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NEXT STEPS

proposed by the

National Commission on Children in Wartime

•

A P R I L 1945

LIB R A R Y

U. S. D E P A R T M E N T O F L A B O R

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C H ILD R EN 'S BUREAU • PUBLICATION

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310

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Wa s h i n g t o n 2 5 , D. C ,

National Commission on Children in Wartime
EX EC U T IV E C OM M ITTEE
Chairman, L E O N A R D W . M A Y O , President, Child Welfare League of America.
E D IT H A B B O T T , Social Service Review.
*A . W . D E N T , Dillard University.
N IC H O L S O N i . E A S T M A N , M .D ., Johns Hopkins University School of Medi
cine. Chairman, Advisory Committee on Maternal and Child Health Services.
‘ K E R M IT E B Y , Congress of Industrial Organizations.
‘ J O H N W . E D E L M A N , Textile Workers Union of America.
M R S . G LA D Y S T A L B O T T E D W A R D S , National Farmers’ Union.
M R S . W IL L IA M A . H A S T IN G S , National Congress of Parents and Teachers
Chairman, General Advisory Committee on the Protection of Young Workers
* H E N R Y F . H E L M H O L Z , M .D ., Section on Pediatrics, Mayo Clinic. Chairman,
Advisory Committee on Child Health.
*M R S . K A T E B. H E L M S , South Carolina State Department of Public Welfare*
Chairman, General Advisory Committee on Social Services for Children.
*M R S . H A R R IE T A . H O U D L E T T E , American Association of University Women.
*IR V IN R. K U E N Z L I, American Federation of Teachers.
C H A R L E S S. JO H N S O N , Fisk University.
O SCAR L . M IL L E R , M .D ., North Carolina Orthopedic Hospital. Chairman
Advisory Committee on Services for Crippled Children.
B R O A D U S M IT C H E L L , International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union..
E M M A C. P U S C H N E R , National Child Welfare Division, American Legion.
*B O R IS S H IS H K IN , American Federation of Labor.
*R O Y S O R E N S O N , National Council, Young Men’ s Christian Associations.
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Leisure Time Services for Children.
Chairman, Subcommittee on Young Workers in Wartime Agriculture, Gen
eral Advisory Committee on Protection of Young Workers.
‘ G E O R G E S. S T E V E N S O N , M .D ., National Committee for Mental Hygiene,
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Mental Hygiene of Children.
M R S . R O Y C. F . W E A G L Y , American Farm Bureau Federation.
H E L E N R . W R IG H T , School of Social Service Administration, University of
Chicago.
‘ M R S . G E R T R U D E F O L K S Z IM A N D , National Child Labor Committee.
* Advisory Coihmittee of the Children's Bureau.

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FOREWORD
On March 18, 1944, the National Commission on Children in Wartime
adopted Goals for Children and Youth in the Transition From War to
Peace.
Subsequently, the chairman of the Commission, Leonard W. Mayo, ap
pointed from the Executive Committee of the Commission a Committee on
Plans for Children and Youth to block out the areas in which planning was
needed to attain the goals adopted and to work with the Children’s Bureau
and its advisory committees on the preparation of specific proposals for
the consideration of the Executive Committee and the Commission.
During the year the following advisory committees of the Children’s
Bureau within their respective fields have considered specific objectives
for administrative and legislative action and made tfieir recommendations
to the Bureau:
General Advisory Committee on Protection of Young Workers
General Advisory Committee on Social Services for Children and its
subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Leisure-Time Services for
Children
Advisory Committee on Maternal and Child-Health Services
Advisory Committee on Services for Crippled Children
The Committee on Plans for Children and Youth discussed the general
scope of proposals to be developed, reviewed material on a wide range of
subjects, held a series of conferences and discussions on State and com
munity planning for children and youth, and drew together into a report
proposals for the consideration of the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee on February 16 and 17, 1945, reviewed with
care the report submitted and made revisions in it. The discussion showed
substantial agreement on the proposals and recommendations for action con
tained therein. Although there were some variations of opinion that are
on file, the Executive Committee voted unanimously to adopt the report as
a whole and to submit it to the members of the Commission for their
consideration and comment before its publication in final form.
The report was reviewed by the members of the Commission and has
been revised in the light of their comments and suggestions.
Subsequent reports will be prepared as further proposals are worked
out and agreed upon.
j|j£

The National Commission on Children in Wartime was originally ap
pointed as the Children’s Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime in
February 1942. It was reappointed by the Chief of the Children’s Bureau
in February 1944.
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CONTENTS
Page
A PLAN OF ACTION....................................... ............................................

PROPOSALS FOR EXTENDING FEDERAL AND STATE
I.

Expansion of services for maternal and child health and

COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN...............................
II.

crippled children .....................................................................

Expansion of child-welfare services...........................................

III. Extension and improvement of othersocial-security programs
IV. Federal aid for education.............................................................
V.

Federal child-labor legislation.................................................

PROPOSALS FOR STATE AND COMMUNITY ACTION..................

25
29
30

A 16-year minimum age for employment................................

II.
III.

Safeguards for adoption..............................................................
Continuous State and community planning for children
and youth ....................................................................................

PROPOSALS FOR IMMEDIATE STUDY.........................

Correlated mental-hygiene program for children and youth..

II.

Guardianship of children..............................................................

III. Leisure-time services .............

IV. A program for youth.....................................................................

m
NATIONAL COMMISSION ON CHILDREN IN WARTIME . . .
MEMBERSHIP, 1945 ________________________________________ .......
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BUILDING T H E FU TU R E FOR C H ILD R E N A ND Y O U T H

NEXT STEPS

proposed by the

N a tio n a l C o m m is s io n on C h ild re n in W a rtim e

A PLAN OF ACTION
Our victory in this war will be a victory for the future, a future that
belongs to children and young people.
It belongs to the children who bore the brunt of the war in the breaking
up of families, the uprooting of homes, and the migration o f masses of
people.
It belongs to the children who, in their formative years, had to adjust
mentally and emotionally to the loss of their fathers, to families over
burdened with worry and work, to a world too busy for play.
It belongs to the young people who, still in their teens, entered the
service of their Nation to bear arms in battle, entered our workshops, and
worked on our farms to produce for war.
From boys piloting combat planes to girls welding plate for our combat
ships, our youngsters, not yet mature, have assumed many responsibilities
beyond their years.
In winning battles at the front and on the production line, these young
people have won for themselves and for their brothers and sisters the right
to expect that their elders will protect them against future war and against
future unemployment and want, and will provide them with the opportunity
to realize the full promise of better and richer democratic life.
We cannot make good this promise unless wet
1. Safeguard family life;
2. Extend health services and medical care until they reach all mothers
and children;
3. Assure to youth education and employment opportunity and pro
tection ;
4. Develop community recreation and leisure-time services for young
people;
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5. Assure social services to every child whose home conditions or
individual difficulties require special attention;
6. Review and revise legislative safeguards and standards relating to
children ;
7. Enable Federal, State, and local governments to share the public
responsibility for the health, education, and welfare of children;
8. Train professional personnel and prepare volunteers to render serv
ices to children and youth;
9. Provide increased opportunities for youth to share in the plan
ning and development of programs for youth;
10. Educate parents, youth, and all citizens in the importance of pro
viding full security and opportunity for children for the sake of
their own happiness and well-being and for the future of the Nation.
These are the Goals for Children and Youth in the Transition From
War to Peace, adopted by the National Commission on Children in War
time, meeting in Washington, D. C., on March 18, 1944.
Within the framework of the Goals, the Executive Committee of this
Commission has now marked out some steps which the American people,
looking toward the better and richer democratic life we owe our children
and youth, can take.
Full employment with adequate wage levels and conditions of work and
insurance against the normal economic hazards of life are first essentials
for every family if children are to have the chance to develop their full
potentialities. But even when these are assured, there remain many services
which children must have from the Federal Government and from the com
munities and States in which they live.
We must educate our citizens to recognize the fact that the health and
welfare of children, no less than their education, are public responsibilities
and that services should be made available as a matter of right. The present
proposals are concerned with such services.
The war has demonstrated the importance of the emphasis America has
placed on good care and full opportunities for its children. It has also
demonstrated the strength and weakness in our provision of both. Dis
crepancies revealed by Selective Service point up clearly the necessity for
providing for all children in all sections of the country as well as we have
provided for some in the more favored sections. Often our services for
children have been too little and too late.
We have a solid foundation on which to build. The principle of Federal
cooperation with States and communities in developing their health, welfare,
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and educational services for children and youth is well established in law.
We have behind us years of experience in administering such public serv
ices. Where we have failed is in authorizing and providing these services
on a scale sufficient to extend their benefits to all children.
While this report is based primarily on the needs of youth and upon the
obligation of a democratic nation to provide the best possible care for its
youth, the implementation of the program outlined should greatly strengthen
the security of the Nation. It is to be hoped that international cooperation
will be so successful after the close of the present war that the youth of the
Nation will never again be called upon to suffer the horror of war. Only
through such a program of international good will and cooperation can the
objective of the present war be fully realized. Should war ever again be
come necessary the strength of the Nation and its ability to prepare quickly
will depend on the physical fitness, mental alertness, emotional stability, and
specialized training of its youth. The provision of adequate health, welfare,
and educational services should be the first step in a general program of
national security. Had such a program been provided following the World
War of 1914-18 the Nation would have been in a much stronger position to
meet the stresses of the present war.
The extent to which military training in the usual sense of the term
must be considered in planning for youth can be determined only by future
developments in international relations. It is clear, however, that preparation
for modern warfare goes far beyond mere military drill and requires mil
lions of men trained as technical, medical, and scientific experts. Such
training is best given in the educational institutions of the Nation. Once
such technical knowledge is acquired, the necessary military drill may be
learned in a comparatively short period. A program of universal military
training, therefore, which would take the youth out of the technical and
vocational schools, might actually tend to weaken the national security rather
than strengthen it.
The whole matter of national security in peacetime is so complicated
and so integrated with the social, economic, and educational structure of
the Nation, that no hasty action should be taken regarding it. We, there
fore, urge the President of the United States to appoint a commission
including representatives from the armed forces, labor, management, agri
culture, education, and organizations concerned with the welfare of youth,
and the general public to study the problem and recommend a program
of action.
Since, however, the Nation may be greatly strengthened to meet the
problems of peace or of war by raising the levels of health, education, and
welfare of the youth of the Nation, immediate action should be taken to
provide the best possible service for youth in these essential fields. Through
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an adequate program for youth the Nation may be prepared for peace in
such a manner that it may quickly be transformed to a war basis— in case
of national emergency.
We cannot ask children and youth to bear the responsibilities which fall to
them in war and yet fail to give them their appropriate share in the develop
ment of a secure peace. They have demonstrated ability, courage, and ca
pacity for cooperation, idealism, and sacrifice which are a challenge to
adults. The enlistment of these energies, skills, and capacities in advancing
our local, national, and international well-being is a responsibility of all
agencies professing to serve youth. Only on the basis of sharing with adults
can young people gain the opportunity and recognition they so richly
deserve.
Let us resolve now, for the peace that is ahead, that we will build cour
ageously, imaginatively, ungrudgingly, and without discrimination as to
race, color, creed, or national origin, services which will reach out to all
our children and youth wherever they live and whoever their parents may
be. Our greatest chance for a lasting peace lies not with us, but with them.

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BUILDING T H E FU T U R E FO R C H ILD R EN AND YO U TH

PROPOSALS FOR EXTENDING FEDERAL AND
STATE COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN
I Expansion of services for maternal
and child health and crippled children
The health of children, no less than their education, is a public responsi
bility. If during the coming decades children are to grow to maturity phys
ically and mentally fit, if they are to take advantage of the educational
opportunities offered to them, and if they are to assume their position as
responsible members of society when they are mature, they must be assured
healthy bodies and healthy minds when they are young.
The Nation can no longer afford to neglect its children as it has in the
past. The time has now come to plan adequate services that will assure every
opportunity for health for all children.

