Full text of The ABC of Foster-Family Care for Children, Bureau Publication No. 216

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
F R A N C E S P E R K IN S , S e cre ta ry
C H IL D R E N ’ S B U R E A U

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F O S T E R -F A M IL Y CARE
FOR C H IL D R E N

U N IT E D S T A T E S
G O V E R N M E N T P R I N T I N G O F F IC E
W A S H I N G T O N : 1936

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For sale b y th e Superintendent o f D ocum ents, W ashington, D . C-

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Price 10 cents

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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

U. S. D epartment of L abor,
C hildren’ s B ureau,

Washington, February 15, 1936.
M adam : The A B C of Foster-Family Care for Children, first

issued by the Children’s Bureau in 1933, is now reissued with revised
suggestions for further reading. The pamphlet was originally pub
lished in 1929 by the bureau of children of the Pennsylvania De
partment of Welfare, which acknowledged the assistance o f the childwelfare division of the Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania
in assembling a State-wide committee to sponsor the project and in
securing Blanche J. Paget to write the bulletin.
In the introduction to the bulletin as originally issued, the late
J. Prentice Murphy, then executive secretary of the Children’s Bu
reau of Philadelphia and chairman of the sponsoring committee, said
that the “ handbook is intended for the use of all who receive for care
children who can not remain with their own families, and as a special
aid to those engaged in placing children in foster-family homes.
Many institutions do more or less of such placement; all o f them
receive children under the same conditions as do child-placing
agencies. It is hoped that this outline o f principles and practice
may prove useful to officials of children’s homes, poor-law officials,
and others who place children incidentally, as well as to the repre
sentatives of child-placing societies. The aim has been to adapt it
to the needs of agencies depending wholly or in part on untrained
and volunteer service.”
The fact that the use o f foster homes as a method of caring for
dependent children who must be removed from their homes greatly
increased during the depression made the publication o f this bulletin
by the Children’s Bureau especially timely. Its publication by the
Bureau with such minor changes as were necessary to adapt it for
Nation-wide use was approved by the author, the Department of
Welfare, and the Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania. A
continuing demand has caused the present reissue.
Respectfully submitted.
K atharine F. L enroot, Chief.

Hon. F rances P erkins ,
Secretary o f Labor.

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T H E A B C O F F O S T E R -F A M IL Y C A R E
F O R C H IL D R E N

FUNDAMENTALS
LABELS

The law classifies children who come under its protection. One
whose family can not support him or who has lost his family is
“ dependent.” I f his parents willfully fail to provide for him or
treat him cruelly, he is “ neglected.” I f in response to a bad situation
he rebels or breaks some law, he is “ delinquent.” In reality these
classifications are vague and overlapping. As definitions they are both
inaccurate and dangerous. Labels have a way o f sticking, and i f there
is one thing that needs emphasis more than another it is that situa
tions and persons are too complex to be readily explained or precisely
classified. There is a common impression that the majority of de
pendent children are orphans, but at present the full orphan is rare
in social work. The foundling with no known relatives is equally
unusual, and cases o f abandonment by parents of children not
already in the care o f some agency are not common. Parents so
immoral or incompetent that they should under no circumstances
care for their children are the exception. Nor would the unmarried
mother swell very largely the number o f dependent children if she
could always obtain adequate support for her child without parting
with him.
A n inspection o f applications made to almost any children’s
agency would show a number of children who must be provided for
temporarily, and a few for whom provision must be permanent
because of the physical or mental disability o f parents. Many
applications would be the result o f poverty, usually complicated
by sickness and unemployment. A surprising number would be the
direct or indirect outcome o f the separation of parents or of the
desertion of one parent.
KEEP THE CHILD IN HIS HOME

Child-welfare work should begin with the assumption that the
home is the basis of the social fabric and the right and natural set
ting for any child. Efforts to aid children which ignore this are
unsound and are not true expressions of child-welfare work. The
preservation o f the child’s own home should be the first aim. It is
better to prevent an orphan than to care for one. Efforts to prolong
life through improvement of health and prevention o f accidents are
more fundamental than the provision o f insurance benefits or public
assistance, such as aid to children deprived of parental care. The
recognition that any reasonably good mother is the best and most
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TH E A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

economical caretaker o f her children marks an immense advance over
the orphanage.
Among the problems that still press for solution are better mar
riage laws, education for parenthood, and other measures tending to
increase the stability of family life. On the economic side, efforts
to lessen unemployment, to raise the level o f wages, and to improve
living conditions must be recognized as more vital to the children of
the future than any amount of provision for the care of children
away from their own homes.
For the children of the present the first lines of defense are the
family or children’s agency, which maintains the home; the mentalhealth clinic, which helps to adjust the child in his home; the hos
pital, which returns the worker to his job; the special agencies and
the courts, which straighten out conduct difficulties in the home.
The child-placing agency should see itself in the light of a reserve
to be called upon when all else fails. Separation o f a child from
his family should be a last resort. But if families are not to be
broken up unnecessarily, there must be close working relationships
between child-caring agencies and the public and private organi
zations which aim to protect the home from disaster. The condition
so often found where more funds are available for child care than
for help to the home must be met and overcome. The mother who
hesitates to accept relief to enable her to keep her home together
must be educated to see that it is far more self-respecting to do so
than to be willing to part with her children. Agencies must learn to
recognize those qualities which, even in a poor home, may transcend
any artificial substitute.
WHEN FOSTER CARE IS REQUIRED

In spite o f every effort to preserve the home a certain number of
children must be cared for away from their own families. Once
it was deemed enough if these unfortunates were kept alive and saved
from the worst forms of suffering. Now people are beginning to see
that true child welfare means the provision, for every such child,
o f those things which his own home should have given him.
Let us make that abstraction, the “ dependent child,” concrete by
imagining that by some not incredible freak o f fortune he is your
child or mine, and then ask ourselves what is the least we should
demand for him. That “ least ” which he would need is just what
every child needs, as much for the good o f society as for that of the
individual concerned. It is true that in many families which should
be kept intact not all those advantages which are every child’s right
can be secured for the children, but these lacks may be overbalanced
by certain intangible spiritual qualities to be found only in a child’s
own home. When children must be deprived of these values certainly
those m i n i m u m essentials which every child should have should be
sought for them in whatever homes are substituted for their own.
WHAT EVERY CHILD SHOULD HAVE

1.
Security.—A feeling of stability, and o f belonging and counting
for something in other lives.

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FIRST STEPS

. 2. Fam ity life.—A chance to live in a normal family group o f
differing ages without being crushed by numbers; to develop mutual
attachments and a sense o f responsibility for others and for the work
o f running a household.
3. Sufficient nutritious food.—This should be simple, well pre
pared, and adapted to the age o f the child. It should be served at
regular hours, amid attractive surroundings, and eaten at leisure in
a cheerful atmosphere.
4. Adequate shelter.—A clean, light, well-ventilated, well-kept
home, properly heated in winter, with sanitary toilet facilities. The
child should have a separate bed and a place in which to keep private
possessions and to entertain friends.
5. Comfortable clothing.— Clean, whole, attractive garments that
fit and that are individually owned; sufficient changes for cleanli
ness; adequate protection against inclement weather.
6. Health habits.—Individual toilet articles; frequent baths;
proper care o f teeth; regular bedtime and plenty o f sleep; abundance
o f fresh air and o f pure drinking water; several hours o f outdoor
play each day; definite teaching of health rules and o f wholesome,
happy, courageous attitudes; sensible instruction in sex matters7. Educational essentials.—Attendance at a community school o f
good standards as long as the law requires, and as much longer as
the child’s capacities warrant. Development o f each child’s fullest
capacities through high-school, commercial, or trade-school training
in line with special abilities.
8. Recreation.—A safe, clean, roomy place for outdoor and indoor
play; suitable play material and tools; sympathetic supervision.
9. Community life.—A part in community group activities and
festivities; opportunity to make friends in natural ways through
entertaining and being entertained; normal neighborhood contacts
and wholesome association with persons o f the opposite sex.
10. Moral and religious training.—Positive teaching of standards
o f right and wrong aside from measures o f discipline; daily contact
with adults o f sound character and inspiring personality; attendance
at religious services o f the type preferred for each individual case.
To give these things to every child received under care may seem
like a large order. But the task is simple compared to dealing with
the adult incompetency and delinquency which result in a large
number o f cases from failure to do so. It is not too much to say
that the child-caring group which is unable to assure these character
and health building essentials to the children it receives into its care
had better withdraw from the field or limit its activities to fewer
children.
FIRST STEPS
WHO SHOULD SIFT THE APPLICATIONS

The interviewing of applicants should be done by one o f the most
experienced and capable individuals connected with the organization,
not, as is often the case, by the least competent person. A first inter
view should be somewhat like the preliminary examination o f a good
physician. It should be light and gentle and only thorough enough
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TH E A B 0 OE FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

to determine whether the seeker has come into the right hands or
needs the services of another sort of specialist. I f it becomes clear
that some other organization can help the family best, the question
ing should end, but there should be no careless and hasty shifting of
responsibility. To send a poor mother trudging from place to place
in search of aid is cruel, and it is also a waste of valuable time for
all concerned.
The decision as to whether a child needs to be removed from his
own home should be made by someone with broad experience and
training in dealing with social problems. Organized volunteer
groups or public-welfare boards providing services for children but
having no specialized staff should not undertake the care o f children
away from their own homes unless the groups are affiliated with a
State or county department or a well-organized private agency that
can provide expert assistance and consultation on case problems.
With expanding programs of State and local public services for
children, such assistance should be possible even in small communities.
I f an agency has no qualified staff, a committee headed by the mem
ber of the board who combines with human sympathy and insight the
widest knowledge o f modem methods of child welfare will be found
o f great help in deciding on the reception of children. She should
build up a group o f persons willing to give time and thought to each
individual problem as it arises, until such time as it is possible to
secure trained service.
Responsibility for the care of a child is a serious business, not to
be assumed lightly or carelessly. The place to avoid mistakes is at
the start. It is easier to keep a home together than to reconstruct it.
Temporary care to tide over a supposed crisis is too apt to prove
permanent: the emergency becomes chronic, as maladies have a way
o f doing when not properly treated. For an agency to accept a child
merely because some one asks it to is as illogical and as likely to lead
to bad results as if a physician were to let a patient make his own
diagnosis and prescribe for himself. Were a major operation in
volved, this would be regarded as criminal. Removing a child from
his home is a major operation. Only those should undertake it who
are better qualified to judge the need than is the suffering family.
The decision should rest, not on what the applicants say they need,
but on what the facts show.
Each application must be judged on its own merits, but experience
has shown that there are certain typical situations in which foster
care is unnecessary and even harmful. In certain other situations,
such care is almost inevitable.

CHILDREN WHO SHOULD NOT BE REMOVED FROM THEIR HOMES

1.
Children eligible fo r long-time public assistance or entitled to
insurance benefits.—Public assistance or insurance that will make it
possible to keep children in their own homes should always be drawn
upon before private funds are used. The groups o f dependent
children eligible for long-time care from public funds vary in dif
ferent States. The legislation in a number of States, however, con
forms with the requirements of the Social Security Act, which in
cludes any dependent child deprived o f parental support or care by

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FIRST STEPS

reason o f death, continued absence from the home, or physical or
mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living with his father,
mother, grandparent, brother, sister, stepparent, uncle, or aunt.
2. Children who are fatherless or motherless and fo r whom only
temporary care may he needed should be provided for in their own
homes whenever possible. In many cases financial assistance will
enable a mother to carry on alone. The father who has the entire
responsibility for the care o f the children, even though his income is
fair, is frequently in need of assistance in financing and arranging
for housekeeping service. A few of the more progressive agencies
have recognized the desirability of providing housekeeping service
rather than removing children during the temporary absence o f the
mother. Courts, public welfare officials, and private agencies must
be brought to accept the principle that no child should be separated
from his parents or from a surviving parent because of poverty alone.
3. Children whose fathers are abusive or will not support them but
who have good mothers should be protected by court action. The
punishment should fall on the offending fathers. I f a home is
broken up, it is the mother and children who suffer.
4. Children o f parents who wish to separate hut who give their
children good care.— Such parents should not be encouraged to sep
arate by an agency’s easy acceptance o f the children. Many a
tottering home would be preserved if the parents could find no way
o f escaping their joint responsibilities.
5. Chilaren o f divorced parents, one o f whom wishes to remarry.—
¡Children are quite frequently placed with the frank admission that
a present or prospective stepparent objects to their presence in the
home. These parents should find that society does not countenance
such easy shirking of parental duties.
6. Children whose relatives ca/n care fo r them too often are ac
cepted by an agency without due inquiry into family circumstances.
F or children horn out o f wedlock no rules can be laid down except
the general one that, with encouragement and help, mother love often
triumphs over great obstacles; that nothing should be done in haste
and without knowledge of all the facts; and that lack of support
should never be allowed to separate mother and child.

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CHILDREN WHO NEED FOSTER CARE

1. Orphans with no relatives able to care for them.
2. Foundlings with no known relatives.
3.
Children abandoned by parents who are known but can not be
traced.
4.
Children who have no parents in the home able to give care.—
When neither parent is able, because of illness or incapacity, to
maintain a home, it is necessary to provide care for the children.
Tuberculosis and mental trouble frequently cause this situation.
Whenever there is hope o f reconstructing the home, care should be
taken to emphasize the temporary nature of the separation.
5.
Children removed from unfit homes hy court action.—These
children must usually pass into the care o f some organization, but
their acceptance involves an obligation to see that everything pos
sible is done to fit the home for their return.

