Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1955-09-29

land for such a purpose "as a
menace to the public health"
Finally the committee gave up
the idea entirely and returned the
to- the state. The Leagues
function of fund raising was
turned over to the 1'B Associa-
ton which it helped establish at
that time.
By the early 1905, its visit
ing nurse program was taken
over by the Health Department,
newly organized under its super
vision. The Board of Education
at the same time assumed the
responsibility for physical exams
and the school nurse program.
The concern for children i'm
the county jails had led the
League to urge the develop
ment of separate facilities for
board and incarceration. This
in turn had resulted i'm the
Leagues promotion of a Juven.
lie Court. The State bill set
ting up such courts on a vol
untary basis established Mont
gOmery County as the leader
in this field. Judge Edward
Peters was the first presiding
judge, followed later by his
brother Robert.
The first probationary service
was initiated by the League which
stated the project during the
1920's. In 1885, Miss Ruth A.
Bolton who served as Executive
Secretary for the League for
more than 16 years, recommend
ed that the Juvenile Court en-
ploy its own probationary Off
GERS. This followed a four year
demonstration by the League of
the effectiveness of training Soc
ial workers for this task.
The court followed Miss Boil
TONS recommendations in 1886 al
though the League continued to
help with the supervision for a
while longer.
In the story of the develop
ment of the professional staff,
the next step was taken under
DR.. Birds leadership. He hired
the first qualified Executive Sec
rotary, social worker. AS the
conviction of the importance of
case workers trained in Social
Welfare grew, SO did the staff.
There was a constant evalua-
ton and refocusing of the serv-
ices needed in the community. A
seminar was begun by the social
workers to study the work of
Mary Richmond of Baltimore one
of the national pioneers in Fam.
lily Service.
The league joined the Family
Welfare Society, now known as
the Family Service Association
of America. This is a national
organization of similar agencies
set up to help find relatives, etc
in other states, to compare notes
and family needs throughout the
country.
BY 1880, family case work
was recognized as the most i'm
pOrtant need and aid to the in
digent was increasingly felt to
be public responsibility by
governmental units. There was
IA gradual shifting of the func-
ton of the League from deter
mining eligibility for financial
assistance to IL more cOnstruc.
tive goal of helping families to
become independent.
1t was also recognized tina
when people are in serious trou
bic it requires a great deal o.
skill to be helpful. The stat
was required to have master:
degrees from accredited school!
of Social Welfare with intensive
training in psychology and psy
chiatry to understand personality
and human character and The
best way to help.
AS a result of the White House
Conference on Children in 1910
social thinking on child place
ment also changed. 1t was fell
that when a child needed a long
time guardianship it should bC
the responsibility of a public
agency rather than a private one
For one thing, it was a com
munity matter that should be
financed by taxation rather thar
voluntary contributions. For an
other, although this was not true
of Montgomery County, too of
ten the private agencies hac
broader police powers than were
thought necessary for the pro
lection Of the child. Too often
the same agency received com
plants, Investigated, prosecuted
and took custody of the child
This was not believed to be good
practice.
In Montgomery County, the
League under the jurisdiction OF
the Juvenile Court was the pro
tcctive agency for the county and
all county charges were i'm lis