Evening star., 1940-10-20
Defense's Effect
On Social Service
Work Discussed
Family Welfare Group
Closes Three-Doy
Discussions Here

How the defense program will af-
feet private social service work in
the family field was discussed yes
terday by ]. Bradley Buell.. director
of field service, Community Chests
and Councils, Inc, New York City.
before the closing session Of the Mid.
die Atlantic regional conference Of
the Family Welfare Association of
America at Wardman Park Hotel.
Mr.. Buell., in summarizing the
many discussions he attended dur
ing the three-day conference, said
he got the impression that most Of
the talks he heard on the subject
of the influence of the defense pro-
gram on family welfare work were
largely speculative" since only a
few communities had definite ex-
periences to report as yet.
However, the speaker added, be
had noted four ways in which de-
fense developments may affect FAM
lily welfare. The first effect will be
in the field of employment, unem.
ployment and the general relief sit
uation.
New Family Problems.
The second will be new family
problems or possible family breakups
because of the number of men VINO
will leave their homes to join the
armed services. A third problem will
be the psychological problems Gre
ated by the emergency and the
threat of war, he said, and fourth
will be new interagency relation
ships-or the question of who will
do what for the conscripted men
and their families
Family welfare agencies must be
flexible" he said, so they can
meet to the best of their abilities
the new pressures and demands to
be put on them because of the un-
usual times" He warned that the
agencies must be in a position to
give the highest type of service
The agencies should not be di-
verted along any lines of service
which will detract from their ability
to bolster the national morale al
this critical period in our history"
Mr.. Buell. was introduced to tf4
some $50 delegates by William n.
Savin, director of the Family Serv-
ice Society of Washington. ane
chairman of the conference. MI.
Savin explained that no one in the
country had more comprehensive
understanding of the private relief
situation in the United States than
Mr.. Buell..
Mr.. Buell. said he had gathered
from the discussions here that the
primary function of the family
agency is the discharge of its rel
sponsibilitw to the families undef
its care and to the community as .
whole. To achieve this end, he said
the agency must be prepared to prol
vide high quality of case work
service to help families to deal with
their environments and to become
sufficient in order to prevent
breakups.
With regard to the general prob
lem of delinquency, Mr.. Buell. said
he had noted from an analysis of
many reports tendency to neglect
the Importance of making surveys to
determine delinquency trends in va
rious communities over a period of
years.
In one small Midwestern COM
munity of 10000 population, he said.
six separate agencies dealt In a
general way with delinquency, yet
none Of them had definite knowl-
edge Of delinquency trends.
He urged the agency executives to
clarity your objectives, measure the
results of your services and inter-
pret your services and the results to
the general public"
The general theme of the three
day conference was Our Progress
in Understanding the Community"