Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1923-10-18

In the state of Massachusetts, no
child caring institutions for normal
dependent children are maintained
at public evnense. The state instead
boards children in private boarding
| homes and places those that should
/ be placed in free foster homes. Many
private agencies in various parts of
| the country do the same thing, so
there is nothing new or strange in
such a program. III Ohio the Divi-
! sion of Charities has since 1913
cared for over 5000 children, with
no institutional facilities other than
! q very small receiving home. Board
/ ing homes and free homes, carefully
! supervised, have made this possible
Following the abandonment Of
the Morgan County Children's Home
it was necessary to set up some sort
of plan which would meet the needs
OF the dependent children of the
county and which would be in ac-
cord with recognized standards of
children's work.
In the abandonment law there is
a section which provides that the
county commissioners may appoint
/
sisting of two men and two women
/ in counties where there is no chill
drens home. Such board has many
OF the same powers and duties as
trustees of children's homes includ-
ing acceptance of guardianship OF
children from the juvenile court,
providing both free and boarding
homes for such children, employing
worker to supervise wards. etc.
After several conferences the
county commissioners decided to APP
point a welfare board for Morgan
county and on July 2, 1928, the fol-
lowing persons were named: Mr. S.
~ Smith. Mr.. Charles Gaylord, Mrs.
Edward McKeown, Mrs. R. X.
Brown.
The welfare board is convinced
that the small number of dependent
children needing care outside of
their own homes can be easily placed
in private families. The Ohio law
passed in 1919 makes it necessary
/ for all persons boarding children
! not related by blood or marriage
| for hire, gain or reward" TO be Ii
censed by the state. IN many parts
OF the state unscrupulous persons
/ were operating baby farms where
conditions were unspeakable, and
were trafficl1ing in children, and for
| these reasons such law was felt to
! be essential.
As all free homes in which chill
I dren are placed must first be inves-
/ tigated and the children supervised
by the agency having guardianship
/ and all boarding homes must be in
/ vestieated and licensed, a non-insti-
| tutional plan of child care can not
! be undertaken unless a social work
I er is employed. Therefore, Morgan
County Child Welfare Board has
formulated the following plan for
providing care for the unfortunate
children of. the community: Mrs.
Sophie Brooks, who is secretary of
the Red Cross, has been employed
on part time as visitor for the Wei
fare board. Her duties will consist
IN assisting the court with the nee
eSsary pre-admission investigation to
determine whether or not cases shall
be committed to the board; in inves-
tigating all applications received
from persons who wish to take chill
dren into their homes; in keeping
ali necessary records both on fami-
lies and children; in having the
physical examinations made on all
children committed as prescribed by
law, and in securing correction of
physical defects; in purchasing
clothing for the wards of the Wei
fare board; in supervising them
while they are in family homes; and
in working with the child's own
family SO that he can be returned if
there is any chance of rehabilitation.
Ii the new plan has the earnest
support Of all the people in Morgan