Evening star., 1927-10-16
116FAM|L|ES AIDED
BY WELFARE BOARD
AT Children Receiving Home
Care Under New Law, An
nuaI Report Says.

The Beard of Public Welfare is
extending financial aid to All children
+, in 116 families under the law enact
ed by Congress last year to provide
! home care for dependent children. ac'
cording to the annual report of the
| board. submitted to the Commission
erS yesterday.
The administration of this law is
only one of many municipal welfare
| activities now being directed by the
Board of Public Welfare, and the re-
port gives the city heads summary
of the accomplishments during the
year and of the problems needing
/ attention in the various institutions
supervised by the board.
The purpose of the law to provide
| home care for dependent children is
! to keep children in their own homes
| when there is no cause other than
| poverty for removing them therefrom
The welfare board reported that since
! the allowances now being paid to the
! lie families represents the limit tc
! which it is possible to so under the
| available appropriation. it will not be
| possible to make awards to many
cases which apparently could qualify
under the law until additional funds
are appropriated.
Increased Demands Expected.
| 1.-The ultimate requirements fol
| funds under the terms of this act
| cannot be determined for some time.
| the welfare board advised the Com
miSSiOnerS. New application con
! tinue to be filed and must be given
| consideration The number of bene
| ficiarieS now on the roll will not sub
| stantially diminish for some time, be-
| cause the law provides for allowances
so long as children are under 16 years
| of age 1t may be expected that
ultimately the number of cases taken
from the list of beneficiaries because
of children reaching the age limit or
for other reasons will offset the num-
Der of new cases added. For a num-
Der of years. however, we must eX-
pect that the demands under this act
will substantially increase"
The board explained that in con.
sidering all applications for assistance
an effort has been made to take up
cases in the order of their urgency.
All of the allowances thus far granted
are for the relief of mothers or guar
dians with more than one child to be
cared for. The report further eX-
detailed budgets. and the families
aided are required to keep account of
expenditures.
Although the new wing at the
District Jail is finished, the welfare
board advised the Commissioners that
the funds for its equipment and the
employment of guards were in the
deficiency appropriation bill which
failed to pass the Senate before Con-
gress adjourned.
Jail RemOdeling Urged.
In this connection, the board re-
ports that the cells in the old Jail
are poorly lighted and ventilated and
nothing less than a reconstruction OF
these cell wings can remedy this con-
dition." In accordance with sug-
gestion of the Bureau of Efficiency.
the welfare board has recommended
appointment of a committee to pre-
pare plans for the remodeling of the
old wings at the Jail.
With the first group of permanent
buildings at the Districts new train
ing school for feeble-minded nearing
completion and partially occupied. the
welfare board calls attention to the
need for additional structures there.
On September so there were 112 chill
dren at the institution and when the
buildings are completed about 100
more can be accommodated. In urE-
ing an additional building program,
however, the welfare board says it is
evident that there will be need for a
capacity of 500.
In summarizing activities at the
Jail, worlhouse and reformatory dur
ing the year, the welfare board en-
~, nvfo nf nd
terminate sentence law, particularly
for prisoners committed to the work
house. On this subject the boards
report made this comment:
Under the present system Of def
mite short sentences many prisoners
are committed several times during
one year. These habitual offenders,
sent for short terms of 10, 30 and 60
days, are a source of annoyance and
expense TO the authorities and in
these short sentences cannot be SUBJ
3tantially benefited by the institution.
| If these prisoners were committed or
/; indeterminate sentence with a maxi
mum of one or two years, many OF
! them, during that time. would ac-
quire regular habits OF living and in
dustry and it could be reasonably ex-
pected that a considerable number of
them would be able to follow regular
habits and provide for themselves and
their families upon their discharge.
Industrial Home Sale Urged.
The welfare board told the
Commissioners in its report that the
opportunity afforded by a recent act
of Congress to sell the Industrial
Home School property on Wisconsin
avenue and use the funds thus OBJ
tained to acquire a site for the erec'
tion of a new institution should be
carried out promptly. Continuing, the
welfare board said:
| This board recommended to the
| Commissioners that steps should be
taken as promptly as possible to car
ry into effect the purpose of this act
/ The National Capital Park and
| Planning Commission has recon-
mended that the property should not
be sold, but held for future public
uses. No action has yet been taken
The board feels that the opportunity
| thus afforded, for the first time, after
years Of effort and agitation, to secure
an institution modern in design and
| equipment to replace the utterly un
suitable. dilapidated and antiquated
establishment on Wisconsin avenue
should be embraced with all possible
promptness.