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UDOC
L 5.20:43

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

CHILDREN’S BUREAU
JULIA C. LATH RO P, Chief

CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS
IN CONNECTICUT
By

WM. B. BAILEY, Ph. D.
Professor of Practical Philanthropy in Yale University

DEPENDENT, DEFECTIVE, AND DEUNQUENT CLASSES SERIES No. 6
Bureau Publication No. 43

W ASHINGTON
GOVERNM ENT PRINTING OFFICE

1918

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CONTENTS
Letter of transmittal.................................................................. .............. ..
Introduction....................................................1 .................. ............ .................... ....................
Chapter I. History of laws relating to juvenile delinquency..................................
The Colonial and Revolutionary period, 1635-1816...... .............................. ..
Origin and development of county jails, workhouses, and State prison.. . .
The transitional period in the treatment of juvenile delinquency, 1816-1851.
The modern period, 1851-1917.................................

5
y_g

9-33
9
15

21
23

Chapter II. Methods of conducting cases of juvenile delinquents brought before
the courts..............................................
35-44
Investigation of juvenile cases before trial................................ ............................
35
Mental examinations.......................................................................
3g
Care of juveniles awaiting trial....................................................................................
44
Trial of juveniles..................................................... ............ ..........................................'
42
Record for the first offense.......................................... ................ .................................
44
Chapter I II. The probation system..................................................................................... 45-54
Appointment and service of probation officers.................................................. .... 45-52
Appointment..........................................
45
46
Duties of probation officers. ^...........................................i .................................
Qualifications for the position.................................................................... ........
47
Pay of probation officers........................................................................................
4g
Length of term of service of probation officers.......................................... ....
43
Headquarters foi the probation officers.............................. ..............
49
Number of cases in charge of probation officers............................................
50
Probation officers for juveniles................................................................
52-53
52
Care of juvenile delinquents on probation 1 ...................................................
Duties of the Connecticut Prison Association................. ........................................
53
The Association of Probation Officers........................................................................
53
Chapter IV . Institutions for children brought before the courts........................... 55-69
The county temporary homes...............................................................................jfc
55
eg
Truant schools................................................ .................... 1.......................................
The Connecticut School for Boys...................................... '............................ ..
59
The Connecticut Industrial School for G ills...........................................................
62
The Connecticut Reformatory............................................. .................. *................
g4
The Connecticut State. Farm for W om en........................................................... ’ ,
66
Chapter V. ^ A detailed study of juvenile delinquency in certain cities and
towns - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
,
7]_gg
New H aven ...................................... .......................................................................
7-|_g4
Sex and age................................................................................................. _ _
74
Nativity and parentage. . .....................................
72
Occupation.................
74
Offenses........................................................
75
Repeaters..................... ................................................................................... .. ^
76
Disposition of cases...........................................................................» ................ —
79
Family conditions.....................................
gO
g4
New B rita in ..........................................................
Ten other towns in Connecticut............................. ................................... ................

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CONTENTS.
Page.

Conclusion...................................................................................................................................
88
Appendix.................................................................................................................................... 89-98
Text of statutes relative to juveniles........................................................... 7 .......... 89-95
State board of charities................................................................. ........................
89
89
Truants........... .................................................. ..........................................................
90
State reformatory............................ .. .
.............
Probation officers............................................................................................... ..
91
94
Laws passed in 1917..................... ...........................................................................
95
Duties of Connecticut Prison Association in supervising probation work..
Summary of bills introduced in 1917 to establish juvenile courts in Con
96
n e c ticu t........................................................«..............................................................

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3ft

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL*
U. S. D epartment

of L abor,
C hildren ’ s B ureau ,

Washing ton, D. C., A pril 23, 1918.
: I transmit herewith a bulletin entitled “ Children before the
Courts in Connecticut,” by William B. Bailey, Ph. D., Professor of
Practical Philanthropy in Yale University.
This study presents briefly the legislative progress of Connecticut
in its dealings with children from the foundation of the colony in
1635 to the year 1917. It shows with remarkable clearness the grad
ual change in public opinion as to the responsibility o f the child
for his unlawful acts and the slowly gained amelioration of the
laws. The 1917 act concerning juvenile offenders, although falling
short in certain particulars of the generally accepted model standard
of juvenile court laws, is a genuine advance, and, if faithfully and
intelligently administered, affords a new protection to the children
who come within its terms.
Prof. Bailey writes as follows regarding the preparation o f the
report: “ In all this work I have had the hearty cooperation of
all to whom I have applied for assistance. The number is so large
that I can not mention them all even by name. I wish, however,
to record my indebtedness in particular to Mr. Arthur J. Coyle,
Mr. Clarence M. Thompson, Mr. Elmer K. Higdon, Mr. Edward C.
Connolly, Miss Elsie C. Osborn, Miss Helen. T. Barry, and Mrs.
Wm. W. Gray, who have given generously of their time. Several
students in the department o f social service of the Yale School of
Religion have been employed in this work.”
Respectfully submitted.
J ulia C. L athrop,
Chief.
Hon. W. B. W ilson,
Secretary o f Labor.
S ir

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CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.
INTRODUCTION.
It is hoped that this report may throw some light upon the methods
employed in the State o f Connecticut to deal with the juvenile delin
quent. It includes a brief resume o f the history of the legislation
appertaining to juvenile delinquents, a study of the court procedure
in their cases, an inquiry into the activities o f the probation officers,
a short review o f the work of the institutions provided for this group
o f delinquents, and a detailed study of the cases o f delinquent chil
dren convicted before the courts in New Haven, New Britain, and 10
other towns o f the State.
The body o f the material used in this report, except that of the his
torical summary, was obtained in 1914, 1915, and 1916 through inter
views with public officials, through visits to courts and institutions,
examination of court and other public records, including those o f the
Connecticut Prison Association, and through correspondence. The
details given regarding the work of the courts were gathered before
the act concerning juvenile offenders went into effect in 1917.
An intelligent discussion of juvenile delinquency demands a clear
definition o f the class to which the term applies. Here we must fall
back not to the words of statutes themselves but to the fundamental
principles of the English common law upon which they are grounded.
We may consider that a delinquent is a person who violates the law.
and both etymologically and in its legal sense the word is synonymous,
with criminal. The juvenile delinquent is, therefore, one under the
age of legal majority who commits a crime of any sort, whether felony
or misdemeanor.
But no matter how heinous the consequences of the act committed,
it can not be called a crime at common law unless the perpetrator be
over 7 years of age. A child under 7 years can not be punished for
any offense because o f the irrebuttable presumption that he is doli
incapax. Between the ages o f 7 and 14 the juvenile is presumed to be
innocent and incapable of committing a crime, but that presumption
may be rebutted if it appears to the jury that he can distinguish
between right and wrong. Ability to distinguish between right and
wrong is usually limited to the specific act committed. But in 92
Mass., 398, the court held that the plaintiff must-prove general as

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C O N N E C T IC U T .

well as special capacity. Such ability is often implied as a matter of
law if the act committed evinces arrant malice and wickedness—
malitia supplet aetatem. “ Children of 8,10, and 18 years of age have
been convicted o f and executed for capital offenses, because they
manifested a consciousness of guilt and mischievous discretion and
cunning.” 1 Above the age o f 14 all juvéniles are presumed to be able
to distinguish right from wrong, and are punishable equally with
adults for their criminal acts.2
A t the time the field work of this study was completed the Connec
ticut statute considered juveniles to be minors under 16 years of age.3
This was a purely arbitrary division, but was generally accepted
throughout the State, since the boys and girls under 16 were (and
are) sent, respectively, to the Connecticut School for Boys and the
Connecticut Industrial School for Girls. I f 16 years of age and over
they may be committed, respectively, to the Connecticut Reformatory
for Men and to the Connecticut State Farm for Women, or the
House o f the Good Shepherd, or the Florence Crittenton Home.
Since this distinction was so clean-cut in the statutes, all the tables
for juvenile delinquents in this report refer to those under 16 years
of age unless some specific reference to the contrary is made in the
text.
A discussion of institutions for older offenders is, however,
included.
The 1917 legislation involving juveniles specifies the laws relative
to chamber hearings, summons, and juvenile docket to be applicable
to' u children under 18 years of age.” 4

i.SwifUs Dig. (Conn.), 1822, Vol. II, p. 3 6 1 ; 1 Hale, 20 ; 4 Bl. Com., 23.
2 See P. A., 1672, p. 4 0 ; Sess. Acts, 1750-1753! p. 187.
8 P. A., 1851, ch. 46, sec. 4.
: *P . A., 1917, ch. 308, secs. 4, 5, &

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CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF LAWS RELATING TO
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.
Progressive amelioration in the treatment of juvenile delinquents
in Connecticut is marked by three well-defined epochs: (1) The
Colonial and Revolutionary period, beginning with the foundation
of the colony in 1635 and continuing down to the abolition of
medieval methods of punishment, such as the stocks, the pillory,
flogging, and branding. The purpose o f punishment during this
period was wholly punitive, the primary aim being revengeful
retribution upon those who broke the peace of society. (2) The
second period is one of transition, extending from 1816 to 1851, when
the statute establishing the first juvenile reformatory in the State
was enacted. The State reform-school act was passed in 1851,1 *
and the school was opened March 1,1854. Its name was not changed
to Connecticut School for Boys until 1893.2 During the first part
of this period the predominant motive was the protection of society;
toward the close of the period this verged to the higher plane of
reformation o f the juvenile offender. (3) The third, or modern,
period dates from 1851 to the present time, the actuating motive in
the treatment of minor delinquents being reformatory and pre
ventive. The foregoing divisions are not absolute but are merely
useful in indicating the prevailing tendencies during the given
epochs. For instance, the founding o f the State prison at Wethers
field in 1827 was the seed o f a new order, which gradually ripened
into fruition with the establishment of a separate institution for the
reformation of delinquent boys more than two decades later.
It should be borne in mind that a history o f the development of
laws dealing with juvenile delinquency must include many facts
besides those pertaining to children o f the ages which Connecticut
now classes as juveniles, and that to some extent it is necessary also
to trace the change of attitude regarding the treatment of offenders
of all ages.
T H E C O L O N IA L A N D R E V O L U T IO N A R Y PE R IO D , 1635-1816.

In 1635, urged by Thomas Hooker, the apostle of a free church and
a free State, a little band of “ emigrants for the faith ” left Massa
chusetts and settled on the banks of the Connecticut River near what
is now Hartford. Hooker himself, with his wife and more settlers,
1 See R. S„ 1854, pp. 362-366.

2 P. A., 1893, cli. 92.

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joined this original group in the spring of 1636. In April of that
same year the general court of the mother colony empowered Robert
Ludlow and seven assistants to constitute themselves a general court
for the government of the settlers along “ the Connecticut River.”
In December, 1642, the court laid down several “ capital laws,” which
in 1650 Avere compiled into a code.
This code was revised in 1672 and printed in. the next year. The
revision contained the two following provisions from the original
code:

I f any Child or Children above sixteen years old, and of sufficient understand
ing, shall Curse or Smite tlieir natural Father or Mother, he or they shall be
put to death, unless it can be sufficiently testified, that the Parents have been
very unchristianly negligent in the education of such Children, or so provoked
them by extreme and cruel correction that they have been forced thereunto to
preserve themselves from death or maiming. Exod. 21” . Levit. 209. Exod. 2115.
(Gen. Laws 1672, p. 9, sec. 14.)
I f any man have a stubborn or rebellious Son o f sufficient understanding
and years, viz. 16 years of aye, which will not obey the voice o f his Father, or
the voice of Mother, and that when they have chastened him he will not
hearken unto them ; then may his Father or Mother, being his natural Parents,
lay hold on him and bring him to the magistrates assembled in court, and
testify untò them, that their Son is Stubborn and Rebellious and will not obey
their voice and chastisement, but lives in sundry notorious Crimes, such Son
shall be put to death. Deut. 212\ n. (Supra, sec. 15.)

It was further provided in this same section that a girl over 14
"convicted of incest or a boy over 15 found guilty o f sodomy should
be put to death. Other capital crimes for which children over 14
years old were equally liable with adults were rape, bestiality, blas
phemy,1 witchcraft, murder, false witness, treason, arson, idolatry,
and man stealing. It must be remembered that these laws were not
passed to meet possible exigencies, but that the penalties were actually
enforced.
ih. By the time of the compilation of the session laws in 1750, the
i rigors of these “ Blue Law s” had somewhat abated. While the
®
.
.
.
.
j death penalty was still preserved against minors who committed
felonies for which adults were also punishable by death, it had been
I abolished against “ children who shall curse or smite their natural
1 father or mother” and “ stubborn and rebellious children.” Pen
alties for other crimes were also mitigated.» For instance, in 1672
the punishment for an incestuous marriage or cohabitation within
¡ certain limits was death, while in 1750 the penalties inflicted on
1 both parties were: (1) That they stand on the gallows with a halter
i
Perhaps no crime so well illustrates the changing concepts of legal morality as does
blasphemy. Punished-by death under the law of 1672, the penalty was changed in the
acts of 1784 (p. 67) to “ whipping on the naked body not exceeding 40 stripes, and
sitting on the pillory one hour, and * * *
bound to g-ood behavior.” A general«»«
later the penalty was fixed at one year's imprisonment and a fine not exceeding $100.
(R. S., 1824, p. 188.)

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about the neck for one hour; (2) that “ on the way thence to the
county jail they shall be severely whipped, not exceeding 40 stripes
each” ; (3) that they suffer imprisonment; and (4) wear the letter
I — of différent color from their clothing and at least 2 inches long—
on the arm or back o f their outside coats.
Although, in general, there was a relaxation in the severity of
laws in later codes during the Colonial and Revolutionary period,
treason formed an exception. During the Revolution it was but
natural that the laws in regard to this crime should have become
more stringent. Indeed, the Revolution had not progressed six
months before Connecticut had imposed the death penalty upon
anyone who “ aided or assisted in any manner the enemies of this
State or of the United States of America.” To the large number
o f boys in the Continental Army this grim prohibition was not
without its application.
Lying was a penal offense before there was any thought o f pun
ishment for perjury. The statutes of 1672 provided that any person
o f 14 years or over “ who shall wittingly and willingly make, or
publish any lie ” should for the first offense be fined 10 shillings,
“ or .* * * sit in the Stocks * * * not exceeding Three
-Hours” .; for the second offense, “ Twenty Shillings, or be whipped
on the naked body not exceeding Ten Stripes” ; for the third o f
fense, 40 shillings or 30 stripes, and additional offenses were recom
pensed with a graduated system of stripes and fines; “ And for all
such as. being under age of discretion (fourteen years) that shall
-offend in lying, their Parents or Masters shall give them due correc
tion, and that in the presence of some Officer.”
By the time o f the revision o f>17021 perjury had become well
defined and was punished more severely than ordinary lying. Any
person over 14 years who was convicted o f this offense was required
to pay a fine of 20 pounds and also serve “ Six months, without Bail,
or Main-prize,” and if unable to pay such fine, to be “ set on the
Pillory by the space of One whole Hour, * * * and have both
Ills Ears Nailed.” 2
Whoever stole money, goods, or chattels “ of the value of 5 shillings
and under the sum o f 20 shillings ” value and who should refuse or
was unable to pay treble the value of such goods and an additional
fine imposed by the court, upon conviction or confession was “ pun
ished by whipping on the naked body not exceeding Ten Stripes,
any Law, Usage or Custom to the contrary in any wise notwith
standing.” 3
.1R. s., 1702, p. 92.
“ *Sës.s. Acts 1750-1773, p. 187
®R. S., 1715, p. 1 1 ; R. S., 1750, p. 237 ; P. A., 1770, cb. 581.

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CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT,

A more. severe penalty was imposed for horse stealing, which
then— as now on the plains—was considered a much more serious
offense than other thefts:
-A m
1
Whoever shall steal any horse within this Colony and be thereof duly con
victed shall pay and satisfy to the owner o f such horse the value thereof, and
also pay as a fine to the Colony Treasury the sum of ten pounds, and be further
punished by being publickly whipped on the naked body not exceeding fifteen
stripes, and be confined in a work-house or house of correction, not exceeding
3 m onths; there to be kept at hard labor, and be further whipped on the first
Monday of each month, not exceeding ten stripes each time.1

I f the culprit was unable to satisfy fully the damages and fine, he
was to be bound out in service so long as the court adjudged proper,
either to the person injured, his assigns, or “ to any of His Majesty’s
subjects.”
The laws prohibiting “ Sabbath breaking” probably weighed
heavily on many a red-blooded, irrepressible boy. The revision of
1702 contained a prohibition that seems to have been expressly aimed
with malice aforethought against the small boy on a hot Sunday
afternoon:
No person * * * shall swim in the water in the evening preceding the
Lord’s Day, or any part of the said day, or the evening following * * *
nor use any game, sport, play or recreation on the Lord’s Day, or any part
thereof.
And all masters and governors of families are hereby required to take effec
tual care that their children and servants do not transgress in any of the
foregoing particulars * * * Penalty 10 shillings.*

An act of 1721 (p. 262) makes illegal:
Any rude and unlawful Behavior on the Lord’s Day, either ih word or action
by clamorous Discourse, or by Shouting, Hollowing, Screaming, Running,
Riding, Dancing, Jumping, Winding Horns, or the like, * * * so near to
any Public Meeting House, for Divine Worship that those who meet there may
be disturbed by any such rude and profane Behavior.
...
. .

The penalty was fixed at 10 shillings for a violation of this statute.
By 1750 the rigors o f the law had so far abated that children under
14 years of age convicted of Sabbath breaking; were punishable
merely by their parents, guardians, or masters “ giving them due
Correction in the Presence of some Officer,” 3 and by 1808 the.law
had waxed so soft that the parent who refused so to chasten his
offspring was subject to a fine of only 50 cents.
There was enacted in 1709 “A n Act to Prevent Unseasonable Meet
ing of Young People in the Evening after the Sabbath, and on any
Public Day or Fast or Any Lecture Day, except for Purposes of
1 P. A., 1772, p. 2 3 4 ; Colonial Rec. of Conn., vol. 14, p. 4.

2 Revision of 1702, p. 104.
* Revision of 1750, p. 1 4 2 ; see also Rev. St., 1795, p. 370.

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CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

Worship,” the penalty being fixed at 5 shillings, or “ to be set in the
Stocks not exceeding Two hours.” 1
It hardly needs to be stated that minors were not allowed to fre
quent: public houses and taverns on a Sunday or a fast day or a lec
ture day.2
This first published colonial statute book contains an “ Act against
Contemning the Preaching o f the Word of God,” 3 which was equally
binding upon both children and adults:
I f any * * * contemptuously behave himself towards the.W ord preached,
or the Messengers thereof * * * or like a Son of Korah casts upon his true
Doctrine or Himself, any reproach * * * shall (whatsoever censure the
church may pass) for the first scandall be convented and reproved openly by
the Magistrate in some publick Assembly, and bound to their good behavior.
And if a Second time they break forth into like contemptuous carriages, they
shall either pay five pounds to the publick, or stand two hours openly upon a
block or stool four feet high upon a publick meeting day, with a paper fixed on
his Breast written with Capital Letters, AN OPEN A N D O B STIN A TE CON
TE M N E R OF GOD’S H O L Y O RDIN AN CES, that others may fear and be
ashamed of breaking out into the like wickedness.

Any person oyer 14 who aided or assisted in the making of coun
terfeit money, or who passed off the same'knowing it.to.be such, was
punished upon conviction as follow s:
* * * his right ear cut off, be branded in the forehead with the letter C,
on a hot iron, be whipped on the naked body twenty stripes, be imprisoned six
months in the common Gaol in the county where such person shall be convicted,
without bail or main-prize, and there kept to hard labour, * * * and be
fined at the discretion of the court, and pay costs of prosecution. And if such
offender or offenders shall not be able to pay such fine and costs of prosecution,
said Superior Court is hereby authorized and fully empowered to assign such
person or persons in service for satisfying the same after the expiration of
said six months imprisonment.4

•

A less serious misdemeanor was gaming. Every member o f a fam
ily playing at “ Cards, Dice, or Tables, (shuffle boards) * * * shall
pay for every offense twenty shillings * * * and the head of the
Family where any such Game is used, with his privity or consent,
shall pay in like manner twenty shillings for each time such Game
h played in his house.” 5 The reason for such enactment was stated
n the title: “ Whereby, much precious time is spent unfruitfully,
nd much waste of Wine and Beer occasioned.”
i p . A., 1709, p. 149.
sp . A., 1712, p. 175.
8 Revision of 1672, p. 22.
* p. A., 1770, p. 355 ; Colonial Rec. of Conn., vol. 13, pp. 363-364.
“ Revision of 1672, p. 27.

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C O N N E C T IC U T .

Few words in juristic usage have suffered more from bad associa
tions than has “ night walking.” The offense was primarily confined
almost wholly to minors, as the following statute o f 1672 indicates:
I f any persons, young or old within this Colony that are under Parents, or
Masters' Government, shall convene or meet together, or be entertained in any
House without the consent or approbation o f their Parents or Governours, after
the shutting in of the Evening, * * * Or if any persons shall be discovered
to meet together and to associate themselves with their Companions abroad in
the Streets or Fields after the time aforesaid, the persons that are lawfully
convicted to be guilty hereof, shall pay Ten Shillings per person, for every such
transgression, and the head of that Family that, entertains them, or tolerates
them in their house, shall forfeit Ten Shillings, * * * and in case any be
unable to pay their Fine, the Constable is hereby required to set such in the
Stocks there to continue one hour at least * * * j

The act o f 1672 prohibiting the entertainment o f young people
“ after the shutting in of the evening ” evidently did not fit all need
ful contingencies, so in 1702 “ An Act concerning Young People”
was passed which provided:
Whereas, it is observed, That Young persons getting from under the Govern
ment of Parents and Masters, before they are able to govern themselves, hath
been an occasion of many Evils and inconveniences * * *
It is ordered that * * * no Master of a Family, or other House-keeper,
shall give Entertainment or Habitation to any single person, * * * but by
the allowance of the Selectmen o f the Town where he dwells, under the penalty
of twenty shillings per Week, for every W eek’s Entertainment.
And that all such * * * Young persons, that dp live in any Family
* * * shall carefully attend the Worship of God in those Families where
they Reside, and be subject to the Domestic Government o f the same, upon
penalty of forfeiting Five Shillings, for every breach o f this Act .2

The Connecticut statute book o f 1672 contained one other provision
regarding the care and behavior of children which was destined to
prove more enduring than the rest, and which is reflected in the
compulsory education and “ morally imperiled children” provisions
o f present-day legislation: “ Selectmen * * * shall have a vig
ilant eye over their Brethren and Neighbors, to see that none o f them
shall suffer so much Barbarism in any of their Families” as not to
teach their children and servants the English language and especially
the B ible; “ A ll Masters of Families do once a week at least, Catechise
their Children and Servants in the Grounds and Principles of Reli
gion ; ” and such children and servants might be questioned by any
selectman to ascertain whether they had learned their “ orthodox
catechism without book.”
“ And if any of the selectmen, after Admonition by them given
to such Masters of Families, shall find them still negligent of their
duties in the particulars aforementioned, whereby Children and
»G. S., 1672, p. 40.

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•Revision of 1702, p. 5 9 ; Revision of 1715, p. GO.

CH ILD R E N

BEFOSE T H E COURTS IÎST C O N N E C T IC U T .

Servants grow rude, stubborn, and unruly, the said selectmen, with
the help of two Magistrates shall take such Children and Appren
tices from them and place them with some Masters for years, Boys
till they come to 21, and Girls 18 of age eompleat, which will more
strictly look unto and force them to submit unto Government,
according to the Bules of this Order.” (R. S. 1672, p. 13.) This act
was copied literally from the Massachusetts act of 1642, and indicates
the strong similarity of conditions, population, and point of view in
the two colonies.
In passing, it is to be noted that the early laws did not permit
delinquents to have advocates, and those who endeavored to defend
them were subject to fine.1 Moreover, all persons committed to the
county jails—•
* * * shall bear their own reasonable Charge for conveying or sending them
to the said G a o l; and also the Charge of such as shall be appointed to Guard
them thither; and also of their Support while in Gaol, * * * and the
Estate of such Person shall be subjected to the Payment of such Charge; And
for want of Estate, they may be disposed of in Service to answer the same .2

The revision of 1835 extended this statute to apply to those com
mitted to the State prison at Wethersfield also.
O R IG IN A N D

D E V E L O P M E N T O F C O U N T Y JA IL S ,
A N D S T A T E P R IS O N .