EVIDENCE OF NEED
Ample evidence is at hand of the great need for widespread expansion of
local, State, and Federal programs to assure the accessibility of health and
medical services to all mothers and children.
The rejection as unfit for general military service of more than one in
every four 18-year-old boys under the Selective Service System is
evidence enough, for hundreds of thousands have been rejected for
causes that could have been corrected in childhood.
Earlier studies have shown that large numbers of boys and girls reach
adolescence and maturity with many correctable defects or adverse
health conditions. Defects found in children at school examinations
are found again, year after year, at repeat examinations. No major
steps have been taken to correct this situation. Health examinations
alone will not remove the adverse conditions or their causes. Therapeu
tic measures are necessary.
In few cities, towns, or counties have systematic and organized ar
rangements been set up by the public-health agencies to provide the full
complement of preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic services neces5

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sary to protect children from disease, to correct defects and adverse
conditions found at examinations, and to care for sick children.
Families must depend on their private arrangements with physicians or
clinics and in many situations the cost of care or the shortage of it pre
vents a child from receiving all he needs. Neither the provision of
medical care nor the education of parents on how to use facilities has
kept pace with scientific knowledge.
Though great progress has been made by State and local health depart
ments in the establishment of health services for mothers and children
during the 9 years of operation of the Social Security Act, facilities
and personnel to provide a high quality of health service and medical
care are still very inadequate, and State-wide coverage is far from com
plete. Three-fifths of the 3,000 counties have a health department with
a full-time health officer and a staff of at least one sanitarian and one
public-health nurse. Nearly 1,000 counties still have no public-health
nurse.
We have failed our children in not providing adequately for the following
health services:
L O C A L H E A L T H S E R V IC E
The fundamental structure for all preventive health work in maternal and
child health is a city or county health service consisting of at least a health
officer, a sanitary engineer, and a public-health nurse. Such health units
are now available in only approximately three-fifths of the counties of the
United States.
M A T E R N IT Y C A R E
Regular monthly prenatal clinics are held in only about a quarter of our
rural counties. Only two-thirds of all births in this country take place in
hospitals. In rural areas the percentage is less than half. Less than a third
of our Negro babies are born in hospitals. The shortage of hospital beds
for maternity care is particularly great in rural areas and small urban
centers.
Each year some 200,000 mothers go through childbirth without the care
of a physician.
Maternal mortality decreased 56 percent from 1935 to 1942, and yet in
1942 in the country as a whole 26 women died in childbirth for every 10,000
babies born alive. In one State the rate was 53 ; in another, 7. The rate for
Negro mothers is more than twice that for white mothers. Maternal-mor
tality rates could be cut in half.
Standards for maternity hospitals and homes are not equally good through
out the country. In some States there is no law governing the licensing of
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EVIDENCE OF NEED

such places. Many maternity homes should be replaced with properly
equipped and licensed hospitals.
IN F A N T C A R E
By 1942 infant mortality had decreased 28 percent since 1935, and yet in
1942 for the country as a whole out of every 1,000 babies born alive 40
died before the end of their first year. In one State, the rate was 98; in
another, only 29. The rate for Negro babies is almost twice as great as for
white babies. Infant-mortality rates could be cut in half.
Each year some 200,000 babies are born without medical care and yet
their first day is the most critical day of their lives.
Over 30,000 babies die each year because of premature birth. Deaths of
infants on the first day of life have decreased little in the last decade.
Mortality in the first month of life decreased only 21 percent between 1935
and 1942.
In the first year of life, 9,000 infants still die annually from gastrointestinal
disease; 17,000 from pneumonia and other respiratory diseases; nearly
3.000 from measles, whooping cough, and other communicable diseases.
Because the mother has syphilis, many infants are still-born; as many as 800
babies each year die from this cause in their first year of life.
C H I L D - H E A L T H S E R V IC E S
Two out of every three rural counties have no child-health conferences
where mothers can regularly bring their children to have their health
checked.
Of small and medium-sized cities, one-fourth have no child-health-conference
service.
Diphtheria, thanks to immunization, has decreased to the vanishing point
in many communities, but in other communities it is still prevalent and
accounts for iriaily deaths of children.
Measles, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, and other communicable diseases
of childhood cause 3,000 deaths each year among children from 1 to 5
years of age.
Rheumatic fever, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and appendicitis cause
5.000 deaths each year among children 5 to 15 years of age. Rheumatic
fever heads the list of diseases causing deaths of school-age children.
S C H O O L H E A L T H S E R V IC E S
These services are especially deficient in rural areas and small towns. One
out of six small cities has no school-nursing service. Half have no school
physician.
M A T E R N A L AND CHILD H E A L T H

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In many places, a school health examination is nothing more than the brief
inspection by the classroom teacher. Probably net half of the children
of elementary-school age are receiving medical inspections in any one year;
few receive a satisfactory medical examination. Even fewer high-school stu
dents receive such examinations. When examinations are made and defects
found there is seldom adequate provision made by the community for re
medial service.

C O R R E C T IV E D E N T A L C A R E
At least three-fourths of all school children have dental defects which
need care.
Provision for corrective dental care of preschool and school children and
of pregnant and nursing mothers is seriously inadequate in practically all
cities, towns, and counties.

M E N T A L - H E A L T H S E R V IC E S
There are relatively few fully staffed child-guidance clinics in the country.
Only the larger cities have such clinics.
Mental-health service is not yet integrated to any great degree with health
services for preschool or school children, nor with welfare services for
socially handicapped children.
Mental-health services should be organized on the basis of a preventive
health program that starts in infancy and is carried through the entire
school period. The need for preventive programs has been demonstrated
in other fields. For example, little progress was made in the reduction of
diarrheal diseases until the problem was approached from the viewpoint
of prevention. The same holds true of mental difficulties.
S E R V IC E S F O R C R IP P L E D C H IL D R E N
In July 1944 State crippled children’s agencies listed 373,000 crippled
children. Out of every 1,000 children in the population, there are on the
average 8 who are crippled. Three States report they have found as many
as 14 per 1,000; 6 States report they find less than 5 per 1,000. It is not
unreasonable to assume that if every State had adequate facilities for
locating all of its crippled children, the total number known to the State
agencies would be doubled.
Some 100,000 orthopedically crippled children received care each year
under State crippled children’s programs, but many must wait long periods
before they can be cared for. Recently State agencies reported 15,000
children at one time were awaiting care that could not be given because o f
lack of funds.
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EVIDENCE OF NEED

State programs for crippled children, seriously handicapped by lack of
funds and personnel, reach only to orthopedically crippled children, in the
main. Care for children with other types of physical handicaps has been
very small in amount.
Injury to the brain of infants during birth causes the death of many and
results in palsy to thousands who survive. Some 70,000 such children now
living are educable and would benefit greatly from care not now available.
Rheumatic fever cripples or handicaps many thousand children. There are
now approximately 500,000 children under 18 so handicapped and yet State
crippled children’s programs for these children reach only a few thousand
each year in 240 of the 3,000 counties.
Some 17,000 children are deaf and approximately 1,000,000 have impaired
hearing. Hearing aids are needed by many children if they are to take
advantage of education offered in schools.
Some 15,000 children are blind; 50,000 have only partial sight; nearly 4
million have vision defects requiring correction with glasses.
Approximately 1,250,000 children are handicapped with asthma, 35,000
with diabetes, 200,000 with epilepsy. These children require prolonged
care. With the exception of one State which cares for a few diabetic chil
dren, no provision is made for these children in State crippled children s
programs.

H E A L T H C E N T E R S A N D H O S P IT A L S
Many cities, towns, and rural counties do not have health or medical
centers with adequate space, equipment, and personnel for prenatal clinics,
child-health conferences, and diagnostic and treatment clinics, including
immunization and nutrition clinics.
Many rural areas and many towns and smaller cities have no provision or
inadequate provision for community hospitals for maternity care, care of
premature infants, sick children, or children with communicable diseases.
Facilities for children requiring prolonged institutional care or sanatorial or
convalescent care are generally inadequate or entirely lacking. Also facili
ties for the care of Negro children are far inferior in many States to those
for white children.

Limitations of Existing Programs
Clearly, no halfway measures will serve to meet this situation. Only a
well-conceived plan that calls for progressive development during the next
few years will suffice to meet the great and continuing needs of mothers and
children and provide coverage of every city and county within a limited
M ATERNAL AND CHILD H E A LTH

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period of time. Nothing short of a Nation-wide effort supported by ade
quate Federal and State funds will make it possible to assure access to
proper health services and medical care for all mothers in childbirth, for
all newborn infants, and for children during the preschool and school years
and throughout adolescence. The combined efforts of State and local agen
cies, professional groups involved in rendering service, and citizens’ groups
will be needed to develop the program.
As a nation we have the knowledge and skills to do the job, but we have
not made available adequate resources to train personnel, to provide equip
ment and facilities, and to place personnel where they are needed.
Though extensive expansion may not be possible during the war period
because of lack of personnel, this period can be used for planning for the
training of key personnel, for exploring ways and means of better utilization
of existing personnel and resources, for extending and improving services
and facilities, and for starting demonstrations that will serve as pilot
projects for postwar expansion. This would make it possible for the pro
gram to go forward as rapidly as personnel and facilities become available.
It is desirable that data on personnel and facilities for health service
and medical care for mothers and children be gathered, State by State, to
bring into focus local needs. Such State reviews of resources and needs
can serve both as supporting evidence for national planning and as spe
cific guides to State and local administrative bodies.
Authority for a broad program to promote the health o f mothers and
children was granted by Congress with the passage of the Social Security
Act in 1935, but the maximum amounts authorized for Federal appropri
ations for grants to the States each year are too small to permit the States
and localities to go forward with full programs of health service and medical
care for mothers and children.
For maternal and child health the maximum Federal appropriation is
fixed at $5,820,000 a year. This must be distributed among 48 States,
3 Territories, and the District of Columbia. State plans for maternal
and child health for 1945 show $4,842,000 budgeted from State and
local funds matching in part Federal funds. Some additional funds
are spent locally, especially in the large cities. Even the total of these
amounts obviously does not allow adequately for maternity and infant
care, and for preventive and curative health service and dental care for
preschool and school children and for children who have left school.
For crippled children the maximum Federal appropriation under the
Social Security Act is fixed at $3,870,000 a year. State plans for 1945

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EV IDENCE OF NEED

show $3,218,000 budgeted' from State and local funds for these pur
poses ; and some Stales expend larger sums for the care of crippled
children than are included under programs financed in part from
Federal funds.
These sums are far from sufficient to provide care for the number of
children in need of care or to broaden the scope of the program to
include other groups of crippled children for whom care is not now
provided.

ACTION P R OP OSED
Federal legislative action is required now through extension of existing
Federal-State grant-in-aid programs to enable the State health agencies (1)
to meet immediate needs of mothers and children and prepare for the post
war period, and (2) to provide for progressive expansion after the war of
the total broad program of maternal and child-health and crippled chil
dren’s services until each State is able to assure the availability of these
services to all mothers and children within the State.
Federal and State funds should be made available in sufficient amounts
to provide this coverage within a limited period of time, not more than 10
years.
The present plan of financing the program of health service to mothers
and children through Federal grants-in-aid to the States should be continued
and the programs, including that for crippled children, should be admin
istered by State health agencies within a framework of national standards.
Federal funds should be allotted to States on the basis of the special needs
of mothers and children in each State and the capacity of each State to
meet these needs rather than on the ability of the State to match funds.
In the event that under such a grant-in-aid plan a State fails to make pro
vision for the administration of a program in accordance with requirements
under any legislation that may be adopted, authority should be given in the
legislation to develop and carry out plans for making such services available
within the State.
To be most effective the maternal and child-health and crippled chil
dren’s programs must ultimately fit into a total medical-care plan designed
to lift the level of health and medical care for all the people, but expansion
of the services necessary for mothers and children must not be delayed
pending decision on the total plan.
The proposals that follow should be regarded as an important advance
toward a full program of health and medical care for mothers and children,
M ATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH

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but it should be recognized that the sums suggested represent only a small
part of what a long-range program of maternity and child care would cost.

FU ND S N E ED E D
Ultimately Federal grants must be ample to assure geographic coverage
with the full scope of services required; access to care of high quality by
all mothers and children; aid in provision of facilities and training of
personnel in the special fields of service for children and maternity care;
and the development of appropriate programs to educate the public in what
constitutes good care.
For the fiscal year 1946 the maximum authorized for appropriation from
Federal funds for grants to States for maternal and child health should be
raised by approximately $50,000,000, a sum that might be broken down as
follows:
Maternity care and care for infants and preschool children..$25,000,000
Preventive and curative health service for children of school
age ............................................................................................ 15,000,000
Dental care for young school children................................ ..... 10,000,000
For the fiscal year 1946, the maximum authorized for appropriation from
Federal funds for crippled children’s services should be raised by at least
$25,000,000, a sum that might be broken down as follows:
Orthopedically crippled children, including children with
cerebral palsy ......................................................................... $ 5,000,000
Children with other physically handicapping conditions in
cluding defects of vision and hearing, diabetes, allergy,
epilepsy, etc...............................................................................

5,000,000

Children with rheumatic fever and heart disease.................. 15,000,000
After the fiscal year 1946 no maximum is specified for either maternal
and child health or crippled children’s services. Congress should determine
the amounts needed each year. Appropriate contributions by States and
localities should be provided, especially in respect to operating and service
costs. The major proportion of the cost of care given to individual mothers
and children under this program should be borne by Federal funds.

C O N D IT IO N S F O R A P P R O V A L O F S T A T E P LA N S
Certain provisions should be included in any Federal legislation as
conditions of approval of a State maternal and child-health or crippled
children’s plan.
Under title V, parts 1 and 2, of the Social Security Act a series of such
conditions is incorporated. With a major expansion of the program, some
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■

additional conditions would strengthen the assurance of care of high quality
to all mothers and children. Briefly the conditions should be:
1. Financial participation by the State.
2. Administration by the State health agency.
3. Availability of the service to all mothers and children who elect to
participate, without discrimination because of race, color, national
origin, or residence.
4. A service State-wide in scope within 10 years.
5. Methods of administration necessary for proper and efficient oper
ation of the State plan including (a) personnel standards on a
merit basis; (b) provisions to assure qualification standards for
persons rendering care and for institutional care and service; (c)
the right of families to select from among those meeting standards
the physician, group of physicians, clinic, hospital, or other facility
of their choice; (d) the right of a physician to refuse to accept a
case; (e) adequate remuneration of professional personnel and
opportunity for training; (f) appropriate distribution and coordi
nation of services and facilities; and (g) adequate dissemination of
information regarding availability of service.
6. Cooperation of the State health agency with medical, nursing,
education, and welfare agencies and organizations, and the estab
lishment of a State advisory council on maternal and child health
composed of members of professions or agencies, public and volun
tary, that furnish care or services under the plan, and of the public.
7. An adequate method, including fair hearing, by which mothers and
children entitled to care or services and persons, organizations, or
institutions furnishing service or facilities may appeal from deci
sions on matters affecting their interests.

