Evening star., 1936-04-18
Bv TeSta Cummings.

sciences dedicated to human happi-
ness, the warmth of understanding
and the tranquility OF intelligence
fused into a bright stream OF the
precious metal before my eyes when
was shown how the Division OF
Child Welfare functions.
Patricia MorsS, chief of the divi-
sion, explained the theories behind
the Districts handling of abandoned,
neglected or delinquent children, and
Dorothy Williamson, one of the case
workers in the protective division, es-
corted me on visit to the Juvenile
Court, where children are committed
to the Jurisdiction of the bureau; the
medical clinic where their health Is
supervised and a section of the Pro-
rurement Division of the United
States Treasury. where clothing Is
dispensed to more than 1000 children
annually.
OF the two methods possible in car
ing for homeless boys and girls, the
District is a national leader in the
growing trend to provide them with
foster homes, in which normal fam
;ly life is re-created as nearly as pos
sible, rather than housing them IN
institutions.
In general" Miss Morss explains,
''the foster home is better adapted to
meet the security needs of the child.
He blossoms in personalized atmos-
phere, whereas he is usually disheart-
ened and affected for life by institu-
tional commitment"
Today, in the District, there are
more than 1900 children living in
foster homes, supervised by agents
of the bureau. Only 300 are in in
situations and 200 are in their own
homes under the supervision OF the
bureau.
INCREASE in the divorce rate and
= changed economic conditions have
completely altered the problems OF
social agencies in the past 80 or 40
years, according to Miss Morss. Until
then children adrift in the world
were primarily orphans or foundlings
and were available for adoption.
Today most of the youngsters who
find themselves in competent official
hands are there because of homes
sundered by separation or divorce.
Today the Government feeds and
cares for children whose mothers or
fathers, or sometimes both, hope to
be able to make a home for them
again.
Among persons whose incomes are
very small. when the home breaks
up the wage Garner cannot maintain
two esta blishments. A man earning
S18 weekly cannot divide it between
two family groups. Sometimes both
parents give up or drift away under
the strain.
Foster parents, white and colored.
selected by the home finding divi-
sion of the bureau because they will
fulfill not only the physical but the
emotional needs of their charges, take
these children into their homes and
make them part of their family life,
without compensation beyond small
sum allowed by the bureau. When the
child is between infancy and years
of age, $3.50 monthly is paid; from
to II, SIG, and from IL to 81, $40.
What are the motives of these
people?" I asked Miss Morss.
Sometimes women with one child
she explained. More often the foster
mothers are extremely maternal wom-
en- Of middle years, born mothers,
whose own children have grown up
and gone away or who are childless
and cannot afford to adopt child.
If the cost is partially met. she Is
willing to care for one, or perhaps
several, however temporarily.
The foster parents must be selected
after thorough investigation, to pre-
vent exploitation of the children. Many
would be willing to take three or four
children, clothe and feed them poorly.
and make a profit. Others desire to
make a servant of the foster child.
PUT the bureaus foster mothers
are pure gold. They have no
financial leeway, no compensation for
their sacrifices. They are rewarded
only by the satisfaction of creative
work. by the change in their charges
health and manners and happiness.
Two outfits of clothing are supplied
the children annually. The foster
mother supplies the rest. Money ap-
propriated each year by Congress,
averaging S250,000, goes to foster par
ents in the District.
Foster parents must think only of
assisting the child with his problems,
not fulfilling their own need of affec-
ton or possession. They must not be
hurt by ingratitude, for the young ones
arriving in their home have been
through tragic experiences. The chill
dren are invariably suffering from a
marked sense of inferiority over losing
the fundamental care of their real
mothers and fathers. They need the
sense of belonging to some one-any
one. They are preys to fears and
Soubts and feel socially inferior with
Children from normal homes. Gener-
ally they are handicapped physically
through inheritance or neglect. They
are potentially delinquent children, If
not actually So"
When prospective substitute
mother is motivated by need for a
helper In house work or in caring for
her own younger children in asking for
foster daughter IA years old or more,
1t probably won't work out, according
to Miss Morss. She will find that the
foster child demands more of her time
than her own, and will be resentful
Just when the great need of the young
Rirl is for reinsurance. She must be
willing to sacrifice her own interests to
give the child a feeling of security.
In addition, because the child has
living parents the foster mother and
father are asked not to attempt to
substitute themselves for the natural
parents, but only to supplement their
absence. However inadequate the real
parents may be, the foster ones must |
not encourage the termination Of old |
relationships, because this confuses the |
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