Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-14
FAM|LY WELFARE
WORK EXPLAINED
American Association Marks
goth Anniversary at Min
neapoIiS Farley.

The Family Welfare Association Of
America, which numbers 238 member
agencies in the United States and
Canada, of which the Associated Chari-
ties of this city is one, yesterday began
| its twentieth anniversary meeting at
Minneapolis in connection with the an
nual National Conference of Social
! Workers opening in that city today.
| Francis H. Mclean, director of field
| activities, has made statement Of its
/ the washington Associated Charities,
| expresses the viewpoint of the family
welfare work being done here.
''The old saying that an ounce Of
| prevention is worth a pound of cure
is as true of modern family welfare
work as it is Of modern business" de-
clared Mr.. Mclean. Modern business
efficiency demands, that we do not
merely give family in distress few
pairs of shoes or a grocery order and
expect it to take care of itself.
Must Find Causes.
1.-The cause of the difficulty may be
| long-standing i'll health or incompati-
bility between husband and wife. Last
Winter much trouble had been caused
| by unemployment 1t is the business
| Of the family worker to get at the root
of the difficulty and try to remove it.
The family worker owes this efficiency
to his community which supports family
| welfare work.
I'm modern business" Mr.. Mclean
declared, when we want to find the
causes of certain problems or discover
new and better ways of doing things
we set crew of trained researchers at
work. Research in business is now re-
garded as common sense. In like manner,
when modern family welfare work
wants to find the cause Of certain
| trouble, it, too, sets a researcher at
| work.
with friendliness and tact, the
family worker sets about to learn the
reasons for the trouble in a family's
life and slowly tries to build UP its self
support and spirit of family loyalty.
Family societies everywhere this Winter
have commented on the value of SYM
pathetic and stable family life to carry
men and women through periods of
unemployment and financial worry"
Public Attitude Changed.
After IL years with the Family We'll
fare Association of America, Mr.. Nc
Lean observes distinct changes in the
public attitude toward family work.
Work Greatly Improved.
"The first family welfare agencies"
stated Mr. Mclean, were started by
communities and individuals as a pro-
test against indiscriminate relief. For
many years some family agencies had
no relief funds; they were simply serv-
ice agencies whose workers helped
families get back on their feet. Now
communities everywhere are realizing
that the giving of relief without at
tempting to get at the source of trouble
is simply an endless drain on the COM
munity'S pocketbook."
The 238 member agencies of the
Family Welfare Association of America
helped more than 100000 families in
1929 and disbursed more than $13,000,-
600 in service and relief for families in
trouble. Figures during the past Winter
are not available. but they have been
vastly increased.
Extensive collection and circulation
of unemployment data has been under
taken by the Association fer President
Hooyer's Emergency Committee for EN-
ployment.