W O R K H O U SE S,

In considering the treatment o f juvenile offenders during the
Colonial and Revolutionary period little has been said regarding the
punishments imposed in institutions for delinquents, and almost noth
ing concerning the origin of these institutions. Inasmuch as the con
finement of minor delinquents in institutions for purposes o f punish
ment and reformation becomes increasingly important as we
progress from the early period to the transitional and modern epochs,
it is worth while to ascertain the history o f these institutions and the
functions they Were supposed to discharge.
In 1667 the only prison in the State was situated in the county of
Hartford. The general court at the May session o f that year ordered
“ ye several countys speedyly to provide and mayntaine in ye County
Town o f each County, a prison or house o f correction.” 3 Later it
was amended to read:
* * > And there shall be two such common Gaols in each o f the several
Counties of New London, Fairfield, and Middlesex; to wit, one in each o f the
Towns of New London, Norwich, Fairfield, Danbury, Middletown, and Háddam .4
1 Revision of 1672, p. 19.
2 Session State, 1750-1753, p. 62. By a provision of the Code of 1672 (p. 19) de
linquents were compelled to, pay “ to, the Master of the Prison, or House of Correction,
six shillings, eight pence, before he be freed therefrom.”
3 Connecticut Colony Public Records, Vol. H , p. 61.
* R. S., 1795, p. 220.

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The last of these jails was not built until 1785. In the meanwhile
the-statutory revision of 1702 constituted the jails in the several
counties houses of correction,1 and 11 years later another act spe
cifically designates the county jails as “ House of Correction for the
Reception of such persons who being Convict of any manner of
Reviling and Prophane Speaking or Misbehavior,” 2 and those so
received were to be greeted by whipping on the naked back, 15
stripes.
The public acts of 1753 directed each county to erect a house of
correction in addition to its jail, and contained regulations for their
government, but in 1824 no houses of correction had been erected by
any county.®
The legislature from time to time authorized particular towns to
erect workhouses, and in 1813 gave the same power to every town.
A typical specimen of these town workhouses is that established by
statute of 1727 at Hartford 4 for the detention of “ Rogues, Vaga
bonds and Idle Persons, * * * Common Pipers, Fidlers, Run
aways, Stubborn Servants or Children, Common Drunkards, Com
mon Night-walkers, Pilferers, Wanton and Lascivious Persons,
either in Speech or Behaviour, Common Railers or Brawlers, such
as neglect their callings, misspend what they Earn, and do not pro
vide for themselves or the Support of their Families.” The punish
ments to be meted out are prescribed by the statute:
The master of the said House shall have full power and authority, and shall
set all such persons * * * to work and labor, * * * and to punish them
by putting fetters or shackles upon them, and by moderate whipping, not ex
ceeding ten stripes at once, which (unless the warrant of committment shall
otherwise direct) shall be inflicted at their first coming in, and from time to
time in case they be stubborn, disorderly, or idle, and do not perform their
tasks, * * * or to abridge them of their food, * * * until they be re
duced to better order.

These “ houses of correction ” were evidently identical with the
English workhouses. Indeed, the names are often interchanged in
the same act. That they exerted a wholesome influence upon “ rogues,
sturdy beggars and vagabonds” none will deny; but it is seriously to
be questioned whether they did not do much more harm than good
to “ stubborn and rebellious children.” The general character and
reputation of these houses of correction is indicated by an act of 1753,
which provides that no person convicted o f theft for the first time
1 Note to statute on workhouses, In Revision of 1824, p. 438.
SP. A., 1713, p. 187.
8 Note to statute on workhouses, revision of 1824, p. 438. The law directing counties
to build houses of correction in addition to their jails was reenacted In 1753 (Statutes,
p. 269), but apparently without any effect. The session statutes of 1784—1793 (p. 210)
provide that “ The several jails in the respective counties are hereby made to be WorkHouses or Houses of Correction until there shall be such House or Houses of Correction
built as aforesaid.”
* Conn. Stat. I, Geo. II, p. 343.

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shall be sent to a workhouse or house of correction unless he “ be of
the age of twenty-one years, or upwards, * * * anything in the
aforesaid Act, or Acts contained notwithstanding,” 1 but that instead
such thieves shall be fined and flogged with 10 stripes.
In 1773 there was enacted “ An Act for Constituting, Regulating,
and Governing a Public Gaol or Work House, in the Copper Mines
in Symsbury, and for the Punishment of certain atrocious Crimes
and Felonies,” which provided that—
The subterraneous Caverns and Buildings in the Copper Mines in Symsbury,
* * * with such other Buildings as may hereafter be erected and made in
said Caverns, or on the Surface of the Earth, at or near the Mouth of the same,
shall be and they are hereby constituted and made a public Gaol and W orkHouse, for the Use of this Colony, and shall be called and named Newgate
Prison .2

Referring to this subterranean prison, E: C. W ines3 says:
For more than fifty years (1773-1827) Connecticut had an underground
prison in an old mining pit on the hills near Symsbury, which equaled in
horrors all that was ever related of European prisons. Here the prisoners
were crowded together at night, their feet fastened to heavy bars of iron,
and chains about their necks attached to beams above. These caves reeked
with filth, causing incessant contagious fevers. The inmates were self-edu
cators in crime. Their midnight revels were said to have resembled often
the bowlings of a pandemonium, banishing sleep and forbidding all re
pose. * * * Men, women, boys, idiots, lunatics, drunkards, innocent and
guilty, were mingled pellmell together. No restraint was put upon gambling,
lascivious conversation, or quarrelling. * * *.

Writers upon prison conditions and punishments hold up the Con
necticut Newgate prison near Granby as a horrible example of the
fact that liberty-loving Americans could and did devise a place o f
incarceration for culprits which outdid the European dungeon in its
brutal wretchedness. The master of the gaol was empowered to put
prisoners at hard labor and to punish them “ by putting Fetters
and Shackles upon them, and by moderate Whipping, not exceeding
Ten Stripes for any offence; which Punishment may be inflicted in
Case they be stubborn, disorderly, or idle, and do not well and
faithfully perform their tasks, * * * or in case they shall not
submit to and observe * * * such rules and orders as shall be
from time to time made and established.”
Crimes for the first commission o f which the convict could be
sentenced to the “ New Gate ” were burglary, robbery, counterfeiting,
forging, and horse stealing—in short, the more serious felonies short
o f murder, for which the penalty was death. Manslaughter was still
punished by forfeiture o f all property, whipping, and branding on
the hand with a capital M. Arson for some reason was not in1 P. S., 1753, p. 273.
2 Conn. Stat., Geo. I ll , 1773, p. 385.
3 Wines, E. C .: State of Prisons and of Child-Saving Institutions, p. 22.

63654p— 18----- 2

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18S0.

CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

eluded with the more serious felonies punished by commitment to
“ New Gate ” until the revision of 1795. The second conviction for
these offenses made the offender liable to imprisonment for life in the
“ New Gate,” though in 1795 this was changed and the life term
was imposed only in case o f the third offense.
In the revision o f 1795 occurs the first provision in Connecticut
statutes for the care o f sick prisoners:
There shall be erected and kept in repair over said Cavern [the Newgate
prison pit], a Prison-House, fit and proper to keep such Prisoners in * * *
when they are sick.1

Moreover, the “ ten stripes upon the naked body ” when entering
prison was stricken from the statute books at this revision.
As if to atone for too great lenience, the lawmakers enacted in
May, 1805, the first definite instruction to place prisoners in solitary
confinement in the prisons in this State:
The overseers * * * are hereby empowered and directed to dispose of the
prisoners committed to said [Newgate] prison, when not employed in labor, in
the caverns, in the apartment called the stone prison and in said upper prison,
either by classes, or in solitary cells, as, in their opinion,, will most conduce to
the order and safety of said prison, to limit the influence of bad examples and
counsels among the prisoners, and to promote their return to the habit and
practice of virtue .2

From the vantage point o f our century or more o f experience there
is a grim suggestion of tragic humor in the naive hope implied.
Although the intent o f the statute plainly is that all prisoners shall
work during the day and be confined by classes or in solitary cells
only at night, the prison authorities soon punished all infractions
o f discipline by solitary confinement 24 hours a day.® Without
question, this was the most iniquitous heritage bequeathed by New
gate to the State prison erected at Wethersfield a generation later.
A revision o f the statutes in 1795 effected some important changes
in the commitment o f juvenile delinquents to Newgate. Stubborn
and rebellions children and servants.were ordered confined in the
county jails or workhouses,4 but boys over 16 years o f age might be
sentenced to Newgate for serious felonies, including in addition to
those heretofore mentioned arson, perjury, assault to commit rape,
and helping in the escape o f any prisoner. An act o f the same year
prohibits the sending of females, no matter of what age or for what
offense committed, to the Newgate prison, and provides' that-*Such female shall instead * * * be liable and subjected to confine
ment * * * in the common W ork-H ouse; * * * or to Imprisonment in
the common gaol in such County, there to be kept to Labour. (Revised Statutes
1795, p. 186.)
fw i bsTiq
1 R. S., 1795, p. 323.
2 R. S .j 1808, Vol. I, title 118, ch. 2, p. 530.
3 Thomas Mott Osborne-, The New Penology, Yale University Press, 1916.
* R. S„ 1795, p. 60.

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C O N N E C T IC U T .

Two years later the presence of an epidemic compelled the enact
ment that—
Whenever the Prisoners in any gaol in this State, shall he exposed to any
prevailing malignant sickness * * * it shall be the duty of the Judge of
the County Court, or two Justices of the quorum in the County where such
sickness prevails, to cause such Prisoner or Prisoners to be removed at the
expense of the State, to some place of safety “ in the next gaol in the same or
Adjoining County * * * until such sickness shall abate.” 1

Unfortunately, while this last measure gave relief to prisoners ex
posed to contagious infection in the Hartford County jail, it afforded
no relief whatever to those incarcerated in Newgate, for the reason
that thSre was no other prison in the State to which its inmates
might legally be transferred.
Just how far the execrable conditions which existed at Newgate
affected juvenile offenders is. largely a matter o f conjecture. We
have already seen, however, that boys over 16 found guilty of felo
nies were committed to Newgate, and that younger boys were sent
there upon a second offense. In fact, it was legally possible for a
boy barely over 7 years of age to be committed to Newgate for life.
When conditions get bad enough they cure themselves. Prisoners
condemned to Newgate, even for a short term of years, in many cases
contracted tuberculosis, pneumonia, or even gangrene or some viru
lent contagious disease ; and even the strongest emerged from a term
in the dark, filthy mine pit with an impaired constitution. Indeed,
upon the- immature body o f a juvenile delinquent the physical con
sequences -of imprisonment in Newgate frequently proved fatal. As
a result, the consciences o f Connecticut legislators were at length
roused to action, and “ An A ct Concerning the Connecticut State
Prison n was passed, which provided that—
The land, buildings, and appurtenances, belonging to this State in Wethers
field, shall be, and remain a Public Gaol, Prison and Work-house .2

In 1827 the first buildings were completed and the new State
prison formally opened. Newgate was at once discarded:
In any and all future cases of conviction of any person or persons for any
crime of [sic] offense, the punishment whereof is now * * * imprisonment
in Newgate Prison, there Shall be and is hereby substituted and established, in
lieu Thereof, imprisonment in the Connecticut State Prison * * .* And
that so much of any and all of the Acts of this State, as requires or prescribes
imprisonment in said Newgate Prison, * * * be, and the same is hereby
repealed.*

The statute further provided for the immediate transfer o f pris
oners, in Newgate to Wethersfield for the remainder o f their unex
pired terms.
1 P. A., 1798,' p. 494.

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«Public Acts, 1827, p. 161.

«ibid., p. 164.

CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

The act was amended in 1831 to provide for a prison physician and
a prison chaplain at Wethersfield. The chaplain was “ to devote his
whole time to religious instruction, and moral improvement of the
prisoners.” A suitable apartment was to be provided for a “ Sab
bath school.”
This act did not, however, abolish the disciplinary rigors of prison
life. The revised statutes of 1835 provided that the punishment of
refractory prisoners should be “by putting fetters and shackles on
them and by moderate whipping, not exceeding 10 stripes for any
one offense, or by confinement in dark and solitary cells” 1—phrases
clearly borrowed from the old Newgate act.'
Improvement in penal conditions was not confined to State prisons.
The revision of 1821 replaced the harsh punishments of the law in
1727 with the more humane and equally effective provision that—
I f any of them [the prisoners] shall be refractory and stubborn, and refuse
to work, or perform their work in a proper manner, he [the master] may put
them in close confinement, till they will submit to perform their tasks, and
obey his orders; and in case of great obstinacy, and perverseness, he may re
duce them to bread and water, till they are brought to submission and obedi
ence.2

Fetters and shackles were used only in punishment for attempts to
escape, which offense was penalized by solitary confinement in chains
and the addition o f one month to the prisoner’s term.
The law provided that prisoners unable to work “ shall be prop
erly taken care o f; if possessed of estate, at their own expense; if
not, at the expense of the Town where they belong.” 3
By 1824 the law was beginning to exhibit greater clemency toward
“ stubborn or rebellious children or minors,” who were now to be—
* * * committed to the house of correction in the Town where they live, or
if there be none in that town, to the common jail in the county, to remain con
fined to hard labor so long as said justices of the peace shall judge proper,
not exceeding thirty days.*

This is a somewhat milder penalty than the death sentence pro
vided in the “ Stubborn or Rebellious Son ” act of 1672, or the “ hard
labor and severe punishment” imposed in 1750.
We have so far traced the development o f penal institutions in
Connecticut up to 1830. More than a decade was to elapse before
any attempt was made to remove boy delinquents from the State
prison, while twice that period passed before the first separate insti
tution for the reformation of youthful offenders was established.
With the founding of that institution begins the modern epoch in the
history of the handling of juvenile delinquents in Connecticut:
iR , S., 1835, title 98.
*R. S., 1821, title 109, sec. 3.

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3 R. S., 1824, title 111, sec. 6,. p. ik l.
* R. S., 1824, title 13, sec. 3.

-CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

T H E T R A N S IT IO N A L P E R IO D IN TH E T R E A T M E N T O F JU V E N IL E
D E L IN Q U E N C Y , 1816-1851.

The Connecticut Legislature of 1816 was evidently in an icono
clastic frame of mind. The venerated idols of the penal system of
“ the good old days” were ruthlessly shattered. The stocks, the pil
lory, and the branding iron were relegated to the museum of peno
logical atrocities. For instance, the crime of blasphemy was, under
the code o f 1672, punishable by death.1 The Kevised Statutes of
1808 had reduced the penalty to “ whipping on the naked body, not
exceeding forty stripes, and sitting in the pillory one hour” ; 2 but
the statute of 1816 swept away these time-honored methods of cor
rection, and in their stead decreed that the blasphemer should be
punished by “ a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, and by im
prisonment, in a common gaol, for a term not exceeding one year.” 3
In the same way, the penalty for adultery in 1650 was death; this
punishment was commuted to flogging, branding with the letter A
on the forehead, and wearing a halter around the neck, in the re
vision of 1672; but the legislature of 1816 abolished these barbarous
penalties and instituted instead punishment by imprisonment— for a
man, in Newgate; for a woman, in a common jail—not more than five
nor less than two years.4
Something was also done for those already behind the bars. The
act making mandatory upon masters and overseers of jails the provi
sion o f fuel and bedding for prisoners5 awakens us to a partial reali
zation of what their lot must previously have been. Prior to the act
o f 1816 the juvenile prisoner slept on the bare ground of the prison
floor,' or at best in a hard board bunk, unless he were fortunate
enough to have parents able to provide him with blankets. Up to
that time no prison had any provision for heating during the cold
of winter, or for ventilation during the heat o f summer. What
wonder that men, as well as boys, often died of “ malignant diseases ”
before even a short prison term could be served!
The statute book o f 1824 also phrased in its modern form the
law empowering town selectmen to indenture orphans or idle children of poor parents:
I f any person or persons, who have had relief or supplies from any town,
shall suffer their children to misspend their time, and live in idleness, and
shall neglect to bring them up and employ them, in some honest calling; or
if there shall be, at any time, any family that cannot, or does not, provide
competently for their children, whereby they are exposed to want ; or if there
be any poor children in any town, that live idly, or are exposed to want and
distress, and there are none to take care of them ; it shall be the duty of the
1 See nQte, p. 10, ante.'
2 R. S., 1808, title 66, ch. 1, sec. 7, p. 295.
8 P. A., May, 1816, ch. 8 ; R. S., 1824, p. 109.

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4 R. S., 1824, title 20, sec. 62.
6 P. A., 1816, ch. 7.

CHILDREN BEFORE TH E COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.,

selectmen of such town * * * -to bind out such poor children * * * to
be apprentices to some proper masters, to be instructed in some suitable trade,
calling, or profession; males till the age of twenty-one, and females till the
age of eighteen, or to the time of their marriage within that age.1

This law, essentially in the foregoing form, is still retained in
this State.2 The only important alteration made in it is the provision
that such children may be indentured either to an institution or to a
private master.3 It is to be expected, o f course, that, whereas the
penalty imposed by the law o f 1854 upon disobedient apprentices
was a sentence o f 30 days in the county jail,4 the penalty under the
present day is commitment to a State reformatory for juvenile o f
fenders, in case the apprentice is incorrigible.5
The laws o f 1854 also laid an obligation upon the master not to
abuse or maltreat his apprentice. The only punishment imposed
upon the master in this event, however, is the cancellation of his
contract of indenture.6
The primary characteristic of the transition period is the mitiga
tion o f statutory punishments. The decreasing severity o f penal
ties during this period is well illustrated by the punishments at
taching to crimes against women. W e have already ,seen that under
early law these offenses invoked the death penalty, but that suc
ceeding statutes lessened the severity of the punishment provided for
such felonies.7 The Revised Statutes o f 1854 provide that—
Every person who shall carnally know and abuse any female child, under the
age of ten years * * * shall suffer imprisonment in Newgate prison, during
his natural life, or for such other term as the court * * * shall determine.*

It also imposed the same penalty for assault with intent to commit
rape.
The Revised Statutes of 1835 reduced the penalty fo r the first o f
these offenses to “ Imprisonment in the Connecticut State Prison for
a term o f not less than seven nor more than ten years,” and for the
latter offense to “ Imprisonment * * ■ * for not less than three
nor more than ten years.” In case o f adultery the sentence was im
prisonment in the Connecticut State Prison for the man, and in a
common (county) jail for the woman, for a period o f not less than
two nor more than five years.9 Further instances would be super
fluous; almost without exception the severe penalties imposed by
earlier statutes were materially moderated by the laws o f the transi
tion period.
iR . S., 1824, title 65, sec. 3.
2G. S., 1902, sec. 4686.
3 R. S., 1854, ch. 7, secs. 54 and 55.
* R. S., 1854, title 65, sec. 4. See all 11 Conn., 200.
3 G. S., 1888, sec. 3 63 4 ; also G. S., 1902, chapter on master and servants.
6 R. S., 1854, title 65, sec. 6.
7 See p. 10, ante.
*R . S., 1854, title 20, sec. 11.
•R. S., 1835. See under respective titles.

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One of the few laws o f this period which lay the liability for juvenile delinquency upon the parents is the statute providing a penalty
for failure of a minor enlisted in the State militia to respond to a
call to muster into active service. Here the penalty must be borne
by the parent or master or guardian of the infant “ unless where
such parent, guardian, or master shall make it appear that he was
not aiding in, or consenting to, such neglect or refusal.” 1 The dis
tinction here, of course, is that the minor is under a positive duty to
act, and that the penalty attaches to a failure to act, in which the
restraint of his parents may well have been a factor.
On the other hand, practically every other penal statute prohibits
the commission of a given act. Like the Ten Commandments, crimi
nal law is mainly composed o f “ Thou shalt nots
and it is obviously
more difficult for parents to prevent their children from committing
any of the thousand or more acts that are legally prohibited than it
is to compel them to perform the few acts that are legally mandatory.
The last important enactment of the transition period prepared
the way for the juvenile reformatory institutions o f the modern
epoch by establishing the principle that juvenile delinquents need
not be punished by confinement in the State prison:
Whenever any person under the age of seventeen years, shall be convicted
by any court in this State, of an offense, the punishment of which, in whole
or in part, is or may be imprisonment in the State prison, such court may, a t
its discretion, instead thereof, sentence such convict to imprisonment for the
same term, in the county jail of the county where such conviction is had.a

The same act provides that any prisoner who may be committed to
a common jail may, in the discretion of the justice, be punished
by imprisonment in a workhouse or house of correction o f the town
or the county.
These acts indicate the growing sentiment that youthful offenders
should not be associated with those sophisticated in the ways of
crime and vice. Seven years later this sentiment crystallized, and
expressed itself in the foundation o f a school for the reformation of
juvenile delinquents instead o f a prison for their punishment.
T H E M O D E R N P E R IO D , 1851-1917.

The new era in the treatment of juvenile offenders in Connecticut
was inaugurated by the State Reform School act o f 1851:
There shall be established, on land conveyed to this State for that purpose, a
school for the instruction, employment, and reformation of juvenile offenders,
to be called the “ State Reform School.” 3

The duties o f the eight trustees were: To take charge of the
general interests of the institution, to see that strict discipline was
maintained, to provide employment for the inmates, to bind them out
1 R. S., 1835, chapter on militia p. 390.
*P . A., 1843, ch. 2 1 ; R. S., 1854, p. 356, sees. 179 and 180.
*R. S., 1854, pp. 362 and 363.

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in service when desirable, and to discharge or remand them, and to
appoint and fix the salaries of the superintendent and other officers.
. Those who might be committed to this school were:
Any boy under tbe age of sixteen years * * * convicted of any offense
known to the laws of this State, and punishable by imprisonment, other
than such as may be punishable by imprisonment for lifg * * * And such
sentence shall be in the alternative, to the State Reform School or to such
punishment as would have been awarded if this act had not been passed.

In 1881 the following classes o f delinquent or morally imperiled
boys were made amenable to this act:
1. Any boy under 16 years of age who may be liable to punishment by im
prisonment under any existing law of the State, or any law that may be en
acted or enforced in the- State.
2. Any boy under 16, with the consent of his parent or guardian, against
whom any charge of committing any crime or misdemeanor is pending.
3. Any boy under 16 who is destitute of a suitable home and adequate
means of obtaining an honest living, or who is morally imperiled.
4. Any boy under 16 who is incorrigible, vagrant, habitually disobedient,
immoral, refuses to work or to attend school.1

The term of commitment was to the age of 21, unless the boy was
sooner reformed or bound out to service; 2 and those released on
probation must be visited by an agent of the trustees at least once m
six months.8
ii Until 1901 any boy under 16 years o f age who could distinguish
right from wrong was subject to commitment to this reform school.
It was then provided that—
No boy under 10 years of age shall hereafter be committed to the Connecticut
School for B o y s 4 except upon conviction of an offense for which the punishment
is imprisonment in the State Prison.®

In 1902 the rule was made absolute .that no boy under 16 should be
committed to any jail, almshouse, workhouse, or State prison, except
for an offense penalized by life imprisonment.6 Minor alterations in
the provisions for this institution will not be enumerated here, since
they are easily accessible in current statutes.
Meanwhile the towns did little or nothing to cope with the problem
of juvenile delinquency. The trustees of the State School for Boys,
in their thirteenth annual report (1865) tell us:
This is the only strictly reformatory institution Connecticut possesses. None
of our large cities possess any local institutions, although Hartford has the
nucleus for one.
.
i p . A., 1881, ch. 1 19; G. S., 1902, sec. 2823.
2
Boys presumably reformed are released from the school on probation and can be
remanded in case their reformation t.oes not appear complete. Boys may also be placed
out in suitable homes. G. S., 1902, secs. 2826, 2830-2831.
8 G. S., 1902, sec. 2832.
4 The name of the school was changed from State Reform School to Connecticut School
for Boys by G. S., 1893, ch. 92. See page 9, ante.
5 P. S., 1901, ch. 56.
In 1914 there were 11 boys under 1 0 .years of age in the school
at Meriden. (Report State Board of Charities, 1914, p. 54.)
6 G. S., 1902, sec. 2823.

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C O N N E C T IC U T .

While the State School for Boys took admirable care of offenders
under 16 years o f age, it was forbidden by statute to receive the most
serious class of minor delinquents, those in the later years of adoles
cence and early manhood. In 1909 the legislature provided for a
State reformatory at Cheshire for male offenders between the ages
of 16 and 25 “ convicted for the first time of offenses which may be
punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a shorter period
than l i f e ” Those between the ages of 16 and 21 must be committed
to the reformatory, while those between 21 and 25 are to be com
mitted only when “ they seem to be amenable to reformatory
methods.”
In either case “ the judge shall not fix the term unless it exceeds
five years,” but, shall merely impose a sentence o f imprisonment in
the reformatory. Boys convicted of offenses involving a jail sen
tence o f more than six months may, at the discretion of. the court,
be sentenced to the reformatory. Lastly, inmates of the State School
for Boys between the ages of 14 and 21 may be transferred to the
Cheshire School in cases where such a transfer is deemed expedient
by the managers of both institutions ; and by an amendment o f 1911
similar transference was authorized of boys in the State prison
under 25 years o f age serving sentences o f not more than five years.1
Private philanthropy, however, had undertaken on a limited scale
the reformation o f adolescent boy offenders some five years before
the legislature founded the Cheshire Reformatory. In 1904, 165
acres o f land near Litchfield were given as a site for the Connecticut
George Junior Republic, which admits incorrigible boys over 14
and under 21, either from private homes or State reformatpry insti
tutions. The present facilities accommodate 30 boys, but a financial
campaign is now being carried on to enlarge the Republic in order
to provide for at least twice that number. The average stay o f boys
committed to the Republic is three years.
For the care of girl delinquents prior to 1868 there was no institu
tion other than a jail or workhouse. In that year a private corpora
tion, organized in the form of a school district, established at Mid
dletown the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls. In 1886 the
legislature officially recognized it as a quasi State institution; the
governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary o f state were affiliated
with the self-perpetuating board of 12 directors as State directors,
ex officio ; and a statute o f that year provided for the commitment
of girl offenders between the ages of 8 and 16 years to the school on
any of the following grounds:2
1 For further information concerning the Cheshire School consult the founding act of
1909 and the amendment of 1911. The school was opened to receive inmates in June,
1913.
* P. A., 1886 ; R. S., 1888, sec. 3638 ; G. S., 1902, ch. 171, sec. 2839.

