Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-03-25
CARE OF DEPENDENT
ANO DEFECTIVE CHILD
Secretary Jeffrey of State Board
Of Charities and Probation
Addresses Church Brother.
hood Class on Work and AIMS
Of His Organization

Secretary ". ~ jeffrey OF the ctate
I'nard OF Charities and Probation ad-
Church Sunday o., the work of the board
MIR. JEFFREY sad:
Az the churches and the charltably dis
poseo minister t. the WHAT'S and neces-
sites of the lesa fortunate in their CON-
Hlnit'es. ~ the Board CT Charities and
probation minister's in general to these
people In all tho cities and tUwca of our
STATE, not only IN the cGngcsted district
OF our larger comngnit!eB but in the re-
mote and MOUNTAINOUS sections of the
State.
The true object of all hun,sr cndeayor ia
to buio f!gher civilization and bot
ter type al people To t,!s end we wisely
require thht every roy ard girl shall be
efIca:"d, :ict ir tr9 interests of the IN
civ,duai child. but III the ,utereets of the
community. Life. liberty and property aro
more SECURE III any cduca.o-1 community
than they are In ar uneducr,ed coramun
Ky. We are oCniing to rca,tzs that It il
necessary. rot only to require universal
&C icat;or. ou: ~ s,pcry1se anc GIRO for
the Go2enocCt, neglected and de,ec'ive
Child. ana to sec thec every boy aud every
girl shh!i Havo =. fa!. chance q rcasc.,e BILE
opro; turity an: n square deu! IN maetinS
and ewing .ho protlens Of lie. 10 the
cnd that wa ,lh7 have better civ.rza.-
ton thao wound otherwise BIO possible.
II IN no longer quest:c.i whether Yer
mont can ntfu.d to protect It's children.
TO- neglect Of .hs child simply means
Spending many me-, the cost OF It's 49,
vent!Te measures ia maintaining aims
hoLsco. hospitals, insane asylIns and
prisons s"r the adults We CT i,not r.t,asure
In COLLARS and cout5 the value OF healta,
character AID good ;tt'zensh!p.
IL Is tins i.r;voca1ie decree OF nature
and c:9'.lzat!on that the strong must
Gaze Cor the weak. the so-tLnat. for the
unto, ;unote; for these are the legitimate
overhead charges of society.
BY ,ne acts of ne Lsgslatura of 1917
as ame.ide1 by tho acts Of tie session Of
lsls tn. Board o: Charities am P-oka-
sioh WIS established, bringin, into exist &.
eTIce welfare department. having for it's
purpose the care OF the weak and the
assisting OF the urfortunate--namaly
those men ard women VINO hive come in
to violent contact with tho law. and the
dependent. neglected and defective child
| The work Of the board covers a large
field OF activities. We como in contact
officially with crime pauperism. disease.
and mental and physical defects, cruelty,
dependence AMI child neglect Investiga-
ton and supervision alone ia In Itself an
enormous task. a satisfactory perfor-
nance of which would require a much
larger staff Of workers than Is now pos
sible.
1t may be interesting to summarize
briefly that you may be better able to
understand the duties imposed We have
the custody and care of all those men
and women who have come into violent
contact with the law. and who have been
released from our State prison or the
house Of correction, 226 Of these. or plac-
ed under probation after sentence by the
court, $50 of these; inspection of poor
houses and the administration Of poor
relief in all of our cities and towns; reg
uation of the importation Of dependent
children into the State; Licensing and
inspection of child-caring institutes and
associations; home finding and care of
dependent children medical and surgi-
cal treatment Of dependent neglected or
delinquent children who have been COM
mitted to the board; receiving and dis
! ursing funds which are given to the board
for charitable purposes; granting pensions
or aid to widowed or deserted mothers
the receiving of trust funds for general
charitable purposes; inspection and regu-
lation of so-called baby farms and
boarding houses; investigation Of and
bringing petitions for the committing of
the feeble-minded to the State school
at Brandon: investigating and inspecting
unsanitary, immoral and unfit homes upon
complaint. hundreds of which come to us
every year.
! 1t is n tremendous task. We are build
ing a bridge into new world We are
dealing with souls and not merely with
cases.
How should Vermont care for its de-
pendent, defective, feeble minded and de.
llnquent children? Until recently the law
of the survival of the tttest seemed to
be the rule. Children whose chief neces-
sty was food. clothing and shelter were
sent to poor houses. given away by the
bindng-out indenture and apprenticeship
system or sent away to the industrial
school at Vergennes, where notwithstand-
ing the higher character OF the institu.
ton, they had as intimates and associ-
ates the delinquent and the juvenile
criminal.
The children needing public supervision
and care may be roughly classified as the
dependent, neglected. physically defective
mentally defective tor feeble minded
the tubercuar and the delinquent.
1t is with the dependent, neglected ant
the defective child that we are to dea
today. 1t IL this problem that we mus
up ierstand; for it Is our real problem
ana II worth the best thought Of wh,c.
va arc capable. With the oependcn
children. AZ wei! rs those in better cir
curnstances. lies tho fItuia OF tho state
Nature i.as decresd tina; the child shoult
live in the home o. liza father and mothor
wnera II mag have individual care. whor'
its peculiarities can DO studied. its WANT
ministered TO. and who're Il may be tra.n
cd into normal citizenship. Wfsp tn
ch!i6, either through death, dasertion o.
other cause. Is deprived OF ia natura
hons. thon II should be cared for IN 1
home as nearly like tie natural homo p
possible, namely, the foster hcme. n Scm,
that has been selected, INSPECTED and /,
censed by our Board: homo that 1!
under supervision and insrs,ctich at al
hours OF tho day or nigh. by TIA vtsi
tors OF the Board. THIS plaI affords tn,
test solution for the normal dependen
child. The defective dependen: CHAD
whether that defect be mental or physt
eel, must. 40 far as possible, he trcate,
for that 4cfcct; If incurable. that clilt
ind the del'n.uect child must be cared 70
institutionally.
Tho inrge number Of mental DETECTIVES
constitute a problem the seriousness o
which IA not fully comprehended. Man.
Lnfortunatcs xho should b. under stat,
care, no. Only for their own aakes, bU
for the protection IT society. cannot b
admitted to our already ovcr-crowded in
stitution.
IN or remote rural districts we An
our worst cases Of neglect. cruelty an
degeDcracy. Here they frequently exis