Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1918-09-13
BOARD OF CHARITIES
sos Persons Under Supervision
of superintendent w. III. JEFF
frey as State Probation Officer.

held at the State House yesterday
and the activities of the Board for the
preceding month was gone over in detail
1t is doubtful if the people of the
state realize what a wide range o.
human welfare is embraced within the
the duties of this new and highly i'm,
portant department of our government
A brief summary of the work for the
month was submitted by Secretary JEFF
frey under the different general hes Is
of probation, child care, for deserted and
widowed mothers, defective dependent
children, .poorhouse inspection, and
feeble minded children. Mr.. Jeffrey
reported "a new parole and probation
cases during the month, making a total
of 500 persons now under this supervis-
ion as state PREDICTION officer. In COM
menting on this department in his report
to the Board he says.
The work OF this department has pro-
crossed in a reasonable satisfactory
manner during the month Quite a
number OF discharges are coming from
the enlistment of practitioners and pa
oilers in the service of the country, and
of course the increased demand for labor,
the high rate Of wages paid naturally
tends to reduce the new cases coming to
us.
1t is negotiable that more of our
courts do not in a larger degree, use the
probation provisions of our law. |
believe that sfu'ly fifty per cent of on"
people now being sent to our institutions
could be placed under the supervision
Of this department and thus be able to
retu.l to useful employment and not
only maintein themselves and those
dependent upon them but materially
reduce the cost to the state 10 the care
and the administration of our public
institutions.
After using the wages earned by the
inmates in our state prison at Windsor
and our house of correction at Rutland
it still costs the state about $500 per
week flor inmates, and if the six hundred
persons now under our custody and care
had not been released upon probation or
parole, he care of these people would
COST the state 81 10000 a week in addi-
ton t. their earning capacity in the
institution and at the same time many
of the families would be left to public
support. These features, coupled with
the man and character building work of
the department should make each of us
anxious to impress upon the courts of
the state the ACCESSIBILITY OF a wider and
more general use of the humane provi-
sion of the law. -
A brief summary giving some idea Of
the more important features of the
department are as follows:
Homes visited Al
Children in above homes al
Children in need of medical care
reported to me Is
Cases thoroughly investigated 5
Cases partly investigated 6
Children in need Of being placed
(not placed 20
Children placed IA
Children taken to hospitals 7
Children taken to Preventorum
Children in Fanny Allen (investi-
gated l
Poor houses visited 3
Institutions visited (other than
poor farms, 9
Cities and towns visited 80
Gases of children investigated in
other towns by letter or reliable per-
sons IA
Escorted women from Windsor pri-
son and House of Correction by
woman probation officer 4
Found employment for women
Arranged for girl to enter special
lchool
Boarding places found for women
from institutions 3
Children reported to me regarding
medical care investigated 81
Children reported to me regarding
medical care not investigated 5
Children, neglected cases, investi.
gated 8
Children, neglected cases, not investi-
gat ID 6
Probation and parole cases visited IA
Special women visited in prisons 10
Mr., Jeffrey, in his report, referred to
the defective schiIdren Of the state and
said During recent months there has
been greater effort made to relieve the
dependent defective children OF the
state. A very considerable number Of
this class of cases have been brought
to my attention, and we have sent sever
al Of the cases to the hospitals, Others
have been approved and will 90 to the
hospital within few days and still
other are under Investigation. From
every part of the state come warm