Evening star., 1938-04-10
Family Service Association
Acts to Rescue Human Values
Receives More appeals
Than Any Similar
Welfare Unit.

More people apply for help to the
Family Service Association, 1922
Eleventh street NV. than to any other
privately supported family welfare
agency of its size in the country. ac-
cordine to William H. Savin. its direc-
tor, He based his statement upon re-
ports from 81 private family societies
from all parts of the country collected
b. the Russell Sage Foundation.
To Mr. Savin, whose work gives him
an opportunity to see just what hap
pens to families who have reached the
point where they can no longer manage
on their own. this fact means that
Washington is piling up huge human
debt that will cause serious and costly
trouble for many years to come
The large number of applications
to Family Service by families whose
problems are solely economic is di-
rectly caused by the inadequacy of
public relief" he said "If the District
had funds to help them when their
problem was merely one of unemploy-
ihSilA IliC vi ldIe VI lIlc lIlSdIlS,
imprisonment of the delinquent, and
specialization of the i'll could be ma
terially reduced AS it is. these families
have to find ways of existing without
aid and the result is broken homes,
sickness. crime, chronic dependency
all problems that are far more eXpen-
sive to deal with than the simple relief
needs that caused Them
Links Two Economies
Mr.. Savin served the Community
Chest OF Philadelphia as budget secre-
tary for five years before taking over
the administration of the Family So
ciety here, and he knows in dollars
and cents terms the cost of meeting
social problems. He has conducted
numerous cost studies and analyses
and his experience in Philadelphia. AS
we'll as in Washington, has convinced
him that in the long run human and
financial economy are the same.
For two years. as one of the leading
spirits in the Citizens Committee on
Unemployment and Relief. he has tried
to bring this viewpoint to the citizens
of Washington and to Congress so that
the latter will make adequate relief
appropriations for the District. AL
though the committee has failed. he is
not discouraged. He believes that the
community is interested in what hap
pens to its less capable and less for
tunate citizens as we'll as what happens
to its pocketbook
In his own agency and in the two
summer camps which it operates Mr..
SaVln puts into actual practice his
convictions on the economy of pre-
vention and early treatment. His staff
Of IS professional workers is small
but highly trained in matters relating
to human behavior.
Their job is to deal with disturbed
and troubled people at a critical time.
often at turning point, in their lives"
said Mr.. Savin. 1T is as important
for them to know all that science and
modern knowledge can tell them about
human behavior as it is for a doctor
to be up to date in the development
of medical science"
TutOred in Psychology.
Shortly after he came to the agency
in 1884 Mr.. Savin organized an eve
ming seminar in normal psychology.
conducted by prominent psychiatrist
Attendance at these classes is not
compulsory. yet each member of the
staff has attended regularly and has
paid for the instruction from his own
salary.
Since the service of the Family
Service Association in helping to work
out family and personal problems has
become better known, more and more
families are bringing their difficulties
to the agency before they reach an
acute stage. Many a marriage has
been kept off the rocks, many man
saved from joining the ranks of the
and many child kept out
of court because of this preventive,
human service.
Although the Family Service Asso-
citation has changed its name (it was
formerly called the Associated Chari-
ties) and its methods during its 81
years of service to Washington, it has
always remained true to its funda-
mental purpose of helping families to
help themselves" 1t is one of the
largest of the local family welfare
agencies supported by the Community