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6. Children lorn out o f wedlock.—Physical or mental unfitness of
the mother to care for her child, extreme youth of the mother, and
various other factors may warrant separation.
7. Children with certain serious health problems are sometimes
benefited by a period of foster care in a favorable environment. This
is true particularly of pretuberculous children and heart cases.
8. Children presenting special mental, conduct, or habit problems
with which their parents ha/oe proved unable to deal.—Many such
children are being successfully treated in carefully chosen foster
homes. Treatment should be accompanied by careful study of each
individual case.
WHAT MUST BE KNOWN BEFORE DECISIONS ARE MADE

Even when applications are rejected or referred elsewhere, the
following information is necessary for identification and should be
filed for future reference:
1. Date of application.
2. Surname of child, with cross reference in cases of later mar
riages of parents.
3. First names of parents, maiden name of mother, ages of parents,
their color, religion, marital status (single, married, widowed, or
divorced).
4 Addresses of parents*
5. Names of children in order of age, birth dates, whereabouts if
not with parents. Check names o f children for whom care has been
requested.
This is enough to identify the family. More is needed to serve as
a basis for intelligent judgment, as, for instance—
6. Occupation and approximate earnings of wage earners in the
family, especially when poverty is pleaded.
7. Other persons in the household and their contribution.
8. Reason for requesting care and length of time the trouble has
existed.
.
,
9. I f there is illness or physical disability, what medical care has
been given.
10. What help the family has already had.
11. What near relatives there are, including married children.
12. What relatives, if any, have helped or have been asked to help.
NECESSARY COOPERATION

B efore any action is taken inquiry regarding the family should be
made at the social-service exchange, if there is one. Where a number
o f agencies are functioning in different centers, an exchange organ
ized on a county basis is practical. In its absence every agency or
individual at all likely to be helping the family in question should
be consulted. People who do this for the first time are often amazed
at what they learn. The facts may be quite other than they are
represented. Some one may be carrying out on behalf of the family
a careful plan which would be destroyed by placing the children.
Or an organization which should be helping but has lagged may be
spurred to immediate action by knowledge that the parents are
trying to place the children. I f others are trying to aid the family

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TH E INQUIRY

any plan entered upon by the children’s agency should be a joint
one.
I f the fam ily should be kept together, but does need help, the first
thought must be for such immediate aid as may be necessary to tide
them over until a plan can be formulated. A family-welfare society,
churches, fraternal organizations, and clubs are the most likely
sources of emergency relief. In making a permanent arrangement
for the family all existing types of public assistance, including in
surance benefits, should be utilized first. I f funds from these sources
are unavailable or inadequate to meet the need, private sources of
help should be sought. Relief should be regular and adequate, and
the plan should provide for aid to be given without repeated solici
tation as long as the need continues. Health needs should receive
immediate attention. To give aid to individuals whose condition
demands medical care without making sure that they get it is ta
pour money into a sieve.
Unfortunately there is often a gap between theory and practice.
In many communities public assistance is still inadequate or poorly
organized. In such places there is likely to be no organized family
relief agency or, if there is one, its funds may be used only for
emergency aid. Churches, fraternal societies, and clubs are difficult
to hold to a sustained program. I f the trouble seems to be health,
there may be a hospital, clinic, or visiting nurse to meet the need—
or there may not be. The children’s agency or the institution has
received popular support and has long borne the brunt of family
misfortunes. The weight o f public opinion and support is unfor
tunately often in favor of its continuing to do so, in spite o f the
social and financial cost involved in the needless breaking up of
families.
The interested organizations can arrange for concerted action on
such family situations through case conferences of their representa
tives. Such a group might undertake also to work for more adequate
relief funds. Even when no other help seems at hand for a family,
it may be the duty of the enlightened children’s agency resolutely
to refuse admission to children who should remain at home, even
though it must itself provide the relief needed to keep the home to
gether. Later, perhaps other sources o f relief can be developed.
Tell the parents yov/r decision. “ Have you come for the children?
I been keepin’ ’em home from school all week thinkin’ you might
come any day,” said Mrs. Green to the agency visitor. No parent
need ever be left in such suspense. I f no help seems to be needed,
this should be explained. I f another organization is being asked to
visit, the family should know what to expect. I f it seems probable
that the children must be accepted, make no premature promises but
let the family understand that it will be necessary to consult some
references, see the children, and learn all about them in order to
know just what they need and to plan for them wisely.
THE INQUIRY
MORE THAN AN INTERVIEW NEEDED

More than a single interview is needed on which to decide, even
temporarily, the destiny o f a child. In dealing with human lives one
has no right to act blindly. It is a duty to find out as much as

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TH E A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

possible: First, to make sure that there is no possibility o f keeping
the child with his own people. In the second place, the child must
be known if his deeper needs are to be met. Thirdly, the facts about
him should be recorded. The child has the right, as an individual
rooted in the past, to have these facts preserved for the use o f those
caring for him and for his own later knowledge.
WHO SHOULD MAKE THE INQUIRY

This depends on local conditions. An adequately equipped chil
dren’s agency with experienced paid workers always prefers to make
its own inquiry. I f the staff o f the agency is limited or no paid
workers are employed, assistance in making investigations may be
obtained in some communities from social workers of other agencies.
This help might come from the case worker o f a family-welfare
agency or from the case worker of a public welfare department or of
the juvenile court. When the board members o f the children’s agency
must undertake the investigation, every effort should be made to do
this as thoroughly as would a professional worker.
Whoever makes the inquiry should have a reverence for family
ties and the knowledge that nothing has yet been discovered com
parable to the family as a place for the nurture o f children. The
apparent urgency o f the particular situation, the difficulties o f local
conditions, and the problems involved in the kind and length o f care
needed are but surface factors and must not be allowed to cause
panic and sudden decisions nor to hide the graver issues involved.
Situations are rarely so urgent that children need be received into
care before the facts listed m the following section are known.
WHAT FACTS ARE NEEDED

1. The fam ily history leading up to the crisis which prompted
the request for care.
2. The antecedents and early life o f parents—their ancestry,
childhood, chances for education, their hardships, work life, and
other items.
3. The financial circumstances of the family in detail—wages of
working members, property, savings, insurance, rent, and general
scale of expenditure, so that the need can be gauged accurately.
4. The standards o f living and the care given children must be
seen at first hand in the home.
5. The character o f the neighborhood should be noticed.
6. Church and Sunday-school attendance o f children and o f par
ents, the name o f the church and o f the pastor.
7. Personal history o f the child. Children have all had individ
ual experiences which have helped to mold them. Even small things
may have great significance.
8. School record and opinion o f teacher, mention o f special abili
ties and disabilities, interests, and companionship.
9. Health history o f the child and his family. The presence o f
infectious disease and the present physical and mental condition
o f the child.

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THE INQUIRY

10.
their
when
11.

Near relatives—their names, addresses, and circumstances,
willingness and ability to help, ascertained through visits
possible.
Legal 'points, which should be verified:
Birth dates o f children (through the division o f vital statis
tics o f the State department o f health, through local registrars
o f vital statistics, or through baptismal certificates, church
records, or other reliable sources).
Marriage o f parents (through marriage certificate, court
record in county in which marriage took place, or pastor’s
statement).
Death o f parents (through the division o f vital statistics of
the State department o f health or through the local registrar).
Legal settlement o f family.
WHERE AND HOW TO GET THE FACTS

Social agencies should be willing to share the information which
they possess, just as physicians do when they consult about the best
treatment for a patient. Consultation with other organizations
knowing a family should precede any extended inquiry. This will
save much time, useless questioning, and the following o f false
leads.
The applicant (usually the parent) should be encouraged to talk
freely by a sympathetic listener. Most parents approach the thresh
old o f a welfare agency with heavy hearts and have suffered acutely
before reaching the point at which they are ready to part with their
children. Some come with a defensive attitude or a ready-made story
which they soon forget if they feel that they have found a real friend.
Others, and they are often the best, find it anything but easy to tell
their troubles to a stranger. I f the initial facts seem to show a real
need for care, there may be no more propitious time for a satisfactory
talk than at the moment of the request. The conference should be
unhurried, the questioning tactful, the interview private. It is espe
cially unwise to have children present, a fact which mothers seldom
realize.
The child who is to be taken under care is the person most con
cerned. I f he is old enough to realize what is in the wind, he is old
enough to have feelings and opinions about the situation, and he
should be given a chance to express them. A t least, some explanation
is due him before he is transplanted to a strange environment. The
cheerful side of things should be stressed to him, and high tragedy
should be avoided.
Relatives and references.—In visiting references it is well to keep in
mind that the quality o f the interviews counts far more than the num
ber of persons seen. A friendly smile and a frank, businesslike ex
planation quickly win confidence. The agency visitor should go not
as a spy but as a friend o f the family, with an air o f leisure but with
a clear idea of what information is wanted. One can get the opinion
o f the person he is seeing without expressing his own. The visitor
need not doubt his right to ask questions, but he can ask them consid
erately, with an open mind and an impartial attitude. A visit to
one relative may give a complete picture o f the family, but if it is
necessary to see ten, the welfare o f one child is worth the trouble.

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Care should be taken in seeing neighbors ; but neighbors who are in
telligent and kindly disposed may prove a valuable source o f infor
mation, suggestion, and aid, especially in small towns and rural
communities.
Physicians, ministers, lawyers, and teachers who know the family
are all valuable sources of information. Employers may prove help
ful, but it is well to be cautious about seeing present employers lest
the fact that aid has been suggested create a prejudice against the
employee.
The inquiry should be entirely matter-of-fact and aboveboard.
There should be nothing surreptitious about it. The family should
be told that references must be consulted. Except where deception
has been practiced or there is evidence of neglect and abuse o f the
children, any wishes expressed by the family should be respected.
Great care should be taken not to violate confidences nor to stir up
trouble. No promises should be made, or even implied, which can
not be fulfilled.
WHAT MUST BE RECORDED

Recording accurately the information obtained, while it is still
fresh in mind, is quite as important as gathering it. Human mem
ory is prone to error, and the personnel o f agencies constantly
changes. The future welfare o f the children and the protection of
the agency itself demand that all pertinent facts be set down as
clearly and completely as possible. It is better to record something
irrelevant than to miss something that may prove highly important
later. For purposes o f accuracy it is well to take down names,
addresses, and dates during the interview, though it should be done
unobtrusively so as not to distract attention. The distinction be
tween proved facts and mere impressions should be clear. The
source of all information should be given.
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE NEXT

When all the facts that can be learned are at hand a social
diagnosis o f the trouble should be made and the best treatment
decided upon. I f the care needed seems to be more than temporary
or there is any possible alternative to foster care, it is far wiser to
have a group consider the case. I f the family has been under the care
of other organizations, their representatives should of course be
brought into this conference or their opinions obtained beforehand.
A tentative plan, put down in black and white, stating the ap
parent needs o f the child and the family, what remedy is proposed,
and the final end in view, is wonderfully helpful and clarifying.
THE FOSTER HOME
THE LEAST THAT SHOULD BE EXPECTED

1. A dependable income sufficient to provide a comfortable living.
2. Housing that provides light, heat, ventilation, sanitation, and
adequate room for the family.
3. Home-making—cleanliness, order, proper preparation of food,
and homelike surroundings.

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TH E FOSTER HOME

Health all members o f the household free fr o m communicable
disease or any defect that could affect a child adversely.
5. Neighborhood—healthful with satisfactory sanitary conditions
and outdoor play space. Good neighborhood influences for older
children. Home near church and school and reasonably accessible.
6. Education and intelligence—no stated amount of education re
quired, but native intelligence and good sense vital.
7. Moral standards—uprightness in business and personal rela
tion13 imperative. Dependability in living up to agreements and
reliability in carrying out directions.
8. Religious training—participation in church activities as well
as church attendance desirable. A favorable attitude toward re
ligious training for the child in accordance with the faith o f his
parents is essential.
9. Atm osphere— foster parents sympathetic, cheerful, and able to
understand child nature and needs; harmonious in their own rela
tions; successful with their own children, if they have any.
10. M otive for taking a child should be acceptable to the agency;
it should not be self-interest.
TYPES OF FOSTER HOMES

There are four well-defined kinds o f foster-family care; namely,
boarding homes, free homes, adoption homes, and wage homes. In
the boarding home the foster parents are paid for their services—
and by service is meant not merely food and shelter, but such per
sonal care and training as a child should receive in his own home.
In the free home exactly the same care is given without money
compensation to the foster parents. A n adoption home is a free home
accepted with the understanding that if the situation proves satis
factory the child will be adopted. In case of adoption the foster
parents assume all the legal and social obligations and privileges
o f actual parents. In the wage home the child is on the same footing
as in the free home; that is, he should be a member o f the family,
not a servant, although he is paid for definite work performed;
under changed industrial and social conditions it has become in
creasingly difficult to find this type of home.
For children in boarding, free, and wage homes the placing agency,
whether or not legal custody has been given, stands in the position
of guardian and protector of the child and retains the privilege of
supervision and removal. After the completion o f adoption pro
ceedings, the agency no longer has any such privileges.
Advantages.

THE BOARDING HOME

More extended use should be made of boarding homes. In some
localities there is a tendency to regard the foster parents who accept
pay for their services as grasping and actuated solely by money
considerations. The fear that the children may be exploited is a
wholesome one, but in the case of the properly safeguarded boarding
home it is quite as ungrounded as in that o f the carefully selected free
home. Food, shelter, and oversight are bought as a matter o f course
for children m institutions, and one never thinks o f the members o f
the staff as “ mercenary ” because they are paid. Nor does anyone
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TH E A B C OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOB CHILDREN

suppose for an instant that the paid social worker is any less conse
crated to her task than the volunteer.
The contribution made by foster parents of the right sort far outweighs any money compensation, but so far as money can reward them
they are as fairly entitled to a wage as a visitor or the executive of
an agency. In fact, while the agency may guide, it is the foster
parents who pull the load. The time is past to depend wholly on
the home that can volunteer its services.
Where the boarding home has fallen into discredit it has done
so because o f careless and inexpert selection, poor supervision, too
low a rate o f board, and failure to protect the foster family and
child through good medical service. The compensated private home
is capable of absorbing a number o f children once thought unplaceable. This is not to say that the free home need be ruled out. Many
children and even certain types of handicapped children are being
successfully treated in free homes by agencies of high type. But
the sphere of the boarding home can be greatly enlarged with profit
to all concerned, especially for certain types of children who in the
past have suffered from unwise placements in free homes. The
agency ready to pay adequately for necessary care has a greater
range o f choice in its selection of homes, is less limited as to the types
o f children it can serve, and is altogether more flexible than the
agency wholly dependent upon free homes.
Children for whom board should be paid.

