Full text of Our Concern—Every Child : State and Community Planning for Wartime and Post-War Security of Children, Bureau Publication No. 303

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

Our Concern—Every Child
State and Community Planning for
Wartime and Post-War
Security of Children

By Emma O. Lundberg

Bureau Publication 303

U N IT E D

ST A T E S D E P A R T M E N T O F L A B O R
F rances P e r k in s , Secretary

CHILDREN’S BUREAU

./„

-T


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-

-

-

K a t h a r in e

F.

L enroot,

Chief

LE TTER OF TR AN SM ITTAL
U n it e d S t a t e s D e p a r t m e n t

of

L abor,

C h il d r e n ' s B u r e a u ,
W ashington , M arch 1 ,1 9
M a d a m : Herewith is transmitted “ Our Concern— Every Child]
State and community planning for wartime and post-war security
for children.” This publication was prepared for the use of State
and local departments charged with responsibilities for children,
defense-council committees on children in wartime, State-wide
committees undertaking long-range programs, and local citizen
groups in communities. It is intended to serve as a guide for the
study of State and community resources and action needed to safe­
guard childhood and provide opportunities for youth. The out­
lines for evaluating resources and planning State and community
action are based upon the standards of child health, education, and
social welfare which were developed by the 1940 White House Con­
ference on Children in a Democracy. The Conference recognized
that the State and the local communities, together with parents,
have primary responsibility for making these standards a reality.
The wartime emergency has served to emphasize the urgency of
making generally available throughout the Nation those services
which are needed to assure children their full chance in life. The
rapidly developing interest in planning for the post-war period has
drawn attention to the necessity for coordinated State and com­
munity planning and action in behalf of children.
The material was compiled by Emma 0. Lundberg, Consultant in
Social Services for Children, with the collaboration of the various
divisions of the Bureau, which prepared certain of the outlines for
study. The United States Office of Education and the American
Library Association furnished the outlines relating to education
and library service, respectively. The range o f subject-matter
corresponds with the scope of the reports of the White House Con­
ference on Children in a Democracy.
Respectfully submitted.
K a t h a r in e F . L e n r o o t , C hief.

Hon. F r a n c e s P e r k i n s ,
Secretary o f Labor.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

CONTENTS
Page

The welfare of children in peace and in war_____ ,____________ _________
Goals of a long-range child-welfare program_______________________
Follow-up of the White House Conference recommendations________
Program of action for children in wartime____________ __________ _
Post-war objectives________
Security of the home________________________________________
Protection of child health___________________ 1__________ ______
Educational opportunity___________________________ h------------Safeguarding employment of children and youth_______________
Social services for children___________ —
---------------------------State action through legislation---------------------------------------------Unified approach to child-welfare problems_____— .-----------------------State and community planning for the welfare of children---------------------Special safeguards for children in wartime_________________ _______
Planning for the post-war years__________________________________
Urgency of immediate action_________________________________
Review of child-welfare needs________________________________
Committees planning long-range programs of action----------------Making the program known to the general public_____________
Outlines for review of conditions and services— State and community----- I,
Use of the outlines--------------------- ----------------- ------------------------------Scope and method of inquiry..----------------------- -----------------------------Safeguards of family life_________________________________________
Conserving the health of children______________________ __________
State outline___________
Health of mothers and infants___________________________
Major public-health problems affecting children---- -----------State and local public-health organization_________________
Maternal and child-health services.______________________
Public-health-nursing service--- ---------------------------------------Nutrition______________________ __________________
Dental hygiene___________________________ i>------------------Health education_______________________ .-----------------— Services for crippled children______________j--------------- ¡L—
General medical care____________________________________
Mental hygiene_________________________________________
Outline for communities_________________ ___________________ •
General community provisions_____________________
Health services for mothers and newborn infants_______—
Health services for infants and preschool c h ild r e n ......----Health services for children of school age___________ ______
Mental health______________________ . ___________________
Education through the schools____________ .________ _— <*------- -------State outline_________________________ ___________________—
State educational organization_________ - — — . ------ ------School attendance_ . ____ j______________________________ _
Educational opportunities in the schools__________________
Outline for communities_______________________ _______.______
Organization and attendance--------------Types of educational opportunities_________ ,— --------------580076°— 44-------1


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

I

1
2
4
6
9
9
10
11
12
13
15
18
20
20
22
22
23
25
29
31
31
32
34
35
36
36
36
37
38
39
39
39
40
40
40
41
41
41
41
42
43
44
44
44
44
46
47
48
48
49

