New Britain herald., 1927-02-04
PROBATION SEEN
 AS QUITE USEFUL
Effective Way to Curb Crime,
 Report Shows

New Haven, Feb. 4 R)-A survey of the courts of several cities of the state and probation work done in them is in progress at the present time under auspices of the National Probation association cooperating with the Connecticut Child Welfare association.
 Ernest H. Cole, extension secre- tary of the National Probation as- sociation, who is in charge of this work said, in connection with re- ports now being prepared:
 Probation as medium of curb ing crime has proven successful and will come into wider use in the large cities of the country" These stud ies so far reveal that wherever pro- bation work is properly done 1t IS producing marked results in prevent ing further delinquencies, especially among children but in other sec tions of the state the work IS so neglected by the probation ofticers themselves that the system has broken down. In one city the re- cords were so inadequate that our inyestieators had to hunt out the pc titioners themselves to learn what had been done.
 "As fast as these. studies are com pleted reports are made to ioea' iudges and committees interested so that the findings are used to lih- nroye tbe probation work of the To- cal courts. This is the type ol sels ice which the National Propatloh as sociation is rendering all over the country The cornerstone or the nrohation system is the study ana treatment of the individual oeiih. ouent Common sense tells us that i,,dges desire to dispose intellsentiy Q, the lives of those who come pe- fore them and this can better ue done with knowledge of the olleiiu er., social background. The aoui- tion of we'll qualified probation OIL cers to any court greatly strengthens the work and is constructive Hieae- ire that not only saves money TOT the city which employs such oiIicers' but what is of far more importance it helps materially to raise the type of citizenship in the community
 Recommendations Made.
 Norwich, Feb. 4 P>-Employment of a probation officer who "ouiu share his time about equally be- tween juvenile and adult prooatlon tween juvenile for detention or Ju- veniles elsewhere than in the police station and hearing Of juvenile cases as far as possible from the police court atmosphere are among the recommendation made by Francls H. Hitler, field secretary of the na- tional probation association. follow ing a survey of the juvenile court and probation needs of this city just completed.
 The work of Miss Julia Corcoran, social worker of the family welfare department of the United Workers of Norwich, as women's probation officer, received the approval of MT. Hitler, who felt that Edwin Hill, general secretary of the Y. M. C. A. who has been acting as probation officer for young men, had too much work in connection with the Y. M. C. A. to give to the probation work the time and attention necessary for successful results.
 The probation work being primar- ily preventative and reformative rather than punitive, MT. Hitler ex- pressed the opinion that removal Of inc juvenile hearings formal and ln- formal from the police court atmos- nbere would be desirable and that the prosecutor should not be pres cnt unless really required. Boys and girls under 16 have been detained in the women's room at the police sta ton. The investigator recommended the substitution of boarding homes, or of quarters in the United work ers' building, if possible. c
 Other recommendations included earlier attention to cases which might develop trouble; closer CO., operation between the agencies CO., ing social work: closer follow up work on probation cases; more ade- ouate social records. especially in the case of boys.
 The present method of unofficial adjustment of as many juvenile cases as possible received MT. Hill CTS approval.