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1. Commission o f any offense punishable by law, other than im
prisonment for life.
2. Rude, stubborn, and unruly behavior.
3. Habitual truancy from school.
4. Daughter o f parent receiving town relief who is suffered to
misspend her time and be without an honest calling.
5. Girl who “ is so ill provided for by her parents as to be exposed
to want, or is exposed to want with none to care for her.”
6. Girl who is leading idle, vagrant, or vicious life.
7. Girl who is in manifest danger o f falling into habits o f vice.
The delinquent girl is committed until 21 years o f age, unless
sooner discharged on probation or bound out to service. Whether on
probation or bound out she is visited by the school agent twice a
year until she is 21 years old.
The school is organized on the cottage plan, separates the differ
ent classes o f inmates, and leaves little to be desired in an institutiqn
o f this nature.
That the school was doing its work well as far back as 1879 is
evidenced by B. C. Wines, who wrote in that year: “ Careful examina
tion has shown that at least 75 per cent of all who have passed under
its actual training and influence have become respectable and selfsupporting members o f society.” 1
-In 1902 two private institutions, the House of the Good Shepherd
in Hartford and the Florence Crittenton Home in New Haven,
opened their doors to receive wayward girls and women.
By the terms o f the law o f 1886, morally imperiled girls over 16
years of age could not be sent to the Industrial School for Girls at
Middletdwn, but must be committed to a county jail or “ house of
correction.” 2
In 1905 the legislature remedied the situation by “ An act concern
ing the commitment o f girls over sixteen years of age to chartered
institutions,” which provided that— i
Any unmarried female between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one years,
who is in manifest danger of falling into habits of vice, or who is leading a
vicious life, may * * * be committed to the custody of any institution,
except the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls, chartered * * * or in
corporated * * * and approved by the State board o f charities, * * *
for the purpose of receiving and caring for females who have fallen into, or are
in danger o f falling into vicious habits, until she shall have arrived at the age
of twenty-one years .3

In 1917 there was passed an act establishing the Connecticut State
Farm for Women, to which women and girls 16 years o f age and over
may be committed.
1 Wines, E. C., State of Prisons and Child-saving Institutions, p. 139.
* See p. 23, ante.
* P. A., 1905, ch. 233, as amended by P. A., 1901, ch. 48.

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Other private institutions than those already referred to which
care for juvenile delinquents in the State are: (1) The Watkinson
Farm School near Hartford, admitting boys o$er 12, preferably resi
dents of H artford; (2) the Children’s Home at New Britain, re
ceiving needy or morally endangered children of both sexes between
the ages o f 2 and 12; (3) Mount Carmel Children’s Home, caring
for Protestant homeless children between the ages o f 4 and 12 ex
posed to immoral influences or in need; (4) the Children’s Home,
Stamford, an endowed home caring for boys and girls under 16;
(5) the William L. Gilbert Plome at Winsted, a liberally endowed
institution admitting children who can not be cared for at home,
neither an orphan asylum nor a reform school, and receiving only
those delinquents whose offenses indicate no criminal animus or tend
ency; and (6) St. John’s Industrial School at Deep River, caring for
Roman Catholic delinquent boys between the ages of 8 and 16 years.
The institutions heretofore considered, with the exception of a few
o f the small private homes just mentioned, have no provisions for
the care o f delinquent or morally imperiled children under 8 years
o f age. What such children need is not a jail but a home; not punish
ment but reformative and preventive care. In 1883 the legislature
finally acted, and provided for the establishment o f cc County, tem
porary homes for dependent and neglected children.” 1 The origi
nal provision was, “ For the better protection o f children between
the ages of two and sixteen,” but this was later amended to read:
For the better protection o f children between the ages o f four and eighteen
years, o f the classes hereinafter described, to wit, waifs, strays, children in
charge of overseers o f the poor, children o f prisoners, drunkards, or paupers,
and others committed to hospitals, almshouses, or workhouses, and all children
within said ages deserted, neglected, cruelly treated, or dependent, of living in
any disorderly house, or house reputed to be a house of ill fame or assigna
tion, there shall be provided in each county one or more places of refuge to be
known as temporary homes. No such home shall be located within one-half
mile of any penal or pauper institution, and no pauper or convict be per
mitted to live or labor therein. No such house shall be used as a permanent
residence for any child, but for its temporary protection, for so long a time only
as shall be absolutely necessary for the placing of the child in a well-selected
family home.2

The only children excluded from the protection o f these homes are
those “ demented, idiotic, or suffering from any incurable or con
tagious disease.” 3
It is to be noted that—Children less than four years of age may be placed by overseers o f the poor
In any county temporary home i f its board of management shall consent to
receive them ,4
1 P. A., 1883, ch. 1 26 ; R. S., 1888, ch. 228, see. 3 6 5 5 ; P. A ., 1901, ch. 1 8 4 ; G. S.,
secs. 2788, ff.
2 G. S., 1902, sec. 2788.
* Ibid., sec. 2789.
* G. S., 1902, sec. 2794.

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The keeping of children over 4 years of age in almshouses was
prohibited:
Overseers of the poor Shall not place or retain children between the ages of
four and eighteen years in almshouses after they shall, have been notified by
said board that a temporary home in their county is open for such children;
* * * Provided, That if one of the parents of such children, who is a person
of good moral character, shall be committed to the almshouse with and may
there care for them, such children may remain with such parent in the alms
house for a period of not more than thirty days in any one year .1

If, however, a child eligible for admission to a county home com
mits an offense punishable by law, or is leading “ an idle, vagrant, or
vicious life, or if the child’s previous circumstances and life have
been such ” as to warrant commitment to the Connecticut School
for Boys or the Industrial School for Girls, the child may, at the
discretion o f the court, be sent to one o f these homes. But no other
child eligible for admission to a county home shall be sent to one of
these reformatory institutions.2
These county homes are doing an exceptionally valuable work.
They are caring for approximately 1,000 children, besides some 250
others boarded in private asylums or homes. In New Haven, New
London, and Fairfield Counties the homes are overcrowded, and the
pressing need for immediate enlargement can not long be ignored.
Without a doubt they constitute one of the strongest preventives of
juvenile delinquency in this State.
Supplementary to the county temporary homes for neglected and
dependent children is the new St. Agnes Home for Children in H art
ford, which cares for children of all denominations under 5 years of
age.3 Hitherto the almshouse has been practically the only shelter
for children during these years of infancy, since the county homes
and most of the orphan asylums do not receive children under 4 years
of age, except under special circumstances.
A statute enacted within recent years empowers the State board
of charities, or any member or agent thereof, to visit without pre
vious warning and inspect “ all almshouses, homes for neglected or
dependent children, asylums, hospitals, and all institutions for the
care or support o f the „dependent or criminal classes * * * to
ascertain whether their inmates are properly treated * * * or un
justly placed or improperly held therein.” 4 It also makes obliga
tory upon the State board of charities, or at least one member of
each sex thereof, to visit at least once each quarter, without previous
warning “ the State prison, the State reformatory, the Connecticut
Industrial School for Girls, the Connecticut School for Boys * *
1 P. A., 1885, ch. 116, sec. 1 ; R. S., 1888, sec. 3657; G. S., 1902, sec. 2792.
2 P. A., 1883. ch. 9 2 ; G. S., 1902, sec. 2796.
3 Opened by the Sisters of Mercy, September, 1914.
4 G. S., 1902, sec. 2858.

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at which time all inmates shall have the right of access to or com
munication with the visiting board members.1
By an act of 1917 licenses from the State board o f charities are
required by certain institutions caring for dependent children:
No orphan asylum, children’s home, or similar institutions, unless specially
chartered by the State, and no person of group of persons, whether incorporated
for the purpose or not, shall care for or board dependent children, under 16
years of age, or other persons, in any number exceeding two at the same time
in the same place, without a license obtained from the State board of charities;
provided county commissioners, city boards of charity, selectmen of towns and
similar official bodies shall not be subject to the provisions of this act.

The State board of charities is required to investigate and report
that the home has met certain conditions before a license may be
granted.
Few statutes of importance defining offenses of which juveniles,
may be guilty have been enacted during the modern period of juve
nile delinquency legislation. Indeed, the absence of new statutory
penalties for minor offenders is the chief characteristic of this period.
The only such statutes passed during this period are:
1. An act prohibiting the trespassing of minors on railways, en
gines, or cars.2
2. The antitobacco act, prohibiting the use of tobacco in any form
in public places by persons under 16 years of age.3
3. The truant act, providing that boys between 7 and 16 years of
age arrested three times or more for truancy may be committed “ to
any institution of correction, or home of reformation in said city,
borough, or town, for not more than three years, or, if such boys be
less than 10 years of age * * * to the Connecticut School for
Boys.” 4
4. The vagrant-girl act, applying to girls between 7 and 16 years
o f age, and identical with the truant act for boys, with the exception
that girls may be committed to the Connecticut Industrial. School
for Girls.5
5. The tramp act, applying only to boys over 16 and adult men,
provides that “ all transient persons who rove about from place to
place begging, and all vagrants * * * shall be deemed tramps,”
and are punishable by imprisonment in the workhouse not more than
one year.8
Several important laws tending to prevent juvenile delinquency
by improving the condition of children outside institutions have
been enacted during the past few years.
ip .
,. 8 G.
8 G.
* G.
* G.
*G.

A.,
S„
S.,
S.,
S.,
S..

1913, ch. 42,
1866, p. 199.
1902, sec 1362.
1902. ch. 130, secs. 2124, 2125.
1902, ec. 2129.
1902, secs. 1336-1341, as amended by P. A., 1913, ch. 159.

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One noteworthy measure of this period is the probation act o f
1903 and its several amendments.1
Its provisions and operations are mentioned in considerable detail
later in this study.
A second important measure (1911-1913) prohibits the employ*
ment o f any child under 14 years of age “ in any mechanical, mer
cantile, or manufacturing establishment,” or of any child between
14 and 16 unless he has a certificate issued by the school authorities
certifying that he knows “ the three R ’s ” and does not appear to be
physically unfit for employment. The act also prohibits the em
ployment o f any child under 16 in certain dangerous occupations;
or in any manufacturing or mercantile establishment “ more than 10
hours in any day, or 55 hours in any calendar week” ; or in any
mercantile establishment more than 58 hours in any calendar week,
with certain exemptions during the Christmas holidays.2 The pres
ent law is a vast improvement over the original act (P. A., 1853, eh.
39), which prohibited the employment only o f children under 10
years, and fixed a minimum working day of 12 hours for those
under. 18.
A notable advance in the method o f trial and detention of juvenile
delinquents was made possible by the enactment, in 1917, of the
“ act concerning juvenile offenders.” 3 Prior to 1917, Connecticut
had no special laws governing the trial of juvenile delinquents;
Young persons accused o f wrongdoing were subjected to the same
legal process as adult offenders. No provision was made by law for
the detention o f children awaiting trial, nor* was it incumbent; upon
the court to hear juvenile cases in chambers. The provisions o f the
law, all o f which look toward improved standards of court work for
children, pertain to the process of bringing in cases, detention, hear
ings, separate dockets, and the establishment of special juvenile
courts.
This act provides that in all criminal cases in which the defendant
is a child under 14 service of the process shall be by summons, unless
there is reason to believe that the summons may not be obeyed, in
which case a warrant may be issued for the child’s arrest. A child
between the ages o f 14 and 18 may be summoned into court instead
of suffering arrest.
No child under 14 shall be committed to a jail or common lockup
while awaiting trial, but shall be confined in a.detention home pro
vided by the municipality, or placed in the care of a probation officer,
some other suitable person, or a charitable institution. The same
i p . A., 1903, ch. 126: 1905, ch. 1 42 ; 1907, ch. 172; 1909, ch. 1 6 1 ; 1911, ch. 1 0 6 ;
1913, ch. 68.
2 P. A., 1911, chs. 119, 123, 2 7 8 ; P. A., 1913, ch. 179.

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provision may be made for the detention of juveniles between the
ages of 14 and 18, at the discretion of the court. Towns are author
ized to provide or maintain detention homes for children accused o f
crime whom the judge may consider in need of reformative rather
than punitive treatment.
All children under 18 are to be tried for the first offense in cham
bers, unless the offense is one punishable by imprisonment in the
State prison or by the death penalty. Upon a subsequent prosecu
tion the court may decide whether the case shall be tried in chambers.
The court records of the first prosecution o f all juveniles under 18
shall not be open to the general public, unless the offense is particu
larly serious.
Cities having a population of 20,000 or over may, by ordinance or
by-laws, provide for juvenile courts to be conducted by a judge of
the police or city court of such municipality, provided such ordi
nances or by-laws shall not extend beyond the selection of a suitable
court room and such other accommodations for such court as the
judge thereof shall deem necessary and proper.1 No special judges
are provided.
.
While this aet embodies some of the best features o f the most ad
vanced juvenile court legislation, such as the substitution of a sum
mons in place o f a warrant, and the provision for detention o f
children awaiting trial, yet it is based on a different theory o f legal
procedure. In the Connecticut act the cases o f youthful offenders
are designated criminal cases, although conducted somewhat differ
ently from such eases involving adults, while the trend of juvenile
court legislation is to consider the case in the nature o f one in chan
cery. In chancery proceedings the child is summoned into court
not on a “ complaint55 but on a “ petition,” and he is treated not
as a criminal to be punished but as an erring ward o f the State who
is entitled to the discipline and protection of that State. A law,
based on this theory, may vary in form in different States accord
ing to various conditions to be met, but in the main its provisions are
the same.
I f the Connecticut act be compared to the law which was indorsed
as a model for juvenile court legislation by the National Probation
Association, several significant differences and likenesses appear.2
In the first place, as mentioned before, the procedure in Connecti
cut may be under the criminal code, and not, as provided by the socalled model law, only in a court o f chancery. Original and ex
clusive jurisdiction over juvenile cases is not given to county courts,
as recommended by the so-called model law, but cases may be heard
>P. A., 191T, ch. 309, sec. 7.
2 “ The Proposed Model Juvenile Court Law," Bernard and Flexuer, Juvenile Court and
Prolmtion, pp, 255-289.

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by a superior court, district court o f Waterbury, court o f common
pleas, and police, town, city, or borough courts, and justices of the
peace.1
The Connecticut courts were given no broad powers in the treat
ment of juvenile cases nor has the State made provision for the
prosecution of adults who may have contributed toward the delin
quency o f children. The so-called model law permits the court,
throughout, a liberal construction o f the powers bestowed upon it, in
order that the act may effect the beneficial purpose for which it
was intended. It provides, too, that the court dealing with juvenile
cases shall also have the disposition o f cases o f adults who have
u knowingly or willfully encouraged, aided, caused, abetted, or con
nived at such a state of delinquency or neglect” of any juvenile.
Neither does the Connecticut act include in its provisions for trial
and treatment other types of children’s cases than those o f children
accused o f criminal offenses, though, as provided by other statutes,
the same courts which may hear cases o f delinquency may decide
questions o f neglect. These cases are, however, entirely under the
control of the county commissioners. The so-called model law einbr^iced within the methods of treatment in its juvenile courts a more
general class of children than specific offenders when it defined the
jurisdiction to include any child “ who so deports himself or is in
such condition or surroundings or under such improper or insuffi
cient guardianship or control as to endanger the morals, health, or
general welfare o f such child, * * * who comes within the
provisions of any law for the education, care, and protection o f chil
dren.”
In Connecticut it is not obligatory to have all hearings away from
the other business o f the court; this is left to the discretion of the
judge, except in cases of first prosecutions which are not sufficiently
serious to be punishable by imprisonment in the State prison or by
death. The so-called 'model law requires this separation for all
cases, without any distinction between first and later prosecutions.
Although Connecticut provides for a separate docket for first
prosecutions, subsequent cases may be kept on public records. This
exception is opposed to the letter and intent o f the so-called model
law which makes private records mandatory for all cases. The socalled model law, furthermore, provides, as Connecticut does not,
(hat adjudication under the law shall not operate as a disqualification
of the child for any office under any State or municipal- civil service,
and that such child shall not be denominated a criminal.
The Connecticut act has no such provision as the so-called model
law for special probation officers to deal with juvenile cases, though
the probation act specifies that all cases of minors shall have a pre>P. A., 1917, ch. 308, sec. 4.

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liminary investigation by probation officers before the case is heard
in court, and if the court so decides, the child may be put in care o f
a probation officer after the hearing. Probation officers are appointed
by the judges and not, as recommended in the so-called model law,
by public competitive examinations.
No such provision as that recommended by the so-called model law
was embodied in the Connecticut act for the appointment of an
advisory board of citizens to cooperate with the court upon matters
affecting children.
The bill which embodied those provisions of the so-called model
laAV, which was recommended by the National Probation Association
and other qualified persons for the particular needs of the State
o f Connecticut, failed o f passage. Nevertheless, the foregoing his
tory of the legislation o f the State shows a steady progress in the
treatment of juvenile delinquency.
63654°— 18------ 3

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CHAPTER II. METHODS OF CONDUCTING CASES OF
JUVENILE DE L IN Q UE N TS BROUGHT BEFORE THE
COURTS.
This study o f methods o f court work was made before the act con
cerning juvenile offenders went into effect in 1917, and, consequently,
the facts obtained relate to conditions as they were found to be be
fore any changes due to the new law may have taken place. Since
1917 better methods have been possible in the matter o f arrest, deten
tion, privacy o f hearings, and separation o f juvenile records. In the
main, however, the situation described would not be greatly changed.
IN V E S T IG A T IO N O F JU V E N IL E C A SE S B E F O R E T R IA L .

A t the time this inquiry was made, as a rule in the cities o f Con
necticut, juveniles were arrested on a warrant issued by the prose
cuting attorney. It was the duty o f the prosecuting attorney to
satisfy himself that sufficient cause existed to warrant an arrest.
Usually this officer does very little investigating outside his office.
Where warrants are issued in the cases o f children to be placed in
the county home, three days must elapse between the issuing o f the
warrant and the trial o f the case. This gives opportunity for fairly
complete investigation o f a case. In most cases, however, before the
city courts, children have been arrested on one day and tried on the
following day.
Where probation officers have been in attendance at the court it has
been their duty to investigate these cases, in order to advise the court
as to their disposition at the trial. It frequently happens that the
probation officer will ask the court for a continuance o f the case, and
this request is usually granted. In the ordinary routine, however, it
is a rare occurrence that more than 24 hours elapse between the issu
ance of the warrant and the trial o f the case. Many probation officers
have reported that their first acquaintance with the ease was when
the-child appeared before the court on the day o f the trial. Only
19 out of a total of 46 probation officers interrogated upon this point
were of the opinion that sufficient time elapsed before the trial to
enable them to investigate carefully each case o f a juvenile and make
recommendations to the court. Some probation officers reported that
investigations were seldom made before a trial and others that they
were not notified o f arrests.
35

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There seems to be little question that the efficiency of the proba
tion service in the State has been lowered by this lack of opportunity
to make complete investigation before a case appears for trial. The
Connecticut Prison Association, which has charge of the probation
work in this State, has failed to furnish a blank that is entirely
satisfactory for this preliminary investigation. The probation offi
cers in New Haven and Hartford make use o f blanks not furnished
by the State for the purpose of the investigation. It would appear
that the most satisfactory solution of this problem would involve
the furnishing o f a more satisfactory blank by the prison associa
tion and a provision in the law requiring the submission to the court
o f this blank, properly filled out, before the case is tried. It is un
doubtedly true that the trial will bring out the salient points in the
case, but a careful investigation in the home and neighborhood would
usually bring to light facts which would assist the judge in the dis
position of the case. The necessity o f a preliminary investigation
o f this kind would also serve to bring home to the probation officers
the fact that they were not only court officers but social workers
as well.
M E N T A L E X A M IN A T IO N S .

The more scientifically juvenile delinquency is studied, the more
evident it becomes that in a large proportion of the so-called delin
quents there is an accompaniment of low mentality. The child is
backward at school, fails of promotion, gets discouraged, loses inter
est in the work of the classroom, and falls into habits o f idleness.
The same causes which make him fall behind in his school work
render it hard for him to get and keep a job. Unemployment gives
him an opportunity to spend his time on the street and to form bad
associations. This results in his appearance before the court on a
charge o f idleness, theft, or some kindred offense. One of the first
duties of the court should be to order a mental examination of a
child whose school record is unsatisfactory. This is, however, one
o f the weak points of criminal procedure in this State. Only seven
o f the probation officers report that, before the trial, an examination
is made by an expert to determine whether the child is mentally nor
mal. Many children are thus brought before the court again and
again before it is finally determined as a result of a mental examina
tion that they are not responsible for their actions.
Many such children are placed on probation with the idea that it
is possible for the probation officer to keep such subnormal children
out of trouble in the future. Almost without exception the proba
tion officers complain that cases are turned over to them in which
it is hopeless to expect improvement. The efficiency of the proba-

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tion service in the State is lowered by loading up the officers with a
number of impossible cases. After probation has failed, the next
step is to commit these children to the Connecticut State School for
Boys or the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls. The task o f
conducting such a school is difficult at best, but it is rendered much
harder by the presence of boys and girls who are subnormal mentally
and who are a continuous source o f trouble within the institution.
There are to be found in the Connecticut Training School for Feeble
minded at Lakeville many children who had been arrested time and
again as delinquents before an adequate mental examination proved
them to be feeble-minded. A few cases may serve as illustrations.
Case No. 1.—A girl 16 or 17 years old. Her parents died when
she was young and she was placed in a private institution and later
transferred to a county home. She was still later placed in a private
home, where she lived until the house was destroyed by fire. Then
she was placed with another family and set fire to their house. She
became frightened and tried to extinguish it. A little while after
wards she set fire to a barn, which was completely destroyed. She was
untruthful and told weird stories about these fires, but finally ad
mitted her responsibility for them. She apparently liked the excite
ment which they created. The girl did not seem distressed by con
finement in jail and showed little curiosity as to what was to be
done with her. She was examined as to her mentality and committed
to the Connecticut Training School for Feeble-minded at Lakeville,
where she seems quite happy. Her mental development is that of a
child o f 11.
Case No. 2.—A boy born in 1892. During his early years he was a
vagrant and a thief, and was placed in a county home. From there
he was committed to the Connecticut School for Boys on account o f
incorrigibility. Although good natured and apparently harmless, he
was five years in earning his honor badge and release, though it is
possible to do this in 11 months. After his release he got into trouble
again and was finally committed to Lakeville. His mental age is
11 years.
Case No. 3.—In this family one girl was committed to the Connec
ticut Industrial School for Girls at the age of 12 on the charge of
being beyond the control of her parents and, by her own confession,
guilty of immoral conduct. After her release from Lakeville she be
came the mother of an illegitimate child. Mother and child were
both taken to the almshouse for a short time. Later this girl moved
from her home city to another State, where she married the man re
sponsible for her trouble. Since then she has had two children. Kecently, upon the discovery that he had another wife living, her hus
band deserted her. A brother o f this girl, guilty of theft, was sent

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to the county home. Another brother was committed to the reform
school, but the authorities in that school reported that he was a suit
able candidate for the Connecticut Training School for the Feeble
minded. Accordingly he was committed to that school. Three years
later, soon after his release from Lakeville, he wras arrested and
committed to the Connecticut School for Boys. In the same year he
was released and was shortly after arrested again for theft. He was
then recommitted to Lakeville. Later he was released from Lakeville
and during the following two years was brought in by the police
on five different occasions. He was finally committed again to Lake
ville. Another brother was arrested for theft but allowed to go
free. Both the parents in this case were of low mentality and all the
children were subnormal mentally. Whenever the children had their
liberty they were constantly getting into trouble. They did not be
long in the county home, in the Connecticut School for Boys, or in
the Industrial School for Girls. They should have been placed in
Lakeville at an early age and kept there.
The judges in the State are not to be blamed too much for putting
upon probation or sending to the reform school boys and girls who
really belong in the school for the feeble-minded, since this institu
tion can care for only a comparatively small proportion o f the known
cases o f feeble-minded persons in the State. The institution is con
tinually overcrowded and there is a long waiting list. The work of
the probation officers and o f the Connecticut School for Boys and the
Industrial School for Girls will continue to be handicapped until the
State makes adequate provision for the mentally deficient. This is
in some ways the greatest stumbling block in the way of the proper
care of juvenile delinquents in Connecticut at the present time. New
buildings are now being erected for the feeble-minded at Mansfield,
but it is generally admitted that when these buildings are completed
there will still remain a large number of feeble-minded children in
the State who should have institutional treatment. Until these un
fortunates can be properly cared for, the officers and institutions
working with juvenile delinquents will continue to be handicapped by
attempting to deal with a number o f cases which do not rightfully
belong to and can not be handled adequately by. them.
Not only are there in the Connecticut Training School for Feeble
minded many juveniles who were treated as criminals and sent to
penal institutions before it was discovered that they were so sub
normal mentally that they were really not responsible for their ac
tions, but there are many in the State reformatory at Cheshire who
are feeble-minded and are there at the present time because the State
has never made adequate provision for them. Many o f the inmates
o f this institution are o f such low mentality that it is doubtful

