Evening star., 1940-03-05
Cash, Nof Surveys,
Needed for Child
Welfare, Says Bondy
Better Foster Home
Care Necessary, He
Tells VoteIess League

Money instead of more surveys
was recommended by Public We'll
fare Director Robert Bondy at q
luncheon meeting of the child well
fare department of the Voteless
D. c. League Of Women Voters in
the Y. w. c. A. yesterday.
Meeting the Districts child well
fare needs" he declared, lis not
matter of new surveys, but of taking
the material we now have and Sc
curing the resources to remedy the
faults"
AS he outlined the progress being
made in child welfare and expressed
optimism about the future of the
program, he excepted the Childrens
Receiving Home, which has been
under fire since Mrs. Roosevelt Wis
ited the institution some six weeks
ago.
Lets be realistic about the re-
ceiving home" he said. I'VE haven't
q large enough foster home super
vising staff. That means the chill
dren may not be put into the best
foster home for them and they may
run away. The alternative is to
leave them on the street or send
them to the receiving home"
Suggests Subsidized Homes.
To cure this, he recommended
system Of subsidized temporary
homes pending more careful work.
ing out of the problem of each
dependent child. This system, he
said, would also aid Juvenile Court
probation officers by giving them
chance to work out the problems of
their probationers while the chill
dren are being supervised away from
home.
He also recommended a central
certiflcation bureau to which every
one applying for any type of aid
would come. Through such
bureau, he said, it would be possible
to find out the extent of need in the
District.
AS steps toward a better child well
fare program, he cited the increas-
ing measure of co-ordinating the
various services, the establishment of
the welfare boards protective serv-
Ices unit, the provision of more
workers for the foster care staff, the
reclassif1cation of employees under
civil service which ultimately mean
more skilled workers, the provision
OF more money for board and care,
though the sum is still 100000 under
what was considered minimum by
child welfare experts, and the i'm
proving of institutions.
He deplored the fact that the
case workers had to carry 100 cases
instead of the SO accepted by social
service authorities as the manage
able maximum.
Sees Awareness Developing.
He found an increasing public
awareness of child welfare needs
but said the job of making the
public conscious of the needs was
still not entirely done cor we
wouldn't have such great gaps of
unmet needs"
The greatest needs, he said, were
for an adequate foster home staff,
adequate public assistance, expan-
sion of protective services, better
foster home care and reasonable al
lotments for maintenance of institu-
tions.
At the suggestion of Mrs. Louis
Gutenberg, legislative chairman of
the Council of Social Agencies
child welfare division, the league de-
partment adopted a motion in pro-
test against the reporting out of the
amendment to the Child Labor Act
without the public hearing which
had been requested by numerous
civic and welfare organizations.
Miss Bertha Mcconnell of the
Children's Bureau told the group
that the bill, which comes up before
the House next Monday, will open
the way for attempts over the
country to break down the standards
of the child labor legislation"
The House District Committee had
been requested to recall the bill,
allowing minors to take part in pro-
fessional concerts or theatrical per-
formances, but at the executive ses-
sion yesterday the committee re-