its request it cited the following comparison of expenditures in various American cities. The amounts show expenditures for playgrounds per capita of population in the cities named and are taken from Bulletin 109 of the Playground Associa- tion of America, March, 1921. Boston, Mass. $70 Waterbury, Conn. 61 Milwaukee, Wis 57 Portland, Ore. 57 Chicago, Ill 50 Oakland, Calif 48 Detroit, Mich 36 Salt Lake City, Utah 30 Washington, D. C 30 It should be borne in mind that the maintenance of public play- grounds is not simply for the pleasure of the youth of the city, but that proper recreation is an essential part of human life and an indispensable factor in education. It is on the playground that children learn to play the game fairly, to accept the decision of the umpire, to be good sports: generous winners and plucky losers. The Children's Bureau points out a fact that has been observed in many cities, namely, the diminution of delinquency in districts where adequate playground facilities under competent direction are provided. The situation today has been briefly outlined by Mrs. Susie Root Rhodes, supervisor of the Department of Playgrounds. She says: "The increase in the population of Washington within the last few years has tremendously increased the demand for playground facilities. Our present facilities are far below the standard of needs, and an increase in the maintenance fund is made necessary because of the enlarged cost of athletic supplies and of lumber, labor and team hire. "Again, the playgrounds of Washington are now operated for only ten months of the year. There are no salaries for directors during January or February. Yet in 129 cities of the United States the playgrounds are operated for twelve full months. The nation's capital should not lack in this respect, and the playgrounds of Washington should be open the year round. 140 PREVENTIVE AGENCIES " We are continually being told by our friends and through the newspapers that we are really fortunate here in Washington to have such fine play facilities for the children. They are fine, 1 should say, as far as they go, but we need more grounds, permanent grounds from which we shall not have to move. We need more money for the maintenance of the grounds we already have. We need more directors and assistants, and we need larger salaries for the directors already in our employ." 141 INDEX Agents: salaries, 31; training of, essen- tial, 43 Andrews, Mrs. William E., 121 Architecture: cottage type recom- mended, 10, 48, 72; of institutions for dependents, 71. See also Build- ings; Collage system Associated Charities, policy of, 1 Association for Works of Mercy. See House of Mercy Aukam, George C., 24 Baker, Dr. S. Josephine, 117 (footnote) Baptist Home for Children: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 80; architecture, 71; statistics, 73, 80; history of, 79; building and equip- ment, 80 Belden, Evelina, 21 (footnote) Blake, Mabelle B., 39 Boarding out: expenditures for, by Board of Children's Guardians, 41; distribution of wards, 41, 44 Board of Charities, 1, 6, 15, 60, 62, 68, 69, 70, 76, 116, 133, 134 Board of Children's Guardians: history of, and functions, 5-6, 11, 15, 31-46; attack upon, 6, 45; commitments to, 23, 27, 34, 37, 40; salaries, 31, 43, 46; states having, 32; membership, 32; investigation and the Juvenile Court, 33-34; family rehabilitation, 35; case study methods, 36; examination of children, 36; placing out by, 37-41, 60, 71, 87, 89, 92; number of wards, 39; institutional population, ratio of, 42-43; appropriations for, 43; moth- ers' pensions, 44; feeble-minded dis- tributed by, 77; receiving home for, 87; infant welfare, 127 Board of Children's Guardians, The, 31-46 INDEX Board of Health: co-operative work of, 14, 127; child welfare and, 129 Bruen Home: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 81; statistics, 73, 81; beneficiaries, 80 Buildings: for delinquents, inadequate, 7, 9, 10, 12, 48, 57, 63; cottage plan recommended, 10, 48, 61, 72; archi- tecture, 71 Burklin, Lydia A. H., 118 Busey, Dr. S. C., 133 Case study, and the