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whether any permanent improvement can be expected from tlieir
confinement and training in this institution. It is difficult to con
ceive how they can ever become worthy, self-supporting members of
the community after release. A brief history o f a few who have
been inmates o f the Connecticut reformatory during the past year
will make this more apparent.
Case No. 1.—A boy born in Europe and brought to the United
States when 11 years o f age. He had a feeble-minded brother who
was twice refused admittance to this country. This boy attended
a special class for immigrants in the public schools, where he was
considered stupid, erratic, almost insane, stubborn, surly, and quar
relsome. He is practically an imbecile and has been used by crim
inals as a tool, although he is not a criminal type himself. He will
probably never have sufficient strength of character to keep out of
the hands of designing persons.
Case No. 2.—A boy born in 1892. He was in the third grade
throughout his seven years at the Connecticut School for Boys and
was considered mentally defective. His influence was so bad that
he was not allowed to mingle with the other young boys, but was
kept with the older ones. During his entire time in the school he
did not receive a single visit from a relative or friend. He was so
undesirable that he could not be placed out. When his own home
was found it was most unsatisfactory. The mother was an alcoholic
and a streetwalker, but, since there was no alternative, he was re
turned to-her for lack o f a better place. He was committed to the
reformatory the year after his release from the Connecticut School
for Boys. His mental age is 8 years. He can read a little, but
does not seem to understand the meaning of what he reads. He
will follow directions literally and blindly, but lacks all initiative.
He seems to be devoid of all reasoning powers and is extremely sug
gestible, doing simply what he is told regardless of right or wrong.
It is doubtful if he will ever be able to take care o f himself.
Case No. 3.—A boy born in Connecticut. Both parents had jail
records for drunkenness and the mother an additional record for
keeping a disorderly house. Two sisters were immoral. The two
sisters and this boy were committed by the court to a county home.
Later they were returned to an aunt who had a court record for
drunkenness. The two girls became prostitutes. The boy was sent
to the Connecticut School for Boys. Later he was placed in the
reformatory, was released on parole, violated the parole, and was
returned. He is dull and of low mentality. In addition he has been
a heavy drinker.
Case No. Jf..—A boy born in Connecticut in 1894. The parents
separated and the mother remarried. She is an alcoholic and pos-

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sibly insane, or, at any rate, very abnormal mentally. This boy was
brought up by an aunt, who was also mentally abnormal. He spent
nine years at the Connecticut School for Boys, where he was con
sidered mentally deficient. He was twice paroled to his aunt, and
was finally committed to the reformatory. He was there rated as
feeble-minded and easily influenced.
Case No. 5 — A boy, the child o f an illegitimate union, born abroad
o f pauper ancestry. He made his home with an aunt, whose char
acter is questionable, and who was cruel to him. A t the age of 6
he was committed to the county home. He is described at the age of
9 as dull, very irresponsible, and one who could not be allowed in
the room with a girl, even if there were others present. Because
of his abnormal sex tendency he was placed in the Connecticut School
for Boys, where he remained five years. He was paroled in the
custody of his aunt, from whom he ran away after a few weeks. Soon
afterwards he was committed to the State Reformatory for rape.
Beyond question the boy is feeble-minded.
Case No. 6.—A boy born in 1894. Both father and mother were
alcoholics with long jail records. The mother was also immoral.
This boy was committed to a county home when -young. He was
later placed in two excellent private homes, but proved unadaptable,
and was returned to the institution. According to the State law the
control of the county commissioners ended when he was 16 years of
age, and from that time until his commitment to the reformatory he
led a wandering life. He was a hard drinker, and seemed unable to
resist stealing whenever opportunity offered. It is unfortunate that
he could not have been kept longer under the guardianship of the
county home.
Case No. 7 —A boy born in Connecticut in 1899. The father is a
hard drinker, fails to support his wife, and has served a sentence in
the State prison. The mother is neurotic and was finable to control
this boy. He spent four years for burglary in the Connecticut School
for Boys, and was later committed to the reformatory. At the age
o f 17 he had the mental development of a child of 11. It is doubtful
if he ever will become self-supporting.
These cases and others of a similar nature show the need for care
ful and thorough investigation, including mental tests, of all juve
niles when brought to trial. It is impossible for any judge, no matter
how conscientious he may be, to gain from questioning witnesses at
a trial sufficient inforifiation concerning a child’s antecedents, home
surroundings, and past history to deal wisely with his case. Each
child’s case should be continued long enough to enable the probation
officer or some social worker to make a detailed study and lay all the
facts before the court.

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C A R E O F JU V E N IL E S A W A IT IN G T R IA L .

In the cities and towns in the State in which there was probation
service in 1916,1 a study was made of the provision for the care of
delinquent children held by the courts while awaiting trial. In most
of these cities and towns this provision is inadequate. Twenty-nine
o f the towns and cities have no special detention rooms for children
either within or without the police station.
In 13 places the lack of proper facilities is met in a fairly satis
factory manner. I f a child is arrested while committing a crime
and brought to the police headquarters he is, in all but the most seri
ous cases, allowed to return to his home for the night on promise to
appear with a parent at the court on the following morning. This
obviates the necessity o f confining him in the same building with
adult criminals and brings home to the parents their responsibility
for the child’s conduct. Where the child is not placed under arrest,
the officer calls at the home and leaves a notice for the child and
parent to appear in court on the following morning. This method of
handling juvenile cases is really the only way which can be followed
with any satisfactory results in towns and cities where no special de
tention rooms for children are maintained.
In 12 of the places the children are kept over night either in the
police station or in the town lockup. Even in cities as large as
Willimantic, New Britain, Stamford, Meriden, and M iddletow n each o f which has a population of 10,000 or over—no special provi
sion has been made for the care of juveniles. In Waterbury a new
municipal building has just been erected with special detention
rooms for children. In Hartford juveniles are usually released on
probation, but in exceptional cases have been held in the women’s
section of the police station under the care of the police matron.
This method of caring for juveniles has also been followed in four
other cities in the State. A row of cells is set apart for women and it
is the custom in these cities to hold the children as far as possible
from any women occupying cells in the same row.
In two places children are kept in the town hall over night. In
one place they are kept in a boys’ clubroom, and in one place they are
kept at the town farm.'
New Haven has the most satisfactory arrangements for the care
of children awaiting trial. Until about 20 years ago children were
kept at the police station over night. A t this time arrangements
were made with the Organized Charities Association to keep chil1 Ansonia, Berlin, Branford, Bridgeport, Bristol, Danbury, Derby, E ast Hartford, Enfield,
Farmington, Greenwich, Griswold, Groton, Hamden, Hartford, Huntington, K illingly,
Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, M ilford, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Haven, New
London, New Milford, Norwalk, Norwich, Orange, Putnam, Rockville, Southington, Staf
ford Springs, Stamford, Stonington, Stratford, Torrington, W allingford, W aterbury,
W illim antic, Winchester.

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dren awaiting trial in the top story of their building. In 1904 the
detention room for the boys was moved to a separate building on the
same property, where three detention cells in the corner of the men’s
lodging house were fitted up for them. This proved unsatisfactory
and a temporary detention room was prepared in the police station,
where the boys were kept separate from the adult prisoners.
Through the generosity o f two public-spirited women of the city
a children’s building, admirably adapted to the needs, Avas presented
to the city in 1916. Here all boys under 16 and all girls under 21 are
held while awaiting trial. There is a disciplinary school in the build
ing and on the ground floor is a room used for the city court and two
rooms for the use of the two probation officers who deal with the
cases of boys and girls. Court is held one afternoon each week., The
attempt is made to remove from this building all the ordinary activi
ties of a police court. It is to be hoped that other cities in the State
will follow the lead of New Ha\7en in providing proper accommoda
tions for children.
Little complaint could be made in most places of the character ofthe meals served to juveniles awaiting trial. There were only two
places in which the diet was confined to crackers and water. In three
places meals were sent to the prisoners from a restaurant and in two
from a hotel. Plain home cooking was served in four places. In
about half the places sandwiches and milk or sandwiches and coffee
were served.
Judging by conditions in the 12 cities coAered by this study in
1914-1916, the provision for the detention of juvenile delinquents
held for trial is far from satisfactory throughout the State. Except
in extreme cases there is no excuse for putting these youthful offend
ers in the ordinary cell at the police station or lockup. In the smaller
cities and towns, where the arrests of children are infrequent, it is
probably not to be expected that any special provision should be
made for their detention. In these cases they should be returned to
their homes or cared for by the probation officer until the trial.
Where the city has attained any considerable size and where arrests
o f juveniles are frequent, some better arrangements for their care
should be pro Added or they should be returned to their homes. As
the need for more thorough investigation before the trial is realized
more clearly, so the necessity for proper detention quarters (if the
home is unsatisfactory) while this nwestigation is being made be
comes apparent.
T R IA L O F J U V E N IL E S .

There were in . Connecticut at the time this study was made no
judges whose duties were confined to hearing children’s cases, and
none have been appointed since.

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It was found that a large proportion of children’s cases appeared
before the city courts. The judges in these courts are chosen as fol
lows: Any person has the right to nominate to the legislature,
which meets biennially, any persons he may desire, to be made judges.
These nominations are all referred to the judiciary committee. After
a hearing this committee recommends to the legislature the persons
who it believes should be elected judges. The elections are made by
the legislature and the judges so chosen hold office for a term of two
years. It is a rare occurrence when the recommendation of the judi
ciary committee is not accepted.
The result o f this method o f selection o f judges is that they are
almost invariably chosen from the political party at the time in con
trol o f the legislature. The tenure o f office of judges in many cities
has been very brief and is often limited to one term. It makes pos
sible the selection of the men with the most political influence rather
than the men best fitted for-the position. The suggestion has been
made several times that the judges o f the city courts be appointed by
the governor, as are the judges of the superior and supreme courts,
but this recommendation has never become part of the law of the
State.
A study was made o f the cities and towns in which there is pro
bation service to determine how common is the custom o f the judges
to hear juvenile cases in open court or in chambers. In most of the
larger cities, including Bridgeport, Hartford, Stamford, New
Britain, Waterbury; South Norwalk, South Manchester, Naugatuck,
Greenwich, and Bristol, children’s cases were almost invariably tried
in chambers. In five of the smaller places with town government
this practice prevailed. In about half the places studied, however^
most of the cases are tried in the open court; it is unfortunate that
four cities are in this list. Even where this practice o f hearing
children’s cases in the open court has been discontinued, the method
of hearing cases is at the discretion of the judge, and he may revert
to hearing children’s cases in the open court whenever he so wishes^
Since the city court judges change frequently, the changes in this
matter o f procedure may be as frequent.1
In one city court it frequently happens that children sit for hours
while cases o f adults are being heard, waiting until their own cases
are reached on the docket. There would seem to be no excuse for
forcing children to wait in a court room while the cases of adults
are being tried, or to have their own cases heard in the presence
of other than interested parties. In New Haven all cases of children
are now heard in the children’s building, which is distant about four
blocks from the police court. One afternoon a week was set aside
1 By the terms of the act concerning juvenile offenders all first prosecutions of children
must hereafter be heard in chambers.

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for hearings upon these cases, and none but the judge, the attorneys,
parents, witnesses, probation officers, and other interested persons
were allowed in the room while the case was being heard. Public
opinion should make the demand that no children’s cases should be
tried in open court in the future and that no children should be kept
in a court room while waiting for their cases to be called.
R E C O R D F O R T H E F IR S T O F F E N S E .

The feeling has grown throughout the State that it is a mistake
to give a boy or girl a police record on the first complaint brought
before the city attorney unless the offense be a serious one. The.law
o f 1917, furthermore, has made mandatory the use o f separate dockets
for first offenses except in aggravated cases and has given the judge
discretionary power to keep the records separate in later cases.
At the time this inquiry was made 21 of the probation officers re
ported that when a child was arrested for the first time for a slight
offense a formal charge was not lodged against him. In this way
no court record was made of the offense. When complaint was made
to the city attorney that the child had committed some offense, a
note was written to the father, asking him to come with the child to
the office of the city attorney. In the interview which followed, the
attempt was made to bring home to the father liis responsibility
for the conduct of the child, and, in many cases, the child was turned
over to the probation officer. It frequently happened that the pro
bation officer would receive a child upon voluntary probation. The
child then reported regularly to the probation officer, who-was able
to keep in touch with him, with the result that many children never
appeared before the court. There has been an increase o f this prac
tice throughout the State and many probation officers have reported
more cases o f voluntary than of legal probation. This shows that
the probation officers are beginning to consider themselves rather in
the light of protective officers, so far as children are concerned, and
to feel that they are most successful in their work when they are
able to keep the children .from the court.
In three cities in Connecticut there were found to be in 1916 pro
tective officers in addition to the probation officers. In these cases
the salaries were paid by private organizations. The principal ob
stacle in the way of increasing voluntary probation in the State is
the limited number of probation officers, and the fact that many of
them have so many cases that they are unable to assume this duty
in addition to their regular court work.

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CHAPTER III. THE PROBATION SYSTEM.
The probation law of Connecticut was first enacted by the general
assembly o f 1903 and became operative August 1 o f that year. It
has since been amended five times, in 1905,1907,1909,1913, and 1915.
A P P O IN T M E N T A N D SE R V IC E O F P R O B A T IO N O F F IC E R S.

Appointment.—According to the probation act the judges o f
every district, police, city, borough, and town court shall appoint one
or more probation officers. The judge of a superior court or court of
common pleas may appoint a probation officer at his discretion. The
number of probation officers to be appointed in any court is not
limited and the judge may appoint a man or woman or both. He
also has the power to remove them at pleasure. There is no check
upon a judge in the choice of probation officers and he may select
whomever he sees fit and remove them whenever he desires.
During the first year in which the act went into force the superior
courts o f New Haven and Tolland Counties appointed probation offi
cers, the district court of Waterbury, and the city, police, town, and
borough courts in 35 towns and cities of the State appointed officers.
The work has increased until in 1916 officers have been appointed for
the superior courts o f every county, the courts o f common pleas in
three counties, the district court in Waterbury, the city courts in 18
cities, in 6 boroughs, and the courts of 17 towns. The work is still
under the supervision of the Connecticut Prison Association. Bien
nial reports are made to the governor and great improvements havh
been made in the handling of the cases of juveniles brought before
the court since this act went into operation. During the two years
ended September 30* 1916, 2,955 boys and 260 girls were placed on
probation. The distribution of these juvenile cases by courts and
towns is as follows:
Number of juvenii es placed on probation for year ended—
County or town.

Court.

Sept. 30,1915.
Boys.

Hartford County............................ Superior..................................
New Haven County.......................
New London County....................
Fairfield County.............................
Windham County..........................
Litchfield County..........................
Middlesex County..........................
Tolland Cotrnty..............................

Girls.

18
7
2
38

Sept. 30,1916.
Boys.

Girls.

1
3

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Number of juvenil 3s placed on probation for ye ir ended—
County or town.

Court.

Sept. 30, 1916.

Sept. 30, 1915.
Girls.

Boys.
7

Girls.

Boys.
1

19
1

128
14
37
14
532
28
10
118
339
12

2
3
___ do......................................

Hartford
City and police........... ...........

66
22
25
3
507
74
2
82
456
10
16
4
31
91
12
8

52
8
1
3
45

2
22
1
I
31

137
13

3
4

4
1

17
10

Ì2

1
¡_________ L ...............

14
...............

.d o . . . . . . .............................
do
..........: .............. .

Total......... . . . . . . . ................

5
2

4
4
4
38

1,573

140

24
8 :
6
1,382

120

Duties of probation officers.—It is the duty o f the probation offi
cer to investigate the cases of persons who are to be brought before
the court for offenses not punishable by imprisonment in the State
prison. He shall, whenever possible, have a personal interview with
the accused before the trial, and shall report to the court all facts
which may show whether the accused may properly be released on
probation. Complete records of all cases investigated shall be kept
by the probation officer. In cases involving minors, the court may
commit the'child to the care of the probation officer while awaiting
trial. He shall take charge of all persons placed on probation, giv
ing to each probationer full instruction as to the conditions o f his
probation, and requiring from him periodical reports of his conduct.
In case the probationer fails to observe the rules o f conduct pre-

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scribed by the court, the probation officer may arrest him without
warrant or other process and bring him before the court.
Probation officers shall not be active members o f any police force,
or be sheriffs or deputy sheriffs, but shall, in the execution o f their
official duties, have all the powers of police officers.
Qualifications for the position.—No special qualifications are re
quired by law for probation officers, and no examination for appli
cants for the position is held. Previous training and experience seem
to play a very small part in the choice o f officers. Inquiries were
sent to all the probation officers o f the State on January 1, 1916, ask
ing for their experience in work of this nature and previous occupa
tion. From the replies received it is evident that a number had had
training in social work—two had been general secretaries o f the
Y. M„ C. A., two were clergymen, five had been engaged in charity
organization society work, one had been a supervisor of public recrea
tion, one was superintendent of a boys’ club, one a physical instructor,
and one a superintendent of a girls’ reform school.
A large majority of the probation officers, however, had appar
ently no training or experience in social work. Among the previous
occupations o f these officers were the follow ing: Chief o f police, city
sheriff, lawyer, farmer, real-estate dealer, street-sprinkling inspector,
factory employee, housekeeper, insurance agent, barber, liveryman,
census enumerator, hatter, contractor, watchman, and court messen
ger. One replied in somewhat vague terms that his previous occupa
tion had been “ dealing with peoples.”
O f course, sympathy and common sense are two indispensable
qualities in a good probation officer and may not always be developed
by training, but if the probation work o f the State is to be a success
it is necessary that the officers consider themselves rather in the light
of social workers than court officers. The value of the service would
be increased if the prison association or some other body should re'ceive from those who wish to become probation officers applications
on uniform blanks, setting forth their training, experience, and spe
cial qualifications for the work, and if an examination, either oral or
written, or both, could be held for applicants. A list o f those who
ranked the highest might be presented to a judge before an appoint
ment is made. The quality of the probation service in the State
might thus be improved.
The reports submitted by the probation officers to the Connecticut
Prison Association indicate by numerous mistakes in spelling and
grammar that the general education of many of the officers is meager.
The blank submitted to each probation officer for his annual report
is certainly simple and intelligible, and yet many officers seem to find
it almost impossible to complete this blank in a satisfactory manner.

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It has been necessary at times for the agent and clerk o f the prison
association to call upon some of the probation officers in person and
assist them in filling out this very simple blank, in order that the
association may have records on which to base the annual report on
the probation service which the law requires.
Pay of probation officers.—By provisions of the act probation
officers are reimbursed for all necessary expenses incurred in the
prosecution o f their duties and may be paid at a rate not exceeding
$4 per day in cities of 50,000 inhabitants and in all other cities and
towns not exceeding $3 per day. On January 1, 1917, there were 10
full-time probation officers in the State. The others were employed
for part-time work.
As a result of the employment of so many officers on part time
their pay was extremely varied. O f the officers working full time
on January 1,1916, six were paid by the day, four receiving $4 a day,
one $3 a day, and one $2 a day; one was paid $15 a week and one $25
a month; two were paid by the year, $1,080 and $1,000, respectively.
O f those working on part time, one was paid $4 a day, six $3 a day,
and several $3 a day when called to court; three were paid by the
month, $40, $15, and $5, respectively. O f those paid by the year,
two received $300, one $225, two $200, and one $40; three were
paid by the hour, all receiving 30 cents; two were paid by the
case, one receiving $4 and the other $1.50; two were paid by the
visit, one receiving $1 and the other 50 cents. Two reported that they
had no regular rate of pay, and two had received nothing for a year.
Although some variation in the rate of pay is to be expected, since
the amount of work varies in different courts, there is little excuse
for this extreme diversity in the remuneration o f probation officers.
Pressure to increase the rate is frequently brought to bear upon the
judges who fix the rate of pay, by the probation officer and his or
her friends. In the four largest cities in the State the pay is not
uniform and officers in some of these cities received twice the rate
o f pay o f an officer in another. No apparent reason for this differ
ence existed except the recommendation o f the judge. The officer
receiving $2 a day handled more cases during the year than some of
the officers receiving $4 a day, and the work was done in as satis
factory a manner. Where the officers are paid by the case there is
an incentive to finish up the case as soon as possible; where they are
paid by the visit this incentive is not present. In many cases the
rate of pay is too small to attract competent persons.
Length of term of service of probation officers.—In 38 cases it
was possible to determine the length of service of the State proba
tion officers prior to January 1, 1916. Two had held office for some
what over 12 years, or since the law became effective. Three had

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held office for 9 years, two for 7 years, two for 6 years, one for 5
years, two for 4 years, three for 3 years, six for 2 years, and 17 for
not over 1 year. Only 10 o f the probation officers in the State em
ployed on January 1, 1916, had been in continuous service for oyer
5 years, while 17 had seen but 1 year of service or less. Some of the
previous probation officers have resigned on account of the low rate
o f pay and others to enter another line of work, but a large propor
tion were changed by the judge. In some o f the courts probation
officers have been retained when new judges have been selected, but
in many cases a new probation officer comes into office whenever the
judge is changed. This brief and uncertain tenure of office is not
conducive to a high degree of efficiency in probation officers and can
not work for the best interest o f the probation act in Connecticut.
Although the most serious objection to this frequent change of
probation officers is the tendency to decrease the efficiency of the
service, a minor disadvantage is the increased difficulty in preparing
the annual report of the prison association. It frequently happens
when a change of officers has been made by the court during the year,
that the last officer can not obtain a satisfactory record from his?
predecessor, who has lost interest in the work. In many cases it has
been with very great difficulty that the association has been able to
prepare a satisfactory report of the year’s work. So long as the
changes in officers are as frequent as they have been during the past
decade, this difficulty will probably continue.
Headquarters for the probation officers.—The location of the
offices o f the probation service is a matter of importance in the ad
ministration of the laws in regard to juveniles. I f men alone were
obliged to report to the probation officers, it would probably be no
serious disadvantage to the work to have these offices located in the
police building, but where women, boys, and girls must come to make
their reports, it is certainly far from satisfactory to have them
obliged to come into contact with the class of people who frequent
police headquarters. On January 1, 1916, i0 o f the probation
officers in the State had their headquarters in police stations. This
practice can not be condemned too strongly. It is a serious mistake
under any circumstances to ask juveniles to report regularly to an
office in the police building.
Fortunately the custom of having children report at the police
building is passing out of existence. In Meriden and Willimantic
the practice still prevails. In Hartford the boys report at the office
of the probation officer in the police building, but enter by a door
which keeps them separate from others in the building. The girls
do not report at this building. Until recently all the probation
officers in New Haven had offices in the police building, where the
63654°—18-----4

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juveniles reported to them. Recently a change had been made, and
juveniles report at the children’s building.
The practice is now becoming almost universal of having juveniles
report at the homes of the probation officers unless they have their
offices in some building other than the police station. Some of the
officers, instead of asking the children to visit them, visit the homes o f
the children. In case an officer has only a few cases under him, this is
possible. Even if the children report to the officer at his office, it is
desirable for the officer to visit the homes of the children in order to
acquaint himself with home conditions and talk with the parents.
This practice is becoming more common in this State as probation
service is better understood.
The blanks furnished by the Connecticut Prison Association to the
probation officers are fairly satisfactory for keeping a record o f the
persons placed on probation.
A new blank, however, should be provided for the investigation
preceding the trial. The law upon this subject is sufficiently clear
and definite. I t is the duty o f every probation officer to investigate
the case of any person brought or about to be brought before the
court in order to ascertain the history and previous conduct of the
person so* arrested and in order to determine whether such person
may properly be released on probation. The blank used at present
does not provide for a sufficient family history.
The prison association has recently appointed a committee to make
a thorough study of the blanks in use and to offer suggestions as to
their improvement. When this is done the task will still remain of
persuading the judges to allow sufficient time to elapse between the
arrest and trial for making a thorough and satisfactory investigation.
The law also requires the clerk o f every court by which a proba
tion officer is appointed to notify the prison association forthwith
of the name o f the officer so appointed. Unfortunately this is not
always done, and there have been cases in which some time elapsed
before the association learned of the appointment o f a probation
officer.
Number of cases in charge of probation officers.—Thirty-eight
probation officers reported the number of persons in their charge on
November 1,1916. Three officers had over 100 eases, one having 105,
a second 108, and a third 188. Three officers reported from T5 tp 99
cases; two officers from 50 to 74; five from 25 to 49; eight from 10 to
24; 15 from 1 to 9. Two had no cases. There were altogether 1,011
persons on probation at this date. The probation officers were also
asked to give the largest and the smallest number of cases under their
charge between January 1 and November 1, 1915. The largest num
ber of cases in charge o f any officer at any time was 380. There were
three other officers with over 175 cases and four officers reported 100

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to 174:. Two reported 50 to 99, inclusive ; six, 25 to 49 ; ten, 10 to 24;
twelve, under 10/ When the minimum number of cases is considered,
there were two reporting over 100 cases; two from 75 to 99; three
from 50 to 74; two from 25 to 49; seven from 10 to 24; eighteen
from 1 to 9, and four officers reported that there was one time during
the 10 months under consideration when they had no cases under
their supervision.
The figures just given for the number of cases in charge o f the
probation officers include both adults and juveniles. There were 26
probation officers who reported that upon November 1, 1915, they
had juveniles under their charge. One reported over 50 cases ; two
from 25 to 49, inclusive ; three from 10 to 24, inclusive ; and twenty
under 10 cases, while twelve had no juveniles on this date.
It is evident from a study o f the number o f cases in charge of the
probation officers that very few o f them are overworked. In fact
only three in the State complained about the number o f cases they
were supposed to carry. It is, however, preposterous to expect a
probation officer to do good work for 330 cases at one time, no matter
what the nature o f the cases may be. It is, o f course, a comparatively
simple matter for an officer to care for a large number o f cases i f
they are mostly o f the nonsupport type, where the probationers call
at his office weekly to leave the cash required from them. As a rule,
however, about one-half of the probationers in Connecticut are juve
niles. I f a probation officer is to make a proper investigation and
report to the court at the time o f trial o f juveniles and properly
guard their interest during the period o f probation, no officer should
be expected to handle more than 50 to 75 cases at one time.
' Then, too, the duties o f a probation officer should not be limited
entirely to the cases placed under his charge by the court. The best
work a probation officer does is often for those children who come
under voluntary probation. I f an officer has too many court cases,
he has no time to devote to voluntary cases. It may be that one
reason why more officers did not complain that their work suffered
from the necessity o f carrying too many cases was the fact that they
were satisfied to do just what the court required and did not take
voluntary cases.
On the other hand, in a number o f courts in the State the advan
tages o f the probation system are not fully appreciated. One proba
tion officer has not had a case placed in his charge for four years.
Another, writing under date of December 20, 1915, says : “ When I
tell you the last person placed on probation in my town was in
August, 1913, you can imaginé the interest I have in this subject.”
Outside the five larger cities in the State, there was not a proba
tion officer who had had over 75 cases in his charge at any one time.
A campaign should be carried on in the State to enlarge the interest

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in the probation service. This should include a more general use o f
the probation system in towns as well as a provision for more proba
tion officers in cities.
P R O B A T IO N O F F IC E R S F O R JU V E N IL E S.

