Evening star., 1953-09-12
Coordination
Urged in Attack
On Delinquency
Welfare Council
Fuvors Joint Action
By Youth Agencies
By Miriam Ottenberq

BY Miriam Gutenberg
The new Welfare Advisory
Council, taking a cue from its
chairman and the welfare direc-
tor, favors the idea of a co-ordi-
mated attack on juvenile delin-
Quency under the leadership of
the Commissioners.
Without taking formal action,
the council members, at their
first session yesterday. individ-
ually expressed the view that all
the agencies dealing with chill
dren should be brought together.
When it was suggested that
the council should call the agen-
cies together, the newly elected
chairman. Edgar Morris, de-
clared:
Were new. How much in
f1uence would we have on the
Juvenile Court. the Board of Ed
ucation, the Recreation Board?
If I were mayor I'd call them
together. I think this is a job
for the Commissioners"
Agrees With Suggestion.
And Welfare Director Gerard
M. Shea told the council: 1--WE
are heartily in accord with the
suggestion that the Commits
sioners set up such a co-ordinat-
ing body"
Mr.. Shea emphasized, how
ever, that the very nature of
the problem is such that the
establishment of a -ordinating
group would not by itself relieve
the situation. unless the agencies
are provided with the resources
they all know are needed.
Earlier Commissioner Renah
F. Camalier asked the council to
look into the question of juve-
nile delinquency.
There must be a control
somewhere" he said, land feel
you can help in solving the prob
lem. Juvenile delinquency is one
of the greatest problems facing
the city"
The council decided to explore
the possibilities of a parental re-
sponsibility law, after George G.
Fleming, a council member, said
the council should think in terms
of what it could do to fix more
responsibility on the parents.
Urges Quick Action.
eff something isn't done by
some of us soon," Mr.. Fleming
warned, "we're not going to be
able to live in this town. Women
are being attacked on the streets,
and worse. I believe we should
get a law to bring in the par
ents and determine if they are
responsible or not"
Mr.. Fleming said he had in
mind a law under which the
parent would be warned the first
time his child was brought into
court and fined. thereafter.
He said he believes this would
serve as a deterrent.
Urging tangible moves to cope
with juvenile delinquency, Mr..
Fleming said that Congress
would give us more money if we
could show we have actually
started some machinery in
motion"
Mr.. Shea told the group the
protective services of the We'll
fare Departments child welfare
division had had considerable
success in working with families
to prevent delinquency. He re-
ported that out of 1,400 to 1900
cases handled by protective
services, only 200 children had to
be committed. But he pointed
out that each worker in protec-
tive services had to handle a case
load twice as large as that ap-
proved by the Children's Bureau.
Police Cooperate.
The welfare director told the
council he had received mag
niflcent cooperation" from the
Metropolitan Police Department
in trying to reduce the number of
children at the seriously over
crowded Receiving Home and in
an expressed willingness to help
work up a central registry on
juvenile delinquents.
Emphasizing that the ade-
quacy and effectiveness of the
total welfare program has an
important bearing on juvenile
delinquency, Mr.. Shea listed for
the councils consideration:
A program for the new Chill
dren's Center, the complete lack
of psychiatric services for chill
dren under Welfare Department
care; further study of families
receiving aid to dependent
children and methods of getting
more assistance to families from
deserting fathers.