II

CONTENTS

Outlines for review of conditions and services—State and community— Con.
Library service_________. (________________ ___________________
State outline______ j ____ ___________________________________
State advisory service and State aid for libraries through a
State library agency_______ ______ __________ ________
State advisory service and State aid for school libraries
through State education departments____________ ______
Accessibility of library services throughout the State.______
Improvement of library services_______________ __________
Cooperation with other agencies___________________ ______
Outline for communities_____ j_______________________________
Public-library facilities—availability and use_________ __ _
Public-library services—standards and types_______ _______
School-library services___________
w__
Library aid to community child-welfare programs
Facilities for recreation____ _________ isd___ H q ____ ________ _
State outline_____________________________ ______________ __
Outline for communities______ •__ __________ _________ _____
Child labor and youth employment_______ i__________________ ____
State outline____ ________________
__
Outline for communities___ _____ $___________ _______________
Social services for children._____ j_ _ ________- _______________ ____
State outline_______________ _______ _______________ ______ ___
Children’s services in the State welfare department________
State assistance to local units__________________ _________
State institutions and child-caring activities______________
Outline for communities__ ______ ________ _____________ ______
Services to children who are dependent or neglected, de­
linquent, or in danger of becoming delinquent.___ _^._L__
Prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency_________
Foster-care services for dependent and neglected children__
Social services for physically handicapped children________
Social services for mentally deficient children____________ _
Economic aid to families_________ *____ 1___5_____________________
State outline___ ___________ ______ ,___ __________ __________
Public assistance___________ ._______ ____________ _______
Aid to dependent children in their own homes_____ _______
Outline for communities_______ ____________ ________________
Family relief and service__________________ ______________
Aid to dependent children in their own homes. ____________
Families and their dwellings_______ __________ __________________ _
State outline____ _________ __________ >______________________
Outline for communities_____________________________________
Children in migrant families______________ i__ ___________ ________
Children in minority groups___________ ____________ ____ _________
Outlines for State and community action to protect children in wartime, _
Areas of special need because of war conditions____ i________ _______
Wartime health services for children_________ _________ ________ _
Employment safeguards__________ ________________________ ^_____ _
Community recreation programs_ _ _:__________________ ___________
Prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency_________ ________
Day care of children of working mothers_______ ________ __________
Suggested outline for an inventory of community resources_____ ________
Community agencies to be included in inventory.___.______________
Information to be obtained for each organization_____________ ____84

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Page
50
51
51
52
52
53
54
54
54
54
55
56
57
57
57
59
go
gj
61
g2
62
62
63
64
64
65
67
68
69
69
gg
gg
70
71
71
71
72
72
73
73
74
75
75
yg
75
77
78
78
80
81

Our Concern— Every Child
The Welfare of Children in Peace
and in War
npH E WAR emergency has brought into high relief conditions
which threaten the health, education, and social welfare of chil­
dren. It is becoming increasingly clear that many of the problems
of child care and protection which now call for immediate solution
because of their relation to the war effort, accentuated though they
may be by abnormal conditions in many communities, are problems
which have been dealt with inadequately during past years and will
continue to demand special attention in post-war years. Concern
for children cannot be divided into three parts— pre-war, wartime,
and post-war. Building for the security of childhood must be a
continuous process of erecting on a firm foundation o f past experi­
ence and achievements a structure which will insure the physical,
mental, and moral well-being of every child and provide the oppor­
tunities that should be the heritage of all children.
Hardships and deprivations must be endured by children and
adults alike during the period of stress, but they may be compen­
sated for in a measure by greater vigilance on the part of parents
and community agencies to protect children from the pressures of
wartime and to guard their basic right to a secure home life and a
safe environment. Standards of care that are recognized as essen­
tial to the welfare of all children must be maintained and strength­
ened during the wartime years. No State and no community
within a State can afford to look after its children carelessly
because the need is assumed to be of short duration.
The emergencies o f wartime have made heavy inroads upon per­
sonnel available for health services, schools, and social services.
Expenditures essential to activities directly related to the war and
increased costs threaten, in some communities, to reduce below the
danger point the services which can be provided by child-health and
child-caring agencies. Standards which had been built up for the
protection of children against harmful labor have been weakened
dangerously, and in many communities the education of children
and youth has suffered because of depletion of the teaching staff.
l

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

2

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

Unavoidable though many of these conditions may be, they cannot
be faced with complacency. Every effort must be made to safe­
guard essential services.
During wartime there is particular danger of forgetting the
needs of children whose care and protection are the immediate
responsibility of State and local public agencies. Many institu­
tions and agencies have had great difficulty in maintaining proper
standards of care for children in normal times ; they are now faced
with rising costs of maintenance and increased need for service.
Public services for child care and protection and for prevention of
neglect, dependency, and juvenile delinquency must be maintained
and strengthened. The necessary financial support of these agen­
cies is of vital importance to children, and the increased demands
upon them for services arising from war conditions cannot be
ignored.
The opportunities and the protections which may be afforded in
post-war years will have little meaning to children who are ne­
glected now. Childhood is not replaceable. Immediate and effec­
tive action must be taken to safeguard children whose welfare is
endangered' by war conditions; but long-time needs cannot be
ignored, and the task of building for the future cannot be laid aside.
The obligations of society to children cannot be slighted during
these vital years and compensated for by planning for their health
and security in years to come.

