The Washington herald., 1922-08-20

rect. 1t 10 said, Is to place the
absolute authority now exercised by
the Board of Guardians under q
body.
Under the present law the
authority exercised by the guard.
ians is complete. Having control
Of 1880 children of washingto the
Board of Guardians is responsible
to no other control than Its own
No action taken with respect tc
children In its CUSTODY can be cues.
toned by the President. the Distric,
commissioners. the Board of Chair.
ties. or the committee of Judge.
which appoints the guardians. The
Juvenile Court, through which the
Board of Guardians receives all the
children In its CUSTODY, has nc
authority over a child after II 1,
committed to the Board of Chill.
dren's Guardians.
Accident Of LegisIatIon.
Such a position of indepe ndence 4.
regarded generally as an acciden,
of legislation. No other position
in the District government. II is
pointed out. is vested with so com.
plete authority. Even the Distric,
commissioners, 1t Is shown. are
subject to removal. 1t is pointed
out that no blame attaches to the
Board of Guardians because of the
independent position II occupies
Moreover. social workers and in
vestigators are quick to recognize
the high character of the men and
women who are members of both
the Board of Guardians and the
board of trustees of the Indus.
trial Home School. While bad con-
ditlons have been discovered in
numerous homes used by the guar.
dams. social workers realize that
such conditions existed without tn,
knowledge OF board members. And
with the small number of worker.
at the disposal OF the guardians. II
Is pointed out that II is practically
impossible to keep consistent
record of the treatment of 1906
children.
The work. II Is said. has been
made more diflcult because of the
fact that the children are scattered
throughout the District Of Column
bia, nearby Maryland and Virginia
Several scores also have beer
placed In institutions in distant
States. Under tn circumstances. II
is believed. the members OF the
Board of Children's Guardians have
functioned as efficiently as the
members Of the average board oil
control"
While there has been some
acrimonious discussion Of the prob.
lem. social workers emphasize the
futility of dealing with the ques'
ton i'm this way. 4 reorga nizatior
Is needed. they declare. but this
fact should not give rise to per
sonal attacks upon individual:
whose interest in the welfare OF
the children Is unquestionable.
The controversy originated with
of the Board OF
Guardians that the Industrial Home
School would be abandoned July l
This announcement followed a sur.
vey- by the Board OF Guardians. in
dicating that they could place all
the children then in the Wisconsin
avenue institution with private
families.
Complaints Reached Trustees.
When this was. attempted. how
ever, complaints about the condi'
ton of homes in which the children
were placed began to reach the
trustees of the school. An invest'
cation, II is said. revealed that ir
order TO remove the children from
the Industrial home. a number oil
homes were being crowded. Aroused
by reports of inhuman treatmenN
and crowded and unsanitary condi'
lions, the Congress of Mothers d.
rected a special committee to In
vestigate.
The situation was brought to tn
attention of the District Commits
sioners in an effort to retain the
school as temporary receiving
home. 1t was at this point, 1t Il
said. that the independent position
of the Board of Guardians was first
brought out.
Defending their policy of placing
children in private homes, the
guardians contended tina. sucf
practice Is in keeping with the
most enlightened care of dependent
children. While this policy has
been attacked by a few independ-
ent investigators. It Is believed tina
by far the greater number of social
workers agree that home life for
the child Is superior to institu-
tional care.
However the problem in this con-
nection. Il is noted. Is to find suit
able homes. In view Of the fac
the District Of Columbia is said to
have a larger percentage of de-
pendent wards than any State. thu
broblem of finding suitable homes
has Increased. Investigators have
found that In the majority Of case
the homes used by the guardians
are moderately well adapted e
raising children. However, there
are a large number of instances In
which there has been cruelty, in
and even worse condi-
tions.
Seek No Reversal.
Social workers emphasize. how
ever, that 1t Is not their desire to
reverse the policy of placing chill
dren in private homes. But 1t II
their purpose to have children re-
moved from Objectionable homes
and placed in the Industrial HON.
School. or similar institutions, unit
homes can be found
And 1t is for this purpose that thu
fight to retain the Wisconsin av-
enue institution has been waged.
Among the ORGANIZATIONS tina
have taken part in the hight Il
save the Industrial Home School and
draw up plans for a reorganized
control are the following Con-
gress Of Mothers and Parent
Teacher associations, the Woman.
Temperance Union. agents
81 the National Woman's party,
rltfx.r.. A..o,,,,,r.,