1. V ery young children^ whether they are later to be returned
to their own people or to be permanently placed. A foster mother
can scarcely be expected to spend her strength without compensation
on a child whom she must finally give up, but children should not be
taken permanently by foster parents until it is quite certain that
development will be normal. The best home for a baby is not always
best as the child grows older. A woman who makes an excellent
nurse may not be able to cope with older children. The baby home
should be exceptional from the standpoint of health, and it should
have a quiet, kindly atmosphere, but such factors as education and
neighborhood influences are less important than for an older child.
The effect of the temporary foster home on the baby’s parents may
need to be considered, especially in the case of unmarried mothers.
2. Motherless children whose father should retain control arid
responsibility.—Even if a father can not personally care for his chil
dren, he should not relinquish his rights and responsibilities and let
someone else support them.
3. Children whose history indicates possible physical or mental
defect.—Letting foster families regard such children as their own
has often led to heartbreaking disappointments. . Such children
should remain unconscious of their status, but it should be clear to
the foster parents, and too close identification with the family
should be avoided.
#
_ .
4. Children with obvious physical or mental defects.— 'Cripples
and children who have heart affections, who are predisposed to
tuberculosis, or who have venereal infections need a kind of care
which should be well compensated. Very young children who are
deaf, blind, epileptic, or high-grade feeble-minded may be far better

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THE FOSTER HOME

off in a private home than in an institution until they are old enough
to benefit by institutional care.
5. Normal children who present special conduct or habit prob
lems.—These are usually the older children, but the selection of a
wage home, too generally used for this group, is a great mistake for
any child whose troublesome habits more than offset any service he
can render. The bed wetter, the child who offers a sex problem,
who has temper tantrums, or who has formed the habit of petty theft
or of running away should be regarded as a patient to be cured
before being expected to hold his own in the world. He needs even
more intelligent and painstaking treatment than the child who is
physically ill. Problem children should be kept busy, but their work
should be part of the process of fitting them for a useful, normal
life. The foster parents who are to succeed with them must have
unusual insight, patience, and skill; but such homes are by no means
so uncommon as might be supposed. They can be found, just as
nurses can be found who are able and willing to tackle any physical
problem, no matter how hard or repulsive it may seem; but such
expert service must usually be paid for.
6. Children who need temporary care.— There are some real emer
gencies in which instant care must be given temporarily, but these
are extremely rare. (See p. 15.)
Where to get the money.

The first thought should be of parents who for their own good
should be held to their responsibilities to just the extent that they
are able to meet them. This should not be a matter of guesswork
but should be based on a careful study of the facts. When public
resources are available they should be utilized in all proper cases.
Dependent children usually are recognized as a proper charge on the
public treasury. Private funds may be used to supplement inade
quate public aid and to care for any case for which public aid can
not be obtained.
How much should be paid? This will vary with the locality. The
board for children must be graded according to the difficulties of the
case, and rates for emergency care or short-time care should be
higher than those for long periods. Even a high rate may prove
a great economy in the long run.
THE FREE HOME AND THE ADOPTION HOME

Quality of the home.

The status o f the child in a free home should be that of an own
child. People who receive no money compensation inevitably expect
a return in control of and affection from the child. The free
home, therefore, becomes a preliminary to adoption or a relationship
similar to adoption but lacking legal sanction because of the age
o f the child, possible claim by some relative, or some other element
o f uncertainty.
Safeguards should be thrown around children in free homes to
prevent overwork, failure to be treated as a member of the family,
and interference by relatives.
It is best that children in free homes be wards o f the agency
placing them.

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THE A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

The adoption home should be far more than “ good enough.” It
holds the fate o f a child. It should measure above the minimum that
may be accepted in homes providing only temporary care. The
agency must in time withdraw its protection, so the foster parents
must be intelligent and responsible enough to carry on without over
sight. The home should fit the child, not offering something beyond
his capacities, yet representing the best to which he can reach, with
surroundings under which he can grow to advantage. The spiritual
qualities of the home are more important than mere material advan
tages. Children for adoption should be drawn from the same groups
as for free-home placement, but with added restrictions to be detailed
later. (This subject is more fully treated in the section on adoption.
See p. 34.)
Children for whom placement in adoption homes is questionable.

1. Foundlings.—When nothing is known as to the child’s heritage,
neither adoption nor free placement should be considered until the
child has been examined for possible physical or mental abnormali
ties. (See p. 36.)
2. Abandoned children.—Much is often learned as to the back
ground of abandoned children, hence the risk is not so great as in
the case of foundlings. Free placement, if the child is normal, is
sometimes preferable to adoption, however, because o f the possibility
of future claims on the part of relatives.
3. Children removed from unfit parents by court action should
not be rushed into free homes. The parents should have every pos
sible chance before their final separation from the children is
effected. I f the separation does become final, it should then be
complete.
4. Children whose parents are both incapacitated permanently (an
insane mother and a crippled father would constitute such a situ
ation) and who are without relatives to care for them can be cared
for in free homes. Anything so final as adoption is not usually
advisable.
5. Orphans may be placed in adoption homes or, if they are un
suitable for adoption, free homes may be best for them.
THE WAGE HOME

Except when the work is used as vacation occupation for older
children who are still in school, the wage home should represent an
opportunity for training and the acquisition of real skill. Domes
tic service for the girl and farm work for the boy may be nothing
but “ blind-alley” jobs. On the other hand, they may provide
preparation for life or the beginning of a career. This depends on
what kind o f home is chosen and how it fits the aptitudes o f the
particular child. Wage homes should be selected with quite as
much care as those for younger children.
The arrangements with foster parents should be businesslike—it
is well to have a written agreement—but the child’s welfare and
happiness should take precedence over mere support, and the agency
should maintain the same friendly concern and supervision as in
other forms o f placement. Children placed in wage homes should
have reached the limit o f what school can do for them. They

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TEMPORARY CARE

should be strong, capable, and old enough to do what is expected of
them without injury.
Requiring children to earn all or the greater part of their main
tenance while still in school in order to obtain higher education is
a practice that calls for many safeguards. Generally it should be
discouraged for children under 16 years of age or before entrance
into high school. Even with older children, unless both foster home
and child are exceptional, harm or failure may result.
On the other hand, it is very desirable even in free or boarding
homes that children should be given a chance early in life to earn
money at useful tasks suited to their strength. This money should
pass through the child’s own hands in order that he may learn its
value. It should be applied to something more tangible and satis
fying to him than reduction of the amount paid for board. He
should be taught how to save and how to spend wisely for useful
and cultural things. Foster parents, of course, should not be ex
pected to pay a child for his share of the routine household chores
such as would be performed as a matter of course by their own
children. They should try to offer special tasks which the child may
perform of his own free will in order to earn something.
TEMPORARY CARE
WHAT IS AN EMERGENCY?

Numerous receiving homes are maintained throughout the country
by foster-care societies, juvenile courts, and county and other agen
cies. Most of them were established for the excellent purpose of
keeping children out of almshouses and jails. Yet many are not
much better than the things they replace. “ But what shall we do in
an emergency ? ” exclaimed the perplexed board member when her
proposal to open a wtemporary shelter ” was blocked by the very
person who had been vigorously protesting against sending children
to the almshouse.
Real emergencies requiring immediate removal of the children
are extremely rare. In most cases in which this is done the children
concerned would suffer less harm if left in the situation in which
they were found, or with kindly neighbors, until all the facts could
be learned and a plan formulated. Then it frequently will be found
that they need not be taken at all. Family situations often need
first aid on the spot, but seldom the clanging ambulance and the
emergency ward. Inexperienced workers are easily panic-stricken
and do not stop long enough to find out whether the supposed crisis
is not in reality either a chronic or a superficial condition.
It is easy to destroy family life. During the influenza epidemic,
while a young mother lay desperately ill, her husband died. Assum
ing that she also would die, relatives broke up her home, scattered
her possessions, and rushed her little children to an institution. She
got well, but it was many years before she was able to reestablish
her home, and the children suffered irreparably. Had her children
been with her, she would have been eligible for mothers’ aid.
The agency that receives children before making an inquiry faces
great disadvantages. It is much harder to secure information from
the family, since they can not see the point of answering questions

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THE A

B C OP POSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

after the event. Relatives in a position to give good care are less
likely to be willing to take a child already in responsible hands.
Children received without preliminary study and physical exam
ination may prove to be serious problems requiring a type o f care
other than the agency is prepared to give, or they may be suffering
from some infectious or other disease which should have been treated
first.
CHILDREN WHO MAY NEED TEMPORARY CARE

1. Children who must be cared for pending investigation.
2. Children awaiting a court hearing or decision.
3. Children for whom a permanent home has not yet been found.
4. Children needing study and special training before they are
placed permanently.
5. Children needing special medical treatment not involving hos
pital care.
6. Children taken only for a short time to tide over a real crisis,
such as temporary illness of their mother.
WHY NOT USE FOSTER HOMES FOR TEMPORARY CARE?

The boarding home is being used successfully for short-term care
in many places. The foster family is infinitely preferable to the
almshouse or jail, and it has been found practical to substitute it
even for the juvenile detention home caring for supposedly difficult
children. It has many advantages over congregate care.
Not the least of these is the lessened danger o f infection. Not
only is there less mingling of children when they are distributed in
private homes, but also a case of measles or whooping cough en
dangers only the few children who happen to be in the same home.
Quarantines of all children in care are avoided, obviating the
expense of holding for long periods children otherwise ready for
discharge and the inconvenience of being unable to accept children
who need care.
Through the foster-hom e method, families o f both sexes and
varying ages, who must otherwise be separated, may be cared for
together. The danger of contact with children who have had un
fortunate experiences or acquired harmful habits will be obviated.
Children uprooted by a family upheaval will suffer less through
placement in a kindly family than through the new and often terri
fying experience of a stay in a receiving home with many strange
children.
Temporary care in foster families is practical. So far it has
been developed most fully by city agencies which have highly effi
cient methods of family care and a group of experienced foster
parents. In small centers in which resources are few but neigh
borly feeling is strong, the boarding home is by far the best way
to solve the problem of emergency care. There, one or two homes-,
chosen for their adaptability and kindly atmosphere, should fill
the need.
The foster parents who give temporary care should be able to win
children quickly and make them feel at home; yet they must have a
light touch, keeping the relationship casual and free from over-

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FIN D IN G THE FOSTER HOME

attachment. The management o f a changing succession of children,
with a minimum of friction and maximum health results, is an ex
pert’s job, yet it is possible to find foster parents who take satisfac
tion in doing it for that very reason. It is work o f high value and
should be well compensated. Rates o f board for emergency or shorttime care should be higher than for long periods. I f necessary, the
foster parents should be assured of a minimum income whether there
are children in the home or not; that is, the home should be subsi
dized. Homes used for temporary care should contain no young
children and should conform in all respects to the qualifications for
foster homes. (See p. 10.)
Foster care is best fo r babies. The individual attention that can
be assured only in a private home is essential for babies. Under the
best conditions they often tend to thrive but poorly under con
gregate care. From the standpoint o f economy also, the private
home is better for the very young child.
In the temporary placement o f babies, as for longer care, any
State requirements in regard to licensing should be rigidly obeyed.
One child, or, at the most, two children, are enough for a baby home.
The income from boarding a baby should be welcome but not essen
tial to the family. The chief motive should be genuine love for
little children, an unselfish love that is content to give with no hope
of the return o f affection that would come if the child could remain.
A s a solution fo r the unmarried mother and her child during the
nursing period the temporary boarding home is sometimes the best
choice. I f the mother is reasonably competent and is free from in
fectious disease, she should be encouraged to keep her child. To
further this and to maintain the physical welfare of the baby,
the mother should nurse him if possible. I f her own family can not
be persuaded to receive her after she leaves the hospital or mater
nity home, mere lack of means may force her to part with her child.
Even when assured o f a meager income from the father for the
child’s support she may not know where to turn. Boarding care for
both in the home of a broad-minded, motherly woman during the
period of adjustment is then most likely to lead to a satisfactory
solution. In other cases, or after the nursing period, it may be best
to board the child apart from the mother for a time, letting her see
him frequently and holding her responsible for his support. In a
surprising number of instances this leads to eventual acceptance of
the child by the mother and her family. Needless to say, the influ
ence of the foster family upon the mother is of paramount impor
tance. Particular care should be exercised as to the men with whom
she will be brought in contact by the placement.
FINDING THE FOSTER HOME
GETTING ON THE TRAIL

Breaking ground in a new locality in which people have not
learned to regard the foster care of children as an honorable calling
may require patience and persistence. The following methods o f
attracting good homes have been successfully used:
Appeals to church and club groups.— Stories of foster care from
the experience of other agencies may be effective here. Appeals

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THE A B C OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOB CHILDBED

should not be made for homes for particular children, as they are
likely to prove embarrassing, since the applicant who most readily
responds to the concrete appeal may be the least suitable. Names of
children should never be given out.
•'Enlistment o f influential individuals such as physicians, clergy men, teachers, public officials, and selected laymen to speak to people
of their acquaintance who might make good foster parents.
Advertisem ents in newspapers, farm papers, and religious publi
cations^ are often quite effective. The following advertisement in
serted in a Philadelphia newspaper brought 360 replies, about 15 per
cent o f which were promising material:
THREE little children, 4, 7, and 9 years of age, want to borrow a
mother while their own mother goes to the hospital for an opera
tion. Must be Protestant; good neighborhood. Board $7 a week.
References exchanged.

Other foster families will be the source of some of the best homes
coming to the attention of an agency. A few foster homes o f high
type in good neighborhoods will in time bring applications from
neighbors and friends of like quality.
General 'publicity.—Anything which helps to make the work of the
agency favorably known may draw foster-home applications. In all
publicity the use of names, addresses, and identifying information
about children should be avoided, as this is stigmatizing and demoral
izing to its subjects and detracts from the dignity and trustworthi
ness of the agency using it. In fact, it should be considered a
violation of confidence.
The best publicity, in the long run, is good, sound work. Poor
work, on the other hand, will offset any amount of publicity and
will soon make it difficult for an agency to secure reputable homes.
WHAT MUST BE KNOWN ABOUT THE FOSTER HOME

1. Financial status o f fam ily— approximate earnings, rent or
ownership o f home, probable savings.
2. Make-up o f fam ily—the age, sex, occupation, and health of
each member of the family and others in the household.
3. Housing conditions—the number of rooms in the home, the
amount o f sleeping room, sanitary conveniences, kind of furnishings.
4. Housekeeping and home-making standards.
5. Background o f foster parents and as much o f their history as
possible.
6. Intelligence o f foster parents—native intelligence, general
information.
7. Education and attitude toward school.
8. Moral and ethical standards.
9. Church membership and attendance.
10. Interests, social connections and diversions, community activi
ties.
11. Neighborhood influences, including the type of community,
school facilities, and children in neighborhood.
12. Temperamental qualities of foster parents and others in house
hold—any friction in the home or strain in the atmosphere; the
foster parents’ understanding of children and ideas as to their man
agement ; their success with their own children; their general outlook
on life.