Since no courts of domestic relations or juvenile courts exist in
Connecticut, no provision is made for probation officers to handle
the cases o f juveniles exclusively, and there are only three such officers
in the State. When two probation officers are attached to the same
court, it is usual for one of them to be a man and the other a woman.
There are at present eight women engaged in probation service in the
State, and in every case there is a man probation officer of the same
court. The man usually handles the cases o f men and boys, and the
woman the cases of women and girls. At one time the attempt was
made, where there were a man and a woman probation officer in the
same city, to have the man care for the cases of men and the woman
the cases of women and all children o f both sexes. The placing o f
boys under a woman probation officer has been discontinued in all
but two cities.
Hartford, in 1916, was the only city which had two woman proba
tion officers. In 1918 there was but one, New Haven has for some
time had three probation officers, two men and a woman. The woman
takes charge of all cases o f women and girls. Prior to 1917 the two
men officers divided the cases of men and boys between them in a
somewhat unsatisfactory way. A ll the males placed on probation
were assigned to one officer in one month and to the other officer in
the following month. Each officer had one month in which he was
carrying altogether too many cases, alternating with a month of
comparatively light work. No attempt was made to give to each
officer the type of cases for which he was particularly adapted. The
chief virtue o f this system was that in theory it was absolutely im
partial. In 1917 a change was made by which all the men s cases
were given to one probation officer and all the boys’ cases to the other
officer.
Care of juvenile delinquents on probation.—When juvenile de
linquents are placed on probation they are supposed to report to the
probation officer once a week. I f the child is attending school, the
teacher o f the school report^, by card on the attendance, deportment,
and scholarship of the child once a week. This card is presented to
the probation officer. I f the child is employed, the employer is sup
posed to send in reports of the child’s conduct to the probation officer,
but such reports are very seldom received.
In case the boy or girl reports regularly each week and brings the
card properly filled by the teacher or employer, and no complaint

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as to the child’s conduct reaches the ears of the probation officer,
this is in most cases considered satisfactory. I f the child fails to
visit the officer regularly or reports from the teacher or employer
are not encouraging, the officer usually visits the home of the child
to see what the trouble is.
D U T IE S O F T H E C O N N E C T IC U T P R IS O N A S S O C IA T IO N .

The Connecticut Prison Association has nominal charge of the
probation service in Connecticut. According to the law this duty is
fulfilled when blanks have been provided and furnished to the pro
bation officers and when the reports received from the probation
officers have been tabulated and a record o f the year’s activity made
to the governor. For this work an appropriation o f $60 a month for
clerical services is made to the prison association. This amount is
inadequate for the proper supervision o f the work.
An appropriation should also be made for a chief probation offi
cer. He should be connected with the prison association and it
should be part of his duties to visit the probation officers from time
to time in order to acquaint them more fully with their work, and
endeavor to standardize their activity. The inspiration and advice
o f an experienced man would be o f great service to them. At the
same time he would be of assistance in helping them keep their
records in order. He might possibly make some of the courts more
sympathetic with probation work and stir up public interest in the
problem.
T H E A S S O C IA T IO N O F P R O B A T IO N O F F IC E R S.

For several years a round-table discussion for probation officers
was arranged in connection with the annual meetings o f the State
Conference of Charities and Correction, but other interests gradually
crowded out this discussion. The probation officers are always in
vited to attend the annual meetings of the Connecticut Prison As
sociation and many have availed themselves of this opportunity. In
1915 the Association of Probation Officers o f Connecticut was formed,
and in 1916 a meeting lasting an entire day was held in New Haven.
This meeting was attended by over half the probation officers in
the State and much good resulted from it. A new president was
elected at this meeting and he was authorized to call another meeting
in the following year. The second meeting has not yet been held.
It is hoped that an annual meeting o f the probation officers will be
held at which they will discuss plainly their problems and learn
from the experience of one another.

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Unfortunately very few o f the probation officers in Connecticut
are members of the National Probation Association and only one offi
cer from this State was present at the 1916 meeting of this association
in Indianapolis. The probation service in Connecticut would derive
much benefit i f more o f the officers would attend meetings of this
nature. It is to be hoped that in time an esprit de corps may be
created in this group.

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CHAPTER IV. INSTITUTIONS FOR CHILDREN BROUGHT
BEFORE THE COURTS.
T H E C O U N T Y T E M P O R A R Y H O M ES.

The problem o f juvenile delinquency is intimately related to that of
neglect, and, therefore, a study of institutional provision for juvenile
delinquents brought before the courts should include a study of homes
for neglected children.
The first institutions in Connecticut likely to receive children whose
home surroundings are decidedly bad, or who are neglected or cruelly
treated, are the county temporary homes.1 Boys between the ages of
4 and 16 and girls between the ages of 4 and 18 may be committed
to these homes and remain under the control of. the board o f manage
ment o f a home until the maximum age is reached, unless discharged
or the guardianship is legally transferred at an earlier age. The
board o f management has authority in certain cases to give a child
in adoption. Any child committed to a temporary home may, upon
the petition o f a relative to the board o f management or to the
court that made the commitment, be released when it is evident that
the causes for which commitment was made no longer exist.
The management o f a county home has the right to board any
child committed to it in a private family, or in a chartered orphan
asylum or children’s home, at the expense o f the State. In each town
there is a town committee whose business it is to visit the homes of
those applying for children, and give a written statement as to
whether a home is satisfactory. When the board o f management,
in response to a request, has decided to place a child in a home, the
person receiving the child signs an agreement to the effect that the
child shall be given proper care, an opportunity to attend school, and
to attend religious services o f the faith, of the parents, i f this is
known. The town committee is then notified that the child has been
placed in a certain home in that town and that it is expected to report
to the board of management if the child is not being properly cared
for.
Annual meetings are held in the county homes, where matters
relating to the care o f children are discussed, and members o f the
town committees are expected to attend these meetings. The board
o f management of each home consists of three county commissioners,
1 For the law covering the point see p. 27 of this report.

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a member o f the State board of health, and a member of the State
board of charities. Legally, the selectmen of a town may place de
pendent or neglected children in the county temporary home of that
county at the expense of the town, and children so placed remain
the wards o f the town. This procedure, however, has practically
ceased. The usual custom is to commit dependent children through
the probate court or city, police, borough, or town court. They then
become the wards of the State and their board is paid by the State.
These county homes were called county temporary homes with the
expectation that children would be kept in them but a short time
and would then be placed in private homes. It has, however, been
difficult to find private homes to care for the children, and compara
tively few of them are removed from the institutions before they are
14 years o f age.
The following table shows in the first part the cases that came
under the care of the county homes from October 1, 1914, to October
1, 1916 ; and in the second part the dispositions that were made of
these cases during that period. (Statistics of Population of County
Homes, 1915-16. )*
C a s e s under care of county homes, Oct. 1, 1914, to Oct. 1, 1916.

Boarded in other institutions, Oct. X, 1914 and 1915........................................................

Oct. 1,
1914, to
Oct. 1,
1915.

Oct. 1, .
1915, to
Oct. 1,
1916.

800
272
379
237

779
299
298
.180

1 ,6 8 8

1,556

DISPOSITION OF CASES.

295
199
113
4
779
298

270
137
90

1,-688

1,556

770
283

Although more cases were handled in 1915 than in 1916, the usual
tendency during the last few years has been toward an increase in the
number of commitments, with the result that some of these tempo
rary homes have become overcrowded. On account of this over
crowding of the county homes, it seems likely that additions will be
built to the institutions. In 1917 it'was decided that an addition
must be made at once to the home in one county.
i The Report of the 8tate Board of Charities for the years 1915-16 has not yet ap
peared, but these figures w:re furnished through the courtesy of Mr. Charles P. Kellogg,
secretary of the board.

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In view o f the fact that the buildings are overcrowded, and that
so few children are being boarded out or placed in private families,
the development o f the placing-out side of the work of these homes
is an undertaking of chief importance. That this matter is receiving
considerable attention is apparent from the following extract from
the Report o f the State Board o f Charities for the years ended Sep
tember 30, 1913 and 1914:
This continued increase in the number of children on support of the county
homes shows that the means employed at present for placing out are not farreaching enough to counteract the steadily growing number of children com
mitted and returned each year to the homes. It is evident that the work of the
county homes has far outgrown their original purpose as temporary shelters,
and it is hoped, therefore, that authority and means may be obtained from
the general assembly of 1915 to conduct a thorough study of the care of
dependent and neglected children throughout the State with a view to pre
venting unnecessary commitments, reducing the population of the homes to
reasonable numbers, and stimulating the placing out of the children in family
homes. Such a study might result in recommending that all of the county
homes be placed under the centralized control of the State board, with the
possible consolidation of some of the homes and a logical grouping of the
inmates by age, sex, and other conditions.

In addition to the publicity given to conditions in Connecticut by
this report, the Connecticut State Conference of Charities and Correc
tion has for several years devoted one session to the subject in the
hope o f arousing public interest throughout the State.
The State board of charities is empowered by statute to supervise
the placing of children committed to the county homes. The secre
tary, superintendent, or any o f its agents may recommend suitable
private homes where children may be placed, and may visit any such
homes where the children have already been placed to ascertain
whether the children are receiving proper care.
On account o f lack o f funds the State board of charities has been
able to employ but one agent to visit for the county homes. The fol
lowing table shows the work of this agent in visiting and placing
out children from the county homes for the year ended September
30, 1914:
Number of children visited_____ u.k:____ _______________ _________ _ 947
Applications and cases investigated_______________________________ 111
Special cases adjusted_____ ______
57
17
Children removed and replaced___ ________________
New homes found____________________________________________________128

The attempt to carry on this important work with only one paid
agent is pathetic, but the number o f agents could not be increased
on account o f the meager appropriation. In 1917 a bill was intro
duced calling for the employment o f eight such agents. Unfor-

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tunately this number of visitors was reduced to three afid section
2864 o f the general statutes was amended to read as follow s:
Said board shall appoint not exceeding three supervisors, either men or
women, who shall be experienced in the care and supervision of children in
institutions and in homes and shall fix their compensation, which shall not ex
ceed twelve hundred dollars per annum for each supervisor and in addition
thereto they shall receive their necessary expenses, which when audited by
the comptroller shall be paid by the State, provided such expenses shall not
aggregate more than four thousand dollars per annum. Said supervisors shall
hold office during the pleasure o f the board.

An effort made at the same time to increase the powers and duties
of these supervisors met with defeat. Therefore during the next
two years these supervisors will have to work under the previously
existing statutes. A move in the right direction has been made by
the appointment of three supervisors in place o f one, but the problem
o f caring for dependent children in the State will never be solved
until a thorough and exhaustive study o f this whole question has
been made.
Many social workers have regretted the necessity for the discharge
o f boys from the control of the board of guardians at the age of 16,
and have urged that this guardianship should continue at least until
18 and possibly until 21. In support of this contention cases have
been cited where children, soon after release from guardianship, have
been brought before the court and sentenced to the Connecticut State
Reformatory.
T R U A N T SCHOOLS.

Truancy is one o f the first signs o f delinquency. The child who
tires of the discipline of school life and leaves school to loiter on
the streets is all too likely to indulge in other forms of lawlessness.
The Connecticut statutes hold parents or guardians responsible for
the school attendance of children between the ages of 7 and 16. I f
a child does not attend the public school in his district the parents
must show that he is receiving equivalent instruction in some other
school. This does not apply to children over 14 years o f age who
have completed the fifth grade in school and are employed at home or
elsewhere.
Each city and town in Connecticut is empowered to make its own
regulations concerning habitual truants from school. In the towns,
boroughs, and cities o f the State there are usually one or more at
tendance officers or truant officers. The usual practice is for the
teacher to report to the superintendent of schools or to an officer
any case of nonattendance. The case is then investigated by the officer
and report is made to the superintendent of schools. In most towns
there is no truant or disciplinary school. An ungraded schoolroom
for habitual truants is maintained in most cities.

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The law also provides that habitual truants may be arrested and
sent to school. A boy who has been arrested three times or more is
taken before a judge o f the criminal or police court, or a justice o f
the peace. Girls who, upon the request of a parent or guardian, are
arrested for truancy, may be committed to the Connecticut Industrial
School for Girls.
T H E CO N N E C TIC U T SCHOOL F O R BO Y S.

The Connecticut School for Boys, under its earlier name of State
Reform School, was opened on March 1, 1854. The school is situated
on Colony Street in Meriden and is less than half a mile distant from
the center o f the city. The tract comprises about 200 acres.
The buildings consist o f a large main building, five cottages, a
chapel, gymnasium, hospital for contagious diseases, workshop, and
large barn. Most of the buildings are o f brick. The main building
is a survival of the time when the cottage plan for institutions of
this type was unknown. It is still used for the congregate depart
ment, housing about 200 boys, and is divided into two sections. Each
division has its own schoolroom, playroom, dormitory, and dining
room. One division serves the older and more hardened boys, while
the other contains somewhat younger boys who have not yet proved
themselves fit to be placed in one of the cottages. The yards for ex
ercise, connected with this building, are paved and inclosed with
high corrugated iron fences.
Each of the fiye cottages cares for about 50 boys and contains a
dormitory, dining room, schoolroom, playroom, and workroom, and
is under the supervision of a man and his wife. With each cottage
there is a playground without fences. Keen rivalry exists among
these cottages, the athletic teams of which usually take the name o f
some well-known college or university.
In the congregate department the boys give 6 hours to work and
spend 3 hours in the schoolroom daily. In the cottages 5^ hours
at work and 3^ hours at school are required. For meals, recreation,
etc., about 5£ hours are allowed. The schools are graded and the
boys receive training in grammar-school work. Most of the boys do
some ordinary shop work, from which a return is derived for the
school, and, in addition, instruction is given in manual training and
woodworking, blacksmithing, printing, tailoring, shoe repairing,
cooking, baking, and laundry work. During the summer some of
the boys work on the farm or about the grounds. About 40 o f the
boys receive instruction upon some musical instrument and the school
has a band o f which the boys are very proud.
Religious services are held in the chapel every Sunday. There are
a Protestant and a Roman Catholic chaplain.

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C O N N E C T IC U T .

The merit system is in use in the school, and a boy may earn his
parole in 11 months after entering the school if his conduct is uni
formly satisfactory. The average term o f detention is a little more
than two years. When the time comes for a boy to leave the school
he is usually returned to his parents or relatives or placed in a se
lected home. I f a boy proves to be unruly and intractable it is pos
sible to transfer him to the Connecticut State Reformatory.
The school is under the management of 12 trustees appointed by
the senate, 1 from each county in the State and 4 from the vicinity
of the institution.
During the year ended September 30, 1916, the average number in
the institution was 429.
Number
Number
Number
Escaped

of boys in tbe school Oct. 1, 1915_______________________ 431
of boys committed during tbe year_____________________ 233
of boys returned on old commitments___________________ 29
boys returned-----------------------------------------------------1----------- 3

T o ta l______________________ _________________________________ 696

The number released was 256. The number remaining in the
school September 30, 1916, was 440. The age of the boys committed
during the year was as follow s:
Years.

Number.

10.

17
26
32

11.
12 .

Years.

Number.

13
_____
_
,.
_
14
_ ________ ._________
15 _ _ ___
___ ________
Total

1_.___

46
60
41
233

Since the passage o f the act of 1901 very few boys under 10 years
o f a g e have been committed to the school. The offenses for which
the boys were committed during the year ended September 30, 1916,
were as follows:
Incorrigibility______________
Theft ________ ________ ____ —
B u rg la ry _____ :______________
Breaking and entering,------ .
Truancy— .--------------------------Injury to property-------------D estitution_________________
False pretenses_____ ._______

94
80
15
11
9
5
5
5

Breach of peace______ _______
T resp a ss_____ '______________
Assault---- -------------Indecent assau lt___________
Vagrancy____________________

3
2
2
1
1

Total___________________ 233

Although 155 of these boys were born in Connecticut, and 30 were
born in other States in this country, only 50 were of native parentage.
During the year 256 boys severed their connection with the insti
tution. The causes were as follows :
Discharged by the trustees-------- — ------------------------- .------------------- 26
Returned to relatives----------------------------------- --------- .----------------------- 176
Placed at various occupations.------ -------------------------------------- -------- 14
Appeal taken----------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------— 21
Returned to district court, Waterbury___________ — —--------------1

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Transferred to Connecticut Reformatory-----------------------------------Enlisted in United States Navy_,__— ------------------------------------------Escaped_____ ________________________^
— .----------------------------D ie d _____________________ _____________________ _____________________

6
1
9
2

T o ta l__________ :_____________________________ _______________ 256

The school has' a State agent whose business it is to find homes for
the boys placed on parole and to visit them at least twice during the
year. The attempt is made to place boys in the country, where they
will be less liable to temptation. This agent has over 250 boys upon
his list. During the year ended September 30, 1916, he investigated
212 homes and made 539 visits to boys. Although the agent is a com
petent and conscientious investigator and visitor, it would seem that
the task of finding homes for the 196 boys who were added to his list
during the year and of visiting the 272 boys who were already on
his list was too much for one man.
The total expense of maintaining the school during the year ended
September 30, 1916, was $90,133.92. Toward meeting this expense
the superintendent of the school presents to the comptroller monthly
a bill at the rate of $3.50 a week for the support o f each boy com
mitted to the school. The school received from the State treasurer
during this fiscal year $78,341. This apparent deficit was made up
in part from an unexpended balance at the beginning of the fiscal
year, in part from the earnings of the shops, and in part from the
sale of farm products.
The chief objection which can be urged against this school is its
location. It is somewhat less than a 10-minute walk from the school
to the center of Meriden, a city with a population o f 32,066 in 1910.
In line with modern practice a school of this nature should be located
upon a farm o f several hundred acres in a rural district. Further
more, the main congregate building was erected a long time ago and
it might well be superseded by cottages. The officers o f the school
have argued that it would be more difficult to secure competent assist
ants and employees if the school were located in the country, but
the many advantages to be gained from its location in the open
country would seem to outweigh this possible inconvenience.
Charges have been brought from time to time that punishments
have sometimes been unduly severe, but that is not the case under the
present management. The school work in the institution is no doubt
rendered extremely difficult by the presence o f boys who are mentally
subnormal, but this handicap must be endured for a while, since
there is no other State institution with adequate facilities to which
boys of this type can be sent.
An additional visitor would enable the follow-up work to be done
more thoroughly for those boys who are on parole; the State could be
districted, and more frequent visits could be made; and more time

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could be given to finding proper homes for those to be placed on
parole.
T H E CO N N E C TIC U T IN D U S T R IA L SCHOOL F O R G IR L S .

The Connecticut Industrial School for Girls is not a State institu
tion but a private corporation established in 1868 and formally
opened on June 30, 1870. It is under the control o f 12 directors,
together with the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of
State as State directors ex officio. It receives girls between the ages
o f 8 and 16 who are stubborn and unruly; are leading idle, vagrant,
or vicious lives; or are in manifest danger o f falling into habits of
vice and immorality. Any girl between these years who has commit
ted any offense punishable by fine or imprisonment or both, other
than imprisonment for life, may be committed to this institution.
The form o f commitment is by a civil process. Parents, guardians,
selectmen, grand jurors, or any proper officers o f the town where the
girl is found may present a written complaint to a judge of probate
or to the criminal or police court o f any city or borough sitting in
chambers, or to any justice o f the peace o f the town where the girl
is found, who must thereupon determine the case. Any girl legally
committed to the institution comes under the guardianship or control
o f the institution until she is 21, unless sooner discharged according
to law.
The school is admirably located on a tract of about 175 acres of
land, on high ground, about 2 miles west of Middletown. The build
ings include eight cottages, a chapel and school building, an assembly
hall, gymnasium, recreation house, superintendent’s house, dress
making shop, farmhouse, and farm buildings. The cottages were
planned to accommodate 280 girls and are not at present filled to
capacity. They provide proper facilities for classification o f the
girls. Two o f the cottages are reserved for the more hardened and
unruly girls, who attend school in their own building and are kept
separate from the others.
Instruction is given under special teachers in laundry work, cook
ing, and dressmaking. Practical training in housework and sewing
is given in the different cottages, and some of the girls are employed
part o f the time in the care of poultry and in doing farm work. Four
hours daily are given to training in the various departments, four
hours to regular school work, and the remainder o f the day to meals,
reading, and recreation. A dental outfit has been recently installed
and a dentist from Hartford visits the school regularly.
On October 1, 1915, there were 274 girls in the school. During the
year 541 were received and 75 severed their connection with the
1 This figure includes 10 girls who had been previously dismissed but were returned
during the year.

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C O N N E C T IC U T .

school, leaving 253 in the school on October 1, 1916. Since this is
somewhat below the capacity of the school, the opportunities for
proper supervision have been increased.
The ages o f the 44 girls committed during the year ended Sep
tember 30, 1916, were as follows:
'

Age.

Number.

8_______ ______________

10 _________________ ,
11_______________________ 1

2
1

12____________ __________
13 ______________

5
8

JLi UILIUCI •

14 ____________________ _________
15 _____________________________

13
15

Total___________ ;________

Thirty-four of these girls were o f native birth and 22 were,of na
tive birth and parentage.
Before being returned to the parents or placed in some other home,
the girls, by good behavior in the school, are obliged to earn their
conditional release by the merit system. It is possible for a girl to
leave the school within 10 months after being admitted, but through
occasional lapses in conduct this period is usually considerably in
creased. The causes for which the girls severed their connection with
the school during the year ended September 30,1916, were as follows:
Expiration of minority—
Placed out in families___
Placed out with relatives.
Ordered to new trial_____
Death_______________ __ ____
Placed in hospital-______
Remaining as assistant— .