S E R V IC E S N E E D E D
Health service and medical and dental care of high quality should be
available throughout every State for mothers and infants and for children
of all ages from birth to maturity, including young workers.
Health service should include periodic examinations and all preventive
services. Medical and dental care should include all professional service
and institutional care necessary to provide complete maternity care and to
restore to health children who are sick or suffering from conditions adverse
to health or normal growth and development.
M A T E R N A L AND CHILD H E A L T H

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Special emphasis in the immediate future should be placed on developing
plans for:
1.

Adequate health center, clinic, and hospital care for mater
nity patients and newborn infants, and for older infants and chil
dren, including those with communicable disease.
In the development of plans for hospital and health-center construc
tion, special consideration should be given to provision of maternity
beds, proper nurseries for newborn infants, pediatric beds includ
ing beds for children with communicable disease and those requir
ing prolonged sanatorial type of convalescent care and to clinic
space for maternal and child-health service.

Employment o f obstetric, pediatric, mental-health, dental,
and other types o f expert consultants by State and local
health agencies to supervise health-agency clinics, to coordinate
clinic and hospital service for mothers and children, and to advise
and consult with local physicians and dentists on the care of
mothers and children.

Improvement and wide expansion of school health services,
including those in academic and vocational high schools, through
the coordinated efforts of State and local health and education
departments. The program should include health instruction and
preventive health service, through the education and health depart
ments respectively, and diagnostic and treatment service, through
health departments and other community health services. The
services of preventive, diagnostic, and treatment agencies should
be coordinated with programs of education and welfare agencies.
Special emphasis should be placed on the need for improved diag
nostic services, and on the organization of facilities for medical
care of children with adverse health conditions and on mental
health.

A dental-care program for children, starting with complete
service to children as they enter school and providing for care to
maintain dental health for these children throughout their school
years. The service should be extended to older and younger chil
dren until finally it is made available to the whole population of
preschool and school age. The dental-health program for children
should be coordinated with both the school and community health
services. Dental research into the causes of caries and other dental
diseases and into methods of prevention and treatment should go
forward simultaneously with the program of care.

A mental-health program for children at all stages of
development. This should begin with the formation of whole
some attitudes and the acquisition of appropriate knowledge by

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ACTION PR O PO SED

parents before the child’s birth. It should be integrated with
services in health clinics, schools, hospitals, and convalescent
facilities, and be coordinated with similar provisions made by
welfare agencies for children coming to their attention.
6.

Health service to youth at work, including plans to make
medical examinations available to children and youth at the time
of application for employment certificates and to assure the avail
ability of health service and medical and dental care to young
workers.

In developing the maternal and child-health and crippled children’s pro
grams attention should be focused particularly on:
1.

Premature infants.
A greatly expanded program for care of
premature infants should be developed as an integral part of the
community health program with early reporting of premature birth
to the local health agency.

Children with rheumatic fever. A program of care for chil
dren with rheumatic fever and rheumatic-heart disease is urgently
needed in every State. Since rheumatic fever kills more children
of school age than any other disease, special emphasis must be
placed on diagnostic services among school children and on ex
tending treatment facilities until they are State-wide.

Children with cerebral palsy. Special provisions should be
made for children with cerebral palsy, including the establishment
of special centers for medical care, physical therapy, and educa
tion of such children.
Children with other physical handicaps.
Diagnostic and
treatment facilities should be extended to include children with
other types of physical handicaps, such as visual and hearing
defects, asthma, or diabetes.

Q U A L IT Y O F C A R E N E E D E D
In the expansion of the health and medical services for mothers and chil
dren provision must be made for constant improvement in the quality of
care so that as soon as possible there will be available to all the best care
we know how to give. This will require:
1. Qualification standards for administrative and clinical personnel
and for institutional services, and minimum requirements for care
established by Federal and State agencies.
2. Opportunity for graduate and postgraduate training for all per
sonnel needed to administer the program or provide care.
3. Appropriate distribution in rural as well as urban areas of (a) a
sufficient number of well-trained professional personnel of all types,
M A T ER N A L AND CHILD H E A L T H

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including general practitioners, specialists, nurses, medical-social
workers, and administrative personnel; (b) sufficient well-equipped
and well-staffed health centers, hospitals, clinics, convalescent facil
ities, and laboratories for use as diagnostic and treatment centers
and for preventive health services; (c) transportation facilities.
4. Development of a consultation service through the State and local
health agencies in obstetrics, pediatrics, and related special services
for children.
5. Organization and appropriate distribution of groups of physicians,
individual practitioners, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, and
other professional workers for the purpose of effectively coordinat
ing preventive, diagnostic, consultative, and curative services.
6. A planned relationship with interchange of staff and patients be
tween centrally located hospitals with special diagnostic and thera
peutic services and facilities, local community hospitals with less
highly organized services, clinics, health centers, and the offices
of practicing physicians.
Quality of care implies that fullest consideration be given to the needs of
each mother or child and that all community resources be mobilized for this
purpose. The organization, administration, and variety of services for
mothers and children should therefore be sufficiently flexible to meet the
range of individual needs.
T R A IN IN G O F P E R S O N N E L
There is need for great expansion of training programs for all types of
workers engaged in maternal and child-health programs:
1. To render good maternity care physicians must be well-trained in
obstetrics and in care of newborn infants. Many more obstetric
specialists are needed, especially to serve the rural areas as con
sultants.
2. Nurses with advanced training in maternity nursing or in mid
wifery and in care of newborn infants are needed to supervise
maternity-nursing service in hospitals and maternity-nursing serv
ice rendered by public-health nurses in home or clinic, and in
special circumstances to render direct maternity care under the
supervision of physicians.
3. To give adequate care to children all general practitioners should
be given special training in preventive and curative pediatrics, in
cluding at least some training in mental health of children and of
mothers during the maternity period.
4. To make available to all families in which there are children the
services of a pediatrician, even if only as a consultant, will require

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ACTION PR O PO SED

the training ot many more such specialists. Just to provide the con
sultants needed in rural areas will call for a large increase.
5. Pediatric nurses must also be trained in large numbers to provide
supervisory and teaching staff for children’s services in hospitals,
including nurseries for newborn infants, convalescent homes, and
clinics, and to act as specialized consultants in public-health
nursing services. Training in the mental health of children should
be included.
6. Other types of well-trained personnel, such as public-health nurses,
dentists, nutritionists, medical-social workers, physical therapists,
community-health organizers, are now increasingly needed as the
maternal and child-health and crippled children’s programs ex
pand. Such personnel will be required in even larger numbers as
further extension takes place.
Postgraduate training for all types of personnel, including administrators,
must therefore be a basic part of an expanding maternal and child-health
program, and Federal funds should be made available to the States to pro
vide fellowships, scholarships, and special stipends for this purpose and
to supplement the salaried staff in teaching centers.
Immediate attention should be given to the following:
1. Opportunities must be provided for training physicians and nurses
in obstetrics or pediatrics in hospitals and clinics that do not now
have a specialized resident staff in these fields. To do this, appro
priate teaching and supervisory staff will have to be appointed and
financed, and payments to resident fellows made possible.
2. More postgraduate courses in pediatrics and obstetrics for physi
cians in practice should be organized at medical centers and special
postgraduate opportunities in these fields should be offered to physi
cians leaving military service. Postgraduate training should be
given nurses and other professional workers in the maternity and
pediatric fields.
3. Opportunities for field practice for all types of personnel in training
for health services should be provided. This should include arrange
ments for young physicians who have completed one or more years
o f hospital training in pediatrics or obstetrics in a large urban
medical center to have opportunity for further training and experi. ence in community hospitals and clinics serving rural areas and
small cities.
4. Postgraduate training for pediatricians and other physicians, and
for nurses and other professional workers in the mental hygiene of
M ATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH

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childhood, including opportunities for clinic and field experience
over considerable periods of time, must be made possible.
5. If a program of dental care for children is to be made possible,
even if limited to selected age groups, an extensive program of
training personnel in children’s dentistry will be required.
6. Opportunities for training physicians and others in the adminis
tration of a program of maternal and child health are fundamental
to the development of the whole program. Special opportunities
should be developed for training in the administration of a school
health program and in the special types of health service to be
rendered.
7. Postgraduate education for Negro physicians, nurses, and other
professional and technical personnel must be given special con
sideration in the training program as there is proportionately a
greater shortage o f such personnel.
E D U C A T IO N A L N E E D S
Parents everywhere must have information as to what constitutes good
maternity and child care in order that health practice in the home may be
sound. They may acquire this information in various ways. The extent
and kinds of care they or their brothers and sisters received as children
when they were sick may be indelibly imprinted on their minds. The in
struction in health received in school and the kind of health service they
experienced as students may influence favorably or adversely their atti
tudes toward preventive health service for themselves or their children.
As adults, parents will be interested in learning more about the mental and
physical health of their children from doctors, dentists, public-health nurses,
and other health workers and through radio, books and pamphlets, and
visual aids, such as exhibits, posters, and films.
It is important to the present generation of children, and to each succeeding one, that opportunities for health instruction of children in school and
of adults be improved and extended in various ways. State and local
health departments should emphasize maternity and child care and educa
tion for parenthood as an important part of the community health program.
Education departments should include instruction in maternal and child
health in appropriate courses, such as homemaking, but such instruction
should also be included in health-education courses when these are part
of the program. Information should be brought to the attention of workers
through medical and personnel departments in industry and through labor
organizations,
Since experience is certainly one of our best teachers, no effort should
be spared to provide through community health agencies maternal and
child-health service of high quality under a program that will assure as far
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ACTION PROPOSED

as possible (1) continuity of service for the mother throughout the ma
ternity period and for the child from birth to maturity, and (2) the fullest
consideration of the needs of each individual. The program of health
service and medical care for the school child should be a part of a con
tinuous service that starts in the preschool years and continues until it
merges into the program of health services for adults. Health instruction
in the schools should be coordinated with the health and medical service
so that in instructing each child the most effective use may be made of
his own experience. It is of the utmost importance that the quality of the
preventive and treatment services in maternal and child health provided
in a community be such as to reinforce and enhance this educational
program.

II Expansion of child-welfare services
Today hundreds of thousands of children are living under conditions
that deprive them of the opportunities and privileges contributing to good
citizenship. These and thousands more will be subject to such conditions
in the postwar period unless ways are found to meet the problems of chil
dren whose home conditions or individual difficulties or disabilities require
special attention.
The time has come to plan adequate social services to help meet the
special needs of children whose well-being cannot be fully assured by their
families and by those community services that are intended for all children.

EV ID EN C E OF N EED
The experience of the war period has fully demonstrated that State and
local public and private welfare agencies do not now have the necessary serv
ices and facilities to meet the social needs of children. In the majority of
counties in the United States there is no child-welfare worker available to
serve the children who have needs with which their families cannot cope
unaided. The problems of children in the postwar period, coupled with
the long-time problems which have never been handled, require expansion
of resources.
We have failed our children in not providing adequately for the
following:

S E R V IC E S T O IN D IV ID U A L C H IL D R E N
Many children cannot be cared for, or are cared for inadequately, in their
own homes. These are children whose homes are broken in fact by death,
C H ILD -W ELF A R E SERVICES

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desertion, or separation, or in spirit by parental neglect, discord, or break
down of members of the family group. Because of individual difficulties
or handicaps many children have problems of adjustment. Present pressures
upon the home, school, and community render them less able to meet the
special needs of individual children and therefore accentuate these problems.
Increasing numbers of children have come to the attention of the police
during the war period. Many are children who need protection, assistance,
or help in working out their problems. Some are young people stranded in
strange communities or found wandering in public places under circum
stances that indicate danger to their welfare. Some are teen-age girls who
frequent military-camp areas, road houses, or taverns, or roam the streets.
Another problem accentuated by wartime conditions is that of boys and
girls who run away from home to seek adventure or escape unhappiness.
Nearly 8,500 cases of runaways, with girls and boys in the ratio of 3 to 4,
were acted upon by juvenile courts reporting to the Children’s Bureau in
the year 1942. This figure does not include the number dealt with by the
police, the Travelers’ Aid, public-welfare departments, and other social
agencies.
Many young people who have left their homes in large numbers for
war jobs in other communities, are quickly swallowed up in the horde of
older workers. Unsupervised, they are left to shift for themselves for the
most part, although still immature in judgment and inexperienced in selfdirection. From social workers, school authorities, and police officials in
some areas have come reports of boys sleeping in bus stations, in “ allnight” movies, and in parked automobiles in second-hand-car lots. Even
those who are able to locate jobs for themselves need help in finding suit
able housing, wholesome recreation, and in making a place for themselves
in the life of the community.

