The Washington herald., 1922-07-06
Special Report to Com
missioners Asserts In
dependence of Board.
POIN rs TO RULES
Sets Forth Conditions Under
Which II Will Use Indus
trial Home.

SnlluTelJs SudTuldHS TO lne DiStTlCt
Commissioners, made public yester-
day, set forth conditions under
which the board will comply with
the Commissioners recommendation
that the Industrial Home School be
used as a receiving home. and
charges that friction between trus-
tees of the home and guardians Is
due to misunderstanding Of
duties" on the part of school offi.
cials. The report makes no mention
of alleged conditions of depravity
revealed by investigation of homes
used by the board for boarding
out" its wards.
The conditions under which the
guardians will agree to use the
home are:
/. That II shall be definitely un-
derstood by school authorities that
the school Is to be used by the
Board of Guardians only for the
purposes recommended by you (the
Commissioners), viz: "As a tenn
porary receiving home. and for the
care of such children as cannot be
provided for elsewhere" ard that
all persons in positions of authority
in connection with the school be
made acquainted with this coEdi-
ton.
.Board Must he Judge
g That the Board of Children's
Guardians must be the judge of
when children are to b. removed
from the school and of when they
can best be provided for elsewhere"
In this connection. in order to avoid
future misunderstanding on the
part of dc school authorities, IL
should be stated that by temporary
home" the Board of Children's
Guardians does not meaL place
to which wards may be sent to re-
main through the school year or for
any other definite period. but a
place to which children under tenn
porary commitment may be
sent, ard where other children can
be kept until suitable homes can
be found for them; and children re-
quiring temporary special care over
short periods: and the school must
work in closest conjunction with
the placing work of the board, CIV
ing it the benefit of the most in
telIigent observation and study of
the children while ir the institu-
ton.
Requirements of Omcials-
8. That the school be under the
direction of a superintendent of
such Intelligent training and ex-
perience as to make his advice OF
value and service to the Board OF
Guardians. when asked for, in
determining the disposition of chill
dren who may have been under OBJ
servation in the school. with a
staff made up the same way.
4. That the workers of the Board
of Children's Guardians be afforded
every reasonable opportunity to
study children carefully while at
the school. and that If desired by
said board, one of its workers be
permitted to reside permanently
of the school for the purpose of
study and observation.
Expressing the desire to con-
form with recommendations of the
Commissioners. the letter states:
The board invokes the wisdom of
the Commissioners to make some
adjustment by which it may con-
tinue TO use the school as recon-
mended. which may be possible IL
the views of the Board. are
met"
Refers to Friction.
Referring to friction between the
board of trustees of the school
and the guardians, the letter states:
THE report of the Board of
Charities refers TO friction between
the trustees and the Board of
Guardians and the present seems
an opportune time for frank dis
cussion of that question. This
friction. in the opinion of the
Board Of Children's Guardians,
arises from a mistaken conception
on the part of the trustees of their
relation to the wards and work Of
the Board Of Children's Guardians"
Citing the law which makes the
Board of Children's Guardians the
lawful guardians of wards, the let
ter continues:
Notwithstanding the foregoing
the board disclaims any intention
of making an arbitrary assertion of
its power and authority under the
law and more especially so in its
dealing with you gentlemen as the
heads of the District government,
but the law makes the board the
legal guardian of the children
committed to II and clothes It with
all the authority of a guardian.
The Board of Children's
Guardians feels that it has not the
right to surrender its authority or
delegate it's duty to determine its
policies. If these policies are mis-
taken, the remedy is a new Board
of Guardians-not surrender of
that boards functions to the trus-
tees of the Industrial Home School.
Refuses to Recede.
Nor can the Board of Children's
Guardians recede from the position
that no matter what laudable in
terest the trustees of the Indus
trial Home School, as individuals,
may feel in the welfare of the
wards of the board. their duty as
trustees begins only when the chill
dren are placed in the school and
ends when they are removed by the
Board of Children's Guardians"
The special investigating COM
mittee of the Congress of Mothers
met yesterday at the Harrington
Hotel under the craftsmanship of
Mrs. Edmund Brennan. Plans were
agreed upon to carry on the fight
for new legislation designed to
place the Board of Guardians un-
der direct control Of the Commits
sioners. Members declared that
disposition of the Industrial Home
School is but one phase of the
controversy. which, they agreed,
can be settled only by a complete
reorganization of the charities ma
chinery.
Meanwhile the District Commits
sioners are completing plans for
an official investigation of activi.
ties of the guardians board.