Evening star., 1946-11-03
Dependents Aid
Here Increases
AS Pei. in Year
More Than ; 300 D. c.
Mothers and Children
Draw Relief Checks
By Miriom Ottenbero

What happens when a war ends
was pictured last night when the
Welfare Department released figures
showing the rapid increase in the
of mothers and children
who have turned to the District for
relief grants-and the reasons why.
BY last month, the number Of
families receiving aid for dependent
children had increased by 46 per
cent over September of last year.
More than $500 Washington
mothers and children are now draw
ing relief checks and the number is
climbing much faster than the Well
fare Department estimated for this
fiscal year.
The veterans who didn't want to
come back to their families or
stayed awhile and left, the mothers
who found jobs during the war but
can no longer compete, the Army
allotment checks that don't come in
any more and the ever present fac
tor of illness form the background
of the spiraling number of depend.
ent children cases.
Loss of Jobs Held Responsible,
Welfare Director Ray L. Huff said
he believed postwar loss of jobs was
responsible for the. increased case
load but he conceded that the in
crease in appeals for general public
assistance is far below that for aid
to dependent children.
In other words, while physical
handicaps and age may make it
harder to find job now than dur
ing the war and while layoffs have
thrown some people on the relief
rolls, they have not resulted in a
sharp increase in general relief
cases.
The number of families seeking
aid for dependent children because
of illness of the wage Garner re-
mained fairly constant from Octo-
Der, 1915, to June, 1916. The number
of wage earners lost by death or
desertion, however, has been rising
steadily. From October to Decem-
ber, 1945, 10 families sought aid be-
cause the wage Garner was gone.
From April to June, 1916, so FAM
lilies sought help for that reason.
Some Appeals Decrease.
The discontinuance of family al
lowances from men in the armed
forces was felt by only six families
last fall In the spring, however.
18 more families felt the pinch. On
the other hand, appeals for aid due
to layoffs have steadily decreased.
Because the charts were Begin
ming to show that more mothers and
children would be in need of help.
the Welfare Department estimated
that $40 families would be drawing
aid for dependent children during
the l947 fiscal year as compared
with an average of 685 in the previ-
GUS fiscal year.
| Last month, however, 901 FAM
lilies were getting this aid and Mr.
Huff estimated that the average he
had expected for the year would be
reached by December. This means
that from next January to June. all
increases will be beyond the esti-
mate and the Welfare Department
will have to draw on the 100000
surplus which it had hoped to use
to increase grants to individual
families.
Record High Expected.
In the 1948 budget estimates. the
Welfare Department figures that
l 1865 families will be on the aid to
dependent children rolls-or more
than 2,0L0 over the all-time high.
Mr.. Huff cited the following
cases as typical of the families now
receiving children'S aid:
A 25-year-old mother of four
children applied for aid when her
26-year-old husband was discharged
from the armed forces but failed to
come home. She had worked for
awhile but was finally dismissed
because she lost too much time
from work to take care Of her chill
dren, one of whom is i'll.
A common-law husband deserted
mother of three children, leaving
a lot of unpaid bills and a note
saying he was sorry he had to
leave.
Veteran Leaves Family.
A 21-year-old veteran left his
wife and two children shortly after
his discharge from the Navy last
November. The young wife was
expecting another child when she
applied for aid. She said her hus-
band had asked her for a divorce
but she refused because she was a
Catholic.
A mother had been supporting her
two children until the doctor in
sisted her health would not permit
her to continue working. The 30
year -old father has been in sana-
torium for two years.
Two young sisters-one with three
children, the other with baby
both are separated from their
husbands and live with their moth
er. The mother took care of both
sets of children while the sisters
worked. Now, however, the mother
is i'll and sisters have lost their
jobs.
Last month, the District paid
$65,891 in aid to dependent chill
dren grants as compared with
42,437 in September, 1945.
Church Plans Turkey Supper
The ST Marks Church Eairland