Evening star., 1952-02-12
Children Sleep in Hal
AT Receiving Home,
Filled Beyond Limits

The city's "uncompleted" Re-
ceiving Home for juvenile delin-
quents was overcrowded last night,
and the situation is bound to re-
peat itself with increasing fire.
quency in the future.
There were more than rs chill
dren at the home last night. al
though the institutions "over-
strained capacity" is SO children.
The homes problem is typical
of many District institutions-too
much business and not enough
money.
Mattresses in Railways. y
Mattresses were thrown down
in Railways to accommodate the
overflow. Each child got one sheet
and two blankets. The hall ac-
commodations were in addition to
already overcrowded rooms. where
six boys sleep in rooms designed
for three. Permanent quarters for
girls have been provided in rooms
designed as offices for a planned
classification center. No funds
were voted for the center, however.
The Receiving Home takes care
of children under 18 who are
awaiting Juvenile Court action.
who are material witnesses in
court cases, or who have fed
Board of Public Welfare institu-
ltionS.
In the words of William Stone,
superintendent, nearly all are
children with personality prob
lens"
"What the public doesn't real
ize is that many of these chill
dren" are II years and IL months
old-youths who have been ar
rested for such things as armed
robbery, rape and murder" he
said.
Custodian Overpowered.
The retention Of this type OF
person requires strict custodial
supervision; yet there are not
enough custodians to give ade-
uuate service. Last Friday night.
two Of the elder boys overpowered
a custodian after, flooding q
shower room. One escaped.
But because the law specifies
that children "are persons Is years
old or under" the younger child
must mix with the more sophisti-
Gated lawbreaker, while both are
awaiting disciplinary action.
Last year. this problem was
modified, SO far as contact dur
ing. the day was concerned. After
a second request to Congress, a
position of teacher er-recreation di-
rector was authorized. This
teacher takes the younger boys
and teaches them half day and
supervises their games the other
half. However, officials cannot al.
low him to take the older boys
outside for recreational purposes.
since they have been unable to
obtain permission or funds to erect
a better restraining fence around
the property.
The homes problem has been
alleviated somewhat in another
direction. too. Last summer. some
youths waited at the home as long
as three months before their cases
came up in Juvenile Court.
waiting Time Reduced.
Now, the waiting time has been
reduced, although d spot check
yesterday showed that 6 of 81
boys had been waiting more than
a month for court action. The
longest had been in waiting
status for 46 days; another had
been there a days.
However, Mr.. Stone pointed out,
|overcrowded conditions are occur
ring with more frequency as the
|city's population grows. About two
thirds of the homes average occu-
|pancy is made up of colored chill
|dren.
Originally. the home. in the 1000
block Of Mount Oliyet road NE.
was to have a second wing and al
second story on the one wing now
built. However, when construction
actually started about four years
ago, there were insufficient funds
to complete the project. The home
is now about three -fifths complete.
according to the master plan.
The problem Of the occasional
overcrowding is now under study
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