Evening star., 1934-10-07
YEARS D. c. RELIEF
S10,68,329
AS NEED DOUBLES
Emergency Division Report
Includes $4,172,481 in
Cash and Wages.
CASE WORK STAFF
INCREASE NECESSARY
New Forms of Unemployment Aid
Adopted During Period and
Family Budget Raised to $50.

Relief Of all kinds disbursed for
the District during the fiscal year
ended June 80, amounted to Sl0,-
658, 1929, the Commissioners were in
formed yesterday in the annual re-
port Of the Emergency Relief Division,
drafted by Leroy A. Halbert, research
director for the agency.
The number of families and in
dividuals receiving aid more than
doubled during the period, necessitat-
ing an increase in the staff of case
workers, Halbert explained. During
the year, new forms of unemploy-
ment aid were adopted and the aver
age monthly family budget Of $40.
termed "distressingly low" was raised
to $50.
The total cost includes S4,17248
paid as wages to persons employed
in the civil works program, in which
s352,684 also was spent for equip
ment and for truck hire, and $685.
LA for materials and other expenses.
Cash and Work Net.
On a net basis, s4,349,727 was dis
bursed by the District in cash and
work relief. Administration costs
amounted to S440,250.
The rise in relief costs, Halbert said,
was not caused by a corresponding
increase in unemployment, but re-
suited from continued depletion of re-
sources of the unemployed, and from
greater liberality in relief to the desti-
tute.
The weekly expenditure for relief
rose from S48, ,789 for the first week of
July, 1888, TO s297,5 for the third
week of last May, when the peak was
reached, he said. The highest month
ly total for the last fiscal year was
S676,787, for last May. During the
year 29,609 new applications for aid
were filed and several thousand others
were made for work rather than
financial assistance.
AT the beginning (July l, 1889
there we're l2,300 cases under consid-
Grafton, of which about 10000 received
relief, and the cases expanded to u.s.
600 before the end of the year. of
which number as high as $4,000 re-
ceived relief in given week." Ralbert
reported.
These increases we're not due to a
corresponding increase in unemploy-
ment, but to the fact that the re-
sources of the unemployed were more
and more depleted. and the Distress
ingly low standards of relief of the
previous year were raised from about
$40 month to about $50.
Increases Necessary.
"These increases were made with
fear and reluctance and onlysafter the
Emergency Relief Committee of the
Board of Public Welfare was convinced
they were necessary.
The greater liberality toward the
unemployed, which was established by
the Federal Emergency Relief Admin
istration when the civil works program
was introduced In the middle of No
vember encouraged the people to ex-
pect more and the division to grant
more"
The District appropriation for re-
lief for the last fiscal year was 81 ,300,-
900. The Federal Government con-
tributed In cash form about three
times this sum, or $3,907,938. Thus,
when the civil works costs are elini-
mated, the relief granted by the divi-
sion is brought down to S5,207, ,938.
At the beginning of the year, the
relief organization, numbering 100
persons, was housed in the old Metro
politan NJ E. Church at John Mar
shall place and c street. At the close
Of the year, the staff had been raised
to 1T for general relief, ia for work
relief and 43 for the Transient Bu-
reau, a total of 334. Also the year
ended with nine division offices operat-
ing IN various parts OF the city, in
addition to the central Office and two
large warehouses for surplus COM
modities. Eleven lodging houses and
Two camps for transients also were
conducted by the division,
Investigation Inadequate.
Because of a limitation on the
amount of District funds to be spent
for administration last year, there
never was an adequate force to in
vestigate properly the thousands Of
applications for relief, Halbert said.
Hundreds of workers were drawn
from the relief applicants to assist
in the program, including repairing
Of buildings and their care, moving
of furniture for clients and distribu-
tion of surplus commodities. Many
OF the workers were unframed, he
added.
Federal aid was given late in the
year to increase the staff and the
number of families for which each
case worker was responsible was re-
duced from $50 to about 100.
At some periods the case workers
previously had as many as 600 to
800 cases, making proper administra-
ton impossible" Halbert said.