1
13
49
3
4
4

Total__________________ ______ _________________ ___ 75

The total expense of maintaining the institution during the year
ended September 30, 1916, was $58,814.45. O f this amount $57,608.39 was reimbursed by the State for the support o f the girls at the
rate of $4 a week. The visiting agent o f the school had on her list
on September 30, 1916, 82 girls in outside homes not yet 21 years o f
age. A ll the girls on this list are visited at least twice yearly.
In his message to the legislature in 1917, the governor recom
mended the appointment of a commission to study the advisability
of the purchase by the State of the Connecticut Industrial School
for Girls and also the advisability of establishing a reformatory for
women in connection with or near the school. A bill to this effect was
introduced in the legislature, but failed of passage. There is a grow
ing feeling in Connecticut against State aid to private institutions,
and many feel that the State should own and control this school to
which girls are being committed as wards of the State.

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T H E C O N N E CTIC U T R E F O R M A T O R Y .

A t the session of the General Assembly of Connecticut in 1903 a
commission was appointed to inquire into the advisability of the
establishment of a State reformatory for men. This commission
reported to the general assembly at the session of 1905, recommending
the establishment of a reformatory, and included in their recom
mendation a proposed reformatory law. The legislature in the ses
sion of 1909 passed an act establishing the Connecticut Reformatory.
(Ch. 162, General Statutes.)
The act provided for a board of five directors appointed by the
governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, to hold office for
four years. The sum of $400,000 was appropriated for the purchase
of a site for the reformatory and for the erection and furnishing of
the necessary buildings.
The reformatory receives male offenders between the ages of 16
and 25. For those who have been found guilty of an offense for which
the maximum punishment would be one year’s imprisonment in jail
the term o f detention in the reformatory may not exceed three years.
The court makes no further specification as to length of term in
these cases; this is decided by the prisoner’s conduct after he enters
the reformatory. Youths between the ages o f 16 and 21 years ,
who have for the first time committed an offense penalized by im- j
prisonment in the State prison for a shorter period than life are .
committed to the reformatory. Those from 21 to 25 convicted for
the first time of an offense of this type may be sent to the reformatory
if the court deems them amenable to reformatory methods. The
judge shall not fit the term to these offenders unless it exceeds five .
years.
At the request of the trustees of the school, inmates of the Con
necticut School for Boys between the ages of 14 and 21 years may be
transferred to the reformatory if the directors of the reformatory are
willing to receive them. Offenders of this class may be detained at
the reformatory for the same period for which they could have been
held at the school for boys.
When a person is sentenced to the reformatory for an offense for
which a fine is provided by law as a supplementary penalty, the trial
court may not impose this supplementary penalty.
Any inmate of the reformatory who has been in confinement
within the institution for a period of less than one year may be
allowed to go at large on parole. I f any inmate on parole is, in the
opinion o f the board, likely to continue to lead an orderly life, said
inmate may be discharged from the reformatory. Any inmate who
persistently evades the regulations of the officers of the institution

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and who appears to the directors to be incorrigible may be trans
ferred to the jail of the county from which he was sentenced, or to
the State prison, there to remain for such time as the directors o f the
reformatory shall direct, not exceeding in all the term for which
such person might otherwise have been detained at the reformatory.
Any inmate o f the institution who becomes insane may be de
livered to the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, there to be safely
kept until the expiration of the term for which he was committed to
ih e reformatory, or until he shall have recovered from his insanity.
The general assembly o f 1911 made a further appropriation of
$164,500 to build an administration building, a chapel, library, and
print shop, and to put in 200 additional cells. On June 24, 1913,
the reformatory was formally opened for the reception o f inmates.
It is located on about 450 acres of land in Cheshire and the average
number in the institution is about 250. During the past two years
a number of the boys Have been employed in building new roads in
different parts of the State. This form o f labor has been discon
tinued, and during the coming year the teaching o f trades and farm
labor will be the principal employments. In 1917 the general as
sembly appropriated $69,000 for the trade-school work for the period
o f two years.
The superintendent states that this trade school will aim to give
instruction in those trades which are common in the State in order
that an inmate, when he ends his term, may be enabled to find em
ployment. Articles made in the trade school are to be put on sale.
This will help to pay the expenses of the school and will also add to
the interest in the work. During the summer, work in. the trade
schools will be superseded by outdoor work on the farm.
The statistics of. the population o f the institution for 1916 are as
follow s:
Total number on hand Sept. 30, 1915___ _____________ 210
Received during the year__ __________________________ 171
; Escaped inmate returned (previous year)___________ _
1
------ 383
Released on writ_____ _________________________ 1___ __ 5
Discharged________ J
_______________________
6
Paroled___ ____
115
5
Transferred to Middletown______________ ___________ _
Transferred toConnecticut State Prison________________
4
Escaped and not returned____________________________ 11
— - 146
Parole violators returned____________________ _________

236
8

Total Sept. 30, 1916_________________ ____________ __ 244
63654*—18—— 5

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The number of inmates committed at specific ages was as follows :
Y ears.

Number.

Y ears.

16_
17_

__ 27
___ 38
___ 39
___ 35
___ 32
___ 19

22 __.__________________ _
23 ______________________

24
15

25_______________________

IS
IS20_

21-

Num ber.

Total________________244

The need for teaching trades to the inmates is evident from the
fact that nearly one-half o f those admitted to the institution during
the year ended September 30, 1916, were laborers.
The moral instruction is in charge o f a Protestant and a Roman
Catholic chaplain. A physician is in attendance at the institution,
and during the past year a dentist has been engaged. In 1916 the di
rectors o f the institution engaged a worker to take charge o f the
social service départaient, the only one employed in any penal insti
tution in the State. In her report for the year ended September 30,
1916, is a good account of what this department hopes to accomplish.
The duties o f the social worker consist o f the gathering from out
side sources o f such information as the officers o f the institution deem
advisable, and likely to enable them to deal intelligently with and
plan wisely for their inmates. In addition to the recording of the
detailed account of this information, a brief summary o f it is also
given to the parole board when an inmate appears before that body.
This information includes facts regarding the home life, family his
tory, heredity, medical history, mentality, education, and occupa
tional history; and also facts gathered from the records o f institu
tions, charitable societies, and courts; in fact, anything that has a
bearing upon the education and reformation o f the men.
From time to time opportunities arise to perform friendly offices
for these families, and sometimes the attention o f local agencies is
called to them, and conditions bettered. In addition to the above,
visits are made in homes when special circumstances arise that make
it necessary.
When this institution was established it was hoped that success
would attend the effort for the reformation of boys and young men
who had just entered upon a criminal career, and those who are best
acquainted with the activities and plans o f the directors and super
intendents feel that these hopes are being realized.
T H E C O N N E C T IC U T S T A T E F A R M F O R W O M E N .

For some time the feeling has been growing in the State that there
should be some reformatory institution for womemand girls besides
the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls. A fter girls had reached
the age o f 16 years there was no public institution o f a reformatory

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CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

nature to which they might be sent. The county jails and the State
prison were the only penal institutions for this older group. There
were two private institutions, the Florence Crittenden Home at AU
lingtown, and the House o f the Good Shepherd at Hartford, to
which girls between 16 and 21 could be committed by the courts.
Several bills establishing a reformatory for women have been in
troduced in the legislature from time to time but have failed of
passage.
In 1913 there was passed an act raising a commission to inquire
into the advisability o f establishing a reformatory for women. A c
cordingly the governor, in August, 1913, appointed a commission
which brought in a report to the legislature in 1915. A fter stating
the reasons why they recommended the establishment of a reforma
tory for women, they offered “ An act establishing a Women’s Re
formatory Commission and making an appropriation therefor.”
This act provided for the establishment o f an institution to be
known as the Connecticut Reformatory for Women. The governor
was authorized to appoint a commission that should select and rec
ommend a site for the institution, secure plans for the buildings, and
obtain bids from competent builders for the construction o f these
buildings. The commission was to study institutions o f a similar
character in other States and make recommendations regarding the
direction, maintenance, and supervision of the institution. The sum
of $20,000 was to be appropriated to carry out these plans.
After receiving a favorable report from the committee on humane
institutions, the act was unfavorably reported by the committee on
appropriations and failed to become a law. In 1916 the Connecticut
Prison Association appointed a committee on delinquent women.
This committee was asked to make a careful study of the conditions
in Connecticut and also o f the laws establishing women’s reforma
tories in other States in this country. The committee was subdivided
into a number of smaller committees and not only conducted a very
thorôugh investigation, but arranged for scores o f meetings upon
this subject in different parts of the State. There was hardly a sin
gle town in Connecticut in which an address was not given upon the
need for a woman’s reformatory.
The activities of the committee resulted in the introduction in the
legislature of a bill establishing a State farm for women. With
slight alteration this bill was reported favorably by the committee on
humane institutions and by the appropriations committee and in
May, 1917, became a law.
According to this bill, the Connecticut State Farm for Women
shall be under the management of seven directors, three o f whom
shall be women. The directors shall have no compensation for their
services, but shall be paid their necessary expenses.

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The directors were authorized to purchase not less than 200 acres
o f land for the site of the buildings and to provide for the erection
of these buildings on the cottage plan. The sum of $50,000 was
appropriated for this purpose.
The directors shall form a board o f parole and discharge; cause
to be kept proper records, including those o f inmates; fix the salaries
o f the officers o f the institution; hold meetings at least quarterly;
and audit the accounts of the superintendent quarterly. The super
intendent, who shall be a woman, is to be appointed by the board
of directors. There shall be a deputy superintendent and, as soon as
the size o f the institution demands it, a resident woman physician and
a clerk.
The institution shall receive women over 16 years old who are
convicted o f felonies or who have committed misdemeanors, or un
married girls between the ages o f 16 and 21 who are in manifest
danger o f falling into habits o f vice or who are leading vicious lives.
Immediately upon commitment, a careful physical and mental ex
amination, by a competent physician, shall be made o f each person
committed. The duration o f commitment, including the time spent
on parole, shall not exceed three years, except where the offender has
committed a crime for which the law specifies a longer sentence, in
which case the term of detention shall not exceed the maximum term
specified by law for such crime.
The board o f directors shall act as a board o f parole. An inmate
may be allowed to go on parole if she is in good physical condition,
has ability to earn an honest living, has a satisfactory institutional
record based on the merit system, and a proper home to which she
may go, or i f a suitable place o f employment has been secured for
her by the board o f parole. Whenever any paroled inmate violates
her parole she shall be returned to the institution, where she may be
required to serve the unexpired term of her maximum sentence, in
cluding the time she was out on parole.
Any paroled inmate who has maintained a satisfactory record and
who the board o f directors believes will continue to lead an orderly
life may be discharged before the completion o f her maximum term
by the unanimous vote o f all the members present at a meeting of
the board o f directors.
The board o f directors may transfer to the State prison or to county
jail any inmate whose presence in the institution seems seriously
detrimental to its well-being. Sick inmates may be transferred to a
hospital.
Upon the written certificate o f two competent physicians not con
nected with the institution, an insane inmate may be removed to the
Connecticut Hospital for the Insane.

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C O N N E C T IC U T .

Children under 1 year o f age may be committed with their mothers,
but on arriving at the age o f 2 years they shall be removed to an
asylum for children. Children born in the institution may be kept
there until 2 years of age.
The board o f directors shall make provision for a system o f gen
eral and vocational instruction, including useful trades and domestic
science, and facilities for proper recreation.
A careful study of this law will convince one that this is an admir
able piece o f legislation. Although the first appropriation is small,
the ultimate effect may well be to remove most, if not all, of the
women from the county jails and from the State prison. This piece
of legislation has made quite complete Connecticut’s institutions for
the care of juvenile delinquents.

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CHAPTER V. A DETAILED STUDY OF JUVENILE DELIN
QUENCY IN CERTAIN CITIES AND TOWNS.
A somewhat detailed study o f the children under 16 years of age
brought before the courts during the calendar year 1915 was made
in some o f the cities and towns of Connecticut. New Haven was
selected for the most detailed study because it is the largest city in
the State and because more boys and girls were arrested there than
in any other city in Connecticut. In the case of New Haven this
study covers the years 1914 and 1915. New Britain was also selected
because it is a typical manufacturing city, and of all the cities in the
State has the smallest proportion of the population of native par
entage. Ten small towns, some industrial and some purely agricul
tural, were also visited and studied.
NEW HAVEN.

The population o f New Haven in 1910 was 133,605. It is to a
considerable extent a manufacturing center, with a large foreign
population consisting principally of Italians, Russians, and Irish,
During the years 1914 and 1915, 692 children were before the
city court, 672 boys and 20 girls/ The number in 1914 was 320, 312
boys and 8 girls; in 1915, ,372, 360 boys and 12 girls. In obtaining
these figures the card catalogue in the police headquarters was fo l
lowed through these two years and the complete criminal record
of every boy and girl was copied. No attention was paid to the
purely identification portion of the record such as weight, height,
color o f hair, eyes, etc., but the following data were secured: The
name o f the boy or girl, the number o f the card, the address, sex,
age, occupation, nationality, the various offenses committed by the
boy or girl since the first appearance before the court, together with
the disposition o f each case after trial.
The more complete records of those put in care of probation
officers were also consulted, as well as the records o f the Organized
Charities Association, in order to obtain additional information con
cerning those families which had come to the notice of this organi
zation. In many cases a still more complete history was gained by
consulting social workers who had been acquainted with the family
life. In this way much information concerning the home surroundings o f the children was collected.
Sex and age.—No child under 6 years o f age was tried before the
city court o f New Haven during the year 1914-15. From this age to
71

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,
j

&
‘

CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

14 there is an increase in the number o f children brought before the
court at each year o f age, with the exception of the years 10 and 11,
where the numbers were practically equal. From 14 to 15 there was
a slight decrease. A little more than one-half the juvenile delin
quents were 13, 14, and 15 years o f age.
Children brought before the city court of New H aven, 1914-15, distributed by
sex and age.
Age.

Total.

Total............................................................................ ........................
8 years....................... ..................................................................................

7 years...............................................................................

8 years........ .................................................................................................
9 years...............................................................; .......................................
10 years.....................................................................
11 years...... ............................................................
12 years..............................................................
13 years...........................................................................................
14 years............................................................................
15 years...............................................................

Age unknown...............................................................................................

Girls.

Boys.

692

672

7
22
45
72
71
101
109
129
119
13

7
22
44
72

101
107
118
114
13

i
2
11
5

Although during the past few years the number o f juvenile delin
quents brought before the city court in New Haven has increased
considerably, the tendency has been to adopt other methods than
court procedure with a child 8 or 9 years of age and younger. A
subpoena is frequently issued in such a case ordering a child to appear
with his parents at the office o f the city attorney. No formal charge
is lodged against the child, but a Connecticut school complaint is
made out, in which the offense is never specified, although the com
plaint is sometimes entered on the court records. The parents and
child are warned, and in some cases the child is placed under volun
tary probation. Many children are thus corrected, yet their offenses
never appear upon the criminal records.
Nativity and parentage.— Since this study deals with juvenile
delinquents, and since by the legislation o f the State up to 1917 this
class was confined to those under 16 years o f age, the most typical
census division for purposes o f comparison seems to be those 10 to 14
years of age, inclusive. In 1910 this group was distributed as
follow s:
Population o f New Haven, 1 9 10 ,10 to 14 years of age, distributed according to
color, nativity, and parentage.

Number. Per cent.
Native white:
Native parentage..................................................................................................................
Foreign or mixed parentage....................................................................................... .
Foreign-born white.....................................................................................................................

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3,577
6,498
1,491
236

30.3
55.0
12.6
3.0

CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

Children 7 to 16 years o f age brought before the city court o f New Haven,
1914—15, distributed by color, nativity, and parentage.

Number. Per cent.
Total.....................................................................................
Native white:
Native parents.. ..............................................
Foreign parents................................................. ..
Foreign-bom whites.................................

157
377
llg
40

22.7
54.5
17.1
5 8

O f these children, 652 were white and 40 were colored. Nearly 55
per cent of the children were native whites o f foreign parentage.
About 17 per cent were foreign-born whites, while slightly more than
one-fifth were o f native white stock.
The proportion o f juvenile delinquents of native stock to the total
number o f juvenile delinquents, 22.7 per cent, is considerably smaller
than the proportion of native stock among the total number o f chil
dren 10 to 14 years o f age, 30.3 per cent. Fifty-four and five-tenths
per cent of the juvenile delinquents were native whites of foreign
parents, while 55 per cent o f children 10 to 14 years of age were na
tive whites o f foreign or mixed parentage. "While the foreign-born
white children constituted but 12.6 per cent o f those from l6 to 14
years o f age, they furnished 17 per cent o f the juvenile delinquents.
The worst showing was among the colored; with only 2,per cent of
the children 10 to 14 years o f age, they furnished 5.8 per cent o f the
juvenile delinquents.
Number and per cent distribution o f native white children o f foreign parentage
appearing before the city court of New Haven, 1914-15, according to the
nativity of the parents.

Number. Percent.
Total............................................................................................................

Russian.................................................................................................................
German.................... ..........................................................................................
Scandinavian...............................................................................................
Scotch..................................................................................
Portuguese.........................................................................................
Brazilian.........................................................................................

377

100.0

180
109
48
26
10
1
1
1
1

47.7
28.9
12.7
6.9
2.6
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3

Nearly one-half these juvenile delinquents were o f Italian parent
age, although according to the 1910 Census only 15.7 per cent of the
total number o f the native born o f foreign parentage were o f this
nationality. Irish formed over one-fourth o f the youthful offenders,
and they constituted over one-third (34.6 per cent) o f the total native

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I
:
;
\
>
1
1
;

C H IL D R E N BEFORE T H E COURTS I N

C O N N E C T IC U T .

population o f foreign parentage. Russians are third on the table of
juvenile delinquency, and the 1910 Census shows 10.4 per cent of
this nationality o f native birth. Germans constituted 13.2 per cent
o f the native population of foreign parentage and furnished 6.9 per
cent o f the young delinquents.
Number and per cent distribution of children of foreign birth brought before
the city court of New Haven, 191 £—15, by nationality.

Number. Per cent.
118

100.0

63
21
11
8
7
2
2
1
1
2

53.5
17.8
9.3
6.8
5.9
1.7
1.7
.8
.8
1.7

Italians predominated (30.8 per cent) in the foreign-bom popu
lation in 1910 and they furnished over one-half of the foreign-born
juvenile delinquents. Although the Irish came second in numbers
(21 per cent) in the foreign-born population, they do not appear at
all on the juvenile delinquent table. Russians formed 18.7 per cent
o f the foreign born in New Haven and they contributed 17.8 per cent
of all the children brought before the court.
Occupation.—Over 80 per cent o f the children were attending
school at the time their offenses were committed. The 16 children,
aged 8 to 13, inclusive, whose occupation was recorded as unknown
were probably in school, but the police record bears no definite state
ment as to their occupation at the time o f arrest. A ll the employed
children to come before the court were at least 14 years o f a g e children are not allowed to work in factories in Connecticut under
this age, and not under the age of 16 years unless they have com
pleted the fifth grade in school. When we consider the group of
delinquent children 15 years of age we find 55 in school and 58 en
gaged in some line o f gainful activity.
Only 13 messengers and newsboys were brought before the court,
though these occupations are supposed to be peculiarly conducive to
the acquirement o f vicious habits. That so small a group o f these
boys were arrested is possibly due to the fact that they do not com
mit the type o f misdemeanors that come to the attention o f the
police.

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CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

Occupations of children brought before the city court o f New Haven, 1914-15,
distributed by sex, and age at last appearance in court.

Employed
m
factories.

Messengers
and
newsboys.

A t school.

Total.
Age at last appear
ance in conn.

Employed
in offices
and stores.

Miscella
neous and
unknown
occupations.

Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. Boys. Giçls. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls.
Total..................

672

4
7
22
44
72
70
101
107
118
114
13

4
7
21
42
71
68
96
103
85
52
5

1
1
2
11
5

654

1
2
1
2
5
4
11
15
8

1
1
1
6
3

14
35

5
8

2
1

3
4

1
3
1

•

Offenses.—The following table o f offenses seems to indicate that
children are brought into court more for disturbing the peace o f other
persons than for the indulgence in habits hurtful only to themselves:
Offenses o f children brought before the city court of New Haven, 1914-15, dis
tributed by age.

Years of age.
Offense.

Total.
7

692

101

109

129

119

191
127
91
91
46

9
15
9
7
3

20
17
9
6
10

22
11
8
16
3

46
20
12
10
7

30
19
11
15
10

32
26
14
15
5

17
14
24
19
3

7
5
3
2
2

1
1

1
2

4
2

3
3

6
6

4
6

1
4

2
2
3

7
4
1

5
4
11

1
1
2
1

3
3
3
2
1
1

2
3
3
1
3

C o n n e c tic u t school

Miscellaneous and un28
24
Industrial school comViolating d tv ordinance
Injury to private propPlaying ball in street...

Age un
known.

16
15
15
13
9
8
7
6
5

1
1
1

2
4
i
1

1
1
9

Nearly 30 per cent o f the boys were brought in under Connecticut
school complaint. Six o f the eleven who were 6 and 7 years o f age
had this general charge made against them. As the age increases
the offenses become somewhat more serious, yet one of the 6-year-old
boys was charged with burglary. A t one time a boy was confined
over night to appear before court on the following morning on the

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charge o f burglary. When morning came it was found that the
prisoner was unable to dress himself and had to be assisted to button
his clothing before appearing in court. O f the 20 girls, 16 were
brought in under industrial school complaint.
Neither a Connecticut school nor an industrial school complaint
implies necessarily that a child has criminal tendencies, but rather
that the home surroundings are such that the child is not likely to
be given proper supervision or a fair chance in the world. Often
signs o f waywardness have appeared and the parents do not seem
to be fit persons to correct these tendencies.
Repeaters.— Not only was the number of children brought before
the city court during the years 1914-15 obtained, but also the total
number o f charges recorded against these offenders upon the-records
of the court. In the following table, therefore, the entire criminal
career of these youthful offenders has been followed in so far as this
is apparent upon the records o f the city court.
Number and per cent distribution o f children brought before the city court of New
Haven, 1914-15, who had been charged unth specified number of offenses.

Number of offenses.

Percent
Number
age
of
distribu
children.
tion.
692

100.0

397
135
43
46
29
21
8
6

57.4
19.5
6.9
6.6
4.2
3.0
1.2
0.9

0.3

Over half (57.4 per cent) the 692 children had appeared before
the court but once; 19.5 per cent had been arrested twice; 160, or 23.1
per cent, had been arrested three times or more; and 66, or nearly 10
per cent, of these offenders had been brought before the court five
times or more. In most cases the first offenders were dismissed or
placed in care o f the probation officers. It was very rare to find a
child committed to the Connecticut School for Boys or the Connecti
cut Industrial School for Girls for the first offense. This punishment
was more often reserved for those who had-been found guilty on four
or more different occasions. Those found guilty of six or more
offenses were, with two exceptions, bound over to the superior court
or judicially committed.
A somewhat detailed study of a few o f these youthful repeaters
may prove o f interest. In each case the record is given from the
date o f .the first offense to the date o f investigation.

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Case No. 1.—A boy was arrested for the first time at the age o f 10.
His court record is as follow s:

Sept.
July
Aug.
Aug.
Dec.
Dec.
Jan.
Nov.

18,1912
14,1913
5,1913
18,1913
11,1913
31,1913
17,1914
18,1915

Disposition of case.

Offense.

Date of arrest.

Nolle.

C. P. 0 .
Pined $2; no costs; C. P. O.
Continued; judgment suspended.
Trespass on railroad property........................ -C . P. O.
Continued; nisi.
C. P. O .; judgment suspended.
Committed to Connecticut School for Boys.

Both the father and mother of this boy are living. The father has
always been able to support the family and the mother has cared for
the home. There are five children in the family. An older brother
with a criminal record was, after repeated offenses, also committed
to the Connecticut School for Boys.
Case No. #.—A boy was arrested for the first time at the age o f
9. His police court record is as follow s:
Date of arrest.
Jan.
Apr.
Apr.
Oct.
Mar.

29,1913
10,1914
17,1914
15,1914
li'l9 1 6

Offense.

Theft....................................................................

Disposition of case.
Nolle.
Do.
Nolle; C. P. O.
Do.
$2; no costs; C. P. 0 .

The father o f this boy died in 1907 and three months later the
mother married a second time. The family had received assistance
from the department o f public charities in the city and from several
charitable organizations. Three of the five children in the family
have been inmates o f an orphan asylum.
Caxe No. 8.—A boy was arrested for the first time at the age of 10.
His court record is as follows:
Date of arrest.
Feb.
May
July
May
Feb.
Mar.

10,1918
31,1914
25,1914
10,1915
25,1917
6,1917

Offense.

Disposition of case.
Nolle.
Nolle; C. P . 0 .
Nolle.
C. P. O.
C. P. 0 .; nisi.
In court.

