Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-27
WIDE ACTIVITIES OF
CH|LDREN'S BUREAU
Scope of Its Wcrk is Told by the
Director; Orgs nj ed Two Years
Ago by Several Agencies.

There seeming to be some confusion
in the public mind as to just what the
Children's Bureau of Delaware is doing,
the director Miss Aida l.. Armstrong, mas
issued statement concerning is hcid ana
endeavors. The statement says:
The bureau was organized, about TWO
wears ago, by seven of the agencies IN
Delaware which were dealing with chil-.
Siren. Its purpose was to help the work OF
these agencies. either by direct assistance
or by suggestion. and to undertake work
which the existing agencies ieit 10 oe
necessary. The board of managers was
composed of two representatives from each
organization. At the present time there
are sixteen organizations represented.
The first active work undertaken by
the bureau was the establishment OF a
State Board of Charities. This was IN
stigated by the bureau and, through the
efforts of the bureau and the help OF their
friends. was created at the last legislature.
At the request of the Home for Friend
less and Destitute Children of Delaware,
the bureau supervises the children placed
in foster homes from that institution
These children number between 20 and
so, and are placed throughout the State
of Delaware.
The Babies Hospital requests the
bureau to make all Investigations for ad-
mission to the hospital, to find homes Tor
few of the infants who were suitable Tor
adoption, and to supervise such homes
The bureau found there was a trying,
need for the care of children who could
not be taken into the existing institutions,
i. e. children over age, or having some
contagious disease, or children OF families
which do not wish TO be broken up, and
whose parents, usually the father, was per-
fectly capable of supporting the children.
After very vigorous efforts on the part
of the bureau, about fifteen boarding
homes have been approved and are beng
used for about twenty children. lhey
are not supported by the bureau but are
paid for by their relatives, or by other
members of the bureau, such as the As
sociated Charities, the Hebrew Charities,
the Americanization Committee, Red
Cross, etc. We have also been asked to
board special children who needed par
ticular kind of care, wayward boys OF
defective children awaiting admission
to the school for the feeble-mlnded. AS
vet we have not developed many foster
homes suitable for such cases, but there is
great need of the same.
The bureau has recently been asked by
the State Board Of Education to make a
survey and recommendations regarding
the children placed in foster homes from
agencies outside this State. The new school
code makes the State Board of Educsa-
ton responsible for such children, but they
have no machinery nor funds with which
to meet this responsibility. This the bureau
has undertaken to do.
Besides the investigations which are
made for the members of the bureau, 1t
is undertaking to look into special cases ol
need relating tc children who are, or are
likely to become dependent, delinquent
or defective. These requested come from
many sources, for example, a Judge,
sheriff, the Child Labor Bureau, school
nurses school attendance officers, Travellers
Aid, etc. In all cases, both those that
are reported TO us for admission to lnstl-
tutions, OF for other reasons, our trst
object is to conserve or rebuild the home
1t is only where this seems impossible or
inexpedient that the home ties are broken.
This bureau is interested in the laws
relating TO children IN the state of Della
ware, and hopes through the assistance of
interested lawyers and citizens to have
bin prepared, for the next legislature,
which will be a credit TO the State OF
Delaware and q boon 10 its children
The bureau has recognized and hopes
sometimes to do something for the child
of unmarried parents. Most states have
a special committee working on this sub
iect 1t hopes to initiate many things
for children that may be turned over to an
existing agency. either State or private,
SO it Will be free to experiment and make
recommendations IN new fields of service.
The director viii be glad at any time to
answer questions regarding any specific
interest some person or Institution may
have in children, Room 207J Church Build
ing TelephoDe 1SQS