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FINDING TH E FOSTER H OM E

13. Reasons fo r taking a child—-financial; desire for companion
ship; desire to be o f service; or other reasons.
14. Reaction o f foster parents to explanation o f the aims of the
agency and the control to be exercised over the child.
HOW TO GO ABOUT THE INQUIRY

Use o f social-service exchange.—In places having a social-service
exchange it has become customary to inquire regarding foster fami
lies in order to learn whether or not some other foster-care agency
already has known and used them. It is sometimes discovered that
the family in question is known to a number o f health and welfare
agencies because it has received assistance from them, and these
agencies often give valuable information.
O f course foster parents
are giving rather than receiving social service, and they may be and
should be among the finest people in the community. That their
names are entered in the index o f a social-service exchange is simply
a proof that inclusion in such an index is no reflection upon anyone.
I f the application consists o f a letter from the family containing
very little information, it is well to send an application blank to be
filled out. These blanks have distinct limitations, but they at least
indicate the make-up of the family and may bring forth a few valu
able references. I f the applicant lives at a distance, letters to these
references may well be the next move. I f the replies are favorable,
a visit to the home is next in order.
The first visit to the home.— This should be made at a favorable
time or day when the foster mother is likely to be at leisure. The
interview should not consist of a series o f questions but should be a
friendly conversation that will put the applicant at her ease and allow
her to reveal her real qualities. Before the end of the call the
visitor probably will be invited to see the house. I f not, this should
be suggested.
The more that can be learned about the background and anteced
ents of the foster parents, the better. Every member o f the house
hold should be touched upon in the course of the conversation and,
if possible, seen during the visit. It is extremely important, though
often difficult, for the foster father to be seen before a home is used.
In seeking information about such matters as financial stability,
the visitor must keep before herself and the foster family the thought
that it is not only the right but the duty o f the society to know fully
about a home before placing a child in it. Courtesy and the impli
cation o f this underlying purpose will rob so-called “ personal ques
tions ” o f their offense. O f course the visitor must be able to inspire
confidence in her discretion.
The visitor must have a clear idea o f what she wants to know and
must be keenly observant without being overcritical. She must have
an eye for essentials as distinguished from the superficial. She
should be absolutely noncommittal as to whether a child will be given
to the family but should give a lucid explanation of the purposes and
requirements of,the agency. I f it becomes clear early in the visit
that the home is not desirable, the visit need not be prolonged.
Seeing references.—Before any home is approved, not only should
the references given by the family be interviewed, but two or three
independent ones gathered in the course o f conversation with the
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TH E A B O OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

family or secured from other sources should be seen. References
from whom letters have been received will almost invariably give
additional information, and they will express franker opinions in
a personal interview. While doubts remain on any point the visitor
should continue to seek more light until these are settled beyond
question.
The second visit.—A second visit to the home before it is finally
approved is o f the utmost value. This may be made by appointment
with the definite object of meeting the man o f the house or other
members of the family not previously seen. The strangeness having
worn off, the visitor may be greeted almost like an old friend. Under
these conditions the conversation becomes easy and natural, and the
real nature o f the household appears more clearly. This visit some
times will bring out facts not previously revealed that will show
the inadvisability o f using the home. More often, unsuspected values
are discovered. In any case a second visit is sure to add much to the
understanding o f the home and to appreciation o f what type o f
service, if any, it can best render.
The decision.— Before a home is approved it is always well to have
a second person review the information and the impressions gained
and assist in making the decision. This person.may be another
member o f the staff or a board member. I f the home is being con
sidered for a particular child, better known to someone else than
to the person who has investigated the home, there should be a con
ference between the two to consider the needs of the child in con
junction with what the home has to offer. When a home is used
for the first time, this is most important.
Recording the information.—It is quite as vital to record the facts
about the foster home fully and accurately as to record those about
the child and his family. A complete account should be kept o f what
is learned through the visits to the home and from each reference.
The source of opinions about the family should be clearly indicated,
and those o f the persons interviewed should never be confused with
the visitor’s impressions.
The foster fam ily should he prom ptly notified, when a decision
has been reached, as to whether or not to expect children from the
agency. In case o f disapproval the grounds for not using the home
often may be frankly stated, as when the home is badly situated or
the agency has no child suitable for it.
Good home finding is the “ ounce o f prevention ” from the lack of
which incurable harm may result. No part o f foster-family work
calls for more skill and wisdom. The visitor should be keenly aware
o f the responsibility she carries. She must realize that carelessness
or lack o f intelligence on her part actually may involve issues o f
life or death.
PLACING THE CHILD IN THE FOSTER HOME
FIRST STEPS

Arrangements made with the child's own parents, not through
the courts, should be clear and definite and preferably should be
made in writing so as to avoid misunderstandings. Informal ac
ceptance o f children not entitled to public support has the advantage

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PLACING TH E CHILD IN TH E FOSTER HOME

o f encouraging friendly relations with the child’s family. The direct
payment o f board to the agency insures frequent contact. There are
many responsible parents able and willing to meet their share of the
cost of care.
Reception o f children through the juvenile court or public-welfare
officials is advisable when there is serious doubt that the parents
can or will meet their obligations or when they should not retain
custody of the children. However, money considerations should not
be allowed to outweigh the social needs of the family. When the
parents can not pay the full cost of care, it is customary in some
places for the court to place a small order on the parents, the differ
ence to be made up from public funds. But in many cases children
should be received from the parents without a thought o f collecting
support from any public agency.
A court commitment gives legal custody o f the child, and no child
should be received for permanent care unless transfer o f guardian
ship is approved by a State department o f welfare or a court of
proper jurisdiction. A copy o f this commitment should be kept
on file by the child-caring agency.
Placement o f children outside the State necessitates the filing of
a bond in many States. Care should be taken to make such place
ments only with the knowledge and approval o f that department
o f the State which controls child-welfare activities.
Medical examination should always be made before the child is
taken. I f it long precedes actual placement, an inspection for com
municable disease must be made on the day of reception.
A uthority fo r minor operations and inoculations should be given
in writing by the parents at the time the child is received, as a pro
tection to both the child and the agency.
Mental studies before children are taken for any prolonged care
would be ideal, but the services of psychologists and psychiatrists
are not available in many places. To be of value such studies must
be made by competent persons. However, in some States the State
department has, through its mental-hygiene services, facilities avail
able for such examinations; and these should be utilized for children
whose mentality seems at all doubtful as shown by the facts of he
redity, personality, and the school record. Children who show pecu
liarities o f conduct or mental development after coming into care
should be examined at the first opportunity.
EMERGENCY CARE

Children who must be taken before a permanent home is ready or
who are not in condition to go to one when accepted must have care
in a special home. This should provide for isolation if there are
suspicious symptoms and for treatment in case of skin eruptions or
other infectious conditions not requiring hospital care. A foster
mother with nurse’s training may sometimes be found who will
undertake this work. The qualities needed in such a home have been
discussed. (See p. 10.) This is a suitable time for correction of
physical defects, such as diseased tonsils; for improving the condi
tion o f undernourished children; and for training children in good
habits. It is during this period that the child, torn from his family
for the first time, may suffer acutely from homesickness. He needs

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TH E A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CABE FOB CHILDBEH

special attention and diversion, and these can be found for him more
easily in a well-chosen foster family than in an institution where his
individual needs can not be given consideration.
CHOOSING THE HOME FOR THE CHILD

Choosing the foster home calls for the wisdom of a Solomon. It
is well to have more than one opinion as to the choice. The child,
his background, and the foster home should all be known at first
hand by those making the selection. It is well to begin with certain
general requirements and, after they are fulfilled, to pass to more
particular aspects.
The child's background.— Children should be placed in foster
homes o f their own religion—Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish. The
foster parents should, when possible, have the same racial back
ground that the child may feel more at home and be weaned less
from his own people. The “ ways ” o f the two families should be
somewhat the same.
Children o f the same fam ily should be kept together whenever
possible, or at least in the same neighborhood. The scattering of
families is one o f the greatest tragedies o f foster care. The insist
ence on keeping brothers and sisters together should not be carried
so far, however, as to result in harm rather than good.
The health needs of children must be one o f the first considera
tions. The needs o f the baby home have been discussed. - (See p. 12.)
The undernourished child should have especially good food, outdoor
life, and restful surroundings. The physically defective child must
have a home in which his wants will be understood and met, but in
which he will not be set apart by his disability.
The child in need o f habit training must have exceptionally wise
treatment and often is unsuited for placement in a home with other
children. Children who have harmful sex habits or who present spe
cial conduct difficulties ought not to be in a home with other children,
especially those near their age or o f the opposite sex. The possible
influence of the foster child upon the children o f the family and
their influence upon him should never be overlooked.
The older child will find it hard to forget his own family and
former associations and to fit into new surroundings. I f he is from
a poor home, he usually is happiest in a plain foster home not too
different from his own. A studious, ambitious boy does not belong in
a rough farm home where a stolid youth o f backward mentality
might fit perfectly. A crude girl of coarse background may be
wretched as a member o f a cultured family, whereas a girl with
wild propensities but high intelligence may find it the very thing
she craves.
Educational needs.—Educational opportunities should be kept
in mind in choosing the home, especially, for the child who has a
high intelligence quotient or some special ability. An elementary
school o f good standards and access to a high school are essential.
The exceptional child should be placed in an exceptional home pro
viding the cultural or artistic atmosphere which he needs.
Placing as a fme art.—The nice adjustment between the foster
family and the child is the fine art of child placement.

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PLACING TH E CHILD IN TH E POSTER HOME

Mary, a plain little girl o f 10, and a pretty baby sister were placed with a
highly conscientious maiden lady who had small experience outside her own
circle. The baby at once captured the hearts of the family. They tried to do
their duty by the older sister, but her crude ways shocked them. They were
unaware that they showed any partiality, but soon Mary began to lie and to
steal trinkets from her foster mother’s room. Reasoning, scolding, and punish
ment only made her worse. She was finally transferred to the home o f a sweet,
motherly woman of less education but more experience and tolerance. This
foster mother’s sympathies were aroused by an explanation of Mary’s dfflculties and she took the child to her heart immediately, whereupon Mary’s
faults vanished as if by magic.

A void v/ndue haste or delay. “ Act in haste and repent at leisure”
happens only too frequently in foster-home work. On the other
hand, it must not be forgotten that “ hope deferred maketh the
heart sick.” A^ child should not be left too long in a bad situation
while just the right home is being found.
INTRODUCING THE CHILD TO THE FAMILY

A ¡preliminary visit to the prospective home by the worker placing
the child is an important step, especially if the home has been found
by someone else. The family should in this way be prepared for the
kind o f child they are to receive. The arrangement with the foster
family should be absolutely clear cut. The control to be exercised by
the agency, what is expected o f the family, and the financial arrange
ments should be gone over in detail before the child goes to the home.
It is well to embody the main points in a letter to the family, a copy
of which is kept on file by the agency, but care should be taken not
to place too much reliance on written agreements. They can never
take the place o f personal relationships based on friendly under
standing and complete confidence.
What inform ation to give the fam ily.—Foster parents with whom
one can not be fairly frank about the child’s failings and experiences
are seldom the right sort to succeed with children. Not all the confi
dential information about the child’s family need be divulged, but
enough must be told to give a real understanding of the child and of
the influences which have made him what he is. It is seldom safe
to place a boy who has the habit o f appropriating other people’s
property, or a girl who has had sex experience, without informing
the foster parents. The facts should be told sympathetically and
without too much detail or emphasis.
Tahe the child into your confidence. Tell the child what to expect
and make him feel that he is a welcome addition to the family.
Plan the meeting between the child and the family so that the cir
cumstances will be natural and he will not feel that he is on exhi
bition. See that he is well dressed and makes his best appearance.
Stay with him until the first strangeness wears off. He should
always be accompanied to the home by a sympathetic person.
A fter the child is left in the home do not rush around the next day
to pull up the plant and see if it is rooting, but keep in close touch.
Ho not be surprised if you are asked to take the child away at once.
On the other hand, foster parents may be all enthusiasm so long as
the child remains on his best behavior. When the strangeness wears
off, the trouble may begin. In either case the visitor must keep her
poise, let the foster parents tell their troubles without interruption,

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THE A B C OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

and try to find out what is back of the child’s conduct. The foster
parents must be helped to see that difficulties were to be expected and
should not be taken too seriously. The child may have old habits,
faulty training, homesickness to combat. He may resent the ways ox
the home because they are strange to him.
As they gain experience foster parents will learn all this. Those
who are new at the task must have much explained to them. The
best contribution the visitor can make is a sense of proportion and
humor. A hearty laugh has relieved many a tense situation; only
the laugh must never be at the child’s expense.
SUPERVISING THE CHILD IN THE FOSTER HOME
WHAT SUPERVISION INVOLVES

Visitors who know what they are about.— Some training and expe
rience in the principles and methods of social case work are essential
to good work. Sound knowledge of child hygiene and diet is impor
tant. A degree of maturity, a good general education, teaching
ability, understanding of children, patience, tolerance, and a sense
o f humor are all needed. For the interested volunteer with this
foundation but no training there are many ways of gaining knowl
edge and skill. Special courses offered at schools of social work and
institutes held at State conferences or by national agencies should
be attended when possible. State departments concerned with child
welfare, the Child Welfare League o f America, and the United
States Children’s Bureau can advise as to methods of self-education.
Lim itation o f volume o f work.—No visitor, however capable, can
give proper supervision to 100 or more children at a time. The
number she can handle will depend on local conditions, on the types
o f children in her care, and on the amount o f other work expected of
her. It is safe to say that the visitor who is supervising babies,
children who present special problems, or children placed for short
periods can not do justice to as many as 50 children. Inaccessibility
o f homes and long distances also will affect the number o f children
she can look after well.
Naturally, when the visiting is done by volunteers who have
home duties as well, even fewer children should be assigned, the
exact number depending upon the amount of time the visitor can
give. However small the number o f homes a volunteer undertakes
to visit, she should take entire charge of them. It is not desirable
to have several visitors going into a home in the same period o f time,
and the fewest possible changes of visitors should be made.
The frequency o f visits should be governed by the needs o f each
case, but it is safe to say that visits should not be less frequent than
every three months. These visits should be made just as often as
is necessary— daily or every few days in a crisis, weekly or monthly
under other circumstances. They should not be limited to occa
sions when something has happened but should be timed to antic
ipate and prevent trouble. In country districts it is best to avoid the
use o f homes so remote as to make visits difficult at any time and
impossible in winter.
Outside contacts with the child, such as shopping expeditions,
pleasure trips, and other outings, are desirable in order to give the