F A C IL IT IE S F O R D E T E N T IO N A N D T E M P O R A R Y S H E L T E R
Large numbers of children are held in jails where they are confined with
adult offenders and subjected to conditions that threaten their health and
well-being. Although many States have laws prohibiting the detention of
children in jail, lack of suitable detention facilities for children in many
communities results in the use of jails for this purpose, even in some
instances where the children are held for reasons other than delinquency.
Many of these children are very young. In one State 500 children under
16 were detained in jail during a recent year, 84 of them being under 12
years of age. The records of two rural counties in another State showed 66
children under 16 detained in jail during the last 6 months of 1943 in one,
and 55 during the last 4 months of 1943 in the other. Children in jail sel20

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EVIDENCE OF NEED

dom have access to education, recreation, wholesome companionship, or
any of the things children need, even suitable food, yet their stay is some
times prolonged for weeks and months.

S E R V IC E S F O R C H IL D R E N W H O S E M O T H E R S A R E E M P L O Y E D
The care of children whose mothers are employed will continue to be a
serious problem during the postwar period, when it is expected that many
more women than before the war will be employed.
The potential size of the problem is evident in statistics released by the
Bureau of the Census. It is estimated that 2,770,000 employed women in
February 1944 had 4,460,000 children under 14 years of age. The fact that
750,000 of these children were in homes where the father was absent, either
because of service in the armed forces or for other reasons, emphasizes the
need of provision for this group of children. Although many mothers of
these children may be able themselves to arrange satisfactory care, thousands
of them need help.
Inadequate provision for the care of children of working mothers consti
tutes an outstanding example of failure to meet children’s wartime needs
in a comprehensive way, adapted to the ages and circumstances of the chil
dren themselves.

S E R V IC E S F O R C H IL D R E N B O R N O U T O F W E D L O C K
The problem of the child born out of wedlock, with all its social and legal
implications, has never been adequately met. Today, this problem has grown
in size with the increase in births, although the ratio of illegitimate live
births to the total number of live births has not risen. The Bureau of the
Census reported nearly 33,000 illegitimate births in 1943 in the United
States, exclusive of 10 large States which do not report the item of legit
imacy on birth certificates.
Many of the mothers of babies born out of wedlock are hardly more
than children themselves. Almost half of the illegitimate births reported
in a recent year involved mothers 15 to 19 years of age.

S E R V IC E S F O R C H I L D R E N U N D E R G U A R D I A N S H I P
The experience of the Veterans Administration and of the Bureau of
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance of the Social Security Board points to the
need for services to assure adequate protection to those children for whom
legal guardianship is necessary. The number of children under legal guardC H ILD -W ELF A R E SERVICES

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ianship is not known but is certainly large. The size of the problem will
be greatly increased as a result of war casualties.

S E R V IC E S F O R M E N T A L L Y D E F IC IE N T C H IL D R E N
Community resources for mentally deficient children are grossly inade
quate everywhere. Numerically the problem of mental deficiency is large;
some 2 percent of children of school age are intellectually retarded to such
a degree that they cannot profit by the ordinary school program, according
to the United States Office of Education. Probably not more than one
mentally deficient person in 10 would require custodial care if adequate
facilities for supervision were provided in the community. And yet the
chief provision made in some States is for institutional care. Institutions
for mental defectives are overcrowded and have long waiting lists.
The cost to society of neglecting the needs of mentally deficient children
is high, not only because large numbers of children who might be fitted for
community life by specialized training fail to receive it, but also because
mental deficiency looms large in the problem of juvenile delinquency.

M E N T A L - H Y G I E N E S E R V IC E S
More and better child-guidance facilities are urgently needed for socially
handicapped children, especially those with emotional and personality diffi
culties who come to the attention of the courts, social agencies, and institu
tions. There is an almost universal need for community education in mental
health, including consultation service to parents and others dealing with
children to help them develop sound attitudes leading to good mental health.

Limitations of Existing Programs
Through the Federal-aid program for child-welfare services authorized by
title V, part 3, of the Social Security Act of 1935, a great advance has been
made in State and local provision of services to children who are dependent,
neglected, or in danger of becoming delinquent. However, the limitation of
the annual appropriation for grants to the States to $1,510,000 has restricted
the use of Federal funds to a few local areas in each State and has also made
impossible their use for many needed types of service and care for children.
The fact that Federal funds are being used by the State and local welfare
departments for the employment of child-welfare workers in only about 400
counties out of approximately 3,000 indicates in part the limitation of the
present program.
Accompanying the development of the child-welfare program under the
Social Security Act there has been an increase in the employment of local
c.hild-welfare workers paid entirely from State and local funds. Nevertheless,
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EVIDENCE OF NEED

in the majority of the counties in the United States there is today no childwelfare worker publicly employed to serve the children who have needs that
call for the services of such workers. The problems of children in the post
war period, coupled with the long-time problems that have never been han
dled, require expansion of the program.
Services should be provided to meet the special needs of individual chil
dren whose well-being cannot be fully assured by their families and by
community services, such as education, available to all children.
Child-welfare services should be directed especially to the conservation
and strengthening of family life for children. Such services will be needed
by children who are unable to utilize community programs to full advantage
without guidance and assistance in meeting their own emotional and per
sonal problems. In a democratic society all children should have access
to those opportunities and services which are necessary to meet their indi
vidual needs.
Child-welfare services should be part of the program of State and local
public welfare departments and should be developed in close relation to the
other services of these departments that are directed toward the welfare of
the family.
Public resources should be fully available to discharge the basic responsi
bilities of government for meeting the social needs of children. This result
can be achieved through cooperation of Federal, State, and local govern
ments. Services are needed in neighborhoods and localities where children
live and, therefore, it is important to have social services for children avail
able in every political subdivision throughout the country. The leadership
of State and local public welfare agencies is required to see that the needs
of individual children are met and to promote the improvement of com
munity conditions in order to prevent child neglect and dependency.

ACTION PROPOSED
Federal funds for grants to States for extending and improving childwelfare services should be available in amounts sufficient to accomplish the
following purposes under the conditions outlined:

S T A T E -W ID E C O V E R A G E
To make possible State-wide coverage of child-welfare services within 10
years, Federal funds for child-welfare services should be made available in
amounts sufficient to allow progressive development of the program now
provided for under title V, part 3, of the Social Security Act until each
State is able to assure to children in all its political subdivisions, urban
C H ILD -W ELF A R E SERVICES

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and rural, access to the service of workers trained to deal with the problems
of children who have special needs.

E X P A N S IO N O F C O M M U N IT Y R ES O U R C ES
In order that the necessary resources may be available to provide for
every child reached by child-welfare services the special care he may require,
Federal child-welfare funds, in addition to providing for child-welfare
workers, should be available to the States for the following purposes:'
a. To extend and strengthen the provisions for foster care of chil
dren, primarily in foster-family homes, and to pay part of the
cost of such care when satisfactory care is not otherwise
available.
b. To provide for temporary care of children who are delinquent,
neglected, and dependent in areas where children would other
wise be detained in jail or would be deprived of necessary pro
tection and shelter or study of their special needs.
c.

To provide specialized services needed to strengthen and im
prove the programs of institutions for children.

d. To provide day-care services for children whose mothers are
employed or whose home conditions require such services, in
cluding day care in foster-family homes or day-care centers,
and auxiliary services necessary to assure proper use of day-care
facilities and to safeguard children receiving care. These serv
ices will be in addition to the services which should be provided
in greatly extended form in the schools, through nursery edu
cation and extracurricular activities available to all children
without cost.
e. To provide for returning nonresident children to their home
communities.
f.

To provide for cooperation with appropriate State and com
munity agencies in improving conditions affecting the welfare
of children.

T R A IN IN G O F P E R S O N N E L
In order to provide well-trained personnel for carrying out the services
under the child-welfare programs, Federal funds should be made available
to the States to assist in the training of personnel.

C O N D IT IO N S F O R A P P R O V A L O F S T A T E P LA N S
To assure proper standards of sendees and care in the program for child24

ACTION PROPOSED

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welfare services financed in part by the Federal Government, each State
plan should provide for:
1. Financial participation by the State.
2. Administration by the State welfare agency.
3. Availability of child-welfare services without discrimination because
of color, race, creed, national origin, or residence.
4. A service State-wide in scope within 10 years.
5. Methods of administration necessary for the proper and efficient
operation of the State plan, including personnel standards on a
merit basis and provision for employment of qualified personnel.

A L L O T M E N T OF F E D E R A L FU N D S
Federal funds should be allotted after taking into consideration the esti
mated number of children to be provided for, the character of the services
to be given, the extent of special State and community needs, and the re
sources available to meet these needs.

Ill Extension and improvement of
other social-security programs
EVIDENCE OF NEED
The safety of our democratic institutions requires that every family be
enabled to earn an income sufficient to provide the essentials of food, cloth
ing, shelter, health, and home life. Full employment for adults is a first
essential to the security and well-being of children. But full employment
cannot remove all hazards to family income or provide income sufficient for
families to meet the needs of their children at all times. Loss of income
from the unemployment, illness, injury, or death of the breadwinner and
from other causes of dependency must be compensated for if children are
not to suffer.
The programs of public assistance and social insurance embodied in the
Social Security Act aid many families in the support of their children. In
January 1945, even during a period of full employment, benefits tp children
O T H E R SOCIAL-SECURITY PROGRAMS

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under the Social Security Act were going directly to over 640,000 children
in the form of aid to dependent children and to about 300,000 children
under the program for old-age and survivors insurance. Other children
were benefiting from unemployment-insurance payments to unemployed
workers, many of whom have families.
On the basis of experience since 1935 it is evident that some provisions
of the Social Security Act should be amended and that the program may
well be extended. The Social Security Board has called attention to the
changes needed. The following items are chosen for special emphasis be
cause of their direct bearing on income available for the support of children.

D E P E N D E N T C H IL D R E N
The extent to which Federal funds may be used to match State payments
for aid to dependent children tends to limit assistance for many recipients
whose need is great, especially families with oniy'"one or two children.
Assistance of $18 a month for a mother and one child, or $30 a month for
a mother and two children— of which the Federal Government now will pay
half does not give enough to live on unless the family has other resources.
States may and do pay amounts above Federal matching maximums wholly
from their own funds. By law or administration, however, almost half the
States, usually the low-income States, limit all payments for dependent
children to amounts that can be shared equally with the Federal Govern
ment. In spite of recent increases in the average monthly payment, the
amount of aid to dependent children is often far too low to provide ade
quate support. The average grant per family toward the end of 1944 was
close to $45; but in 11 States the average monthly grant was less than $30.
Usually this must be used to support a parent, at least in part, and two or
more children. For old-age assistance and aid to the needy blind Federal
funds may be used to match State payments up to a Federal-State total of
$40 and as a result the Federal aid for old-age assistance is much greater
than the aid to dependent children. There are several other provisions of
the aid-to-dependent-children program that may well be liberalized.

F A M ILY N E E D
The Social Security Act does not provide for any Federal contribution
toward general assistance, the form of public aid for needy unemployed
persons, for persons who have earnings too low for self-support or family
support, and for other needy individuals and families not eligible for the
special types of public assistance. There are many children in these families.
General assistance is now provided under State laws and in about a fourth
of the States it is wholly financed and administered by the localities. In
some areas no general assistance is available. In some, because o f limitation
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EVIDENCE OF NEED

of funds, whole groups may be excluded from eligibility. On the whole, pro
vision for general assistance is less adequate in rural areas than in cities. It
is hemmed in by a network of settlement laws that are an anachronism today
with our mobility of population. During reconversion when many workers,
at least for a period, will be without jobs and may need to move to find
employment, the flexibility of a comprehensive program of general assist
ance with no eligibility condition except need will be required to ease strains
that will affect all parts of the country. During ordinary times it is needed
to provide aid for some members of the population.

IN S U R A N C E C O V E R A G E
About 20,000,000 wage-earners, principally in low-income occupations—
domestic service and agricultural employment— still lack protection under
the Federal-State unemployment-insurance system and under Federal old-age
and survivors insurance.

D IS A B IL IT Y
Loss of earnings during temporary physical disability throws a great
burden on family resources since unemployment insurance is not available
and sickness is likely to bring great hardship because of the additional ex
pense. In its effect on family security, permanent disability is like old age,
except that it involves additional medical costs and often comes unexpect
edly, at a time when a worker’s family responsibilities are greatest and when
he has had little opportunity to accumulate savings.

YO U N G W O R KERS
In addition to the extension of coverage and increase of benefits for
unemployment insurance on which the Social Security Board has made rec
ommendations, a new unemployment-compensation need in regard to young
workers will emerge during the reconversion period when large numbers of
young war workers will lose their jobs and apply for benefits. Under present
unemployment-insurance laws it is usual for young workers losing their
jobs and returning to school for any extended period to be disqualified for
benefits since, as students, they are not available for employment. This may
serve as a deterrent to school attendance and an incentive to idleness during
the period when jobs may be difficult for young workers to secure.

ACTION PROPOSED
Because of the benefits that would accrue to children in terms of more
adequate support, the following extension of social security programs, based
O T H E R SOCIAL-SECURITY PROGRAMS

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chiefly, but not entirely, on recommendations of the Social Security Board,
is advocated:

A ID T O D E P E N D E N T C H I L D R E N
Removal of the maximum for Federal matching o f State payments o f
monthly benefits for dependent children and of the restrictive conditions
for matching; provision of medical care for recipients of aid to dependent
children; provision that the Federal share of assistance costs shall vary
with the economic capacity of the State; removal of requirement that chil
dren between the ages of 16 and 18 years must be in school if they are to
receive benefits.

G E N E R A L A S S IS T A N C E
Federal funds made available to States to share costs o f general assistance,
including medical care, for needy persons or families not eligible for other
types of public assistance, with need as the only eligibility requirement.

