Evening star., 1945-05-15
Mcmillan Calls
Farley
On Child Care
Chief of House Unit
Disturbed About
Conditions Here
BY SARAH FLINN.

IsCPi CoClitdGIfc MCMllan, DenlOs
crat, Of South Carolina said today
that he was SO disturbed by reports
OF conditions at District homes for
wayward children he has called a
special meeting OF his House District
Subcommittee this afternoon to take
emergency action to alleviate the
situation.
The decision was made following
a brief hearing this morning at
which Ray L. HUFF, chairman of the
Board Of Public Welfare, and sew
eral civic representatives testified.
Mr.. Hun suggested the following
three steps which the District
Health Subcommittee might take:
l. Recommendations to the Ap-
preparations Committee asking ad-
ditional positions be created in the
homes, that salaries be raised under
a general reclassification of the
positions that money be appropri.
ated for construction of an addi.
tional building at the District Train
ing School and that the limitation
be lifted on construction cost for
the planned Receiving Home for
Children.
Classification Center.
2. The initiation of legislation
authorizing the construction and
equipping with trained staff and
adequate facilities of classification
center at the Receiving Home and
for the proposed children's center
OF homes in nearby territory.
3. A request to the Board of Pub
lie Welfare for quarterly reports
TO the committee on the progress of
Improvement in the homes.
The manpower situation in the
homes, although aggravated by the
war, will not be solved with the re-
lease of labor unless there is an
overall upgrade in salary, Mr.. Huff
declared.
THE average salary for employees
at the Industrial Home School, for
instance, is between 81 500 and 81 900
a year" he said. 1T is impossible
and will continue to be impossible to
recruit persons capable of giving
guidance for this amount"
Feebleminded Present Problem.
An additional building at the Dis
trlct Training School was requested
by the board in its budget, but was
not included in the Presidents bill.
1t would house 100 children, and
would, Mr.. Huff declared, relieve
the Industrial Home School and
other institutions of the feeble
minded there now"
The personnel in these other in
stitutions cannot adequately care
for the feebleminded, and their
presence increases the problems of
segregation" he declared.
An appropriation of $4,000 for
plans for the new Receiving Home
already has been passed, but ap-
proval of the plans has been de-
layed because of a clause in the
appropriation which limits the con-
struction costs to $285 900. Mr.. Huff
said. The plans submitted by the
board, and now in the hands Of
the municipal architect, would cost
an estimated 100000.
Suggesting the committee call for
reports from the Board of Public
Welfare, Mr. Huff itemized several
requests made by the board to the
Commissioners which were not in
cluded in the District budget.
Compete for Appropriations.
I'VE have to vie with every other
department for appropriations" he
declared, "and unless our requests
are included in .the District budget.
there is no action that the board
can take. I might add that if the
citizens groups which have started
this good attack would continue
their interest, and would show the
Commissioners how intense the
public interest is, we might get
more requests through"
| Mrs. Leslie B. Wright, chairman
of the Legislative Committee of the
Federation of Women's Clubs at
whose request the hearings first
were called, declared at this point.
You see, Mr.. Chairman, the Com
missioners have a strangle hold on
the board. The Commissioners say
they are not responsible for these
horrible conditions. I submit that
they are"
Daniel Aherne, superintendent OF
the Industrial Home School, told the
committee, Il testified at similar
hearing last year. At that time I
said conditions were horrible. They
have not improved. Plans for i'm
proving them have been going on
for the past 20 years. Nothing,
or little, has been done"