Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-01-28

tnelr claims OF parentnoou IN otner
instances the environment must be
changed. Often families must be moved
to better homes-243 were SO moved
last year. Some of these families come
out of the alleys. 1t is against good
social practice to give relief to fam
lily living in unwholesome environ
ment without changing that environ
ment.
Aim of Associated Charities.
"The Associated Charities does not
proselyte. Its workers, paid and vol
unteer. represent every faith. The So
ciety seeks. however. to strengthen re-
ligious ties. Church connections were
reported strengthened in 12s of the
families Frequently this means that
the pastor, priest, church visitor or
Sunday school teacher is asked to take
special interest in particular fam
lily found to be drifting away from
active church relationship"
Taking up the problem of Intending
broken lives" the report states at an
other point:
Care needs to be exercised that one
does not mistake problems for causes.
been too prone to confuse the two. We
can Indicate the handicap from which
our clients are suffering. We may dis
cover, for example. whether it is tuber-
culosis or other illness. unemployment
or ineff1ciency, mental impairment, i'm
morality or marital trouble. such as
desertion or support. that has
brought the family to a condition of
dependence. But the real cause of the
distress may lie hidden and remote
from human view. Unemployment is
often a symptom of other troubles such
as illness or inefficiency. Inefficiency
itself may proceed from diverse causes,
such as incompetence, feeble-minded
ness. lack Of early training or want Of
bodily vigor. These problems and
handicaps seldom occur singly. Each
family that comes to us is usually bur-
dened with more than one handicap.
This fact seriously complexities the task
of rescue. 1t repeatedly becomes neces-
sary to call in other social workers and
agencies to aid. The physician, the Wis
ting nurse, the legal adviser. the pro-
baton officer. the Juvenile Court, the
board of children's guardians. the board
of charities and the hospitals are among
the many skilled specialists and agen-
cies to whom we, as general practi-
toners. turn for cooperation In this
work of family rehabilitation"
Work of Saving Children.
"Of the 1851 resident families under
care last year 1903, or 81 per cent, had in
them two or more children under fourteen
years Of age. This means over 5000 chill
dren under working age. - .
We need to know home conditions in or
der to understand how far such children
are handicapped by Inheritance or en-
vironment. The social worker who comes
in contact with these children has a re-
sponsibility toward them that cannot be
satisfied by the giving Of ton of coal
or a few days rations to the family or a
pair OF shoes or a months rent. What
ever the shortcomings of the parents, the
children must be saved, II possible, from
repeating the mistakes of their elders"
Variety Of Needs Discussed.
Recommendations to meet various
needs. as cited above, follow:
Sickness and old age as incidents in
| our social life should be underwritten
| by the community as whole. First,
the community should provide ample
medical and nursing service in order
| to secure as far as possible com
pulsory health
Health centers under the direction
! of health departments should be estab.
lished in all our cities These centers