O L D - A G E A N D S U R V IV O R S IN S U R A N C E
Extension of coverage of old-age and survivors insurance to include selfemployed business and professional people and farm operators, agricultural
workers, domestic workers in private homes, and employees of public
agencies and nonprofit organizations, and to assure higher benefits for
low-paid workers.

D IS A B IL IT Y IN S U R A N C E
Development of social insurance against permanent and temporary disa
bility, including provision for maternity benefits.

U N E M P L O Y M E N T IN S U R A N C E
a. Extension of unemployment-insurance coverage to include per
sons employed on small farms, hired workers on farms, em
ployees of State and local governments, workers in nonprofit
institutions and agencies, Federal civilian employees, maritime
workers, and domestic employees ; increase of maximum benefits
including any allowance for dependents to $25 a week; increase
in duration of benefits to 26 weeks; and establishment of Fed
eral minimum-benefit standards to eliminate disparities.
b. Removal of deterrent to return to school of young war workers
eligible for unemployment compensation during the reconver28

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ACTION PROPOSED

sion period.
considered :

The following alternative methods should be

(1) Interpretation or revision of State unemployment-insurance
laws to permit the payment of benefits to unemployed
young workers under 21 who return to school.
(2 ) Provision of funds to make payments to young workers
under 21 who return to school during the reconversion
period, which would be equivalent in amount and duration
to the unemployment-insurance benefits they would other
wise receive.
For prompt dealing with the problem on a Nation-wide
basis provision for authorizing and financing such pay
ments from Federal funds is desirable and should be in
cluded in any Federal legislation enacted during the war
period to increase or extend unemployment insurance.

IV Federal aid for education
EVIDENCE OF NEED
Many States and large areas within States have school facilities which
are inadequate in quantity, quality, and accessibility. The inequalities in
school resources affect most adversely families living on farms and in
small rural communities. These farming areas have the most children, the
least adequate school systems, the smallest amounts of money available for
schools. Children in minority groups, especially in areas where the law pro
vides for separate schools on the basis of race, are particularly affected by
these educational lacks.
The span of school attendance for many children is only from 6 or 7 to
14 years of age; school terms in some places are 7 months a year and in
some even less; school attendance is interrupted to permit boys and girls to
do agricultural or other work; more than a fourth of the boys and girls of
high-school age are not in high school; the proportion of children having
access to nursery schools is very small.
As long as differences in the tax-paying ability of the States exist, Federal
aid will be necessary to give all American children their birthright of educa
tion. A program of Federal aid to education was recognized as a national
necessity by the President’s Advisory Committee on Education in 1938 and
by the National Resources Planning Board in 1942. Bills to put into operaEDUCATION

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tion such a program have been before Congress at least since 1933 and are
pending in the present session.

A C T I O N PROPOSE!?
Experience of the last few years and the demands o f the future make
it essential that we move forward as rapidly as possible to attain full
educational opportunity for all children and youth. Therefore the follow
ing will be needed:
1. Federal support for education to make possible for all children
access to a basic general education and to additional educational
opportunities in accordance with interest, capacity, and special
needs. Such Federal aid to education should be based on need for
educational opportunities and facilities, which in many areas and
for many groups throughout the country are far from adequate.
Federal programs involving expansion of opportunities for voca
tional training should promote this general objective, since it is
o f the utmost importance that vocational training be part of a
broad educational program. State and local programs supported in
part by Federal funds should be administered so as to give equal
opportunity to all, without discrimination because of race, color,
creed, or national origin.
2. Use of Federal-aid funds to reduce the financial expense incident
to attendance in elementary and secondary schools, through free
textbooks and supplies, safe transportation free of cost to pupils,
elimination of laboratory and other fees, and other measures to
meet the costs to the pupil of school attendance.
3. Provision of Federal funds for the extension and improvement of
essential services, such as school-lunch programs, library services,
school health programs, and other services necessary to meet edu
cational needs.

V Federal child-labor legislation
EVIDENCE OF N EED
During this war the volume of child labor has reached the level o f a
generation ago.
Nearly 3 million boys and girls 14 through 17 years of age— almost onethird of the population of these ages— are at work full time or part time
during the school term*
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ACTION PROPOSED

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Half of these are at full-time work and are getting no formal schooling
at all.
In the 1944 summer vacation nearly 5 million boys and girls of these
ages were at work. Thousands under 14 for whom there is no official count
were also working.
The child-labor provisions of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938, administered by the Children’s Bureau, have been the bulwark during
the war which has kept children under 16 years of age from flocking into
factories and war plants as they have crowded into other types of employ
ment not covered by Federal law.
However, with the greatly expanded numbers of boys and girls employed,
violations of the Federal act as well as of State child-labor laws are in
creasing.
Nearly five times as many children were found employed contrary to the
Federal act in the year ending June 30, 1944, as in the year before Pearl
Harbor. Facilities for the issuance of employment and age certificates,
already insufficient, have not been adequately increased and strengthened.

Limitations of Existing Programs
The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not extend its protection to
children working in agriculture* except when they are legally required to
attend school. Nor does it reach to telegraph messengers or to some other
young workers engaged in commerce in occupations detrimental to their
safety, health, and development.
Furthermore, the present child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Stand
ards Act are not protecting all the children for whom they were intended,
because of shortage of staff necessary for effective enforcement.

ACTION PROPOSED
Federal regulation of child labor should be strengthened and extended by
amendment of the Fair Labor Standards Act or otherwise to cover the gaps
now existing in the protection of child workers.
Appropriations to the Children’s Bureau for the enforcement of the childlabor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act should be increased to
provide for adequate inspection service, for issuance of employment or age
certificates, for determination of hazardous occupations, and for research
and consultant service necessary for good administration.
CHILD LABOR

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BUILDING T H E FU TU R E FO R C H ILD R EN AN D Y O U T H

PROPOSALS FOR STATE AND COMMUNITY ACTION
I

A 16-year minimum age for employment
EVIDENCE OF N E ED

The greatest abuses of child labor during the war have been the with
drawal from school for employment of large numbers of children, the em
ployment of very young children outside school hours, work for excessive
hours, at night, and in unsuitable and hazardous occupations.
These conditions have been the result primarily of the inadequacies in
our State child-labor laws and in the administrative machinery and appro
priations available to enforce existing standards.
Only two States now have child-labor laws that provide a 16-year mini
mum age for employment in all gainful occupations during school hours
and at the same time provide a 16-year minimum age for employment at
any time in manufacturing establishments. Thirteen other States meet this
standard in part but not in full.
Twenty-eight States and the District of Columbia still have a basic mini
mum age of 14 years for employment in manufacturing establishments or
for employment during school hours; 4 States have a 15-year minimum age
for such employment; and 1 State establishes no such minimum age, al
though it prohibits employment during school hours of children whose at
tendance at school is required by law.
Only 32 States have set a 14-year minimum age for most employment
outside of school hours. Only 6 States limit hours of work for 14- and 15year-old children to 40 a week; and only 2 have this standard for minors
of 16 and 17 years.

ACTION P R O P O S ED
Inasmuch as employment having no connection with interstate commerce
can not be covered by Federal law without an amendment to the Consti32

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ACTION PROPOSED

»A

tution, and in view of the urgency of the situation, the following measures
are recommended for immediate consideration by State legislatures:
1. Adoption of a 16-year minimum age for all employment during
school hours and for work at any time in manufacturing and
mechanical establishments. This is basic to full opportunity for
school attendance of children and protection from harmful employ
ment. Activities in support of the movement to attain this standard,
such as those already undertaken by State labor administrators,
organized labor, and many State and national organizations, should
be intensified and extended so as to achieve this objective by the
close of the 1947 legislative sessions in all States not already pro
viding this measure of protection. The effective date of this legisla
tion may be set for the close of the war or some earlier time when
labor requirements warrant.
2. Strengthening of other protective provisions in child-labor laws as
necessary. These provisions should include minimum age for work
outside school hours, regulation of hours of work, protection from
night work and hazardous occupations, employment- or age-certifi
cate requirements, and other administrative provisions for the ade
quate enforcement of the law. Adequate appropriations for enforce
ment should be made. As soon as war conditions permit, relaxations
of child-labor standards made to meet emergency needs should be
terminated.

3. Extension of compulsory-school-attendance laws to cover all chil
dren between 6 and 18 years of age, with allowance for legal
employment of those 16 and 17 years of age, and exemption of
high-school graduates. This extension of school attendance is essen
tial both to further the education of children and youth and to help
achieve the basic purpose of a 16-year minimum age for work dur
ing school hours.

Safeguards for adoption
EVIDENCE OF NEED

Good adoption laws and procedures protect the child, the natural parents,
and the adoptive parents. They prevent the placement of children in homes
where they are unhappy and uncared for. By safeguarding the legal rights
of both natural and adoptive parents, they promote successful adjustments
of children to adoptive homes.
ADOPTION

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Not more than one-fourth of the States have adoption laws that approx
imate the standards believed to be essential for adequate protection of
children. Although within the last 5 years some 40 States have improved
their legislation in some respects, adequate legal safeguards for adoptions
and related procedures are still not generally provided.

ACTION PROPOSED
Most States should review and improve their laws on adoption and re
lated laws that have a bearing on adoption procedures.
The following recommendations regarding standards for such laws have
been made by the Children’s Bureau:*
A D O P T IO N LAW S
a. Adoption proceedings should be before a court accustomed to
handling children’s cases, in the locality or State where the
petitioners for adoption reside and are known. Court hearings
should be closed to the public, and the confidential nature of
the records should be assured.
b.

The interrelated functions of legal and social protection should
be recognized by a provision incorporated in the adoption laws
which requires that the State welfare department be informed
of all adoption petitions and, through its own staff or through
private or local public agencies designated by the department,
assist the court having jurisdiction over adoptions by making
available to it information regarding the child and the proposed
adoption home.

Consent to adoption should be obtained from the natural parents,
or if their parental rights have been legally relinquished or
terminated, then from a person or agency having legal respon
sibility for the child and the right to consent to his adoption.

d. A period of residence in the adoption home, preferably for a
year, should be required prior to issuance of the final adoption
decree, so that the suitability of the adoption may be determined.
Provisions should be made for removal of children from homes
found to be unsuitable, and for their care and guardianship after
removal.
R E L A T E D LAW S
Safeguards should be provided in related laws, such as those affecting
relinquishment of parental rights, regulation of child-placing services, and
* Essentials o f Adoption Law andvProcedures (Preliminary D raft). U. S. Department
o f Labor, Children’ s Bureau, Washington, December 1944.

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ACTION PROPOSED

determination of guardianship and custody of children, to make sure that
in all such matters, as well as in the adoption proceedings, the welfare of
the child is safeguarded as well as the rights of the parents.
Laws in regard to the termination of parental rights are particularly
important to safeguard the interests of the child. The rights and
obligations of the natural parents should usually be terminated be
fore placement of the child in the adoptive home. In the instance of
an unmarried mother, unless she is giving consent to a particular
adoption by relatives, friends, or others known to her, she should
relinquish the child to a child-placing agency which would then be
a party to the adoption proceedings.
It should be made a statutory requirement that no transfer of rights
in a child shall be valid and binding without judicial sanction.
Furthermore, it is important that the State welfare department, or
its authorized agency, shall have responsibility for investigating
and reporting to the court in relation to transfer of parental rights
similar to the responsibility given the department for assisting
courts in determining the desirability of proposed adoptions.
Sound legislative procedures should be supported by adequate provisions
for medical care and social services for the unmarried mother and for such
care as the baby may need. Responsibilities which may be placed upon
State departments of public welfare will accomplish little for the protection
of children unless funds are provided for employment of the necessary
skilled staff. Adequate financing of public and private agencies providing
services for unmarried mothers and their children is essential. An adoption
law cannot be fully effective for the protection of children unless the neces
sary provisions for placement in foster-family homes and other forms of
child-welfare service are available in a community.

Ill

Continuous State and community
planning for children and youth

The Committee on Plans for Children and Youth, in conference and con
sultation, has reviewed the efforts that have been made in many States
during the war and previously to develop programs and concerted leadership
in behalf of children and youth. The following presentation is from a
committee statement that seeks to draw from this experience suggestions as
to how planning for children and youth can be carried on effectively.*
*The full statement will be issued by the Children’ s Bureau under the title “ State and
Community Planning for Children and Youth.”

STATE AND COM M UNITY PLANNING

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Interest in comprehensive plans for the health, education, and welfare of
children and for the suitable employment of youth has been expressed
in activities of the follow-up committees of the 1930 and 1940 White House
Conferences on Children and during the war period in the development of
committees on children under State defense councils and in the establish
ment of special youth commissions under various titles.

STATE PLANNING FOR C H ILD R EN AND YOUTH
States differ greatly in the development of general social planning, in the
extent to which planning for children and youth has been carried on in the
past under White House Conference committees, defense councils, or other
auspices, and in the adequacy of present provision for such planning. It
is impossible to outline a pattern which would be equally applicable to all
States. Planning must still be regarded as a pioneer undertaking, in a fluid
and experimental stage.

S U G G ES TIO N S FOR O R G A N IZA T IO N
The following suggestions drawn from the experience of State committees
during recent years are offered in the hope that they will be helpful to States
that do not have an effective planning agency for children and youth or
that feel the need to provide for the continuance or modification of existing
planning bodies in the children’s field. The type of organization and the
procedure best suited to each State must be determined by those in the State
who have first-hand knowledge of conditions and possibilities.

