Smyrna times., 1946-02-07
WELFARE FUND
NEEDS 100000
State Board of Welfare In
Need of Extra Funds to
Continue Program
TO AID CHILDREN

Approximately 100000 in extra
funds is needed by the State
Board of Welfare if its aid to de-
pendent children program contin-
ues until July 1 at the present rate
of increase in case load and if the
state board continues in its trend
toward larger grants to meet the
rising cost of living. This was
stated by w. w. Laird, chairman
of the State Board of Welfare, in
explanation of the critical problem
facing the board in its obligation
to care for dependent children of
the state, The position of the
state board, Mr.. Laird has explain
ed, is not to permit the children
to suffer nor to allow the families
involved to be reduced to "pauper-
ism and scavenging for a liveli-
hood"
increasing Sueduuy
The case load for the dependent
children program is increasing
steadily and shows no sign OF abat-
ing, Mr.. Laird explained. On Nov.
80, the case load in Delaware was
284 families containing 8O7 child
rem. Average monthly grant was
s76.60 per family and S27,39 per
child. By Dec. 81, the case load in
the state had risen to 292 families
and 842 children. Average family
grant rose to $3.50, and average
grant per child was S27.6o. Al
ready, in 1916, nine new families
have been accepted in New Castle
County for grants which begin this
month.
Emergency Grant insufficient
Mr.. Laird also said: sThe agree
ment reached JANIS whereby
emergency funds from the state
and from the counties will be allo-
Gated to the State Board of We'll
fare is of tremendous aid. How
ever, this will not be sufficient to
permit the Aid to Dependent
Children program to continue
without some curtailment. If the
program were to continue at it's
present rate of increase in case
load and in its trend toward larger
grants to meet the rising cost of
living the State Board of Welfare
would need additional funds ap-
proximating 100000. Of this
amount $4,000 would come from
the federal government upon certi-
fication of $4,000 from the state
and counties. These amounts
would be over and above any en-
ergency funds to be approximated.
Sees Additional Help
The State Board of Welfare
deeply appreciates the action al
ready taken by the state and coun-
ties. 1t feels that there may be
other ways to explore to secure
additional help. The public may
be certain that every possibility
will be investigated. "The state
and counties do not want any
needy family to suffer. The Gov
ernor and Levy Courts will be kept
informed of developments and will
be requested to consider further
aid as the situation demands. The
State Board of Welfare wishes to
make it plain that while the emer-
gency appropriation is a help it is
far from enough to carry antici-.
pated load from now until July 1
when funds for the next fiscal year
become available.
$4,000 Available
Emergency funds aggregating
$4,000 recently became available
from the state and the counties
to assist the State Board of We'll
fare in its financial predicament
which has threatened to halt aid
to dependent children before the
end of the fiscal year. However,
the move to release the funds
must be initiated by the Levy
Courts of the different counties
and not by the state. The situa-
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