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SUPEBVISIH G T H E C H ILD IIT T H E FOSTEB H O M E

visitor a chance to observe the child away from the influence o f the
foster home and under conditions that will encourage confidences.
Correspondence with the foster parents, the child’s own family,
and with the older children themselves should be used to supple
ment visits. It should be constructive in its nature, every letter
being planned to accomplish something. A ll letters received should
be kept, also copies of all letters sent.
Responsibility fo r medical care.—Division o f responsibility for
medical attention varies with the type of home. For the child in the
boarding home the expense and most of the planning for care must
fall upon the agency. In free and adoption homes the foster parents
should be encouraged to take the initiative, the visitor making such
suggestions as may seem necessary. A doctor should be on call for
sudden or minor illnesses. Foster parents giving free care will
naturally prefer their own physician, although the visitor may sug
gest the names o f reliable specialists when they are needed. For
boarding homes it is a good plan to prepare a list o f doctors in
various neighborhoods who will respond to a call from the agency
or foster parent.
Periodic medical examinations should be given to all children
by a competent physician at least once a year; once in six months
is better. Infants and children o f preschool age should be under the
continuous supervision o f physicians or of physicians and nurses.
Teeth should be examined twice a year.1
School reports should be shown to the visitor. They should be
supplemented by conferences between foster mother and teacher
and the former’s report of the way things are going. In some cases
it may be well for the visitor to interview or correspond with teacher
or principal, but this always should be done in such a way as not to
injure the child’s standing with teacher or pupils.
Planning fo r the child’s future should be a dynamic process.' An
agency should not be content to give care without concern as to the
final outcome but should constantly shape its treatment to meet
the child’s developing needs. Definite education and training
should be given for work which will provide the fullest possible
outlet to the child’s abilities. Failure, as well as success, should
be anticipated and met courageously. Children who need perma
nent care should be accepted for better or for worse. The agency
which sends a child to a correctional institution as soon as he
becomes troublesome is missing its greatest opportunity for service.
The institution or agency which keeps a child when some other typé
o f care would better meet his needs is equally remiss.
Cuida/nce o f intercourse with the child’s own fam ily.—Except
when the parents exercise an undesirable influence or when the
parental relationship has been finally severed by court decree,
every effort should be made to keep home ties strong and whole
some. Foster parents should be warned against criticism of
members of the child’s family and alienation o f the child from them.
It may not always be wise to permit the child to visit his family,
but parents should be encouraged to visit their children, and the
older boys and girls should write to their families. Maintaining
1 See Standards for Physicians Conducting Conferences in Child-Health Centers.
Children’s Bureau Publication No. 154. Washington, 1926.

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U. S.

TH E A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN"

contacts between the child and his family, though it involves
difficulties, is an inevitable part o f good foster-family care.
The frequency and nature o f visits from relatives must not be
allowed to interfere with the child’s progress nor to become too
great an annoyance to the foster family. On the other hand, the
visitor must see that the natural rights and privileges o f parents
are not forgotten and must be vigilant in preventing conflicts over
the child. Thorough understanding and frequent contact between
visitor and parents is the best way to control the situation.
A running record o f inform ation gained in the course o f caring
for a child is just as important as preservation o f the findings of
the original inquiry, which should be recognized as never final nor
fully accurate. The visitor who does not keep a chronological
history for each child in her care, noting each important action
taken and each development, is borrowing trouble for herself, for
her successors, and eventually for the child himself. Too much
is safer and in the end is far easier than not enough, but the aim
should be to make this record both concise and explicit.
Each visitor, whether a paid worker or a volunteer, should make
a written report o f every visit or action taken. This should be
dated and signed, with the name of the child at the top o f each
sheet. A loose-leaf record, written on one side of typewriter paper
and fastened to the child’s face-sheet in chronological order, is best
for this purpose. It will be better still if a stenographer or some
volunteer able to use a typewriter can be employed to copy the
reports consecutively as they are turned in.
THE VISIT TO THE FOSTER HOME

The quality o f visits counts more than mere number. The time
o f a visit should be chosen to suit the convenience of the foster
mother. It is hopeless to expect a satisfactory conversation with
a woman who is preparing a meal. The visitor must be a good lis
tener. After the foster mother has had an opportunity to tell all
that is on her mind, without interruption, she will be ready to
answer questions and listen to suggestions. The points to be cov
ered should be clear in the mind of the visitor, but she should seek
information rather by a skillful direction of the conversation than
by a definite list of questions. Not every point, o f course, need
be covered in any one visit, but everything about which there is the
.least doubt should be cleared up.
WHAT THE VISIT SHOULD REVEAL

1. The health o f the child as shown by physical appearance and
by the report of the foster mother.
2. The appearance o f the child as to neatness and cleanliness o f
clothes and person.
S. D iet—just what the child is given to eat, meal hours, appetite.
4. ¡Sleeping arrangements—whether the child sleeps in a room or
a bed alone or, if someone rooms with him, who this is ; the condition
o f the bedding; ventilation o f the room at night.
5. General condition o f house as to order, cleanliness, sanitation.
6. Provisions fo r recreation—toys, constructive materials, and
tools,; place to play.

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SUPERVISIN'Q THE CHILD IN THE FOSTER HOME

7. W orh the child is expected to do—its suitability for his age;
its amount; whether he is paid for any part of it.
8. Spending money—what the child does with it. (Arrangement
should be made for a small but regular allowance to older children
from the parent, the agency, or the foster parents.)
9. School and community— what the foster mother and the child
have to say about school progress; the child’s participation in group
pleasures and community activities; his popularity, attitude, and
friends.
10. Church and Sunday school—regularity o f attendance and
interest.
11.
^Conduct and methods o f discipline.— The child’s habits and
reactions to home and school. A knowledge o f the punishments
used is as illuminating as the child’s misdeeds.
12. The child'1s relations with the foster fam ily—his reaction to
different members o f the family; the degree of understanding and
affection shown.
WHAT THE VISIT SHOULD ACCOMPLISH

The visitor merely by showing her interest in the foregoing points
as occasion arises centers the attention of the foster parent upon such
matters and stimulates their zeal. Factors which they have over
looked or about which they are not informed are brought to light.
Difficulties created by the child are discussed in the light o f his past
history. His actions can be related to his needs and how they are
being met; he may have been meddlesome because he had not enough
to do, or irritable because of food that disagreed with him. The
recital of injudicious punishments gives an opportunity to suggest
wiser expedients.
The visitor should not be too ready with advice and suggestion
but should be encouraging and appreciative of the good accom
plished. She should bring to the situation a detachment and breadth
of view which will lift the foster parents above the petty vexations
of their task and stimulate them with the sense of being "engaged in
work of great significance and far-reaching consequences.
DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITY

What to expect o f the visitor.—The visitor should never regard
her job as one of inspection but rather as one of friendly cooperation.
I f she is qualified, her relation to the foster parents will naturally
be somewhat that of an office supervisor toward members of her
staff. I f she is not competent, insistence on “ rights ” and “ author
ity ” will be futile. True, it is her business to see that the require
ments necessary to the welfare of the children in her care are fully
met by the foster parents, but she should actively aid them to under
stand and meet their obligations, especially when they are inexperi
enced. In this it is well for her to keep a humble heart, for often
she can learn as much from foster parents as she has to teach them.
To the child the visitor should be a wise friend whom he can
depend upon to be fair. She should be some one whose approval
he wants to win rather than whose displeasure he fears. Any strong,
emotional attachment of the child for a visitor should be avoided.

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THE A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN"

The more she can keep in the background of his life the better. Her
criticisms and suggestions should be made to foster parents pri
vately, never to the child or in front o f him. When differences are
adjusted in her presence, the visitor should provide the right atmos
phere for an understanding rather than sit in judgment. The child
should feel free and be given opportunity to confide in her but
should not find in her a partisan.
What to expect o f the foster parents.—Foster parents are not
servants; they are members o f the staff and should be so regarded.
Before the home is used, the foster parents should understand the
agency’s need to know every important incident affecting the child.
They should agree to acquaint the visitor with all that takes place
in connection with him, to report any change in the make-up of the
family or their situation, and not to take a child to board from any
other source. I f the home has been wisely selected, they can be
depended upon to meet these obligations and those connected with
the care o f the child to the best of their ability. Their ability must
not be taken for granted, but complete confidence and friendliness
should exist between foster parents and visitor.
I f the child has lost or been permanently separated from his
parents, foster parents should take their place as fully as possible.
I f the child is to maintain relations with his family and perhaps
return home at some future time, an uncle and aunt relationship
with the foster parents should be encouraged. In either case the
foster parents should assume, in the eyes o f the community, the
place of relatives identified with the interests of the child. No
effort should be made either to conceal or to advertise his connection
with the agency.
Foster parents should be intelligent enough to look after the
school interests of the child and to confer with the teacher as to
his progress, the visitor intervening only in cases of serious trouble.
It is the foster parents who should train and discipline the child,
not the visitor.
I f there is reason to question the good faith o f the foster parents,
a few of the most trustworthy o f the original references or other
reliable persons in the community should be consulted under seal of
confidence. Otherwise, once the home is approved, the visitor should
not discuss the foster family with neighbors. No good foster family
is free from the possibility of criticism. The visitor must not en
courage gossip and mere faultfinding but she must be alert for any
thing coming from the child or others which may indicate serious
failure o f the home to safeguard the child’s welfare, or to live up
to the agreement with the agency. .
REPLACEMENTS

I f the original selection of homes is intelligent, the transfer of
children will be reduced to a minimum. The experienced visitor does
not get unduly excited when a foster mother frantically telephones
to ask that a child be removed immediately. I f the first understand
ing was clear, the foster mother may be reminded that this can not
be done but that due notice must be given. A visit should follow
promptly, in which careful judgment and keen insight will be needed
by the visitor. Is the difficulty trivial and temporary due to inex
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StJEERVlSItfG THE CHILE Itt THE FOSTER HOME

perience on the part o f the foster parents, to lack of previous train
ing on the part o f the child, to the strain o f a new adjustment, or to
mere misunderstanding? Even when the trouble seems to be more
fundamental, it may adjust itself before a new home can be found
for the child. The necessary interval before a change can be made
has saved many a good placement from early disaster. Even when
a placement seems to leave much to be desired, careful consideration
should be given to any change lest it be “ out of the frying pan into
the fire.” It is easy to cultivate in a high-strung, restless child an
incessant desire for change and a tendency to escape anything in the
least unpleasant by running away from it. It is equally easy for a
sensitive child to suffer serious harm in a well-meaning home where
he is not understood. The best way to escape from this dilemma is to
exercise the utmost care in making the first placement.
Some o f the things to consider in making a replacement.—The effect
on the child o f being uprooted just as he is beginning to feel settled—
of feeling that he is not wanted and is homeless—should weigh in
any replacement. The continuity o f his school work also is im
portant. When possible, changes should be made at the end of
the school year. When the affection between the child and mem
bers o f a foster family is strong, it should not be lightly regarded.
It may sometimes be better to leave a child in a home to which he has
become attached, even though it has not all the qualities one would
seek for him if he were being placed for the first time.
The inexperience o f foster parents and visitors is the cause of too
many replacements. The home may be good but may need skillful
interpretation o f the child and the reasons for his actions. A family
which is inexperienced with children and unacquainted with social
conditions outside its immediate circle is likely to be shocked by
superficial things, such as a child’s lack o f table manners or the
uncouthness of his relatives. I f the visitor is equally unfitted to
evaluate these shortcomings, many unnecessary transfers will take
place.
Good reasons fo r replacement.—The placement may have been tem
porary, and the child may be ready for permanent placement. A
change in the circumstances of the foster family, such as sickness or
the arrival o f other relatives who crowd the home, may make a
change imperative. The development o f some hereditary defect in
the child may make special care advisable and permanent placement
on a free or adoption basis most unwise. Failure to make proper
physical gain, after the elimination of factors other than the care
being given, is a valid reason for removing a child from a home.
The persistence o f conduct or personality difficulties in the child
after reasonable efforts to help and educate foster parents to an
understanding o f the trouble, usually means that the right conditions
for that child have not been found. Certain children present such
outstanding difficulties that it is impossible to secure the complete
readjustment o f the child through one placement. He may have
to pass through several homes in the process, each making its own
contribution to his development.
A child may outgrow a family in which he thrived and was happy
when younger. To leave a child with high intelligence in an uned
ucated family that can not give him the things he craves may starve

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THE A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

his mind and breed impudence and self-conceit. Some foster parents
who are excellent with little children can not cope with the
adolescent.
Future educational needs should be provided for in long-time
placements; but if it becomes necessary to move a child in order
to give him proper educational opportunities, this should be done.
Opportunities for employment may be lacking in a community
when a child reaches the age to go to work. In some such cases
the work life must take precedence over family life.
The failure of a foster family to cooperate effectively with the
society after earnest efforts to bring about the right relations means
that the family must be dropped. As the child’s guardian, the
agency can not shift to other shoulders the responsibility for failure
to meet the child’s needs. The discovery o f a serious moral defect
in some member o f the foster family makes it the agency’s duty to
remove the child. Sex irregularities or dishonest dealings should
not be tolerated.
BUILDING HEALTHY CHILDREN
“ Is Mary well ? She seems rather pale and thin,” said the visitor.
“ Oh, she’s never sick,” replied the mother, “ she’s always looked that
way. It’s just natural to the family. A ll the children are like
that.” Mary’s mother did not know what every one who gives
foster care to children should know; namely, that healthy children
do not just grow; they are dependent upon good food, fresh air, rest
and sunshine, and medical attention to prevent disease and to correct*
defects.
THE DOCTOR’S PART