1. Emphasis on children and youth in work of general planning agencies
Planning for children and youth should be an important part of
planning for the whole population. State planning boards and simi
lar bodies engaged in planning to meet the needs of the whole popu
lation should give major consideration to planning for children
and youth since their welfare and the opportunities they have for
the development of their capacities and powers are of first impor
tance to the future of the State and the Nation.

2. Planning agency for children and youth
Whatever the resources available for general planning there should
be in each State a continuing body representing the concern of the
community for children and youth. This body should be charged
with responsibility for reviewing conditions affecting children and
youth and the obstacles to their full development. It should promote
and assist in developing sound social policies and services for all
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SUGGESTIONS FOR ORGANIZATION

children and youth, as needed, wherever they may live, and what
ever the circumstances of their personal and family life.
3. Name
The name of the body might be the State council or commission on
children and youth.
Whether the term council or commission is used, the organization
should function not as a body of delegates of various agencies, but
as a group of informed and competent persons in a position to
exercise personal judgment on the issues that arise.
4. Authority and auspices
Where there is a State planning board whose membership and pro
gram are appropriate, the council or commission on children and
youth might well function under its auspices. If not so organized,
the council might be appointed by the governor and directed to
perform such functions as he may prescribe.
To be fully effective, the council on children and youth should be
authorized by act of the legislature, and should be required to report
to the governor and the legislature, directly or through the planning
board.
In some circumstances, it may be desirable to set up the council
under voluntary auspices of such prestige as to enable it to obtain
the active cooperation of State officials and the interest of the legis
lature. Such a council might have as one of its objectives the estab
lishment of an official planning body for children and youth as soon
as feasible.
5. Functions
The functions of the council on children and youth should be:
a. To ascertain the facts concerning the children and youth of the
State.
Successful planning in any field involves collection and inter
pretation of facts concerning needs to be met, services available,
and the utilization of these services by those for whom they are
designed. This requires adequate research.
Such research should be carried on, whenever possible, by the
departments or agencies of the State government responsible for
providing services in the fields of health, education, social wel
fare, employment, and related services. It should be the respon
sibility of the council on children and youth to utilize and
correlate results of such research done by these and other
STATE PLANNING

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agencies, both public and private; to encourage and promote
the development of adequate research programs as an essential
part of the work of these agencies; and to conduct such fact
finding activities of its own as may be necessary to supplement
the information other vise available.
b. To review legislation pertaining to children and youth and ap
propriations made for services in their behalf and to consider
revisions and additions needed.
c.

To appraise the availability, adequacy, and accessibility of all
services for children and youth within the State.

d. To consult with public agencies, private agencies, and citizens’
groups, including youth groups, on the services available, the
degree to which the needs of children and youth are being met,
and the measures that should be taken to meet these needs.

To formulate proposals for action on behalf of children and
youth in specific fields such as health, child guidance, social
service, education, recreation, child labor, and youth employ
ment, to be submitted for consideration to administrative offi
cials, legislative bodies, voluntary agencies, and citizens’ or
ganizations.

To report findings to the public through printed material, press,
radio, motion pictures, conferences, and other channels.

g. To maintain contact with Federal officials and agencies con
cerned with planning for children and youth.
h. To encourage and foster local community planning and action.
i.

In general, to provide a center of information on children and
youth and to promote action in their behalf. The council’s work
should be supplemented by citizens’ organizations which study
the recommendations made and give their active support to those
that, in their judgment, promise constructive achievement in
behalf of children and youth.

6. Relationship to other organizations
The council on children and youth should have a close working
relationship with other organizations whose functions include re
search, planning, and support of programs of action.
a. Planning by councils on children and youth should be correlated
with planning for all groups of the population.
b. Councils on children and youth should relate their work to the
work of bodies planning for the whole population in special
SUGGESTIONS FOR O R GA NIZATIO N

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fields such as health, housing, education, recreation, social se
curity and family welfare.
c.

Administrative departments of State government responsible for
conducting programs benefiting children should bring to the
attention of the council on children and youth unmet needs and
their recommendations as to programs and legislation to meet
these needs.

d. The council on children and youth should not take the place of
advisory committees needed by State departments to assist in
the formulation of policies for the administration of services for
children.

7 . Membership and organization
a. To be adequately representative of the citizenship of the State
the membership should be drawn from official State agencies and
from the general public and should be broad enough to assure
planning in all the major fields of service to children and youth.
b. State departments concerned with health, education, social wel
fare, labor, and related programs directly affecting children
and youth should be represented by officials nominated by the
department heads for a fixed term contingent upon continuance
of official status.
c.

Nonofficial members should be chosen because of their broad
interest and knowledge, their ability to make contributions in
specialized fields, their concern for children, their effectiveness
in promoting the interests of children, and their ability to make
articulate the points of view and the problems of various groups
in the population to the end that the needs of all children may be
known and considered. It is important that the membership in
clude persons representative of major groups of citizens interest
ed in children and of numerically substantial racial groups.
Nonofficial members of the council should be appointed for over
lapping terms.

d. The size of the council should be such as to assure wide repre
sentation and effective executive action. This can be accom
plished through—
(1) Small membership (for example 11 to 15) with committees
on which persons not members of the council might serve
with council members, or
(2) Large and representative membership, with a small execu
tive committee and such other committees as are necessary.
STATE PLANNING

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e. Whatever the membership of the council, provision should be
made for consultation on special subjects with representatives
of different groups and interests. Youth should be encouraged
to contribute to the work of the council in terms of their
experience.
f.

The chairman of the council should be in a position to give
broad leadership without undue emphasis on any one field of
interest.

8. Financial support
a. It is desirable that funds for the council on children and youth
be provided by direct legislative appropriation to the council or
to the State planning board when it is a part of that board.
As alternatives, funds might be allotted from those available to
a department or departments of the State government, or might
come in whole or in part from contributions by private agen
cies, foundations, or individuals.
b.

Under any plan, financial support should be adequate to provide
for effective staff service and committee work. Experience has
shown that the following are essential for the most effective
work:
(1) A competent and qualified executive secretary.
(2) Staff for assembling and analyzing factual material and
distributing information.
(3) Clerical and stenographic staff.
(4) Travel for council members, staff, and members of advisory
groups, as necessary.
(5) Printing, supplies and equipment, postage, and rent if free
quarters are not available.

C O M M U N ITY PLANNIN G FOR C H ILD REN AND YOUTH
The following general principles appear from experience to be basic to
community planning for children and youth that will be carried on into the
reconversion and post-war periods:
1. Community planning includes physical planning, economic plan
ning, and social planning, each impinging on the others. In order
to plan for land use, transportation, and utilities, it is necessary to
know how the people of a community make their living and how
agricultural, manufacturing, trade, and service industries are de40

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SUGGESTIONS FOR O R GA NIZATIO N

veloping. In order to plan for housing, parks, stores, health centers,
schools, social services, libraries, streets, police protection, and
transportation, it is necessary to know how people live, where they
work, buy, and play, what their health problems are, what their
school needs are, the relation of incomes to rents and food costs,
and many other economic and social factors. Such planning also
requires knowledge of density of population and of areas where
social problems are especially marked.
2. Planning must be based on adequate study and research. Without
this underpinning, it may become planning by opinion and its char
acter may be determined by special interest or pressure groups.
3. In every community there should be a group of people interested
in planning to meet the whole range of human needs, the organiza
tion for planning varying among larger and smaller communities
and rural areas. In urban areas several different organizations may
be interested in various aspects of planning. Their activities should
be related in some way to a community-wide and comprehensive
planning agency. In rural areas community planning usually is
closely related to county agricultural planning activities.
4. There should also be in every community a group of citizens review
ing what children and youth need, exploring the extent to which
those needs are met, and stimulating community agencies and planning groups to develop the services or policies found to be
necessary.
5. Public authorization, official appointment, and public support are
desirable for county or community planning bodies responsible for
physical, economic, and social planning.
6. Planning groups should include the administrators whose programs
may be affected, and nonofficial persons in sufficient numbers so
that they will be really vocal in the group. Broad citizenship repre
sentation is essential in community planning.
7. Official community planning bodies should have close working re
lationships with voluntary planning councils and organizations,
including among others, councils of social agencies.
8. Public and private agencies should develop effective means by
which day-by-day cooperation and coordination of their operating
programs can be accomplished. From this experience such agencies
can bring to the attention of planning bodies many evidences of
need for long-term planning that should be undertaken.
9. In maintaining effective cooperative relationships with agencies
operating programs for children and youth the community planCOM MUNITY PLANNING

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ning body should draw upon such agencies for information and
suggestions.
10. The existence of broad planning bodies in a community will not
take the place of the advisory committees needed by operating
agencies to help guide the administration of their programs and to
point out the directions in which they should be expanded or
modified.
11. Whatever the planning structure in a community, there will be need
from time to time for the establishment of special committees to
deal with special problems. Through such committees the vitality
of new groups and individuals who have not previously been active
participants can be brought into community activity and planning.
12. Committees planning for children and youth can stimulate the
organization of general community planning bodies, recognizing
that the planning body that considers all age groups is needed, as
well as the body especially concerned with children.
Every community has its own resources in experience, leadership, and
ways of accomplishing common objectives. These will determine its choice
of the kind of organization needed for postwar community planning. An
existing planning agency may be used, with such changes in structure or
functions as may be necessary, or a new agency may be established whose
functions will include the development of working relationships with other
agencies or groups serving in part, but not wholly, community needs for
social planning.
Planning should be regarded as a public function which should be dis
charged by a body bringing into effective participation public officials,
those engaged in community services under private auspices, and representa
tive citizens. Public sponsorship and auspices are desirable.
In some cities the welfare federation or council of social agencies may
be sufficiently broad in its representation of community interests to be the
natural center for community planning. Perhaps in some instances a body
created to deal with a particular problem, such as juvenile delinquency, may
be expanded to cover the broad field. Where a local committee has been
organized as a part of a State-wide plan for follow-up of the White House
Conference recommendations, this group may be the one which should be
responsible for developing the community program for postwar years or a
defense-council committee on children in wartime may be the logical nucleus
of the group which will be concerned with long-range planning. Whatever
the origin, the planning body should be organized in a manner which will
assure its acceptance by the community as a center for community-wide
planning for children and youth.
The planning body for children and youth will find many organizations
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SUGGESTIONS FOR ORGANIZATION

in a position to cooperate in the development of its work— parent-teacher
associations, youth groups, clubs, leagues of women voters, church groups,
and business, labor, and farm organizations— each with its own committees
and programs relating to children and youth. Such groups will welcome
community-wide planning that will make use of and strengthen their inter
est and effort in behalf of youth.
S U G G ES TIO N S FO R O R G A N IZA T IO N
The following suggestions may be helpful to communities considering
ways o f equipping themselves for the type of planning that will give children
and youth the opportunities essential for their full development:
1 . Continuing community planning agency for children and youth
There should be in each community (city, town, or county) a
continuing body charged with responsibility for reviewing condi
tions affecting children and youth and for promoting the develop
ment of adequate services for the whole community.
The services needed for children still under family control and for
older boys and girls approaching adult independence will differ in
some degree. One committee can effectively deal with the problems
of both age groups provided the membership of the committee in
cludes individuals familiar with the needs of each age group. This
will eliminate the inevitable overlapping that would result from
having two committees and provide for consideration of the whole
cycle from infancy to maturity.
2. Name
This body might be called a commission or council on children
and youth, with the name of the city or county in the title.
Whatever term is used, the organization should function not as a
body of delegates of various agencies, but as a group of informed
and competent persons in a position to exercise personal judgment
on the issues that arise.
3. Area covered
The area to be covered will be the county, city, town or village
and surrounding farms, depending on the habits of association of
the community under consideration and the governmental units
responsible for services for children.
There are advantages in using the county as the planning area since
certain public functions with reference to children are usually vested
in county government. County agencies are, in general, the outlets
for the programs to which the State and Federal Governments conCOMMUNITY PLANNING

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tribute. Together, the county units in a State afford complete cover
age for planning for the needs of all children in the State. However,
county lines sometimes have little relation to the natural areas of
community life, and the communities and organizations within a
county sometimes do not have sufficient cohesion to make it possible
for a county planning body for children and youth to exercise
effective leadership.
A city and its adjacent suburbs (or a town or group of towns, as
in New England) may be the best area for a planning body for
children and youth, particularly if there is a council of social agen
cies or a municipal planning body covering the area. In such cases
the communities in the county may cooperate in making plans that
are county-wide in their scope.
In cities and in rural areas there are neighborhoods where the citi
zens naturally associate and plan for their common interests. Such
neighborhood groups may be drawn into the study of conditions
affecting the well-being of children and youth and into the discus
sion of plans for children in their home neighborhoods and the
whole community. They will then be ready to assume their appro
priate responsibility in seeking action needed within the neighbor
hood and to join with others in seeking community-wide action on
broader programs.
4. Authority and auspices
It is desirable that the commission or council for children and
youth be organized under public auspices. Whatever the auspices,
the body should be in a position to give effective leadership,
a. Public sponsorship may be provided through—
(1) Authorization and financing by the city council or com
mission, or by the county board.
(2) Appointment by the mayor, city council or commission,
or county board.
(3) Appointment by an official community planning body re
sponsible for planning for the whole population.
(4) Appointment by the official defense council or its post-war
successor.
b. Voluntary sponsorship may come from a voluntary community
organization, such as a council of social agencies, provided the
interests of the whole community are represented. It is essential
that such an organization give adequate emphasis to the role of
public agencies in social planning, and recognize that planning
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SUGGESTIONS FOR ORGANIZATION

for all the needs of children and youth in the community goes
beyond the programs of the agencies that are financed through
community chests.
5. Relationship to general community planning
The commission or council for children and youth should be a part
of or should work in close relationship with community agencies
responsible for general or for social planning for the entire popula
tion. The needs of children must be given consideration in all areas
of community planning, and especially in planning which relates to
family welfare and family services. Similar committees cutting
across functional lines may be needed for other population groups
but the need for such service is particularly important for children
and youth.
Whenever possible, the children’s planning agency should influence
general planning in directions favorable to children and youth. It
should draw together and evaluate from the point of view of chil
dren’s needs the functional planning that goes on in specialized
fields, such as housing, health, recreation, education, and family
welfare. Such planning is frequently carried on under the auspices
of a council of social agencies.

6. Functions
The commission or council should be concerned with what is hap
pening in the community to children and youth and what lacks
exist in the community provision for their welfare.
Experience indicates that the commission or council should deal
with all phases of community service and protection for children
and youth— relating to home life, health, education, recreation,
cultural interests, social services, and employment protectiori and
opportunity. It should bring together agencies working in differ
ent fields in order that the composite of services needed and the
problems of each agency in providing its share of such services
may be understood.
Paralleling the State council, the community commission or coun
cil should:
a. Know what is happening to children and youth.
b. Review legislation affecting children and youth.
c.

Appraise all services for children and youth.

d. Consult with all agencies serving children and youth.
e.

Draw up proposals for action in behalf of children and youth.

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Report findings to the public on the needs of and programs
for children and youth.

g. Maintain contact with State agencies planning for children and
youth.
h. Recommend constructive programs for children and youth.

7 . Membership and organization
a. Planning a program of community action involves first of all
utilizing the experience of people who have dealt with human
problems on a community basis. Membership of the commis
sion or council should, therefore, include men and women who
have taken an active part in community services during the
depression and the war, as well as persons whose professional
equipment will make available to the committee guidance in the
various fields in which technical knowledge is essential to the
development of a sound program.
b. Agencies and groups drawn into the work of the commission or
council, through membership in the planning body itself or
through committee work or in other ways, should include the
following: public-health and social-welfare administration and
the school system; county extension service; family-welfare
and child-caring and protective agencies under private auspices;
the juvenile court and law-enforcement agencies; church groups;
racial groups; libraries; recreational and youth-serving agen
cies; housing agencies; labor and employer interests; farm
organizations; civic clubs; parent-teacher associations; and simi
lar organizations of men and women concerned with various
aspects of community life.
c.

The commission or council may be a relatively small group—
11 to 15— of recognized leaders in services for children and
youth, plus officials of public agencies conducting programs in
their behalf. An alternative plan would be to create a large
representative group, with a small executive committee and
such other committees as are necessary.
If small, the commission or council will find it necessary to
provide for wider participation through committees appointed gp
to study special problems and through meetings at which repre
sentatives of all interested groups can discuss the proposals
under consideration.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR ORGANIZATION

Whatever the membership, provision should be made for con
sultation on special subjects with representatives of different
groups and interests.
d . Youth should be encouraged to participate in the planning,
either through the cooperation of youth groups or through
service on committees on which they can make a contribution
in accordance with theii experience.
e. The members should be appointed for definite, overlapping
terms.
f.

The chairman should be selected for his ability to give broad
and effective leadership without undue emphasis on any one
field of interest.

8. Financial support
If the commission or council is under public auspices, funds for
financing it should be provided'“'from public sources by direct pub
lic appropriation, from the funds of an official community plan
ning body, or from the mayor’s contingent fund.
Private funds may be obtained from community chests, founda
tions, or personal contributions.
The funds should be sufficient to provide for adequate staff, publicinformation service, the mimeographing of material for considera
tion by the commission or council, and the printing and distribu
tion of publications presenting findings and proposals to the pub
lic. In some cases staff may be loaned by other agencies, but this
resource should be used only when the individual staff member can
be loaned for a sufficient amount of time to see assigned work
through to accomplishment.
At the start the amount needed for the work of the commission or
council should be determined on an annual basis, and so far as
possible the funds for a full year should be obtained or assured
while the initial proposal for its work enlists strong interest.
The commission or council for children should work in close relation
ship with the State planning body for children and youth. (See functions of
State planning body for children and youth.) It is important that the
development of community plans proceed in harmony with State-wide plan
ning and take into consideration the financial assistance and service that is
or should be available from State agencies. If the commission or council
covers an area smaller than a county, its work must be related to planning
in other areas within the county, and to functions of county government.
COM M UNITY PLANNING

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BUILDING T H E FU TU R E FOR C H ILD R EN AND Y O U T H

PROPOSALS FOR IMMEDIATE STUDY
I

Correlated mental-hygiene program
for children and youth

In a broad national policy of conservation of childhood and youth, mental
health should be one of the objectives to be sought through a correlated
program embracing all professions, agencies, and organizations, public
and private. Such a program should be formulated subject to periodic
revisions, with the professional helpers in the field of child development
constantly clarifying the values outlined, their respective responsibilities in
the field of child development, and the share that they can take in translat
ing the program into a plan of action. A postwar committee representing
psychiatric and related associations has submitted as a basis for study, a
statement outlining the mental-hygiene needs of children. The following
outline is abstracted in large part from this statement.*
Among the assumptions, approaches, and methods to be considered as
olfering promising leads to furthering a program of mental health among
children and adolescents are the following:
1. Mental health must be attained by meeting the successive tasks of
life with courage and with adequacy and must be maintained by
developing a style of life compatible with the individual’s person
ality make-up and needs.
2. Since the family in transmitting cultural traditions to the next gen
eration forms the matrix out of which the individual child’s per
sonality arises and since many traditional ideas about children are
responsible for the warping of the child’s personality, a program
of mental hygiene must encompass the care and rearing of children
in the family. Such a program must take into consideration also
special pressures such as those growing out of membership in
a minority group, special cultures, economic limitations, and other
family circumstances that subject the child to experiences and in
fluences that are unusual for the population generally.
*A copy o f the full statement of the committee entitled “ Mental Hygiene for Children
and Youth” may be obtained from the Children’s Bureau on request.

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PROPOSALS FOR STUDY

Through many channels professional workers including physicians,
obstetricians, pediatricians, public-health nurses, social workers,
teachers, pastors, and others help men and women to gain a
better understanding of what they can and should do in child care
and rearing. In the education of these professional workers there
is opportunity to give them the insight and understanding necessary
for the promotion of mental health in their several practices. With
a broad understanding of child growth and development it will
become increasingly easier for the different professions to articulate
their work and develop a closer, more cooperative relationship.
4. The nursery school, the elementary and high schools, the churches,
the child-guidance clinics, and the youth agencies are among the
agencies that help the preschool child, the elementary-school child,
and the adolescent to meet basic life problems. Since the family
may turn to the teacher, the public-health nurse, the home-econom
ics demonstrator, the family doctor, the pastor, or any other per
son for advice and help far beyond the professional competence
of the individual consulted, it is important to give to professionally
trained individuals some orientation so that they will know where
to refer the family for specialized treatment and advice.
The formulation of a coherent program embracing all the agencies and
personnel is one of the major tasks. When formulated, funds should be
available for carrying out the program. To this end there should be estab
lished a consultation and advisory service to the States and communities
to help them plan psychiatric and mental-hygiene services for children, and
to effect a close working relation between the various Federal agencies in
this field. Provision should be made for encouraging and assisting the
States in the development of clinical and consultative facilities to help chil
dren or agencies serving them.

II Guardianship of children
Little is known about the large numbers of children who are under guard
ianship in the country. From the limited information available, however,
there are evidences of neglect, exploitation, and flagrant abuse of trust
in the guardianship of the person and the property of children. As the
large number of minor wards who are beneficiaries of provisions for vet
erans and their dependents or receive social-security benefits will increase
markedly during and after the war, the guardianship of children becomes
an issue of immediate concern.
A Nation-wide study of child guardianship is needed. It should be con
ducted in cooperation with public and private welfare agencies and legal
groups. There should be clarification of the rights and responsibilities of
GUARDIANSHIP

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the child, the parent, the guardian, the court, the lawyer, the social agency,
and the social worker in guardianship matters. Standards should be de
veloped for the complete and adequate protection of the person and the
property of minor wards. Legislation and administrative organization
should be proposed on the basis of these standards, and the cooperation of
the States enlisted in making them effective.

Ill

Leisure-time services

Wartime strains on children and youth have led to an increase in ex
tended school recreation, day camping, teen-age center, and leisure-time
programs for young employed and migrant youth. After the war family
dislocations and changes in life for young workers, young veterans, and
teen-age youth will call for still more facilities and leadership in recreation
for children and young people.
The extension of recreation is especially needed in small towns, in neg
lected neighborhoods of cities, and in children’s institutions. Emphasis
should be placed on the needs of migrant families, of minority groups, and
of children with mental, physical, and emotional handicaps. Expansion of
recreation facilities should be planned for older adolescents who are not
now as well served as younger children.
The responsibility for such extension of recreation for children and youth
rests upon several agencies of Federal and State Governments together with
voluntary agencies and organizations.
Continued study and special emphasis should be given to:
1. Expansion and development of recreation as a public responsibility
along with education, health, and welfare, through more adequate
municipal, county, and school-district appropriations for recrea
tional leadership, programs, and facilities. This calls for joint
Federal and State stimulation and encouragement of community
recreational programs. Current developments in State organiza
tion for recreation are significant and warrant study.
2. Construction of community recreational facilities under publicworks programs and as war memorials, as part of communitv
plans for recreation, with continuing provision for personnel, equip
ment, and maintenance.
3. Expansion of camping facilities and programs, including youth
work camps, youth hostels, camps for mothers and children, mobile
and caravan camping, week-end camping, year-round, and coedu
cational camping.
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PROPOSALS FOR STUDY

4. The role of the school in recreation, including the development of
school programs which give guidance to children and youth in the
intelligent choice and appreciation of various forms of recreation,
and the utilization of school facilities and programs for recrea
tional purposes.
5. Special services for physically handicapped and emotionally dis
turbed children, and for those who do not fit into existing pro
grams and regular groups.
6. Development of recreational programs as a means of contributing
to the establishment of better race relations. While recreation is
one of the points in a community at which tensions are likely to
occur, it also offers opportunities for experience in tolerance and
mutual appreciation.
7. Planning for recreation by public and voluntary agencies, together
with parents, churches, and other groups. Such planning should be
directed toward the extension of service to all groups regardless
of economic, social, or racial status, and to areas which have not
developed recreational services for children and youth.
8. Development of principles and methods of local, -State, and Fed*
eral planning for recreation services.
9. Ways of extending responsibility for planning and management
of programs by youth, through youth councils and committees.
10. Methods of developing wider recognition of the need for competent
personnel trained in the understanding and guidance of children
and youth and for adequate appropriations to pay for such trained
workers. Emphasis should be placed also on selecting, training,
and supervising volunteers in the recreational leadership of youth.
11. Increased provision and use of wholesome commercial recreation,
such as motion pictures, dance halls, bowling alleys, swimming
pools, and skating rinks, under proper supervision.

