Evening star., 1937-06-27
j. s. REPORT HITS
CHILD WELFARE
PROGRAM IN D. c.
Chi|dren's Bureau PROPOSES
More Funds Be Given
Certain Phases.
PUBLICLY DEPENDENT
HERE ARE NUMEROUS
Problems Confronting Capital Are
Same as Is or 20 Years Ago,
Says Emma Lundberg.

The Children's Bureau of the Labor
Department yesterday condemned Sc
verely the Districts provisions for car
ing for underprivileged. delinquent
and neglected children, and urged
immediate revision OF the child well
fare laws and appropriation OF more
adequate funds for cretain phases of
the child welfare program Only two
cities In the country have a higher
average Of publicly dependent chill
dren than the District, the bureau re-
ported.
Emma O. Lundberg. assistant direc-
tor OF the bureaus child welfare di-
vision, listed three difficulties in the
way Of efficient functioning of the
child welfare program in Washington:
l. Archaic provisions of the law
relating to the Juvenile Court and
to the powers and duties OF the Board
of Public Welfare with reference to
child care and protection.
2. Failure to provide for adequate
staff for the child welfare division OF
the Board Of Public Welfare.
3. Maintenance funds insufficient
to provide for each child the kind OF
care needed.
Problems Of Long Standing.
The problems confronting the
child welfare division of the Board
of Public Welfare and the Juvenile
Court are substantially the same today
as they were Is or 20 years ago."
says Miss Lundberg, who carried out
her study with the aid of the board
and of the court
Encouragement may be granted
from the continuous efforts that have
been made to obtain legislative
changes and appropriations that will
enable the board to carry on its child
caring activities more humanely and
effectively
Likewise, the effort to obtain a
modern Juvenile Court law is a peren
nial activity in the District, which
now seems about to come to fruition.
Aside from the gain that has been
made through the provision of pub
llc aid for dependent children in their
own homes and for general relief to
families. little progress has been made
by public or private agencies in the
of child dependency, neg
lect and delinquency through con-
measures that will tend to
reduce the steady stream flowing into
the Juvenile Court and the Child
Welfare Division of the Board of
Public Welfare"
Recommendations in Report.
Necessary steps in a revised child
welfare program for the District are
these, the report said:
l. Rehabilitation OF homes when
ever possible, instead of the easier.
but from all points of view more ex-
pensive, maintenance of children
away from their own homes by pub
lie or private agencies.
2. Adequate funds and maintenance
OF proper standards for public aid to
children in their own homes.
3. Provision of adequate relief and
service to needy families not in the
categories for which Federal funds
are provided.
4. Co-ordinated planning for the
activities Of private and public child
caring agencies and institutions, 10
that every child may be assured OF
the kind Of care he needs, instead OF
the care being dependent upon the
type OF provision that happens to be
available.
5. A comprehensive program for the
care, training and protection of the
defective, including adequate
facilities for care and training, both
in the District Training School and in
special classes of the public schools,
and provision by the Board of Public
Welfare for supervision OF feeble
minded children in the community,
including those on parole from the
District Training School.
Facilities for COlored Younx.
g. Development of adequate facili-
ties Tor the care and training OF col.
ored dependent, neglected and delin-
quent children, especially girls.
7. Study Of the relation of bad
housing, demoralizing environment
and lack OF recreational facilities to
the high dependency and delinquency
rates among colored children.
8. Study Of the whole problem of
illegitimacy; Inauguration of con-
structtve legal and social measures for
assistance OF unmarried mothers; pro-
lection OF the rights OF mother and
child; enforcement of parental obliga-
tlons for support; and protection of
children from the exploitation that
results from unsupervised placements
and transfers Of custody.
8. Enactment of laws regulating
transfer of guardianship and provid-
Ing legal and social safeguards for
adoption.
10. Further development of co-or-
dlnated planning and action on 4
neighborhood or district basis for con-
structive recreational opportunities
wholesome neighborhood conditions,
and methods of early discovery and
treatment of problems OF child neglect
and delinquency.
The report covers 1s pages. Miss
Lundberg collaborated in 4 study 13
years ago Of child dependency in the
Dsfrict