The examining 'physician should be a competent general practi
tioner or, better still, a child specialist. He should have a genuine
love of children as well as skill. Adequate compensation for his
services is as legitimate a charge on a child-caring agency as the
executive’s salary or food and clothing for the children.
The medical examination.—An accurate knowledge of the physi
cal condition of the child before he is received for care is imperative.
A negative bill of health, such as “ Henry has never been sick in his
life,” is not enough. Dr. Horace H. Jenks, late chief o f the Associ
ated Medical Clinic maintained by a group of child-caring agencies
in Philadelphia, gives the following description of what a general
medical examination o f a child should be. It is quoted at length
in order to give those responsible for the foster care of children an
opportunity to familiarize themselves with the procedure and thus
be able to judge the thoroughness o f an examination for themselves:
Plenty of time should be allowed for the general physical examination,
especially for the first examination * * *. It is often well to open the
interview with the child by some casual remark as to his interests in play
or school, or the ever-interesting subject of what he likes to eat * * *. The
weight and height are recorded. Then, beginning at his scalp, the child is
examined from head to foot. He should be entirely undressed as the exami
nation proceeds * * *. The dryness of the hair, the presence or absence
of any disease of the scalp, as ringworm or P ediculosis capitis (head lice),
is noted. As a practical point, it should always be recorded in the history
whether or not nits are present. The nose should be examined for the presence

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of any nasal discharge, obstruction, or deflected septum; the mouth for the
condition of the teeth and gums, enlargement or disease of the tonsils, general
shape and condition o f the palate. The neck is felt for the presence of
enlarged lymph glands and for examination of the thyroid gland.
The chest, of course, should be most carefully examined. Not only should
the lungs be examined for bronchitis or tuberculosis, but the amount of air
entering should be roughly considered. It is astonishing how poorly many
undernourished children breathe * * *. These children may need deep
breathing exercises fully as much as extra milk. The heart must be studied
with reference to its size and efficiency as much as for the detection of murmurs
or leakage at the valves.
The abdomen should be examined with the child lying down and relaxed.
Enlargement of liver or spleen or the presence of umbilical hernia should
be noted.
Boys should be examined for phimosis, undescended testicle, and hernia;
older boys for varicocele. Girls should be examined especially for the presence
of any vaginal discharge, and girls who are to be admitted to institutions or to
homes where there will be other girls should have vaginal smears * * *.
Both sexes should be examined for signs of irritation or inflammation of the
genital organs caused by masturbation. Next, the child’s posture is studied, the
condition of the spine, shoulders, legs, ankles, arches of the feet, and general
bearing or carriage being recorded.
The child is then dressed and returns for tests o f eyesight and hearing.
In babies and young children the eardrums should be examined with the
otoscope. Eye and ear examinations in general are not detailed; but if any
abnormality is detected, the child should be referred to a specialist for more
thorough examination.
It is advisable, although it is not always practicable, to secure a specimen
of urine at the first visit. It has been the practice at the Associated Medical
Clinic of Philadelphia to have blood examination (red and white cells and
hemoglobin) if the child is 10 per cent or more underweight or if he is
noticeably pale.
The advisability of performing the Wassermann test upon every child is an
unsettled question. * * * only about 2 per cent of children give a positive
blood test. * * * Many of these children have been so frightened by the
abuse and so subdued by the hardships to which they have been subjected,
that it seems certainly unwise, and possibly unkind to subject them to a
Wassermann test for syphilis— or even a Pirquet test for tuberculosis infec
tion—at the first visit as a necessary routine measure. At this clinic it has
been done * * * if the child shows clinical evidence o f hereditary or
acquired syphilis, if the child shows suspicious signs of hereditary or acquired
syphilis, with foundlings, * * * if the child has suspicious sex history,
or if his parents have undoubtedly been sexually promiscuous, or when there
is a history of miscarriages.
Certainly there can be no question as to the advisability of Schick testing
for diphtheria at one of the first visits, and children reacting positively should
be immunized with toxin-antitoxin before placement. Children not previously
vaccinated should have this done, providing that they are to be placed under
competent care.
It is of great advantage to the examining clinic to be closely associated with
a hospital. In that case the opinion of consultants can easily be secured and
X-ray examinations m ade; and if a child arrives at the clinic too ill to be sent
to a foster home, he can be at once transferred to the hospital.
Preferably all girls, and certainly those over 12 years of age, should be
examined by a woman physician. She should be a woman skilled not only in
gynecological examinations but also in the psychology of girlhood * * *.
The written record of this examination should be made in duplicate, one
copy being kept in the office of the physician or the examining clinic and one
sent at once to the agency referring the child. I f possible, definite statements
should be made as to the child’s condition, and even more definite statements
as to recommendations for the cure of defects. * * * A definite time should
be noted for the return of the child for subsequent examinations * * *. As
a general rule it is advisable to see any child who is 10 per cent or more under
weight within from two to four weeks—or sooner if there is a suspicion of
pulmonary tuberculosis.
Any child at all underweight or noticeably anemic should be seen by the
physician every three months at least. Every child placed in a foster home

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should be completely reexamined at least once a year regardless of where he
is. It is preferable that he return to the examining clinic for this purpose, so
that the same person may examine and records may be more uniform. This
reexamination should be as thorough as the first examination.
When the time comes for a child to leave the foster home and be discharged
from the care of the society, he should again have a complete physical exam
ination by the clinic or examining physician * * *. Any defects found even
at this final examination should not be left unattended to, but definite arrange
ments should be made for him to have competent medical attention, either
by a physician or at a hospital. Especially is this true for children with chronic
defects of such far-reaching importance as' chronic heart or lung disease,
rheumatism, nephritis, or congenital syphilis. The last mentioned should be
treated until the blood Wassermann becomes persistently negative.2

Treatment.— Some plan should be worked out between the agency
and one or more good hospitals whereby necessary tests, operations,
and treatment can be obtained at a nominal or minimum cost. In
some cases the agency will be able to arrange with a hospital for
laboratory tests; in other cases municipal or State service may be
available. Where no free dental or eye clinics exist, a reliable
dentist or eye specialist should be paid for this work on a yearly
or per capita basis. Dental work especially is too often neglected by
child-caring agencies.
A ll treatment recommended should be secured as promptly as
possible, except when some delay seems best from the standpoint o f
the child. With the control which can be exercised by an agency
it should be possible to approach a 100-per cent correction of physical
defects.
THE FOSTER MOTHER’S PART IN HEALTH

Restriction o f the number o f children in a foster home is one
of the essentials to good health work on the part of the foster
mother. Individual attention is the special need of many dependent
children and o f all babies. One or two older children are usually
quite all that the foster home can absorb unless they are all members
of one family. With babies one child to a family is the ideal; two
little children should be the limit. The number of children placed
in a foster home should also be governed by the number of own
children o f the foster parents.
H ygienic surroundings are imperative. These should include
adequate sleeping space. Each child should have a bed to himself,
and a room alone is still better. The character o f any person oc
cupying the room with a child should be thoroughly known. All
the hygienic requirements previously outlined for foster homes are
necessary to health.
Foster fam ily free from infectious disease.—Doctor Jenks says:
“ The family physician should be consulted by the Social worker,
and it should be held no breach of professional secrecy for him to
state at least in general terms whethei the condition o f either foster
parent is such as to endanger the child.”
The foster parents healthy and o f cheerful disposition.—It is es
pecially important for the welfare o f the child that there should be
freedom from nervous strain and friction in the home.
* Foster-Home Care for Dependent Children, pp. 114-115.
lication No. 136, Washington, 1929.

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BUILDING HEALTHY CHILDREN

Food must be ample, well cooked, properly balanced, adapted
to the age o f the child, and served at suitable hours. Growing boys
and girls need plenty to eat; this is not luxury, but a necessity, and
the agency must be willing to pay for it.
Rest.— Long hours o f sleep with quiet and plenty of fresh air are
needed by children. Great care must be taken to see that children
are not overworked. Even conscientious foster parents sometimes
do this without realizing it. Children who are underweight, rest
less, or anemic should have their hours o f rest and play outlined
in writing for the foster parents. <
Oversight o f recreation is difficult to secure but is very important,
particularly for children who are in any sense problems. The foster
parents should be interested enough to know where the children are
at all times and in what way they amuse themselves. It is better
still when they lead and guide their amusements.
Health habits.— The foster mother should be intelligent and firm
in teaching health habits. She must be diligent in attending to such
matters as the evacuation of bowels each morning and the cleaning
of teeth. I f the children have the habit o f bed wetting,3 she should
withhold liquids in the evening and take the child to the toilet in the
night. Her constant aim must be to get at the underlying causes of
such habits. She must realize the need for regularity.
The care o f the baby.—It is desirable, but not always possible, to
have babies cared for in foster homes under the supervision of a
trained nurse. Lacking this, they should be under close oversight
o f a good physician, and the foster mother must be well coached
in the proper care of infants. There is so much good literature on
the care and feeding of babies that there is no excuse for her being
left in ignorance. The hygiene of the preschool child is also a matter
on which she should be informed. (See Suggestions for further
reading, p. 48.)
THE VISITOR’S PART IN HEALTH

The -family health history.—The first task of the visitor in connec
tion with the child’s health begins with the original inquiry. The
physician who examines the child should be supplied with a brief
summary of the social history and home conditions and an accurate
health history o f the child and his family. The family history
should cover the health o f parents, grandparents, brothers, and sis
ters and should disclose the presence o f tuberculosis, venereal diseasenervous disorders, mental diseases, and moral vagaries. The cause!
of deaths should be given. Special effort should be made to learn
whether the child has been exposed to tuberculosis, venereal disease,
or other infections from relatives or boarders in the home. Miscar
riages and stillbirths have significance for the physician, and the
birth dates o f children may show whether the mother has suffered
from too rapid childbearing.
The previous history of the child should be given, beginning with
the mother’s pregnancy, the birth and the child’s condition, feeding
during infancy, illness, contagious diseases of childhood, and later
diseases, such as chorea, rheumatism, and tonsillitis, in cases o f
* See Enuresis (separate from Child Management,
No. 143, Washington, 1928).

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THE A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN"

doubtful mentality any history o f convulsions and the ages of walk
ing, talking, and entering school should be learned.
Carrying out the doctor's recommendations is the responsibility
o f the visitor when children are in boarding homes. Appointments
for operations and visits to specialists and hospital clinics must be
made by the visitor, and she must see that the child gets there, not
once but many times, if necessary. In the free home, and especially
in the case o f children placed for adoption, medical care may well be
the responsibility of the foster parents, but the visitor should advise
when necessary and should see that nothing is neglected. In most
foster homes, whatever their status, it is helpful for the visitor to
interpret the medical findings to the foster parents, and she should
see that the doctor’s recommendations are carried out accurately.
Every visit should be an occasion for definite inquiry as to health
matters and such detailed instruction and advice to the foster mother
as may seem needed.
Mental hygiene is a field which has been so hedged about with big
words as to make simple things seem complicated. The essential
facts are not new, however, but are largely matters of common sense.
Many foster parents will have knowledge of a child’s reactions and
such a sympathetic understanding o f his needs and desires that little
help from the visitor will be needed. Others must be carefully
taught how to train the child in good habits and advised as to which
punishments are wise and which undesirable in their effects. The
visitor should have enough theoretical knowledge o f the subject to
be o f help. Here again there is printed material which will be of
great assistance. Children who snow marked peculiarities, whether:
of conduct, mental development, or habits, should be studied by a
psychiatrist. In this connection a psychological test should precede
and be a part o f the report to the psychiatrist.
WANTED— A CHILD TO ADOPT
STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN!

The finality o f adoption.—Adoption is a legal process through
which the child’s natural parents or guardians waive all rights to him
and the adopting parents assume the privileges and duties o f own
parents. Once the seal of the law is placed upon the relationship,
legal responsibility is established. The child is severed for all time
from those with whom he is connected by the closest of human ties.
As this usually takes place before he has reached an age when he
can have a voice in the matter, it follows that those responsible for
his welfare can not use too much caution in making a decision so vital
to his whole future.
Adoption should never be planned in haste nor decided upon in an
emergency. Ample time for consideration should be allowed the
child’s relatives, and every possible assistance offered to enable them
to rear him, before he is placed with a view to adoption. No tempo
rary or superficial situation should ever lead to the adoption of a
child. No child should ever be separated from a parent because of
poverty alone.

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WANTED— A CHILD TO ADOPT

Some tests to apply'.
X. I f one or both parents are living, is it certain that, given the
right kind o f help, they can not care for the child now or at some
future time?
2. I f the reason for the separation is physical or mental disease of
a parent, what about possible recovery? Also, may not permanent
surrender o f the child have a harmful effect on the parent?
3. I f there is moral failure on the part of parents, have they been
given every possible chance and incentive to improve? What will
be the effect o f depriving them o f their child? W ill the child suffer
present harm from association with them ? Does adoption represent
an escape from responsibilities which could be discharged properly
by the parents ?
4. I f the parents have abandoned the child, has an honest effort
been made to trace them and learn the cause o f desertion? Is it
reasonably certain that they will not return to claim the child even
after the provisions of the law have been complied with ?
5. Is poverty the real reason for separation or abandonment?
6. I f both parents are dead, is it certain that, there are no relatives
able and willing to give the child proper care ?
7. W ill adoption unnecessarily separate the child from brothers
and sisters?
8. Is the child known to be physically and mentally fit for
adoption ?
Relatively fern children will be found proper subjects fo r adoption,
if their qualifications and the family circumstances are thus care
fully considered.
THE ONLY SAFE WAY

A particularly searching inquiry should be made into the ante
cedents o f the child to be adopted and o f the foster family. This
can not be overemphasized. When the child’s parentage is known,
the most exhaustive investigation should be made of the health and
mentality o f the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers, and
sisters. The circumstances o f birth, tne early influences to which
the child was subjected, and every detail o f his life that can be
learned should be recorded, together with the history of the parents
from their earliest childhood. A ll names and addresses of relatives
should be obtained and kept, also what is learned as to their circum
stances. The marriage record of the parents, birth record of the
child, and any other papers identifying the child or containing
valuable data should be carefully preserved.
Complete information as to their health and history should be
furnished by the foster family which desires to take a child for all
time. Refusal to do so should lead to rejection o f the home. A ll
the points outlined for any foster-home investigation should be
covered with great thoroughness. In all cases the family physician
should be seen. It is still more satisfactory, especially in cases where
doubtful health conditions exist, to ask the foster parents to undergo
a physical examination. In any case, the placing society should
make sure that no tuberculosis, venereal disease, or mental or nervous
instability exists in the family.