Both parents are living. The father had been an intermittent
worker and had a court record. The mother had worked outside the
home for over 10 years. The home was dirty and unattractive. The .
mother had been cruel to her children, two boys and two girls. One
o f the children, a little girl of 5 years, was found to be syphilitic,
and both boys were feeble-minded. The boy whose criminal rec-

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ord is here given was examined over two years ago and pronounced
feeble-minded, but was given his liberty. Since then he has been
convicted o f burglary on three occasions and was twice put in care
o f the probation officer. When tried for the third offense he was ex
amined again and, although 14 years of age, was found to have the
mental development o f a child of 7. It is hopeless, evidently, to ex
pect improvement by continuing this boy in care of a probation o f
ficer. An inheritance of disease and low mentality is common to the
children in this family.
Case No. J*.—A boy was first convicted at the age of 9. His police
court record is as follows:
Offense.

Date of arrest.
Oct.
Apr.
May
June
June
Aug.

30,1914
7,1915
18,1916
8,1916
20,1916
22,1916

Disposition of case.

Trespass on railroad property........................ Nolle.
Breach of peace............................... ................. C. P. 0 .
Do.
Theft ..................................................................
Do.
Burglary...................... ...................................... Nolle.
Committed
to Connecticut School for Boys.
T h eft...................................................................

The father was a hard drinker with a criminal record. The mother
was obliged to work outside the home. The father died about five
years before the child’s first arrest and the mother married again.
The mother was a slack housekeeper, and the department o f public
charities and the Organized Charities Association have given assist
ance from time to time. The mother had three children by her first
husband and one by her second husband. After being put on pro*
bation three times the boy was finally committed to the Connecticut
School for Boys.
Case No. 5.—A boy was first convicted at the age o f 6. His court
r e c o r d is a s f o l l o w s :

Offense.

Date of arrest.
May 11,1907
July 14,1907
May 7,1909
May 23,1910
July 4,1915
July 6,1915
July 9,1915

Theft. ...................... ........................................

Disposition of ease.
Committed to Connecticut School for Boys.
Nolle.
Do.
Committed.
Nolle.
Do.
Bound over to the superior court.

The family consisted o f a father, mother, and four children, the
oldest o f whom has never been in this country. A daughter and two
soils lived at home. The father had served a term in State prison and
was a hard drinker. The mother had been obliged to work outside
the home and the family had been the recipient o f public and private
charity for years. Both the sons have been before the court. The
boy in this record was twice released from the Connecticut school, but
returned to his bad practices, until finally he was bound over to the
superior court on a charge o f burglary.

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Case No. 6.—A boy was first arrested at the age o f 7 years.
police court record is as follow s:
Date of
arrest.
May 13,1907
Sept. 16,1907
Oct. 16,1912
Apr, 2,1913
June 23,1915

Offense. -

79
His

Disposition of case.

Burglary.......................................................
Theft of bicvcle..........................................

Nolle.
Committed to Connecticut School for Boys;
later released.
Theft......................*....................................
Nolle.
Injury t6 personal property............................
Do.
Theft and idleness; 'Connecticut school Committed to Connecticut School for Boys.
complaint.

The family consisted of father, mother, and five children. The
home conditions have never been good and none of the children are
very bright. One of them is at present in the Connecticut School for
Imbeciles, and this boy is subnormal mentally. It is doubtful
whether he will ever be self-supporting.
Disposition of cases.
Disposition of children brought before the city court o f New Haven, 1914-15,
distributed by sex.
Total.

Boys.

Girls.

Total...............................

692

672

Care probation officer.............
Nolled....................................
Committed...............................
Fined.........................................
Discharged...............................
Judgment suspended.............
Bound over to superior court
Unknown.................................

426
69
90
42
19
22
8
16

417
64
86
42
18
22
7
16

9
5
4
1
1

The cases against 110 o f the children were nolled—that is, the
child was discharged or execution o f the judgment was suspended.
This disposition was most frequent «where the boy or girl was before
the court for the first or second offense. About two-thirds o f the
children brought into court, or 426 out of a total o f 692, were placed
under the care o f a probation officer. Fines were imposed for 42 of
the offenses; generally the costs were omitted. Since the fines were
usually paid by the parents o f the children, this penalty was evi
dently imposed by the judges with the intent o f impressing upon the
parents their responsibility for the actions o f the children. Ninety
children were committed to the Connecticut School for Boys and the
Connecticut Industrial School for Girls.
Only two children were committed to either o f these schools with
out having been previously placed on probation and given another
trial. This makes it apparent that, judging from the police records
in New Haven, a commitment is a last resort and an effort is made to
give the child every chance to reform. This seems to be successful
about four times out o f five.

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Family conditions.— Since it is often stated that abnormal family
and parental conditions are to a great extent responsible for juvenile
delinquency, this phase of the problem was studied. In 82 per cent of
the families home conditions were normal—that is, the parents were
married and living together and the mother was not regularly employed outside the home.
In 8 per cent of the cases the father was not living. There is no
State aid for widows in Connecticut, and where the father had died
the mother was usually employed more or less regularly outside the
home. The younger children were usually left at a day nursery, and
the older‘ children played on the street until the mother returned
from work.
Where the mother was not living, as in 5 per cent o f the cases
under consideration, the father found it necessary to get along as
best he could. In some of these families a housekeeper was employed
who was not always a competent person to take care of the children.
In 2 per cent of the cases the father had deserted, and the mother
found it necessary to obtain employment in order to keep the family
together. Assistance was rendered some o f these families by chari
table organizations. Although the father was living, the mother
worked regularly outside the home in 2 per cent o f the cases. In a
little less than 1 per cent both parents were dead.
In 18 per cent o f the cases, therefore, we find abnormal home con
ditions. Even where both parents were living, and as far as num
bers were concerned conditions were normal, there were families in
which the father was a hard drinker and somewhere he had a crimi
nal record and had spent time in jail.
The Organized Charities Association o f New Haven was started
in 1878 and has preserved the records of practically all the cases it
has handled since its organization. These records were studied in
order to determine how large a proportion o f the families to which
the juvenile delinquents belonged had come to the notice o f this
organization. In 170, or almost exactly one-fourth of the cases,
family records were on file with the organized charities.
The causes o f distress when assistance was asked from this organization were as follows: In 40 families sickness was the primary
cause; in 22, death o f the father; and in 10, unemployment. In 72
cases, therefore, the cause does not necessarily imply misconduct.
On the other hand, drink was the primary cause in 84 cases, shift
lessness in 30, desertion by the father in 26, immorality in 6, and in
2 cases the father was in jail. In 98 cases, or 58 per cent, therefore,
the cause implies the misconduct o f at least one o f the parents.
Misconduct was apparent in 41 per cent of all the cases handled
by the organized charities during the same period. How much of
the delinquency o f these children is traceable to poverty can not be
determined, but it seems safe to say that a larger proportion o f the

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families* from which these children come appear upon the records of
the organized charities than is the case with the population at
large, and, further, that a larger proportion of the applicants for
relief in the families with delinquent children show apparent, miscon
duct than the total applicants for relief.
N E W B R IT A IN .

New Britain is a typical manufacturing city with a population
of 43,916 in 1910. A larger proportion of the population of this city
is of foreign birth or parentage than o f any other city in the same
class in Connecticut. It is impossible to obtain the statistics o f the
color, nativity, and parentage of the children from 10 to 14 years
of age, but in 1910 only 19.9 per cent of the total population were
native whites of native parentage, while 38.8 per cent were native
whites o f foreign or mixed parentage and 41 per cent were foreignborn whites.
A study was made of the juvenile delinquents brought before the
police court in New Britain during the calendar year 1915. During
this year 65 children— 64 boys and 1 girl—were before the court.
The following table shows the number of cases with the age of the
child at the time o f arrest:
Age.
Total

.........................................................................................................

Total.

Boys.

2
8
10
5
14
15
12
11

2
8
10
5
14
15
11
11

Girls.
1

The number of cases was too small to expect statistical regularity,
but the increase to the age of 13 is fairly regular. O f the 65 children,
2 were native born of native parentage, 50 native born of foreign
parentage, and 13 were of foreign birth.’ The parentage of the 50
native-born children of foreign parentage Was as follow s:1
Number. Per cent.
50

100

35
4
4
2
2
1
1
1

70
. 8
8
4
4
2
2
2

1Ce&sus classification is so different that a comparison with population distribution is almost impos
sible. No Polish or Lithuanian in census^
6 3 6 5 4 ° — 1 8--------6

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The foreign-born children were distributed as follows:
Number. Per cent.
13

100.0

3
3
3
1
1
1
1

23.1
23.1
23.1
7.7
7.7
7.7
7.7

The number o f children o f native stock to appear before the court
in New Britain was extremely small, while by far the largest propor
tion of children of native birth and o f foreign parentage came from
Polish families.
O f the juvenile delinquents in New Britain, 58 were attending pub
lic school and-7 were working full time when arrested. A ll those at
work were 14 or 15 years o f age.
Against these 65 children 77 charges were brought, as follow s:
Theft_____________ ------------- ---------------- ---------------------------- 49
Injury to private property------------------------------------------------8
Truancy------------------------------------------------------------------6
Setting traps----------------------1---------------------------------------------4
Incorrigibility------------------------3
Breach of peace---------------------------------------------------------------3
Burglary---------------------------------------------— -------------------------Danger of falling into' vice-------.-------------------------------------------

1
1

Total______ —___________ *--------------- ----------——------ 77

A very large proportion-of the arrests in this city were for theftr—
63.6 per cent o f the total number o f arrests, as compared with only
18.4 per cent of such cases in New Haven.
The 65 children brought before the court in New Britain in 1915
came from 55 families. During the year 1915 one delinquent was
arrested from each o f 47 of these families. Six o f the families con
tributed 2 delinquents apiece; three o f these families were Polish, one
Lithuanian, one Swedish, and one German. Five o f the families had
records at the Charity Organization Society. In three of the cases
the father had a police record. In none o f them was the mother
working outside the home.
Two o f the 55 families contributed three delinquents each. In one
o f these families both parents, Polish by birth, were living. In the
other case the three children were living with the grandmother, for
the mother, an immoral woman, had been divorced. One of the par
ents was German and the other Polish. This family had a record
at the Charity Organization Society.

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In 43 o f the 55 families both parents were living, and only two of
these mothers went out to work and this only for part time. In two
cases the children were living with the grandmother because the
parents were not in this country and in one case because the mother
was divorced. The father in each o f four families was a widower;
in two o f these families the older daughter was keeping house, and
in two there was a hired housekeeper. Five mothers were widows.
In the total o f 55 families there were only two cases in which the
mother worked regularly and two cases in which the mother worked
part time. Commenting upon this fact, the person furnishing this
information wrote as follows:
We are appalled to find that the families are mainly unbroken. Thirty-two
of the fifty-five families represented have charity records, and at least 14 have
police records. Eight families have both charity and police records. In the
instance of 42 of the children arrested the families have charity records and
14 of these also have parents who have appeared in court. It is surprising
to us to find that in most instances the children have both parents living, so
that the delinquency is not the result of the children’s being neglected by a
hard-working, overtired mother. Apparently our problem is that of the first
generation from immigrant stock, where the children have adjusted them
selves to New World conditions and so have outstripped the parent’s authority.
T E N O TH E R T O W N S IN CO N N E CTIC U T.

Town A.—This town, which had a population o f about 5,000 in
1910, has grown rapidly during the past few decades, owing almost
entirely to the prosperous condition of its manufacturers. Very
few o f the townspeople are employed in agriculture; the greatest
proportion of them work in the factories, which pay fairly high
wages. The four graded schools have an attendance of about 700
and there is a good high school. The town maintains a library of
nearly 3,000 volumes and appropriates about $500 a year for running
expenses and the purchase of new books. The five churches are all
well supported. There are a number of licensed saloons and com
plaints o f excessive drinking have been made. There is no public
playground, and there seems to be no community effort to provide
recreation for the children. The conditions as a whole appear to be
little different from those in the average manufacturing town of the,
same size in the State.
v
A detailed study was made o f all the cases of juvenile delin
quency in this town during the past five years with the following
findings:
Case No. 1.—A boy aged 16 years convicted o f gambling. Judg
ment suspended. The boy had come under the influence of older
people of vicious tendencies and was taken in a raid. Both parents
were foreign born and unable to speak English. Home conditions
were not very satisfactory. There have been no further charges
brought against this b oy ; his conduct now seems to be fairly good.

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' Case No- 2.—A boy of 15 charged with theft. He was caught while
breaking into a store, found guilty, and committed to the Connecti
cut State School for Boys. The boy is native born o f foreign
parentage. The home conditions were very poor. The father had
died a short time before the boy’s arrest. The grandparents with
whom the boy lived at one time were drug users. There seems to
have been no proper family discipline.
Case No. 3.—A boy aged 13 arrested for theft, found guilty, and
committed to the Connecticut School for Boys. He seems to have
been for years engaged in stealing in one way or another. The boy
was bom in this country, but both parents were foreign bom. The
father is an easy-going man and the mother is nervous and excitable,
with poor judgment. The boy’s record in school was poor and he
seems to be considerably below the average as a scholar.
Case No. —A boy o f 14 arrested for the use of abusive language.
He was found guilty, but sentence was suspended and he was placed
on probation. Both parents o f this boy were foreign born and the
father and mother were very profane in their conversation. The
boy seemed to have been bright enough, but he had a bad school
record on account of rough behavior. The boy was considered for
some time to have a bad influence upon the other children in the
community.
Now follow five cases o f theft of fruit. A ll these boys were
found guilty and placed on probation.
Case No. 5.—A boy aged 14 of foreign parentage. The parents
speak very little English. They are thrifty and hard working. The
boy was bright in school. He appeared to lack respect for his par
ents because they were unable to speak English. No complaint has
been lodged against this boy since he was placed on probation.
Case No. 6.—A boy aged 13. His parents were foreign born. The
boy did satisfactory work in school and played in the street with his
companions after school hours. He was never given any spending
money, and, being attracted by the fruit, helped himself to it. He
is now doing well.
Case No. 7.—A boy aged 14, born o f foreign parents who were
hard working, industrious, and anxious to save as much money as
they could. Outside school hours the boy was left to amuse him
self oh the street. The boy has caused no trouble since being on pro
bation.
Case No.-8.—-A boy aged 14. Both parents were foreign born and
both drank at times and neglected their children. The boy is "still
on probation, but is not doing so well as some o f the other children.
On account of the unsatisfactory home conditions it may be found
necessary to commit him to the Connecticut School for Boys.

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Case No. 9.—A boy aged 13. There is some drinking in this home,
but since the boy has been placed on probation he seems to be doing
fairly well.
Every one o f the nine boys arrested during the past five years in
this town was o f native birth and foreign parentage. This class
seems to be causing the most trouble in the town and the explanation
offered is that the boys do not respect their parents, whom they con
sider to be unrAmerican and old-fashioned.
Town B. The town has 5,000 population. A large proportion of
the males are employed in two large manufacturing concerns. Sur
rounding the center is a sparsely settled agricultural district. Some
complaint is made o f lawlessness on the part of boys, who steal fruit
from farms and gardens and coal from the manufacturing concerns.
This stealing is done almost entirely by the children o f the foreign
born and seems to be encouraged by the parents. In addition to the
activity o f the police, boy scouts and boys’ and girls’ clubs in the
churches are trying to offset these tendencies among the children.
During 1915 two boys and one girl were arrested. All o f them were
native whites o f foreign parentage. Both boys were 13 years#of age
and both were found guilty of incorrigibility and refusal to obey
their parents. They were sent to the Connecticut School for Boys.
The girl, aged 16, being in danger o f falling into habits o f vice, was
sent to the House o f the Good Shepherd.
Town C.—The town had a population of about 3,500 in 19101
It is to a considerable extent a manufacturing town with a variety of
industries, and has been practically stationary in population for the
past 30 years. The proportion o f native stock in the population has
been steadily decreasing within recent years. Very little complaint
is made concerning the boys and girls and the principal offense seems
to be petty theft. During 1915 four boys were arrested. A ll were of
native birth and foreign parentage. Three boys were brought in on
a charge o f misusing a smaller boy. They were found guilty, fined,
and given a lecture by the justice. The fourth boy was arrested on a
charge o f stealing a horse. He was found guilty and sent to the
Connecticut School for Boys. There was no probation service in this
town and no special provision has been made for caring for juveniles.
When it. was found necessary to keep a child over night awaiting a
trial, he was kept in the local jail.
Town D.— The town had a little over 1,000 population in 1910.
It is a manufacturing place with one factory, and has increased con
siderably in size during the past five years. Most o f the recent comers
have been foreign-born whites. There is practically nothing in the
form o f amusement and people go to the larger places near by for
their commercialized recreation. Two saloons in the town do a flour
ishing business. It has been difficult to find employees for the fac-

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tory and the management has had to take what it could get, with
the result that the grade of labor is rather low. A good many com
plaints are made of lawlessness in the community and the more in
telligent classes feel that more ought to be done for the boys and
girls. Only two boys have been arrested during the past five years.
One of the boys was arrested for the first time for theft when 10
years of age. He was given a talk by the justice and allowed to go.
Later he committed theft again and ran away from home. On his
return nothing was done about the second offense and later he was
arrested for housebreaking and sent to the Connecticut School for
Boys.
Public opinion seems to be that the boy was not entirely at fault.
The father was shiftless and had been arrested several times for
theft. The mother, who was feeble-minded, died when the boy was
young. The boy had been allowed to shift for himself and never
had any decent home. The school-teachers who had this boy in their
classes consider him subnormal mentally, but no medical examina
tion was ever made when the boy was before the court.
The other case was a boy who tried to obtain money by a letter of
intimidation. Since he came from a good family and sine» it was
felt by the townspeople that he wrote this letter as a result o f some
undesirable literature he had been reading, the case against him was
dropped. Three years have passed and the boy is apparently doing
well.
Conditions in this town are far from satisfactory. One o f the best
informed men in the community, after mentioning the lowering of
community standards caused by the recent immigration, writes:
This has an evil effect upon child life. People who come here with
children complain bitterly about what the child must see and hear and some
have left town and given up their work in the, interest of their children.
There is little effort made to counteract this influence. There is no playground
or any other redemptive agency apart from the Sunday schools. The figures
for delinquents, considering these conditions, are very small, but these two
cases of crime by no means represent the real boy and girl life of this town.
The cause of this low rate of crime is due, in part, to an easy-going police
system. We have no policemen in the regular sense of the word. Our police
are men engaged in other pursuits, principally in the factory. These men are
more likely to pass disorder unnoticed than would regular officers of the law
whose promotion depended in part upon their vigilance.

Town E.—This town has about 3,GOO population and is a purely
agricultural and residential place. A number of persons from the
cities have country estates here. The conditions are considered
ideal for a country town. Not a boy or a girl has been arrested
during the past five years, and what lawlessness exists seems to be
confined to an occasional theft from an orchard. The town has no
probation officer, and if it were necessary to keep a child over night
while awaiting trial he would probably be kept in the home o f the
village constable.

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Town F.—The town has a population of 600, scattered over an
area o f about 16 square miles. There is no manufacture in the town.
No juvenile has been arrested in five years and very few complaints
are made in regard to the conduct of the children. There is no pro
bation officer, and if a child had to be detained over night he would
be kept at the home o f one o f the selectmen.
Town G.— The place has about 6,000 population. There are one
or two small manufacturing concerns in the place, but most o f the
population is on farms. This town is a summer resort, and almost the
only complaint seems to be that the children of these visitors are not
very strict in the observance of the Sabbath. There is, however,
very little lawlessness, 'and no child has been arrested in three years.
There is no probation service, and no one seemed to know just what
would be done with a child if it were necessary to detain him over
night. The general impression seemed to be that he would be kept in
some private home.
Town H.— The town has a population of a little over 1,000. This
is a quiet New England village with no manufacture, and most of
the population is of native stock. A number o f the best places are
owned by families from the city who spend their summers here.
There were very few complaints of the actions of the children and
none have been arrested in two years. The last time a child was
arrested he was sent home and allowed to stay there until he ap
peared for trial. He was arrested for robbing an orchard, and the
case was dropped.
Town I.—The town has about 500 population, purely agricultural.
No child has been arrested in five years and the conditions o f child
life were felt to be very healthy. There is no probation service in the
town, and if it should be necessary to detain a child he would be kept
in the home of the probate judge.
Town J.— The town has about 500 population. There is no manu
facture; practically all the families live on farms and are o f native
stock. There seems to be very little juvenile delinquency and no
arrest of a juvenile has been made in over five years. No probation
service is provided, and a child, if necessary to keep him over night,
would be taken to the home of the first selectman.
A study of the court records shows more juvenile delinquency in
the manufacturing towns than in the agricultural sections of the
State. The fact that in the 10 towns studied not a native child of
native parentage was arrested seems to indicate that the influx of the
foreign born into the manufacturing towns adds to the problem of
juvenile lawlessness. The children o f the foreign born learn the
language and customs of the new country much more quickly than
their elders, and this tends to diminish their respect for parental re
straints.

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Court records are not, however, an index of all the juvenile delin
quency in a community. In the smaller agricultural towns the police
are often engaged in other pursuits, and are not very vigilant.
Doubtless much lawlessness exists in these towns, which is never re
corded, while in the city many acts which would be disregarded in
the country districts are brought to the notice o f the courts.

CONCLUSION.
In the hope that Connecticut may take high rank in its efforts and
provisions to control and reduce juvenile delinquency through the
State the following suggestions are offered:
1. A thorough study o f the present system of caring for dependent
children and, following this, a revision of the laws. Greater cen
tralization and better inspection o f the homes in which these children
are placed are urgently needed. This supervision should not cease,
as at present, at the age o f 16 for boys and 18 for girls.
2. More adequate institutional provision for the feeble-minded and
permanent custodial care for the nonplaceable defective or very
antisocial delinquent, instead o f his return to a vicious home for
lack o f a better alternative.
3. Careful testing and special training o f mentally defective de
linquents.
4. Provision of suitable places for the detention of juvenile delin
quents when it is impossible to allow them to return to their homes
while awaiting trial.
5. Postponement o f trial of all cases of juveniles for a sufficient
length of time to enable a careful investigation to be made before the
trial. Proper blanks should be furnished by the Connecticut Prison
Association for this work.
6. In some o f the larger cities o f the State, courts o f domestic re
lations before which all cases affecting juveniles would be heard.
7.
' Either before the trial or immediately following his or her re
ception into an institution, a careful physical and mental examina
tion o f every juvenile.
8. The appointment o f city and police court judges by the governor, instead o f their election by the members of the legislature.
9. Some form of test to determine the qualifications of applicants
for the position of probation officer.
10. The tenure o f office o f probation officers not to depend upon re
appointment by judges, since the judges are changed so frequently.
11. The appointment of a chief probation officer under the author
ity o f the Connecticut Prison Association to visit the probation offi
cers from time to time in order to secure uniformity and raise the
standard of their work.

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<•

APPENDIX.
TEXT OP STATUTES RELATIVE TO JUVENILES.
S T A T E B O A R D O F C H A R IT IE S .
G. S. Rev. 1902, ch. 173.
S e c t io n 2859. B oard m a y recom m en d and v isit hom es fo r children .—The
board may recommend to the boards of managers of the temporary homes in
the several counties suitable family homes for the dependent and neglected chil
dren in such temporary homes, and may visit any family home in which any
such child has been placed by the county board in any county, or any place in
which any such child has been placed at employment by any county board, to
ascertain whether such child is properly treated and whether such home is a
suitable one, having in view the welfare of the child.
S e c t io n 2860. R ep ort o f ill trea tm en t .—Whenever it shall be found that any
such child is not properly treated in any family home, or that such home is not
a suitable one and is of such character as to jeopardize the welfare of any child
so placed therein, the board shall report the facts in the case to the county
board which placed the child in such family home, and said county board, upon
being satisfied of the ill treatment of the child, or the unsuitableness of the
home, shall remove the child from such home and take such further action as
shall be necessary to secure the welfare of the child.
S e c t io n 2861. D elegation o f duties, authorization o f agents .—The board may
authorize its secretary or superintendent, or any agent appointed by it, to visit
family homes in which dependent and neglected children under the charge of
temporary homes may be placed, to recommend suitable family homes to the
county boards, and to perform further duties in connection with such delinquent
and neglected children as said board may prescribe.