Juvenile Court, 26, 36 Catholic Children's Aid Association, of Newark, 132 Central Union Mission: recommenda- tions for, 11; maintains Emergency Home for Children, 83 Child Labor Law, Juvenile Court cases, 27 Children's Bureau, study of feeble- minded by, 76; publication by, 117 (footnote); report on playgrounds, 138-139, 140 Children's Hospital: history of, and ac- tivities, 14, 132-137; cripples treated in, 77; statistics for, 133, 134; build- ings, 135,136; needed improvements, 136 Children's House of the Gospel Mission: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 82; recommendations for, 11; statistics, 73, 82; history of, 81 Children's Temporary Home: capacity and number of inmates, 9, 73, 83; statistics, 73, 83; history of, 82 Child Welfare League of America, 71 Child Welfare Society: history of, and activities, 13-14, 126-128; recom- mendations for, 14, 129; co-operative work of, 81, 127; comparative statis- 145 INDEX tics for, 129; Children's Hospital co- operates with, 134 Christ Child Society: history of, and activities, 13,129-132; fresh air work, 131, 132; recommendations for, 132 Clinics: for delinquents, 48, 61, 66; child welfare work in, 134, 137 Code commissions: states in which established, 2,3; welfare program for, 17 Cook, Susan, 82 Corcoran, W. W., 102 Costs: per capita, for delinquents, 49, 50; in schools in United States, 50; National Training School for Boys, 49, 56; National Training School for Girls, 49, 59; Industrial Home School for Colored Children, 49, 63; House of Good Shepherd, 65; for depen- dents, 72-75; increase of, 74; child welfare statistics and, 133; for play- grounds, 139. See also Salaries Cottage system: recommended, 10, 48, 72; institutions having, 71 Council of Social Agencies, 10, 16 Courts in the United States Hearing Children's Cases, by Evelina Belden, 21 (footnote) Court workers, duties of, 33 Crippled children: care of, 77; and Children's Hospital, 133, 134 Day nurseries: number in District, 13, 118; standards for, and recommenda- tions, 117-118; Friendship House Day Home, 118; Holy Family Day Nursery, 119; Myra McCoy An- drews Day Nursery, 120; Neighbor- hood House Day Nursery, 121; Prov- idence Day Nursery, 122; Gospel Mission, 123 Day Nurseries, 117-123 Day Nursery Standards, by Dr. S. Josephine Baker, 117 (footnote) De Lacy, William H., 24 Delinquency and Spare Time, by Henry W. Thurston, 138 (footnote) Delinquent Child^and the Home, The, by Julian W. Mack, 23 (footnote) Delinquents: institutions for, 6-7, 47, 67; number of, 7, 27, 42; Detention Home for, 6, 11, 47, 49, 65-67; In- dustrial Home School for Colored Children, 6, 7, 47, 49, 51, 60-63; House of the Good Shepherd, 6, 7, 47, 48, 49, 63-65; National Training School for Boys, 7, 47, 49, 51-56; National Training School for Girls, 7, 47, 49, 50, 56-60; and family rela- tionship, 28; clinics, 48; schools for, 48-51; statistics of, 49, 50, 56, 59, 63, 65, 67 Dental examinations, 130, 137 Dependents: institutions for, 8-12, 68- 107; state census of, 8; in District, 9, 27, 72, 73; survey of, recommended, 10; number, and ratio to population, 42, 72, 73; supervision, principles of, 68, 69, 70, 71; expenditures for, sum- marized, 72-75; statistics, 73, 74, 77, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94, 96, 98, 100, 102, 104, 107; cost of caring for, 72-75; in various cities, 74; Baptist Home for Children, 9, 12, 73, 79; Bruen Home, 9, 73, 80; Children's House of the Gospel Mis- sion, 9, 11, 12, 73, 81; Children's Temporary Home, 9, 11, 73, 82; Emergency Home for Children- Central Union Mission, 9, 11, 12, 73, 83; Episcopal Home for Children, 9, 10, 12, 73, 84; German Orphan Asy- lum, 9, 12, 73, 86; Industrial Home School, 9, 73, 87; Jewish Foster Home, 9, 12, 73, 88; National Associ- ation for Colored Women and Chil- dren, 9, 10, 12, 73, 89; St. John's Church Orphanage, 9, 10, 73, 90; St. Ann's Infant Asylum, 9, 73, 91; St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum, 9, 73, 94; St. Rose's Technical School, 9, 73, 96; St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum, 9, 73, 98; Swartzell