IV A program for youth
The reconversion and postwar periods will bring both large opportunities
and serious problems for youth. A time of building world organization, of
restoring peaceful relations between peoples, and of achieving higher stand
ards of living for all our people will provide plenty of scope for adven
turous youth. However, the disturbing effects upon older adolescents of
changing j obs, returning to school and going home after working or serving
away from home will be heightened by the fact that adults will be under
going similar dislocations at the same time. Many young people will need
help in securing an education adapted to their interests and needs. Student
aid when necessary, placement service, and a suitable job should be availA PROGRAM FOR Y O U TH

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able. These together with access to health services and leisure-time activi
ties are needed by all youth, but they are often not available.
The welfare of youth cannot be separated from the welfare of the entire
population. The problem of providing jobs for youth is part of a larger
problem of providing jobs for all who are able and willing to work. A
return to mass unemployment is intolerable. It must be a primary responsi
bility of government to provide constructive noncharitable employment for
all employable persons whom industry and other nongovernmental agencies
cannot or will not employ. The need is not for breadlines but for pro
duction lines. Should the curse of mass unemployment reappear it cannot
be cured by emergency programs such as Civilian Conservation Corps, Na
tional Youth Administration, and Work Projects Administration, but by
reform of our economic institutions to permit the nation to continue to
produce and consume. The role of government in our economy must be
not only to supplement private employment when necessary but also to
afford guides and channels for democratic planning for plenty and security.
During the period of reconversion, services will be needed to assist youth
in their readjustment. Some youth will need apprentice training, others will
require residence-club facilities away from home. Many will seek guidance.
Counseling services by qualified persons to help young people in choosing
their activities, in taking full advantage of services the community offers,
and in making plans for the future, should be available to all— in the school,
and in the placement office, and in connection with other programs in which
young people participate.
In the reconversion and postwar period these basic services, now very
unevenly and often inadequately available, will need to be strengthened and
extended.
In setting forth a program for youth several tasks call for attention.
These are (1) to define needs and wants of youth; (2) to point out the
inadequacies and gaps in present services designed to meet these needs;
(3) to find means of stimulating effective joint planning for services to
youth; and (4) to formulate principles which should guide the assumption
of responsibilities by local, State, and Federal governments and govern the
flow of Federal funds to the point where the desired service can be given
an individual young person.
It will take further study to develop workable comprehensive programs
to this end. The following phases of study are outlined in fields where
needs are comparatively clear:
1. Student aid
To enlarge opportunity for full education there is needed a public
program of student aid so that no young person will be handi-

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PROPOSALS FOR STUDY

capped by lack of funds in obtaining a secondary education, and
so that all young persons who will profit thereby can take ad
vantage of advanced education in vocational and agricultural
schools, technical institutes, colleges, professional schools, and so
forth. Exploration should be made along the following lines: (a)
the extent of the need, (b) ways of meeting the need, including
financial assistance or scholarships from Federal funds. Special
attention should be given to determining a fair basis of eligibility,
avoiding as far as possible the undesirable effects of a need or
means test. Consideration should be given to experience in ad
ministering the educational benefits provided for veterans by the
“ G. I. Bill of Rights.”
2. Placement services
Placement and related counseling services should be available to all
young people interested in obtaining employment. The basic serv
ices of the public employment offices should be strengthened. Ex
ploration is needed to define the character of the service appropriate
for inexperienced young people and to outline desirable relation
ships in placement service between youth and adults and between
public employment centers, schools, and other agencies.
3. Opportunities for combining employment and education
Exploration as to the need for extending and improving programs
that afford opportunities to combine employment and education is
important if education of young people is to be carried as far as
desirable and if employment is to begin for many young people at
a stage when they will profit from work opportunity. This explora
tion should include consideration of programs for combining work
and school for certain high-school students and the criteria for suc
cessful programs of this type, as well as programs for apprentice
training and for employment combined with vocational and profes
sional training.
4. Opportunities for work in public-service projects
As a means of encouraging appropriate employment opportunities
for young people who are ready for work, consideration should be
given to desirable alternatives to some of the types of jobs taken
by young people during the war, and especially to the possible ex
pansion of public-service projects, such as soil or forest conserva
tion, which would provide many jobs suitable for and interesting
to young people. This exploration should include consideration
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of the means by which the special needs of youth can be given
recognition in the planning of public-works and public-service
projects intended to assist in maintaining a full employment
economy.
5. Counseling
The ways in which counseling resources of various agencies serving
young people in the community can be strengthened and interre
lated should be studied. There is widespread need not only for
more counseling service and service of higher quality, but also for
development of techniques by which counselors in each agency can
be kept fully cognizant of other counseling and service resources in
the community to the end that each counselor may explain to the
young people with whom he is in contact the services they can
obtain from other agencies.
Many boys and girls who have cut short their schooling to go into
war work may be left without jobs in the reconversion period. They
will be in special need of good counseling service to encourage
them to resume their education or direct them to whatever activi
ties seem most appropriate— opportunities geared to their special
needs and interests. Because they will have developed more mature
attitudes, many will not be satisfied to return to the usual highschool courses.
6. Problems of migrant youth
Two groups of young people are in need of special attention in
planning for services to youth. These are the young war workers
who have gone without their families to war production centers,
and the children and young people who migrate with their families
for seasonal agricultural work. Both are handicapped by lack of
knowledge of what the new community can offer and by being re
garded as outsiders for whom the community feels little or no
responsibility. The acute unmet needs of young migrants without
their families, who at present are usually at work in full-time
industrial jobs, are for housing, adult guidance, and wholesome
leisure-time activities. Their needs in the future will include also
training, new jobs, and possible relocation. For those migrating
with their families for agricultural employment the problem is one
of furnishing essential shelter and sanitary facilities, controlling
child labor, providing schooling, and protecting their rights as
workers. Unless special attention is given to the needs of these
migrants, who often move from State to State, community services
are likely to fail to reach them.
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N A T I O N A L C O M M IS S IO N ON C H IL D R E N IN W A R T IM E
Membership 1945
Chairman,

Leonard W. Mayo, Cleveland, Ohio.
President, Child Welfare League of America.

First Vice Chairman,

Mrs. Harriet A. Houdlette, Washington, D. C.
American Association of University Women.

Second Vice Chairman, Boris Shishkin, Washington, D. C.
American Federation of Labor.
Secretary,

Edith Rockwood, Washington, D. C.
Children’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor.

Edith Abbott, Chicago, 111. Social Service Review.
Fred L. Adair, M. D., Chicago, 111. American Committee on Maternal
Welfare.
Cyril Ainsworth, New York, N. Y. American Standards Association.
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Occupations Hazardous for Minors.*
Frederick H. Allen, M. D., Philadelphia, Pa. Philadelphia Child Guidance
Clinic.
Reginald M. Atwater, M. D., New York, N. Y. American Public Health
Association.
Kenzie S. Bagshaw, Hollidaysburg, Pa. The National Grange.
Leona Baumgartner, M. D., New York, N. Y., Bureau of Child Hygiene,
New York City Department of Health.
Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune, Washington, D. C. National Council of Negro
Women.
Livingston L. Blair, Washington, D. C. American Junior Red Cross.
Alice Drew Chenoweth, M. D., Louisville, Ky. Bureau of Maternal and
Child Health, Kentucky State Department of Health.
Nathan E. Cohen, New York, N. Y. National Jewish Welfare Board.
William L. Connolly, Providence, R. L Rhode Island State Department of
Labor.
Paul B. Comely, M. D., Washington, D. C. Howard University School of
Medicine.
Grace L. Coyle, Cleveland, Ohio.
Western Reserve University.

School of Applied Social Sciences,

A. W. Dent, New Orleans, La. Dillard University.
Loula Dunn, Montgomery, Ala. Alabama State Department o f Public Wel
fare. American Public Welfare Association.
* Advisory Committee o f the Children’s Bureau.

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Nicholson J. Eastman, M. D., Baltimore, Md. Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine.
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Maternal and Child Health Services.*
Kermit Eby, Washington, D. C. Congress of Industrial Organizations.
John W. Edelman, Washington, D. C. Textile Workers Union of America.
Mrs. Gladys Talbott Edwards, Denver, Colo. National Farmers’ Union.
Marshall Field, New York, N. Y.
Homer Folks, New York, N. Y. New York State Charities Aid Association.
Mrs. Thomas G. Garrison, Golden, Colo.
Women.

National Council of Catholic

Franklin P. Gengenbach, M. D., Denver, Colo.
Pediatrics.

American Academy of

Willard E. Givens, Washington, D. C. National Education Association.
Lester B. Granger, New York, N. Y. National Urban League.
Mrs. Sidonie M. Gruenberg, New York, N. Y. Child Study Association of
America.
Mrs. William A. Hastings, Madison, Wis. National Congress of Parents
and Teachers.
Chairman, General Advisory Committee on Protection of Young
Workers.*
Henry F. Helmholz, M. D., Rochester, Minn. Section on Pediatrics, Mayo
Clinic.
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Child Health.*
Mrs. Kate Bullock Helms, Columbia, S. C. Division of Child Welfare,
South Carolina State Department of Public Welfare.
Chairman, General Advisory Committee on Social Services for Chil
dren.*
Harold W. Herman, Chicago, 111. United States Junior Chamber of Com
merce.
George Hjelte, Los Angeles, Calif. Department of Playgrounds and Recre
ation of Los Angeles.
Anne Sarachon Hooley, Washington, D. C. National Catholic Community
Service.
Howard W. Hopkirk, New York, N. Y. Child Welfare League of America.
Ruth Houlton, R. N., New York, N. Y . National Organization for Public
Health Nursing.
Mrs. Henry A. Ingraham, New York, N. Y. National Board, Young Wom
ens Christian Associations of the United States of America.
Charles S. Johnson, Nashville, Tenn. Department of Social Sciences, Fisk
University and the Julius Rosenwald Fund.
Mary Alice Jones, Chicago, 111.
*Advisory Committee o f the Children’s Bureau.

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Mrs. Robert M. Jones, Seattle, Wash. Washington State Committee on Chil
dren in Wartime.
Paul U. Kellogg, New York, N. Y. Survey Midmonthly and Survey Graphic.
Rev. C. E. Krumbholz, New York, N. Y. Department of Welfare, National
Lutheran Council.
Irvin R. Kuenzli, Chicago, 111. American Federation of Teachers.
Mary E. Leeper, Washington, D. C. Association for Childhood Education.
N. S. Light, Hartford, Conn. National Association for Nursery Education.
Mrs. Clara Savage Littledale, New York, N. Y. Parents’ Magazine.
Esther McGinnis, Buffalo, N. Y. American Home Economics Association.
Paul L. Millane, New York, N. Y. Labor League for Human Rights.
Oscar L. Miller, M. D., Charlotte, N. C. North Carolina Orthopedic Hos
pital.
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Services for Crippled Children.*
Captain Rhoda J. Milliken, Washington, D. C. Woman’s Bureau, Metro
politan Police Department.
Broadus Mitchell, New York, N. Y. International Ladies Garment Workers’
Union.
Emory W. Morris, D. D. S., Battle Creek, Mich. American Dental Asso
ciation.
Mrs. Rose Norwood, Boston, Mass. Boston Women’s Trade Union League.
Rt. Rev. Monsignor John O’Grady, Washington, D. C. National Conference
of Catholic Charities.
E. W. Palmer, Kingsport, Tenn. National Society for Crippled Children.
J. Milton Patterson, Baltimore, Md. Maryland Department of Public Wel
fare.
Leo Perlis, New York, N. Y. National CIO War Relief Committee.
Ellen C. Potter, M. D., Trenton, N. J. State Department of Institutions and
Agencies.
Emma C. Puschner, Indianapolis, Ind. National Child Welfare Division,
The American Legion.
Grace A. Reeder, Albany, N. Y. Bureau of Child Welfare, New York State
Department of Social Welfare.
Floyd W. Reeves, Chicago, 111. Department of Education, University of
Chicago.
Howard L. Russell, Chicago, 111. American Public Welfare Association.
J. Harold Ryan, Washington, D. C. National Association of Broadcasters.
Norma J. Sims, New York, N. Y. National Education-Recreation Council.
* Advisory Committee of the Children’s Bureau.

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Roy Sorenson, Chicago, 111. National Council, Young Men’s Christian As
sociations.
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Leisure-Time Services for Children.*
Chairman, Subcommittee on Young Workers in Wartime Agriculture of
the General Advisory Committee on Protection of Young Workers.*
William H. Stauffer, Washington, D. C. American Public Welfare As
sociation.
Mrs. Mabel K. Staupers, R. N., New York, N. Y. National Association of
Colored Graduate Nurses.
Mrs. Faye Stephenson, Cleveland, Ohio. Congress of Women’s Auxiliaries
of the CIO.
George S. Stevenson, M. D., New York, N. Y. National Committee for
Mental Hygiene.
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Mental Hygiene of Children.*
Mrs. Anna M. P. Strong, Marianna, Ark. National Congress of Colored
Parents and Teachers.
Linton B. Swift, New York, N. Y. Family Welfare Association of America.
Mrs. Robert H. Turner, Independence, Kans. General Federation of Wornen’s Clubs.
Felix J, Underwood, M. D., Jackson, Miss. Mississippi State Board of
Health.

*
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Joseph S. Wall, M. D., Washington, D. C. American Academy of Pediatrics. ®
Mrs. Roy C. F. Weagly, Hagerstown, Md. American Farm Bureau Feder
ation.
Herbert D. Williams, Warwick, N. Y. New York State Training School for
Boys.
Helen R. Wright, Chicago, 111. School of Social Service Administration,
University of Chicago.

„j

Chairman, Advisory Committee on Training and Personnel.*
Mrs. Gertrude Folks Zimand, New York, N. Y. National Child Labor
Committee.

I
j

J
* Advisory Committee of the Children’s Bureau.

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CHILDREN’ S BUREAU PUBLICATIONS
related to programs of the Commission
, Children in a Democracy: General report adopted by the White House
Conference on Children in a Democracy, January 19, 1940.
White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, January 18-20, 1940
— Final Report, Pub. 272.
Standards of Child Health, Education, and Social Welfare, based on recom
mendations of the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy.
1942. Pub. 287.
Our Concern— Every Child; State and community planning for wartime
and post-war security of children, by Emma 0 . Lundberg. 1944. Pub. 303.
Community Action for Children in Wartime. Adopted by the Children’s
Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime. 1943. Pub. 295.
Goals for Children and Youth in the Transition From War to Peace.
Adopted by the Children’s Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime.
1944. Pub. 306.

Building the Future for Children and Youth; Next steps proposed by the
National Commission on Children in Wartime. 1945. Pub. 310.

See also current articles in The Child, monthly bulletin issued by the Chil
dren’s Bureau. Subscription price $1.00 a year.
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U . S . G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G O F F IC E : 1 9 4 5

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651 163

U. S. D E P A R T M E N T O F L A B O R
C H IL D R E N ’ S BUREAU PUBLICATION
W A S H I N G T O N : 1945

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.
Price 15 cents

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Full text of Building the Future for Children and Youth, Next Steps Proposed by the National Commission on Children in Wartime, April 1945, Bureau Publication No. 310

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