TRUANTS.
G. S. Rev. 1902, ch. 130.
S e c t io n 2116. D u ties o f parents and guardians.— A ll parents and those who
have the care of children shall bring them up in some lawful and honest em
ployment, and instruct them or cause them to be instructed in reading, writing,
spelling, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, and United States history.
Every parent or other person having control of a child over seven and under
sixteen years of age shall cause such child to attend a public day school regu
larly during the hours and terms the public schools in the district wherein such
child resides is in session, or while the school is in session where provision for
the instruction of such child is made according to law, unless the parent or
person having control of such child cnn show that the child is elsewhere receiv
ing regularly thorough instruction during said hours and terms in the studies
taught in the public schools. Children over fourteen years of age shall not be
subject to the requirements of this section while lawfully employed at labor

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at home or elsewhere; but this provision shall not permit such children to be
irregular in attendance at school while they are enrolled as scholars, nor exempt
any child who is enrolled as a member of a school from any rule concerning
irregularity of attendance which has been enacted or may be enacted by the
town school committee, board of school visitors, or board of education having,
control of the school.
*
S e c t io n 2122. By-laws concerning truants.—Each city and town may make
regulations concerning habitual truants from school- and children between the
ages of seven and sixteen years wandering about its streets or public places,
having no lawful occupation, nor attending school, and growing up in igno
rance ; and may make such by-laws, respecting such .children, as shall conduce
to their welfare and to public order, imposing penalties, not exceeding twenty
dollars for any one breach thereof,
S e c t io n 2124. Arrest of truants.— The police In any city, and bailiffs, con
stables, sheriffs, and deputy sheriffs in their respective precincts, shall arrest all
boys between seven and sixteen years of age, who habitually wander or loiter
about the streets or public places, or anywhere beyond the proper control of
their parents or guardians, during the usual school hours of the school term;
and may stop any boy under sixteen year of âgé, during such hours, and ascer
tain whether he is a truant from school ; and if he be, shall send him to such
school.
S e c t io n 2125. Truants may be committed to school for boys.—Every boy
arrested three times or more under the provision of section 2124 shall be
taken before the judge of the criminal or police court, or a justice of the
peace, in the city, borough, or town where such arrest is made ; and if it shall
appear that such boy has no lawful occupation, or is not attending school, or
is growing up in habits of idleness or immorality, or is an habitual truant, he
may be committed to any institution of instruction or correction, or house of
reformation in said city, borough, or town, for not more than three years, or, if
such boy be not less than ten years of age, with the approval of the selectmen,
to the Connecticut School for Boys.
S e c t io n 2129. Vagrant girls may be committed to industrial school.—Upon
the request of the parent or guardian of any girl between seven and sixteen
years of age, a warrant may be issued for her arrest in the manner and on the
conditions provided in the preceding sections with respect to boys; and there
upon the same proceedings may be had as are above provided, except that said
girl may be committed to the Connecticut- Industrial School for Girls.
STATE REFORM ATORY.
P. ! . , 1909, ch. 1090.
An act establishing the Connecticut Reform atory.

B e it enacted by the Senate and House o f Representatives in General As-,
sembly convened.
S e c t io n 1. A State reformatory to be known as the Connecticut Reformatory
is hereby established.
S e c t io n 10. Male persons belonging to any of the following classes may be
committed to said reformatory : First, persons between the ages of sixteen and
twenty-five years who are convicted for the first time of offenses which may be
punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a shorter period than life.
In the case of offenders of this class between the ages of sixteen and twentyone years it shall be incumbent on the trial court to commit them to the re
formatory, and in the case of offenders of this class between the ages of twenty-

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one and twenty-five years the trial court may commit them to the reformatory
if they seem to be amenable to reformatory methods. The judge imposing a
reformatory sentence on offenders of this class shall not fix the term unless it
exceeds five years, but shall merely impose a sentence of imprisonment in the
reformatory. Any offender in this class sentenced to the reformatory may be
detained therein for not more than five years, unless he is sentenced for a
longer term, in which case he may be held for such longer term. Second, per
sons between the-ages of sixteen and twenty-five years, never convicted of an
offense which may be punished by a maximum imprisonment of one year in
jail. Commitment of offenders of this class to the reformatory shall be at the
discretion o f the trial court. Offenders of this class shall not be sentenced to
the reformatory for a definite term, but may be detained therein for not more
than three years. Third, persons, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five
years, never convicted of an offense may be punished by imprisonment in the
State prison, who are convicted of an offense which may be punished by a maxi
mum imprisonment of less than one year, but not less than six months, in jail.
Commitment of offenders of this class to the reformatory shall be at the dis
cretion o f the trial court. Offenders o f this class shall not be sentenced to the
reformatory for a definite term but may be detained therein for not more than
two years. Fourth, inmates of the Connecticut School for Boys, between the
ages of fourteen and twenty-one years, whom the trustees of said institution
desire to have transferred to the reformatory, and whom the directors of the
reformatory are willing to receive. Offenders of this class may be detained at
the reformatory for the same period for which, except for their transference to
said reformatory, they could have been held at the school for boys. W hen a
person is sentenced to the reformatory for an offense for which a fine is pro
vided by law as a supplementary penalty, the trial court shall impose no such
supplementary penalty.

P R O B A T IO N O F F IC E R S.
P. A., 1905. ch. 142.
An act amending an act providing for the appointment of probation officers, defining their
duties, and providing for the separate trial o f Juvenile offenders.

B e it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assem
bly convened.
S e c t io n 1. Chapter 126 of the public acts of 1903 is hereby amended to read
as follow s:

The judge of every superior court and of every criminal court of common
pleas may, and the judge of every district, police, city, borough, and town court
shall, appoint, within three months after the passage of this act, one or more
probation officers, male or female, to act under the direction of such court, and
may remove them at pleasure.
S e c t io n 2. The duties of such probation officers shall b e : (1 ) To investigate
the case o f any person brought, or about to be brought, before the court, under
whose direction he is a probation officer, for any misdemeanor, or any delin
quency rendering such person liable to be committed to any humane or reforma
tory institution, or any crime not punishable by imprisonment in the State
prison, the object of such investigation being to ascertain the history and pre
vious conduct of the person so arrested and such other facts as may show
whether he or she may properly be released on probation under the provisions
of this act, and after an arrest such probation officer shall, whenever possible,
have opportunity to confer with the accused before his arraignment-in court.

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(2) To report to the court the facts so ascertained. (3 ) To preserve complete
records of all such cases investigated, including descriptions sufficient for iden
tification, with the findings of the court, its action in the case, and the subse
quent history of the probationer, in such form as may be prescribed under the
provisions of this act. Such records shall be a part of the records of said
court and shall at all times be open to the inspection o f all officers of the
court. (4) To make such other reports as the court may direct or as may be
by law required.
(5 ) To take charge of all persons so placed on probation
under such regulations and for such time as may be prescribed by the court,
giving to each probationer full instructions as to the term of his release upon
probation, and requiring from him such periodical reports as shall keep the
officers informed as to his conduct.
S e c t io n 3. Whenever any minor shall have been arrested, the probation
officer shall, as soon after the arrest as practicable, be notified by the police
in order that he may, before the trial, ascertain the facts in the case. Pending
such investigation, the court may commit the accused to the custody of the
probation officer.
P. A., 1915, eh. 56.
An act amending an act concerning persons on probation.
S e c t io n 4. Section 4 of chapter 142 of the public acts o f 1905, as amended
by section 1 of chapter 1 o f the public acts of 1907 and by section 1 o f chapter
106 of the public acts of 1911, is hereby amended to read as follow s:
In cases within its jurisdiction, except in cases of commitment to the State
prison or to the reformatory, any criminal court, or the judge who held such
court, after the adjournment of the term, after hearing, may adjourn the case
or suspend sentence and commit the accused to the custody of a probation
officer, or to the custody of a probation officer pro tempore to be appointed by
such judge, for such time, not exceeding one year, as the court may fix. I f
the sentence is to pay a fine and to stand committed until the same is paid, the
fine may be paid to such probation officer at any time during the period of
probation, whereupon the order o f commitment shall be void. Such officer
shall give a receipt for every fine so paid, shall keep a record of the same, shall
pay the fine to the clerk of the court, except in cases in the superior court or
court of common pleas, in which such payment shall be made to the State’s
attorney or the prosecuting attorney of such court before the expiration of the
quarter in which such fine is collected, and shall keep on file such attorney’s

receipt therefore.
P. A., 1915, ch. 64.
An act amending an act concerning the appointment of the probation officer* and defining
their duties.
S e c t io n

5. Section 5 of chapter 142 of the public acts of 1905 is hereby

amended to read as follow s:
Every person placed on probation under the provisions o f this act shall,
during the term fixed for such probation, observe all rules prescribed for
his conduct by the court, report to the probation officer as directed, and main
tain a correct life. In case of failure to meet any of these requirements, and
at any time prior to the final disposition of the case of any person placed on
probation in the custody of a probation officer,.such officer may arrest, without
a warrant or other process, and bring him before the court or any judge thereof,
or such court or judge may issue a warrant directing that he be arrested and
brought before the authority issuing such warrant. The court or judge before
whom such person is brought may revoke the suspension of the execution of
his sentence, whereupon his sentence shall be in full force and effect, or such

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court or judge may continue the suspension of the execution of his sentence,
whereupon his sentence shall be in force and effect, or such court or judge
may continue the suspension. Probation officers shall not be active members
of any regular police force, or sheriffs, or deputy sheriffs, but shall, in the
execution of their official duties, have all the powers o f police officers. The
records of any of such probation officers may at all times be inspected by the
chief of police of any city or town or the sheriff or deputy sheriff of any county.
P. A., 1907, ch. 172.

An act amending an act concerning the compensation o f probation officer».

(Approved

Jane, 1907.)

B e it enacted by the Senate and H ouse o f R epresentatives in General A s
sembly convened.
S e c t io n 1 . Section 6 o f chapter 142 of the public acts o f 1905 is hereby
amended by striking out in the tenth and eleventh lines thereof the words “ and
by the treasurer o f the city, borough or town in which such police, city, borough,
or town court is h eld ” and inserting in lieu thereof the follow ing: “ and, in
the case o f probation officers appointed for city, borough, and town courts, in
the same manner as the other officers of said courts are paid,” so that said
section as amended shall read as follow s:
Probation officers shall be reimbursed for all necessary expenses incurred in
the prosecution o f their duties under this act, and shall receive compensation
for actual service in cities of fifty thousand inhabitants or over at such rate
not exceeding four dollars per day, and in all other cities or towns of the State
at such rate not exceeding three dollars per day, as may be fixed by the
court appointing such officers, said compensation and expenses to be paid,
upon the order o f the court, by the county treasurer o f the county in which
such superior court, criminal court of common pleas, or district court is held,
and in the ease o f probation officers appointed for city, borough, and town
courts, in the same manner as the other officers of said courts are paid.

P. A., 1905, ch. 142.
S e c t i o n 7. In case of the absence o f the probation officer, any court may ap

point a probation officer pro tempore, who shall have all the powers and perform
all the duties of the probation officer, and who shall receive as compensation for
each day’s service a sum equal to the rate per day o f the salary of the probation
officer, to be paid in the manner provided in the preceding section.
S e c t io n 8. Any justice o f the peace before whom is brought a person who, in
his judgment, ought to be released on probation, may appoint a probation offi
cer pro tempore for the care of the accused, who shall serve without compensa
tion.
S e c t io n 9 . Every person placed in charge of a probation officer according to
the provisions of this aet shall be considered the ward of said probation officer
within the provisions of 2695 of the general statutes. Any interference with
said probation officer or with any person placed in his charge shall render the.
person so interfering liable to the provisions of section 1274 o f the general
statutes;

P. A., 1915, ch. 68.

An act amending an act concerning the appointment of probation officers.

(Approved

May 13, 1915.) %
S e c t i o n 10. Section 10 of chapter 142 of the public acts o f 1905 is hereby
amended to read as follow s:

The probation service of the State shall be under the general supervision of
the Connecticut Prison Association, whose officers shall prepare such blanks for

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reports, and such books for record, including a description of each probationer
sufficient for identification, as may be required for the efficiency of his service,
and said books and blanks shall be provided by the comptroller and furnished
to all probation officers at the expense of the State. The clerk of every court
by which a probation officer is appointed under this act shall forthwith notify
said prison association of the name of the officer so appointed. Every proba
tion officer shall make a quarterly report to said prison association in such
form as said prison association shall direct. Said prison association shall an
nually make a report to the governor on the operation of the probation system
and its results, with recommendations for the improvement of the service.
The comptroller is hereby authorized to pay, on the requisition of the secre
tary of the Connecticut Prison Association, a sum not exceeding sixty dollars
per month for clerical services to carry out the provisions o f this act.

L A W S P A S S E D IN 1917.
P. A., 1917, ch. 308.
An act concerning juvenile offenders.

(Approved May 18, 1917.)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assem
bly convened.
S e c t io n 1 . In all criminal cases in which the defendant is a child under four
teen years of age, except when such a child is taken into custody in the act
or upon speedy information, service of process shall be by summons unless the
authority issuing the writ is of the opinion that the accused may abscond, in
which case, or when the accused has failed to obey such summons, he may be
arrested upon such process.
S e c t io n 2. In a ll c a se s w h e r e a c h ild u n d e r fo u r te e n y e a r s o f .a g e is ta k e n
in to c u sto d y or. a r re ste d , th e ac cu se d

s h a ll b e con fin ed in a d e te n tio n

hom e

p ro v id e d b y th e m u n ic ip a lity o r p la c e d in th e c a re o f so m e s u ita b le p erso n , a
p r o b a tio n officer, o r a c h a r ita b le in s titu tio n p e n d in g th e d is p o s itio n o f th e ca se.
S e c t io n

3. T o w n s

a r e a u th o r iz e d to p ro v id e o r m a in ta in

d e te n tio n

h o m es

f o r c h ild re n or su ch p e r so n s a c cu se d o f c r im e a s in th e op in io n o f th e ju d g e
a r e in n e ed o f r e fo r m in g r a th e r th a n p u n itiv e tr e a tm e n t.
S e c t io n 4. The superior court, district court of Waterbury, courts of common
pleas, and police, town, city, or borough courts, and justices of the peace, shall
hear complaints against all children under eighteen years of age, in chambers,
in the case of the first prosecution, unless the offense charged is' one that shall
be punishable by imprisonment in the State prison or by the death penalty.
Upon a subsequent prosecution, it shall lie within the discretion of the court
hearing the prosecution whether such complaint shall be heard in chambers.
S e c t io n 5. The authority issuing the writ may commence criminal proceed
ings against any defendant between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years
by summons rather than by arrest, and may confine or detain such defendant
in accordance with the provisions of section two.
S e c t io n 6. Such courts shall keep in separate dockets, which shall not be
open to the public, record of the first prosecution against any accused under
the age of eighteen years, unless there is a conviction of an offense of so
aggravated a nature as to necessitate a punishment by imprisonment or inflic
tion of the death penalty. Updh a subsequent prosecution of such defendant,
the court shall make a public record of the prosecution, if in the court’s dis
cretion such a record should be made. The court may use the name of the
accused to make all necessary reports or orders for payments of costs.

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C hapter " 309, section 7. Cities having a population of twenty thousand or
more may, by ordinance or by-laws, provide for juvenile court to be con
ducted by a judge of the police or city court o f such municipality, provided such
ordinances or by-laws shall not extend beyond the selection o f a suitable
court room and such other accommodations for such court as the judge thereof
shall deem necessary and proper.
P. A., 1917, ch. 270.
An act concerning homes for children.

Section 1 amends section 1 of chapter 62 o f public acts o f 1911, as fol
low s: No orphan asylum, children’s home, or similar institution, unless spe
cially chartered by the State, and no person or group of persons, whether in
corporated for the purpose or not, shall care for or board dependent children,
under 16 years of age. of other persons, in any number exceeding two at the
same time, in the same place, without a license obtained from the board of
charities; provided county commissioners, city boards o f charity, selectmen of
towns, and similar official trustees shall not be subject to the provisions of this
act.
P. A., 1917, ch. 301.
An act concerning homes for dependent and neglected children.

(Approved May 16,1917.)

Section 2791 of the general statutes is amended to read as follow s: In each
county the board for the management o f temporary homes for dependent
children shall meet at least once in each three months for the purpose of
attending to the duties imposed upon it by law, and notice of such meetings
shall be sent to each member by mail at least three days prior thereto by the
chairman o f said board. At the meeting of said board in each county in the
full months of each year the town committees of the several towns in the
county, and one or more o f the supervisors of the State board of charities,
shall meet with said board for the purpose of suggesting such provisions,
changes and additions as they may think desirable in the temporary home, and
assisting said board in the selection of family homes for the children in the
temporary home, and advising said board of the results of their visits to
children in family hom es; and like notice of such meeting shall be given the
town committees at least five days prior thereto by the chairman of said
board. Said board in each county shall have full guardianship and control of
each child committed to the temporary home for such county until such child
shall have reached the age of eighteen years, or each guardianship and con
trol shall have been legally transferred, or another guardian appointed by the
probate court with the consent o f said board; and said board in each county
shall have power to place any child committed to the temporary home of the
county at such employment and cause the child to be instructed in such
branches of useful knowledge as may be suited to the age and capacity of the
child for such term of years, not extending beyond the child’s seventeenth year,
as will inure to the benefit of the child. Parents whose children have been
supported by a temporary home for three years shall not be entitled to their
earnings or services after they have become eighteen years of age.

DUTIES OF CONNECTICUT PRISON ASSOCIATION IN
SUPERVISING PROBATION WORK.
After the passage o f the act establishing probation in Connecticut a special
meeting of the executive committee o f the Connecticut Prison Association was
held in the State Capitol on July 15, 1903, at which the work devolving upon

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CHILDREN BEFORE THE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.

the association under the provision of the act was formally accepted and the
following vote was passed:
V oted: The Secretary is hereby authorized and directed to prepare and
issue all blank forms required in the probation service of this State, in accord
ance with the provisions of chapter 126, public acts of 1903 (section 8 ), keep
a record o f all appointments o t probation officers in Connecticut, receive and
properly file all reports from them, and in general do all things required of
this association by the law aforementioned, according to his discretion and
understanding o f the same, and under the special direction of .the president of
this association.
A t the annual meeting of the Connecticut Prison Association held in the State
Capitol on September 30, 1903, the following vote was passed:
V oted: There shall be a standing committee,
mittee on probation, to consist of five members,
dent of the association, and to hold office for
September 30, 1905, and thereafter until their
pointed.

known as the standing com
to be appointed by the presi
two fiscal years ending with
successors shall be duly ap

The duties of this committee shall be such as are placed upon the Connecticut
Prison Association by section 8 of chapter 126, public acts of 1903.
Ail matters concerning the probation service (that relate to this association)
shall be referred to this committee, and the secretary of the association shall
act under the direction of this committee in matters pertaining to the proba
tion service. This committee shall meet at the call of its chairman.

SUMMARY OF BILLS INTRODUCED IN 1917 TO ESTABLISH
JUVENILE COURTS IN CONNECTICUT.
In the session o f the legislature of 1917 three bills to establish juvenile courts
were presented. One was a bill concerning the establishing of juvenile depart
ments in the several probate districts of this State to be operated in connection
with the several probate courts thereof for the treatment of dependent, neg
lected, and delinquent children, and those otherwise in need of the discipline,
care, or protection of the State. Under the terms of this act juveniles were
to be considered as those who, under the age o f 18 years, were dependent,
neglected, delinquent, or defective.
The bill provided that any person having knowledge or information that a
child under the age of 18 came under the jurisdiction of the act might petition
the court of probate to bring such child before the court. The judge should
order an investigation to be made by a probation officer or some other person
and order the child, together with the parents or guardian or person having the
custody of the child, to show cause why the child should not be dealt with
according to the provision o f the act. The judge of probate might summon
the child, and pending a hearing of the case the child might be released upon
its own recognizance or released in the custody of a probation officer, its par
ent, or other person.
I f it were found necessary to detain the child until the hearing, no child
under the age of 16 could be placed or confined in a jail, common lockup, or
other place where adult criminals or offenders were confined. If, after hearing
the case, the court Was satisfied that the.child was in need of the care or disci
pline and protection of the State, he might place the child in the care of the
probation officer to remain in its own home, or be placed in a suitable family
home, subject to the supervision of the probation officer, or might authorize
the Child to be boarded out in some suitable family home, or might commit such
child to such proper institution, State or private, or to any institution, asso
ciation, or corporation willing to receive it.

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I f upon examination the courts should find any child coming before it to be
suffering from an incurable disease, such child might be committed to the home
for incurables, or other proper institution, or if, upon examination by an alien
ist or psychopathic institute, the child should be found to be feeble-minded or
mentally defective, such child might be placed in the school for feeble-minded
or other proper institution.
The court should have authority to exclude the general public and those not
directly interested in the case from the room wherein a hearing involving any
child was held. Appeals might be taken from any final order or judgment of
the probate court to the superior court of the county within which the probate
court was located. The judges of the probate courts were to have authority
to arrange with any society or association situated in the county within which
the court was located to furnish a temporary home for any children brought
before the court.
For the districts of Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury, Bridgeport, there were
to be not less than two paid probation officers, at least one of whom should be a
woman. For the districts of Bristol, Berlin, Derby, Naugatuck, Wallingford,''
Norwalk, Torrington, New London, Stamford, Windham, Norwich, Danbury,
Greenwich, and Middlesex not less than one paid probation officer was to be
appointed. In the remaining districts, the judges might, in their discretion,
appoint one or more paid probation officers. In addition, the judges were to
be allowed to appoint one or more voluntary probation officers.
The probate judges might also appoint not less than 6 nor more than 10 repu
table inhabitants of the respective probate districts of which one-haff should
be men arid one-half women, to serve without compensation and be called “ The
Advisory Board of the Juvenile Department of the District o f -----------.” This
board was to visit as often as twice a year all institutions, societies, associa
tions, or agencies receiving children under the provision of the act and to
advise and cooperate with the judge upon all matters affecting the workings of
the act, and to hold examinations for the selection of officials to be appointed
under the act. It was to be the duty of the judge of the court at least once a
year to visit each institution in his district in which children had been de
tained, or to which they had been committed.
There was to be appointed by the governor a State juvenile court and a
probation committee of not less than seven members, two judges of probate or
ex-judges of probate, one expert in mental diseases, and at least two women to
be members. This committee was to confer together at least once yearly rela
tive to the provisions of the act and to formulate methods o f procedure and
treatment of juveniles.
The judges of probate, juvenile departments, were tb receive as compensation
for their services the same rate as do the judges of probate of their respective
districts for hearings contested and uncontested, and any other fees which in
their respective districts and under the laws of the State were applicable for
work of a similar nature or character. The expense o f the operation of the
court was to be borne by each town, city, or borough in the respective probate
districts proportionately according to the number of cases presented from said
city, town, or borough with respect to the grand list thereof.
When this bill was given a hearing before the judiciary committee, a number
of amendments were offered in a substitute bill. The most important limited
the number of districts and made mandatory the appointment by the governor
of five judges qualified for the work of children’s cases. Said judges were to
meet annually and arrange for and agree upon assignments-of themselves, ar
ranging such assignments so that each judge’s work while sitting and holding
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court should be confined to and bounded by the county lines of one or more
counties. It was suggested that Fairfield, Hartford, and New Haven Counties
should each have the services of one judge, that another judge should have
jurisdiction over the cases in Litchfield and Middlesex Counties and another
judge in Windham, Tolland, and New London Counties. These judges were to
be appointed for terms of eight years and receive an annual salary of $2,000,
together with the sum of $500 for expenses. The judges were to be termed
and known as juvenile department judges. The bill called for an appropriation
of $13,000. The bill received an unfavorable report from the committee.
A second bill introduced at the legislative session of 1917 was an act amend
ing the charter of the city of New Haven. Three courts were to be established
in New. Haven, one known as the city court of New Haven for the trial o f
civil cases, a second known as the police court of New Haven for the trial of
criminal cases, and a third known as the court of domestic relations of New
Haven for the trial of criminal cases involving domestic relations and offenses
committed by minors in the city and town of New Haven.
The three judges to preside over these courts were to be appointed by the
general assembly and hold office for the term of two years. The judge of the
police court was empowered to appoint a city attorney, an assistant city attorn
ney, and a clerk of the court. The judge o f the city court was to appoint one
Clerk of the court and the judge of the court of domestic relations (was to ap
point another clerk of the court.
The act was introduced at the request of the Civic Federation of New
Haven. W hen the act came up for a hearing before the committee it was with
drawn and a substitute was offered, an act amending the charter of the city of
New Haven concerning the city court. The act called for the establishment of
a court for the trial of criminal causes in the city and town of New Haven
involving domestic relations and offenses committed by minors under the age
of 18 years, which court was to be known as the court of domestic relations
of New Haven. The substitute varied but little from the original bill except
that there was no separation of the city and police court with the appointment
of a separate judge to preside over each. The judge of the court of domestic
relations was to appoint a prosecuting attorney and a clerk.
In relation to criminal matters involving domestic relations and to offenses
committed by minors under 18 years of age this court was to have within the
city and town of New Haven all the powers which justices of the peace in the
towns o f the State have in all matters of a criminal nature and was to have
jurisdiction in all crimes and misdemeanors involving domestic relations, or
committed by minors under 18 years of age within the city, either before or
after the passage of the* act, the punishment whereof inflicted by the court
should not exceed a fine of $200 or imprisonment in a common jail or workhouse for six months, or both such fine and imprisonment. It was to have
authority to bind over to the superior court in cases not within the jurisdiction
of this court. Under certain conditions appeals might be taken from the
decision of this court to the criminal term o f the court of common pleas next
hereafter held in New Haven.
"Since at present two judges in New Haven preside over the civil and criminal
cases in the city court and alternate as need arises, the principal change pro
posed by this amended act was the establishment of a court of domestic rela
tions with a third judge to preside over it. The bill received an unfavorable
report from the committee and was not passed.

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Full text of Children Before the Courts in Connecticut, Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Classes Series No. 6, Bureau Publication No. 43

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