Norwich bulletin., 1916-05-02
SECOND DAY DE TIE CONFERENCE
Mrs Frank A. Mitchell Gives Report County Home System
 over 100 Delegates Register Charities and corec- ton Headquarters.

world during the past three decades and the 2.50o now under control of these homes, let us consider if this carefully planned system is adeuuate to the requirements of the present day. and if it fulfilled the original inc tention.
 Commitment to a County Home removes the child from the natural guardianship of his parents. The county commissioners are universal fy kind and generous in their treat ment of children entrusted to their care. and no criticism of them is ir- tended or inferred in pointing out that the balance of power in each board of management is left in thee hands or men who are selected to take charge of large and expressing inter ests of the county Each board is a law unto itself, consequently there are eight different ways of managing the affairs of these homes because there are eight boards Of manage ment. Some of the commissioners have felt the situation keen1y. Children in the County Homes are In care of capable, kindly men and women. They have plenty to eat and wear, comfortable beds, medical at tendance, and all material necesz1- 1 ties, with the addition of excellent l school advantages and religious train ing in the faith of their parents, but Of necessity with very little r1eager individual consideration. This could 1 only be renedied by building an in- stitution on the cottage plan. Al- though the temporary character of the County Homes is emphasized by the statutes, the provision made for the l keeping of them from becoming per- manent homes, for some reason, has been partial failure, and today some built on magnificent propor- tions, are much oVercrowded, while hundreds are boarded from them in | private asylums.
 No adequate and persistent effort has been made to place these chfI- dren in free family homes Except in period while building boarding | in private homes has not been tried ! although it is permissible. Of the large population in these county
 homes few children are over 12 years 1 of age. Doubtless some of these chil- dren need never have been commit
 ted except for the fact that there is
 a tendency on the part of certain par-
 ents to consider these homes as free l boarding schools from which thefI
 children may be withdrawn when they are able to obtain a certificate to gC l to work. It is a constant source oI | surprise to see how parental loves de- velops for child nearing the age o1 fourteen.
 There are two reasons for this I lated to the high cost of living and
 O flabor. Fewer families care to feed and clothe a small child, while more are willing to take an older boy o1
 girl who can tighten the labor of the
 household or farm where help can.
 not be had, or where wages are st l high as to be prohibitfve. Economic conditions, no doubt make the plac. ing of these children in free fannif,
 homes difficult task. It is a simple matter to select a suitable family
 home but more difficult to get a chiil
 where a child would be delight gen.
 eraHy seek such physical traits as il these families stand for beauty. Per
 haps "blond hair which muct curl an(
 large brown eyes" but always th,
 child must have no bar sinister up
 on his escutheon."
 With these options of one agen
 employed by the State Board of Char
 ities and the assistance of visitor O
 the diocesan board of the Roman
 Catholic church, the work of recon
 rnending and visiting family home
 falls largely upon the town commit tees. Some of these have done pain
 stalking. judicious and fearless worl } which should be recognized, but add ing to these committee members o the Board of Management and other
 there are more than three hundrer OpInlOnS OH the SuDJ0CC operative. 7 Other weaknesses of these tw l committees are, first, the fact thea each visitor acts in his own communi ty it becomes a delicate matter to re ) fuse the recommendation to a neigh Dor to report any undesirable condi
 tions in his home: and second, as thi work is frequently undertaken b. mothers with sacred duties transcend ind every other obligation, the worl ? of investigation and visitation is to . often subordinated to those dutie which lie nearest their hearts. Tn fault lies not so much with the wis itor as with the system Had ther been Q general board when one wis itor was prevented from calling ol !, a boy, another would be sent Perhap : the greateSt weakness is the fact tha at the age of sixteen boys, and at tn age of eighteen, girls are practical 1y turned out upon their own resourc es. Few of these children are or l1 phans, and in most cases are takel from their parents. not because o
 poverty alone. but because of the in , difference of these parents to thei l solemn responsibilities.
 ? The law fixes the age of maturit, at sixteen. What can be the cours
 of reasoning which turns the youth a sixteen upon his own resources an ) makes him in fact his own master It must be that the Order of Knight
 
 } from these graduates.
 What is true of boys applies eve 5 more forcibly to these girls, who ar 3 often very attractive, and are alway 7 in great danger.
 7 Without question scattered through 3 out the state can be found many me 3 and women who have been at som time in care of a County Home, wh have become adjusted to varied rela tionships of life, have made. exceller s citizens, and are honored and honzT 8 able. Are they a majority of the G. l 800 hundred who have gone forth, an a have they arrived because, or in spit s of the System ?"
 @ Institutional care of dependent chil e dren and its present day status frol e the view point of private organizs = tions was the subject of a paper req
 by Miss Lima Phipps of the New Hs n ven Orphan Asylum. 8 In part Miss Phipps' paper follows q My job-that' word may not be ele D gant Is1t I rather like it--is runnin . an Orphan Asylum, though not strict @ ly on the firing line.
 @ Rather a poor job. some people seel : to he thinking in these days. 6 My first definite statement is m = startling: in fact, coming from tf n president of an Orphan Asylum, 6 may be considered rather stupidly o1 . vfous. Here 1t is: