She explained to them that she was their mother. But my aunt was in awe. In the 1950s and 1960s attitudes towards child care slowly started to change. Society believed that children do better in a family environment and gradually the closures of orphanages in the 1960-1975 period gave rise to foster care and group homes all over North America. The debate continues as people offer ideas on how to raise parentless or neglected children.
Unclaimed children continue to face unanswered questions.
Most were denied a known ancestry or family history and this seems to be the most destructive thing of all. The newest philosophy is to fix the problem instead of the symptoms. Rather than housing the children, many cities are taking steps towards educating and reuniting parents and children together once again. You probably figured out that neither my father nor my aunt ever saw their mother again. She was only in the parlour for a short 15-minute visit but they treasure that 15 minutes now.