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The financial ability o f foster parents to raise a child and provide
proper educational opportunities must be carefully considered.
Even more important is the pliability o f the fam ily; that is, their
ability to adapt themselves to the needs of children in general and
especially to those o f the child in question. In placing a young child
for adoption, the capacity o f the foster parents to care for the child
as he then is must not be the only consideration. Their ability to
carry him safely through later childhood and the critical age of
adolescence must also be weighed.
In selecting an adoption home fo r a particular child, all the quali
ties o f the foster home under consideration must be weighed against
the needs o f the child available for adoption. His physical needs
are easily determined with the aid o f good medical service. His
mental and spiritual requirements are difficult enough to foresee,
even with the fullest information about him. A ll that is known
as to his personality should be supplemented by the completest possi
ble picture o f his background, and by studies o f his mentality and
temperament made by competent persons. No child should be placed
for adoption in this day without being tested mentally, even when
this involves considerable trouble and expense. Tests have been
devised for children as young as 6 months o f age. These tests, if
repeated every three to six months, give a fairly accurate index of
the mentality of children.
The material, cultural, and spiritual gifts offered by the foster
home must be nicely balanced against one another and against the
capacities and gifts o f the child. The reasons o f the foster parents
for wishing to take a child are extremely important. They must
want the child not as a plaything or a cause for pride, nor merely
as an outlet for thwarted emotions.
The attitude o f relatives o f the foster parents toward the proposed
adoption should be favorable. The child should meet with a welcome
from foster grandparents, aunts, and uncles and, above all, from
foster brothers and sisters.
It should be obvious that if this discrimination enters into the
selection o f adoption homes, the barbarous practice o f lining up a
group o f children and allowing prospective foster parents to “ take
their pick ” will be relegated to the limbo o f the outgrown past.
Children with bad or unknown heritage should rarely be placed for
adoption, and then only after the strictest precautions are observed.
I f cases o f insanity, epilepsy, feeble-mindedness, or syphilis exist
among the child’s forbears, the only safe plan is to keep the child in
a boarding home under observation for a period o f two or three
years, meantime giving him every known physical and mental test.
Foundlings and children about whose father nothing is known should
be treated in the same way.
Some years ago a reputable children’s society placed two infants of unknown
but different parentage in a cultured family of ample means. Every test
known to science was given at the time of placement, the results seemed satis
factory, and the adoption went through. To-day one of those children is in an
institution for the feeble-minded. The other, a girl of 11, is under treatment
for hereditary syphilis, with every chance o f becoming a hopeless cripple.
Thousands of dollars and a wealth of affection and care have been expended by
these unfortunate foster parents with this heartbreaking result.

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WANTED-—A CHILD TO ADOPT

I f children with diseased or degenerate ancestry are finally, after
prolonged observation, pronounced normal and placed for adoption,
the foster parents should be fully informed o f the risk involved.
Full inform ation about any child placed for adoption should be
given the foster parents at the time the child is first placed or as soon
thereafter as adoption is contemplated. In some cases the facts need
not be given in too stark detail, but the main facts should be known.
The foster parents who do not want to know anything about the
child they adopt are risking much through their ignorance. It is
their duty as well as their right to know as much as possible about
the child whom they are to nurture and direct.
A written agreement had best be made with the foster parents at
the time o f placement. There should be at least a letter, stating
clearly the terms o f placement and the control to be exercised by the
agency, a copy o f which is kept on file. The foster family should
understand that the agreement can be revoked by either party at
any time until the legal adoption takes place.
A t least one year o f trial residence m the adoption home under
supervision o f tne placing society should precede the completion of
adoption proceedings, whether this is required by law or not. I f at
the end of that period there seems to be any doubt that the child will
do well in a home, a longer trial is advisable. This period is the
visitor’s great opportunity, and her only one, to prepare the adopt
ing parents for their task and to observe how they perform it. Her
work should be delicate and thorough, calling forth all that she has
to give.
Reinvestigation before adoption should always be made. This
should cover—
1. The present situation in the child’s own family. Could they
possibly care for the child now, and if so, would it be detrimental to
the child to return to them?
2. Any changes in the household of the foster family and their
possible effect upon the welfare and status of the child.
3. The opinion o f a few carefully selected references as to the
success o f the placement.
4. The child’s own attitude toward adoption, if he is old enough
to be consulted.
5. The effect of adoption upon the child’s status with the family
and community. This is sometimes a strong argument in favor
o f an adoption which might otherwise seem inadvisable. A child
who is legally one of the family often has a different feeling and
stands better in the eyes of those about him than one who is regarded
as a mere beneficiary.
6. A thorough mental and physical examination of the child. A
mental examination is imperative in adoption cases, even though con
siderable expense and trouble are involved. This should be made at
the time o f first placement. A reexamination is desirable at the time
o f adoption as a check on the first examination.
7. A review by more than one person of the whole record o f the
child’s progress since placement. In making the final decision the
visitor should always be aided by other members o f the staff or
board o f managers.

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Inform ing the child o f adoption.—Foster parents should always
explain to the child that he has been adopted. I f children adopted
when very young are kept in ignorance that they are not own
children, they almost invariably learn of it later, and this is some
times a serious shock. On the other hand, if the thought is perfectly
familiar from earliest childhood, it does not in any way affect their
feeling for their foster parents and is a protection. The information
can be presented by the foster parents in such a way as to increase
rather than destroy a child’s love for them and confidence in them.
One little girl who was adopted with her baby brother was heard
to remark proudly to her little cousins by adoption, “ You’re own
children, but we’re chosen children.”
ENDING SUPERVISION

After adoption actually takes place, the whole responsibility for
the child passes to the foster parents. Supervision should definitely
cease, the visitor entering the home, if at all, like any invited guest. I f
she has been successful in her work, invitations will not be lacking,
but she should not make her visits an occasion for unsolicited advice.
The whole aim of supervision should be to lead up to the point where
advice will be unnecessary and the foster parents will be independent
o f the society. It is highly desirable, however, that the feeling of the
foster family be such that they will naturally keep the representatives
o f the society informed of the progress of the child. Such informa
tion should be carefully recorded, as it is a valuable index to the
soundness o f the work being done.
PLACEMENT BY THE INSTITUTION
Nearly 25 years ago (January, 1909) the famous White House
Conference on the Care o f Dependent Children was convened by
President Roosevelt. About 200 people representing every phase
o f child welfare, including institutional care, were present. In the
conclusions unanimously adopted by this group was the following:
Home life is the highest and finest product of civilization * * *. Children
should not be deprived of it except for urgent and compelling reasons. Except
in unusual circumstances the home should not be broken up for reasons of
poverty. The carefully selected foster home is for the normal child the best
substitute for the natural home. For the temporary or more or less permanent
care of children different methods are in use, notably the plan of placing them in
families, paying for their board, and the plan of institutional care. Unless and
until such homes are found, the use of institutions is necessary.

Since that conference there has been a growing realization on the
part o f those connected with institutional work that most children
thrive better in private homes, and there has been a marked extension
o f the activities o f institutions into the field o f foster-family care.
In all parts o f the country agencies may now be found giving both
types o f care. A few institutions have even gone so far as to close
their doors and devote their energies entirely to the care of children
in foster homes. Other institutions have used placement for chil
dren in particular need o f individual care and attention, such as

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PLACEMENT BY THE INSTITUTION

those presenting special health or conduct difficulties, developing a
few carefully selected homes into practically an extension o f the
institution.
Institutions have aiways done more or less 'placement. The neces
sity o f making some plan for children too old to remain longer in
the institution, the pressure from new applicants for space, and the
difficulty o f coping with certain types o f children in a group have
led many institutions to make use of free or wage homes, and less
frequently o f boarding homes. Too often such placement has been
done only with the fringes of attention, so to speak, with no clear
realization o f the difficulties or the far-reaching consequences. It
has been done casually, by busy executive, by trustees, or by almost
anyone who was interested and thought he knew of a “ good home.”
The results of such placements have been deplorable, both for the
children concerned and because of their influence on the attitude of
parents, the public, and institutional authorities.
The prejudice which exists against foster-fam ily care on the part
of many people is largely the direct result o f careless or ignorant
methods o f placement on the part of both institutions and child
placing agencies. This poor work is characterized by—
Failure to learn enough about children upon reception or to record
what has been learned.
Needless breaking up o f families.
Needless separation o f children of the same family.
Failure to make proper investigation of homes in which children
are to be placed.
Too low standards for foster homes.
Unskilled choice of homes for particular children.
Lack of attention to health of both foster family and children.
Lack of good supervision o f children placed in foster families, with
consequent failure to guard them from abuse, neglect, and overwork.
The way fo r institutions to make placements is to follow the same
principles laid down for other foster-care agencies, both in receiving
children into care and in sending them to foster-family homes. This
is more easily said than done. All child-caring institutions should
have the services of a properly qualified social worker to investigate
applications for care and to place and supervise outgoing children.
Those institutions which find employment of a full-time case worker
impractical should draft any trained person in sight to make their
inquiries. Better still, when children are to be discharged, instead
o f being placed in any family that happens to be available, by a
busy institution superintendent who will have no time to supervise,
they should be transferred to the care of a children’s aid society or
some other agency Whose business it is to care for children in foster
families.
The institution which can not afford a social worker and has no
child-placing agency to which it can turn must face the fact that it
can not hope to do satisfactory work until a solution is found. I f
it will first turn its attention to the careful sifting o f applications,
it will soon reduce the number of children received for care and thus
free funds and energy for better work with those ready for discharge.

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A n outlet for critics.— Critics who think it the duty o f a children’s
agency to take in every child brought to its doors, “ and no questions
asked,” may well be urged to turn their attention to the strengthening
o f community resources looking to the preservation o f the homes
which will be broken up if all the children for whom application is
made are accepted.
THIS QUESTION OF RECORDS
WHY RECORDS ARE NEEDED

In justice to the child, the facts and proofs o f his origin should be
scrupulously preserved for the protection o f his legal and social rights
and for his satisfaction in later life. Lack o f a birth record may
cause endless trouble. No proof o f parentage may mean a lost inheri
tance. It sometimes happens that for a time a children’s agency is
the only link between different members of a family. Failure to keep
information has frequently led to the various members of a household
being lost to one another for all time. The individual thus left
stranded in society with no known connections is apt to feel more or
less o f a social outcast. He is invariably tormented by a longing to
know about his people.
A n adult has the right to know all about himself; certainly no
person should presume to withhold the information from him. To
learn the truth after the age o f full understanding has been reached
is sometimes a serious shock. It is better for every child to grow up
familiar with the main facts o f his history. He need not be given
every unpleasant detail, but neither should he be told anything
untrue. Children who learn by chance that they have been deceived
may lose confidence in those around them and become suspicious of
everyone.
A change o f visitors is a catastrophe to an agency which has not
good records. Valuable information may be irretrievably lost.
Both child and foster family will suffer from lack of understanding
and from^ a ^change o f methods which may be quite unintentional.
The new visitor is sure to duplicate and waste much effort before she
grasps the details o f the situation. The fuller the records the less
the break will matter.
From the standpoint o f convenience, dependence on memory for
facts, dates, and action taken in connection with the care o f a child
leads to endless confusion and embarrassment and sometimes to legal
complications. I f a difference arises with the child’s parents or with
the foster m other; i f any agency asks for inform ation; i f there is a
court hearing in fact at every turn, the visitor who does not keep
fu n records is forced to appear inaccurate and unbusinesslike.

To work out a coherent plan over any period without a record of
kk® ^form ation upon which it is based and o f all important steps
and developments is impossible. To proceed without a record is like
entering a labyrinth without the clue. T o leave out important links
is to allow the clue to be broken.
The only way to measure the past—or for that matter the presen twork o f a social agency is through a study o f its records. I f intelli
gently kept, records may be the source of valuable social data.

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THIS QUESTION OP RECORDS

WHAT RECORDS MUST BE KEPT4

In plamvmg a record system one must have an eye to the future.
Lack o f time and o f stenographic service may preclude the possi
bility o f ideally full records for the time being, but the framework
should be provided so that as conditions improve no radical changes
will be needed. Large agencies may add many other conveniences,
but the following is such a framework, suitable for child-placing
agencies and for mstitutions o f any size:
1. CARD INDEXES

A card index, filed alphabetically, should include all families which
apply for care, not merely those whose children are accepted. A
separate index should be used for foster homes. Cards 3 by 5 inches
in size will be satisfactory for these indexes.
The family is the best unit for indexing and numbering for these
purposes. A t the top of the card the surname should be followed by
the names o f both parents and the maiden name o f the mother, a
complete list of the children with dates o f birth appearing below.
The date o f application, the address, and the case number complete
the identifying information. Cases o f remarriage should be indi
cated and cross indexed. It is helpful to check or underline the
names o f children taken into care.
A third card index based on children will be found very helpful
for compiling a monthly report of agency activities. The file should
be divided into sections representing the status o f each case; that
is, applications pending; children in institutions; children in foster
homes; and children under supervision elsewhere. Each of these
sections may be further divided to show whether applications or
cases have been carried over from a preceding month or have been
closed and whether cases are new, old, or reopened. I f a card for
each child is filed according to these classifications, compiling mate
rial for a monthly statement of volume o f service takes but a short
time.
2. A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF ADMISSIONS AND DISCHARGES

The chronological record o f admissions and discharges should show
the names o f all children received for care, with dates of admission
and discharge, and enough other information to identify the child.
It may be kept on sheets o f ledger size for insertion in a permanent
record.
8. A FILE OF FAMILY FOLDERS

The file o f family folders should be o f manila cardboard, letter size
( 8 ^ by 11 inches), and should be kept, i f possible, in a steel filing
cabinet which will lock and will be reasonably fireproof. The prac
tice o f using a separate folder for each child in care is confusing and
carries the danger o f loss o f identity or relationship. The habit o f
viewing the child as a member o f a family is a good one to cultivate
even here.
Filing the folders in alphabetical order is most practical for small
or new agencies, but they should be numbered in the order in which
*

Sample record forms may be obtained from the Child Welfare League of America 130

Bast Twenty-second Street, New York, N. Y.