Metho- dist Episcopal Home, 9, 12, 73, 100; Washington City Orphan Asylum, 9, 10, 73, 102; Washington Home for Foundlings, 9, 73, 105 Detention Home: for delinquents, 6, 11, 47; statistics, 49; building and equipment, 65, 66-67 Development of the Individual Child in Institutions for Dependents, by C. Spencer Richardson, 78 (footnote) Dietaries: unsatisfactory, 78; recom- mendation for, 78 146 INDEX Dietary for an Orphanage, A Standard, by Dr. Adele S. Jaffa, 78 (footnote) District Board of Commissioners, 3, 6 District Reformatory, policy of, 1 District Workhouse, women's depart- ment, 7 Education: school system, facilities of, 2, 48; for delinquents, 7, 47-59; academic, in Training School for Boys, 54, 55; vocational, 55, 61; for feeble-minded, 76; and individual treatment, 77; technical, 97; for mothers with children, no, in, 115; Board of, in health work, 137. See also Schools Elements of Record-Keeping for Child- Helping Organizations, by Georgia G. Ralph, 79 (footnote) Emergency Home for Children: capa- city, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 84; recommendations for, 11; statis- tics, 73, 84; opened by Central Union Mission, 83 Employes: in institutions for delin- quents, 49, 56, 59, 63, 65; salaries for, 5°, 59, 75; for dependents, 73 Empty beds, in institutions, 7, 9, 14, 72 Endowments, inquiries as to, suggested, 15 Episcopal Ear, Eye, Nose and Throat Hospital, 134 Episcopal Home for Children: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 85; plant, 10, 84; architecture, 71, 72; statistics, 73, 85; summer home, 84 Examination: physical, 22,36, 75, 101; mental, 22, 36, 48; for delinquents, 51, 61; psychological, recommended, 65; practice in regard to, 75; of mothers with children, 109-110; of infants, 126; and research, 128, 135, 137; medical, of school children, 137; dental, 130, 137. See also Hospitals Families: relation of delinquency to, 28-29; family court recommended, 29; and home life, 31; rehabilitation of, by Board of Children's Guardians, 35; wards in, 41, 44; under care of Juvenile Protective Association, 125 Federation of Women's Clubs, 16 Feeble-minded: classes retarded by, 61, 76; school for, provided by Congress, 76; distribution of, 77 Flexner, Bernard, 23 (footnote) Florence Crittenton Home: functions of, 8, 13, 114; history, 114; statistics, 116 Fresh Air Farm, of Christ Child Society, 131 Friendship House Day Home, 118-119 Garfield Memorial Hospital, 134 German Orphan Asylum: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 86; build- ing and equipment, 86; statistics, 86 Goldsmith, Mrs. Charles A., 88 Gospel Mission Day Nursery, 123 Gregory, T. W., 3 Gwynn, Mary, 126 Hall, Dr. Percival, 36 Harkness, John C., 102 (footnote) Hart, Hastings H., 19 (footnote) Hart, William H. H., 60 Health: public department of, 2; clinic at Juvenile Court, 26; work in day nurseries, 117; preventive agencies promote, 124-141; Child Welfare Society work, 126-129; work of nurses, 126, 127; infant welfare in England, 128; fresh air work, 131, 138; and social service, 134, 137; playgrounds, appropriations for, 138- 141. See also Hospitals; Welfare Hickling, Dr. D. Percy, 36 Holy Family Day Nursery, 119-120 Home for Incurables, 77 Hospitals: scope of work of, 2; Chil- dren's Hospital, 14, 77, 132; Home for Incurables, 77; dispensary service, 134, *35> training for nurses, 134; isolation rooms, urgency for, 135,136; and social service, 134, 137 House of Detention. See Detention Home House of Mercy, for mothers with babies, 8, 13, 112-113 147 INDEX House of the Good Shepherd: history of, 6, 47, 48, 63; statistics, 7, 49, 65; building and equipment, 63, 64; recommendations for, 65 Industrial Home School: discontinued temporarily, 8, 9, 88; statistics, 73, 88; history of, 87 Industrial Home School for Colored Children: beneficiaries, 6, 47; statis- tics, 7, 9, 49, 63; history of, 60; buildings and equipment, 60-63 Infants: number of day nurseries, 13, 118; baby farms need supervision, 70,109; St. Ann's Infant Asylum, 91- 94; Washington Home for Found- lings, 105; care of mothers with, 108- 116, 127, 128, 