Milford chronicle., 1959-02-20
Children's Bureau
Has Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of the
Board OF Directors of the Chill |
dren's Bureau OF Delaware was
held on Monday, February 16, 1859 |
at noon in the Washington Street |
with members of the staff as
guests of the Board for the meet |
ing. Mr.. Robert N. Downs. III, |
president, presided Among the
new members OF the Board elected |
for a three-year term was Mrs. NJ. |
Hayes Wilson, Jr., of Dover. Also +!
reelected to the Board for an
other term was Mrs. William K |
Patton OF Dover, former president !
OF the Bureau. The resignation of |
Mrs. n. Maxson Terry Of Dover as
a member of the Board was ac-
cepted with deep regret and with |
an expression OF appreciation for
her past services to the agency. |
Other members Of the Board from
Kent and Sussex Counties are Mrs.
Joseph 8. G. Mach Of Seaford. Mrs.
Otis Fl. Smith Of Lewes, and Mrs.
John o. Snyder OF Milford.
In the annual report to the
Board on the agency's services In
1868, Miss Elizabeth s. Townsend,
Executive Director, revealed that
81 children from Kent and Sussex
Counties were provided with care
i'm boarding and adoption homes
during the year. OF these 81 chill
dren, 32 were from Sussex County
and 29 from Kent County. The
Children's Bureau services are
statewide and available to FAM
lilies and children of any race and
religion. The Bureau is voluntarily
supported by contributions made
TO the United Community Fund of
Northern Delaware ana the Dover
United Community Fund. income
from perpetual trusts and end0w-
ment, and contributions from the
annual appeals in Kent and Sus-
sex Counties, as well as appropria-
tions from the Levy Courts, In
1858, the Bureau expended $780,
140.84 to provide services to 1858
children and their families; 293 of
these children were actually given
care. Services include temporary
boarding care for children who
must be provided with substitute
family living during a crisis in
their own family until they can
return home and adoption service
for children legally released by
their parents for permanent care.
OF the applications for place.
ment of 1873 children In 1858, "a of
these were for children from Kent
and Sussex Counties and 20 OF
these children actually came into
the agency's care during the year.
The report disclosed that the ma
jority of children now accepted
into care are new born infants
who will be legally released for
adaptive placement. This expand
ing adoption program is clearly in
dicated in the figures which show
that 30 children were placed with
adaptive parents during 1868 after
q brief period In temporary board
ing homes. Twenty-seven families
in Kent and Sussex Counties were
In the process of adopting children
through the Bureau I'm 1858, and of
these twelve received their child
during the year, and adoptions of
twelve children were completed
during the year.
The report made particular men,
tion of the continuing need of
Negro families to adopt children.
In 1858 only II Negro children
were placed for adoption as com
pared with 19 children in the pre-
vious year. Negro families inter-
ested In adopting a child were
urged to contact the agency about
this.
Since the Bureaus annual appeal
for funds in the two counties is not
officially ended an annual report
OF the campaign was not presented
at the meeting, however, it was
reported that receipts TO date from
the two county appeals are as fol-
lows: Kent County, $76O.50 and
Sussex County, $2.160.50. The goal
for the campaign was $3,500., so
contributions are still urgently
needed to realize the goal. Appre-
citation was expressed to those
who have contributed for their
support of the Bureaus services.