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THE A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN'

the families come under care. This is with an eye to the future, as
larger agencies usually file by number. Histories in active use
should be filed alphabetically and in a separate place for ready
reference. The family record should consist of—
A face sheet.—Many children’s agencies use for the entire family
one face sheet similar to that in use by most family welfare associa
tions. Other agencies prefer an individual face sheet for each child
under care, which contains a certain amount o f information about
the family. This information should be completely filled in for
each child, not merely for the oldest or the first child received for
care.
The findings o f the initial inquiry.—These are sometimes sum
marized on a page o f the face sheet, or they may be entered on a
card of the same size as the face sheet. This summary represents
the very minimum that should be known about a child before he is
taken. I f possible, it should be amplified to include a record of every
visit made in the course o f the inquiry and the information obtained.
Additional information should be recorded as secured.
A record o f placements with dates of admission and discharge is
sometimes provided for on a page o f the face sheet, or it may be
kept on a separate card o f the same size as the face sheet. This
record should be accurate and kept up to date so that it will show at
all times just where the child is. It should never be destroyed even
after the child’s discharge.
A chronological history o f supervision.—A separate record of
supervision must be kept for each child in a family unless they are
placed together. To avoid the repetition of information pertaining 9
to the family rather than to any particular child, it may be added
to the initial inquiry under the proper dates, instead o f to each
child’s record. A ll this should be typed if possible.
A record o f physical and mental examinations.—Records of all
physical, psychological, or psychiatric examinations should be kept.
Every case record should include at least a report of the physical
examination made when the child was accepted for care.
Correspondence.— Since much o f the correspondence may concern
several of the children o f a family it is most convenient to keep it
clipped together in the order received. References to letters con*
cerning each child should be entered under the proper dates on each
child’s history. A ll important letters should be kept, but it saves
time in the end to give the gist o f a letter in the history.
Im portant papers, such as legal documents and birth^ records, may
be placed in envelopes and labeled before being filed in the family
folder. This is a good method o f treating any very confidential
information.
4. THE FOSTER-HOME RECORD

The record of foster homes, together with correspondence relating
to the home, should be kept in its own folder and in a separate place
from the records of children. It should consist of—
A face sheet giving a picture o f the make-up of the family with
such facts as ages, nationality, religion, occupation. It should give
the address with directions for reaching the home and facts about
the home such as the number o f rooms, existence o f yard, conven-

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AFTER DISCHARGE— WHAT?

iences, location with reference to transportation, neighbors, school,
and church.
A record o f the inquiry, preferably arranged chronologically,
should cover all interviews, with name, position o f person seen, and
information gained. Brief descriptions o f references are necessary
to give an idea o f the value o f their opinions. In describing a visit
to the home it may be helpful to use the headings on page 18.
Subsequent entries after a home is in use, summing up from time
to time its weaknesses and good points, are very much worth while.
Any important changes in the household should be entered. I f use of
the home is discontinued the reason should be given on this record
and should also be entered on the foster-home face sheet.
A record o f children placed in a home should be kept with dates of
placement and discharge and reason for leaving. This may be kept
on the back o f the foster-home face sheet or on a separate card o f
the same size. This will show at a glance how many and what
children are in any home at a given time and how many the home
has cared for altogether. With boarding homes the amount due for
board monthly may be calculated in a few minutes from these cards,
and also the number o f days’ care given. It is important to enter
the ages o f the children.
In The Work o f Child-placing Agencies (TJ. S. Children’s Bureau
Publication No. 171, p. 83) the following description is given of the
records o f a children’s society: “ These followed a well-developed
outline and gave in each case such a clear picture o f the home itself
as well as o f the character, education, and background o f the foster
parents, that the reader felt as if he really knew what manner o f
people the applicants were and what kind o f a child would be likely
to fit into their home.”
RECORDS ARE CONFIDENTIAL

Not only should the records themselves be guarded from improper
use, but the persons familiar with their contents should regard them
as sacred. This applies as much to the confidences of children as
to those o f adults, and what is learned from references as well as
from the people concerned.
This does not mean, however, that practically all the information
on file should not be available to responsible representatives o f other
social agencies. Without such interchange o f information there can
be no true working together for the welfare o f the children con
cerned. Files should also be opened freely for impersonal study
and research by accredited persons.
W hen stories are used fo r publicity purposes, names, addresses,
and identifyi/ng inform ation should never be divulged.
AFTER DISCHARGE— W H AT?
WHILE THE CHILD IS AWAY FROM HIS FAMILY

Preparing the home fo r the child's return.—It is a mistake to
assume that all children for whom foster care is asked are from bad
homes. As the kind o f care and the expertness o f the service offered
by child-placing agencies improve, parents o f a higher type turn to
the agencies for aid. Some are able to pay all expenses. Many are
quite competent to judge what is best for their children. Poor

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THE A B O O P FOSTER-FAMILY OABE FOE CHILDBEIT

people may be cultured and uneducated people intelligent. The
finest moral qualities may be associated with dire misfortune. A
request for help may imply self-sacrifice and forethought rather than
incapacity. An entire absence o f condescension and an open mind
are the first requisites in dealing with parents.
It goes without saying that there is some lack or dislocation in
the home which must give up its children. It is the plain duty o f
any agency which receives children for care to see that everything
possible is done to adjust the difficulties which have led to a child’s
removal from his rightful home, if the elements o f such home still
exist. In some cases it may be possible to leave or delegate this
work of adjustment to a family agency, a health agency, the courts,
or some other agency. I f not, the children’s society must accept this
responsibility for its wards, otherwise it is only half doing its job.
Every resource should be exhausted in an effort to meet such
needs as medical care, financial help, and employment. I f the
parents are ignorant or irresponsible, the harder task o f improving
living standards must be attempted. No spectacular or sudden
reforms need be looked for. Re-education o f adults is at best a slow
and painful process, and the visitor will be unable to affect such
fundamentals as intellectual endowment and industrial ability.
She can, in most cases, hope to quicken in the parents such a sense
of responsibility for the support, health, education, moral well
being, and happiness o f the child as will help to make the home a
better place for him upon his return. The visitor who is equipped
to do so may assist educated as well as uninformed parents to under- _
stand and meet the peculiar problems o f children who present j P
health or conduct difficulties. In this she may be helped by t h e "
wave o f parent education that is sweeping the country. The basis
for success in the work o f building up better homes is practical
knowledge o f social conditions and of the way people are molded
by them, combined with genuine friendliness and tolerance.
Preparing the child to go home.—I f a child may sometime go
back to his own people, it is vital that he should never lose touch
with them. It is possible for the affection between parents and
child to be strengthened by a limited separation, if it be made an
opportunity to bring out a devotion which has been taken too much
for granted.
Parents should never be criticized, even in the presence o f a very
young child. This does not mean that an attempt should be made to
hide what is certainly known. No deceit should be used. A child
should not be made to feel blame when his parents are the real
culprits, but older children can be given an insight into their parents’
struggles and hardships. Their good qualities and their need for
the child’s affection and help can be stressed. The child’s loyalty,
his desire to be of use, his protective instinct may be appealed to.
No training given a child in health habits, good manners, and
conduct will be quite lost when he returns home, even though he has
been a reluctant subject. He may even improve when he gets home,
doing better when thrown on his own responsibility. He may also
pass on what he has learned to other children in the family and even ^
to his elders.

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APTEB DISCHARGE----WHAT!

S ow the foster fa/mil/y can help.— The aid o f the foster family
should be enlisted in keeping home ties vital and wholesome. Jeal
ousy on the part o f the child’s own parents can not always be avoided,
but the foster parent who knowingly causes it or tries to wean a
child from his own people is not the one for the job. Unless all
contact with the child’s own parents is to be broken off, it is unde
sirable for the child to apply the terms “ mother ” and “ father ” to
the foster parents. “ Uncle ” and i{ aunt ” will not arouse antagonism
and will suggest the proper relationship.
Before a child whose relatives are to visit him is placed, the foster
parents should be told what to expect and prepare to welcome them.
On the other hand, parents should be warned of the harm to the
child o f interference or o f rousing his dissatisfaction. They should
be asked to bring any complaints to the visitor.
The influence on parents o f visits to a good foster home where they
are made welcome is often more effective than anything the visitor
can say or do. They absorb valuable object lessons in ways o f living,
methods o f discipline, health matters, and ideals of conduct, and
these lessons are the more effective through being unintended. I f
the foster parents have won the child, the very eagerness o f the
parents to retain his respect and affection for themselves will stim
ulate them to imitation.
W orking with other agencies.—If, while the child is under care,
the home is under the supervision o f some other agency besides the
children’s society, it is o f the utmost importance that the two organ
izations keep in close touch and work in harmony. In this connec
tion an occasional conference should be held to discuss the situation
in the home and the progress of the child, with a view to his return.
WHEN THE CHILD GOES HOME

Investigation fo r the child?s return.—Before any child whose home
conditions are at all questionable is allowed to go home, an inquiry
as to the present conditions in the home is in order. This should
cover much the same ground as that made in choosing a foster home;
but, if the parents have the proper attitude, lower standards must
sometimes be accepted as possible in a child’s own home than in a
foster home. I f the home has been under the supervision o f some
other agency during the child’s absence, both this survey o f home
conditions and the aftercare of the child may be delegated to this
agency, always presupposing close cooperation. More often it will
be necessary for the society caring for the child to assume responsi
bility for his return home.
A fter temporary care, such as that given during a short illness of
the mother, it will be necessary only to see that the conditions which
made removal of the child imperative are thoroughly cleared up—
that the mother is able to care for her family, for instance. Even
after a long period o f care such as might be necessitated by sanita
rium treatment for the mother, if the family is intelligent, there is
no serious poverty, and the medical supervision is good, the chil
dren’s agency may safely drop out.
A fter prolonged care.—When an agency has cared for a child over
a period o f years, it is morally bound to make sure that no harm

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THE A B O O F FOSTER-FAMILY CASE FOE CHHiDEEH

results from that child’s discharge. No one has the right to take a
girl from unfavorable surroundings, protect and train her for years,
and then allow her, at the critical age of 16 or 18, to drift back to a
family that has ceased to feel responsible for her and to face dangers
for which she is totally unprepared. Even when children are
younger or home conditions are good, the loss o f the friendships and
associations built up through the foster home, the process o f renew
ing old ties, and the making of new ones are hard for most of them.
The closest supervision sometimes is needed to tide children over
these experiences to a period o f stability.
Children entering employment.— The child who has no home and
who has not been legally adopted must remain a charge on the
agency until he becomes self-supporting. I f funds are low the
agency may be tempted to let him leave school as soon as the law
allows, especially if he has the usual adolescent eagerness to get to
work. This is a shortsighted policy. It is to the interest o f society
that every child receive all the education he can profit by. For
some this will mean merely finishing grammar school, f o r ,others
high school, for still others it will call for college training. Many
will need a trade training which is not now available in many places
but which should be diligently sought. Exceptional gifts, as in music
or art, warrant special training.
I f the foregoing policy has been followed, agency wards who are
ready to become self-supporting should have some choice when they
begin work. Left to themselves, however, young people are apt to
take the first position open, paying little attention to whether it is
work for which they are fitted, or whether it promises advancement.
They think o f wages, but hours and working conditions mean little
to tnem as yet. Here the most careful and experienced guidance
is needed.
The records o f the agency should afford material for study o f each
child’s aptitudes which will be valuable in steering him into the
right vocation. The mental test that should have been given to
the exceptionally gifted child as well as the unusually dull one
will help in guidance. The child’s own opinions and desires should
be checked against his limitations and abilities. Other things being
equal, he is most likely to succeed in the job he picks for himself,
but he can be steered in his choice.
Nothing should be too much trouble at this time. Next to the
period o f infancy, that o f adolescence and the beginning of work
fife is the most crucial. The child who must make his way without
the backing o f a family is under a great handicap. The least an
agency can do for him is to smooth the way to a happy and successful
vocation and help him to find the right social setting.
The choice o f a boarding place for the boy or girl with no family
may decide the trend o f a life. I f the surroundings are sordid or
degrading, if opportunities for social fife and wholesome compan
ionship are lacking, failure or even tragedy may result. It is no
easy task to find favorable social opportunities for the boy or girl
who has no home ties. It may prove still more difficult to persuade
the child to accept them at the moment when he first feels the thrill
o f independence.
Here the visitor who has won a child’s confidence
finds her reward and her chance to clinch all that has gone before.

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THE A B 0 OF FOSTER-FAMILY CARE FOR CHILDREN

IN CONCLUSION
Man is a social being. He springs from the soil of family life,
from it he draws sustenance, to it he is bound by innumerable fibers.
When for any reason he is uprooted, his well-being demands that
he be transplanted and nurtured with the same tender solicitude
for conditions o f atmosphere, soil, and sun that the careful gardener
displays toward his seedlings. From infancy through adolescence
the fundamental need o f a human being is the opportunity for undis
turbed growth. A child should be deeply rooted; bound to his
environment on every side by ties o f interest, habit, and affection.
Only so can he attain the stability to withstand the storms of later
life and make his fullest contribution to society.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR F U RTH ER READIN G
1935. B o o k s and P a m p h lets fo r P a ren ts. Children’s Bureau, U. S. Department
of Labor, Washington. Mimeographed. 18 pp. Free.
A selected list of books on the care and training of children.
1934. C h ild T r a in in g ; a manual for foster parents, by Jessie A . Charters.

State Department of Public Welfare, Division of Charities, Columbus,
Ohio. 126 pp. 30 cents.
A booklet that has been tried out experimentally with a large group of foster
parents. It deals directly with the problems they meet and is arranged in con
venient form for use in study groups.
1933. A

G ood F o s te r H o m e ; Its achievements and limitations, by Carl R .
Rogers. Mental Hygiene (published by the National Committee for
Mental Hygiene, 450 Seventh Avenue, New York), vol. 17, no. 1 (Janu
ary)» PP* 21-40. Available in most libraries.
A discussion of a home in which 10 small boys, previously maladjusted,
made unmistakable improvement.

S tan dards f o r C h ild ren ’s O rg a n iza tion s P ro v id in g F o s te r F a m ily Care.

Child Welfare League o f America (130 East Twenty-second Street, New
York). 24 pp. 20 cents.
Standards derived from the experience of organizations that are members of
the Child Welfare League of America and used by the League in passing on
eligibility for membership.

1932. F o s te r M o th e rs : S u cce s sfu l and U n s u c c e s s fu l; based on cases described
by Virginia Dudley. Smith College Studies in Social Work (Northamp
ton. Mass.), vol. 3, no. 2 (December), pp. 151-182. 75 cents.
A critical study of 22 foster homes in use in October 1929 by the New
England Home for Little Wanderers. A limited number of copies of this
issue of the studies are available.

1921. The C h ild in the Foster Home, by Sophie Van Senden Theis and Constance
Goodrich. New York School of Social Work. 150 pp. 75 cents. For
sale at The Bookshop, Family Welfare Association of America, 130 East
Twenty-second Street, New York, N. Y.
An account of the experiences of the Child Placing Agency of the New York
State Charities Aid Association in the placement and supervision of children
in free foster homes.
48

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Full text of The ABC of Foster-Family Care for Children, Bureau Publication No. 216

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