129; statistics of insti- tutions, 112, 113, 116, 127; day nurseries for, 117-123; Child Welfare Society work for, 126-129; mortality rates, 127, 128 Institutions for Delinquents, 47-67 Institutions for Dependent Chil- dren, 68-107 Jaffa, Dr. Adele S., 78 (footnote) Jewish Foster Home: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 88; archi- tecture, 71; statistics, 73, 88; bene- ficiaries, 88 Jewish orphanages, 11, 12, 73, 74, 88 Johnson, Dr. Loren, 36 Judges: salaries of, comparative, 4, 29- 30; expression of opinion of one, 4; Judge Sellers, 24, 25, 26, 27; past officers, 24 Juvenile Court: efforts to reconstruct, 3-4; salaries of officers, 4, 29-30; commitment of children by, 5, 19, 23, 27-28, 34; laws for, 19-20, 28; func- tions of, in District, 19-20, 23, 24-27, 29; special orders, 20, 28; leading features of, 20-22; probation, prin- ciples of, 21-23, 25» judges, service periods of, 24; sessions, 24; case study, 26; volume of work in District, 27; andfamily relationship, 29; court workers, 33-35; co-operation with Juvenile Protective Association, 125 Juvenile Court of the District of Columbia, The, 19-30 Juvenile Protective Association: objects and methods, 13, 25, 26, 124-125; records, 125; expenditures, 126 Latimer, J. Wilmer, 24 League of Women Voters, 16 Legal Aspects of the Juvenile Court, The, by Bernard Flexner and Reuben Oppenheimer, 23 (footnote) Legal Problems Involved in the Establish- ment of the Juvenile Court, by Julian W. Mack, 23 (footnote) Legislation: social, 3; status of, for children, 3, 15-16; recommendations for, 16, 28; and juvenile courts, 19- 22, 23; in the District, 23-29; re- visions needed, 27-28; Bastard Non- Support Act, 34; Act of Incorpora- tion, 59 Lewis, Herbert W., 32 Mack, Julian W., 23 (footnote) Mann, Mrs. Horace, 89 Marshall, Thomas R., 3 Mental examinations, 22, 36, 48 Merrick, Mary V., 129, 130 Ministry of Health, in England, 128 Moore, Dr. Thomas V., 36 Morse, Mrs. F. F., 58 Mothers' pensions, defeat of bill for, 44-45 Mothers with children: institutions for, 8, 13, 68, 108-116; separation of, opposed, 108; welfare, considerations for, 109, in, 117, 124, 126; examina- tions of, 109-110; unmarried, institu- tional care for, no; education and training, in, 113; statistics, 112, 113, 116; pre-natal instruction for, 127; and Child Welfare Society, 126, 127, 129; social service for, 134 Mothers with Children, Care of, 108-116 Murphy, J. Prentice, 39 Myra McCoy Andrews Day Nursery, 120-121 148 INDEX National Association for Colored Wo- men and Children: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 10, 73, 90; statistics, 73, 90; history of, 89; building, 89 National Training School for Boys: functions of, 7, 47, 51; capacity, 7, 49, 56; commitments to, 23, 27, 52; statistics of, 49, 56; history of, 51-56; buildings and equipment, 53; stan- dards, 56 National Training School for Girls: history of, 7, 56; capacity, 7, 49, 59; commitments to, 23, 27, 57; statis- tics, 49, 59; buildings, 57, 58; rec- ommendations for, 59 Negroes: Industrial Home School for Colored Children, 7,49,60-63; proba- tion officers, 25; Children's Tempo- rary Home for, 82; National Associ- ation for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children, 89 Neighborhood House Day Nursery, 121 Nurseries. See Day nurseries Nurses: for infant welfare centers, 126; Instructive Visiting Nurses' Associa- tion, 127; of Children's Hospital, 134; home for, recommended, 135; school, 138 Oppenheimer, Reuben, 23 (footnote) Perry, Leon L., 62 Physical examinations, 22, 36, 75, 101 Pierce, Joshua, 105 Placing out: Board of Children's Guar- dians sole agency for, 37, 71; fine art of, 38; methods and supervision, 38- 39,68; feeble-minded children, 76-77; of infants, 109 Playgrounds: prevent delinquency, 138; report on, 138; appropriations for, 139; per capita expenditures, 140; Mrs. Rhodes on, 140 Police Department, activities of Wo- men's Branch, 1, 6 Population. See Capacity of institutions Preventive agencies: scope of work, 13- 14, 124-141; Juvenile Protective Association, 124; Child Welfare Society, 126; Christ Child Society, 129; Children's Hospital, 132; medi- cal inspection, 137; school nurses, 138; Department of Playgrounds, 138 Preventive Agencies, 124-141 Preventive Treatment of Neglected Chil- dren, by Hastings H. Hart, 23 (foot- note) Probation: salaries of chief officers, 4, 30; staff, authority of, 25; number on, 25 Providence Day Nursery, 122 Ralph, Georgia G., 79 (footnote) Receiving Home, 11 Records: lack of, 78, 79; recommenda- tions for keeping, 79, 136; auditing, 79; keeping of, by Children's Hospi- tal, 136 Reynolds, Wilfred S., 39 Rhodes, Mrs. Susie Root, 140 Richardson, C. Spencer, 78 (footnote) Roosevelt, President, 31 Russell Sage Foundation, 78, 79 (foot- notes), 85 Salaries: juvenile court officers, 4, 29- 30; for Board of Children's Guardi- ans, 31, 43, 46; of superintendent for National Training School for Girls, 50, 59; in institutions for dependents, 75; inadequacy of, 113, 116; of play- ground workers, 139 Schools: in institutions for delinquents, 47-63; National Training School for Boys, 47, 49, 51; National Training School for Girls, 47, 49, 56; Indus- trial Home School for Colored Chil- dren, 47, 49, 60; need of, for semi- delinquent girls, 51; cost of caring for delinquents in, 50; for feeble- minded, 76; Industrial Home School, 87; St. Rose's Technical School, 96; classes for unmarried mothers, in; for nurses, 134. See also Education Sellers, Kathryn, 24, 25, 26, 27 149 INDEX Seward, Mrs. William H., 89 Slater, Mrs. E. H. C., 128 Social and civic institutions: in Wash- ington, 1-2; program to unite, 16-18 Stanton, Edwin M., 89 St. Ann's Infant Asylum: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 94; for mothers with children, 13, 91, 112; history of, 91; building and country home, 92; mortality of inmates, 93, 94; statistics, 94 St. John's Church Orphanage: capac- ity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 91; plant and equipment, 10, 90; statistics, 73, 91; summer home, 90; recommendations for, 91 St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum: ca- pacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 96; statistics, 73, 96; history of, 94-95; building and equipment, 95- 96 St. Rose's Technical School: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 98; statistics, 73, 98; history of, 96; building and equipment, 97 St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 100; statistics, 73, 100; building and equipment, 98, 99, 100; bene- ficiaries, 99 Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 89 • Supervision: in foster homes, 38-39; visitors' field work, 39; of delinquents, 47,51; of dependents, 68-70; public, 68-69; recommendations for, 70; volunteer committees, 70; by Board of Children's Guardians, 71; for day nurseries, 117,118; and child welfare, 126-129 Swartzell Methodist Episcopal Home: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 102; architecture, 71; statistics, 73,102; control of, 100; building and equipment, 100, 101 Thurston, Henry W., 138 Van Winkle, Mina C., 65, 67 Visitors: field work of, 38-40; opinions as to responsibility of, 39; relief work by, 131 Washington City Orphan Asylum: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 10, 73, 104; statistics, 73, 102, 104; history of, 102; building and equip- ment, 103, 104 Washington Diet Kitchen Association, 13, 126 Washington Home for Foundlings: capacity, and number of inmates, 9, 73, 107; for mothers with children, 13, 107, 112; statistics, 73, 105, 107; beneficiaries, 105; building and equip- ment, 106 Weldon, Dr. L. O., 26 Welfare: program for, recommended, 16-18; legislation for, and the Code Commission, 17; work of Board of Children's Guardians, 31-46; family rehabilitation, 35; physical and men- tal examinations, 36, 48, 75, 109, 137; mothers' pensions, 44; care of mothers with children, 108-116; outdoor life a factor, m, 113, 138; in day nurs- eries, 117; preventive agencies pro- mote, 124-141; Juvenile Protective Association, 124; Child Welfare So- ciety, 126; Christ Child Society, 129; Children's Hospital, 132; play- grounds, 138 Williams, C. V., 39 Wolf, Simon, 32 150