Goals of a Long-Range Child-Welfare Program
At its sessions in January 1940 the White House Conference on
Children in a Democracy defined objectives toward which progress
should be made during the next few years in behalf of all the
children of the Nation.1
The recommendations adopted by the Conference hold that the
essentials of child welfare include a satisfying home life with
family income sufficient to assure decent, comfortable housing;
adequate, nourishing food; warm, presentable clothing; health
protection, and medical care when needed. Every child should
1 Children in a Democracy— General Report Adopted by the White House
Conference on Children in a Democracy, January 19,1940. Children’s Bureau,
Washington, 1940.
Preliminary Statements Submitted to the White House Conference on Chil­
dren in a Democracy, January 18-20, 1940. Children’s Bureau, Washington,
1940.
Standards of Child Health, Education, and Social W elfare; based on recom­
mendations of the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy and
conclusions of discussion groups. Children’s Bureau Publication 287. Wash­
ington, 1942.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN PEACE AND IN W AR

3

have schooling at least until the age of 16 years ; beyond that age
school opportunities adapted to the child’s aptitudes and interests
should be available, with vocational preparation and progressive
work experience. Every child should have the opportunity for
religious training, and for recreation and leisure-time interests,
congenial companionships, and experience in the democratic proc­
ess. Every child should be helped to gain appreciation of the
values and privileges of democratic citizenship and willingness to
make all needful sacrifice for the preservation o f these values.
These standards constitute the goals of -democracy for every
child, of whatever race, o f native or of foreign parentage, in the
country or in the city, rich or poor.
The report of the Conference points out that children comprise
about one-third of the total population of the United States— 36
million under 16 years of age and about 5 million aged 16 and 17
years— and that about 2 million babies are born each year. (In
1943 the estimated number of live births was approximately
3,000,000.)
Concern for the child begins before his birth in concern for his parents ; it
continues until the child reaches maturity. During this period of childhood,
roughly 20 years, it is possible to distinguish certain needs of the child as an
individual and other needs which are identical with those of his family or his
community. The child receives or should receive services from many indi­
viduals, groups, and agencies in addition to his own family. Each has its
special task; none can be performed successfully without regard for the others.
* * * Too often people have failed to recognize the simple truth that the child
cannot be broken up into parts— one for the parent, another for the teacher,
one for the public official, another for the playground, and still another for the
church. The child is an indivisible whole as he grows from infancy to man­
hood and must be planned for and served as such.2

Summing up the recommendations of the Conference on Children
in a Democracy and their implications in the light of the impend­
ing urgency of national defense, the Chief of the Children’s Bureau
made the following statement in May 1940 :
What, then, is our duty to the children of today, the citizens of tomorrow, in
this time of crisis?
First, it is to understand clearly that our internal strength, our unity of
purpose, our effectiveness in achieving results, whether in peace or in war,
depend to a great extent upon the confidence with which parents can face the
future for their children. Their safety, their health, their homes, and their
schools must be protected at whatever cost of resourceful planning and finan­
cial sacrifice. The responsibility for such planning rests with all the people,
but they must act cjiiefly through government. Government, in turn, must
work in full cooperation with the citizens of the country in their many organic
zations devoted to civic advancement and human welfare. * * *
Second, there must be immediate expression of the purpose of the people o f
the United States to preserve and strengthen th,e economic foundations of h.OlXie,
* Çhildren in a Demojttfacy, pp. $-9*

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

4

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

life * * * to preserve the social gains of the last decade, including
governmental action to protect fair labor standards. * * * A t the
same time, general-assistance programs must be strengthened throughout
the Nation. * * *
Third, child-labor standards must be preserved and strengthened. The man­
power of the Nation is more than sufficient to meet all needs without calling
upon children to sacrifice their strength and their schooling for industrial
employment. * * *
Fourth, educational resources must be maintained and augmented as neces­
sary to assure to every child a fair chance for schooling throughout the schoolage period.
Fifth, the objectives o f the Nation for its youth, as they have been expressed
in our developing youth programs, must not be forgotten. * * * Every
facility must be provided for guidance of youth, for encouragement of those
with special gifts, for assuring to all youth opportunity for education or useful
employment.
Sixth, we must cover the entire Nation as soon as possible with basic publichealth and child-welfare services, needed at all times and especially necessary
in times of special stress* All the counties, not merely two-thirds of them,
should have public-health-nursing service to guard against epidemics, give
health supervision, and assist in the development of community health services
for children. Medical-care programs for mothers and children should be
extended.
All our rural counties, not merely 500 of them, should have as soon as pos­
sible the services of a child-welfare worker, free from the heavy case loads
which are carried by public-assistance workers, and able to give full coopera­
tion to citizens’ groups in developing whatever community programs may be
necessary to safeguard the health and well-being of children. In every city
the public and private resources for safeguarding the health and welfare of
children should be reviewed and strengthened with a view to meeting the needs
of every child who may require special service.8

Follow-Up of the White House Conference
Recommendations
In its call to action” the Conference on Children in a Democracy
faced the dual task of promoting the welfare of children through
a long-sustained program and of meeting wartime emergencies i
Recognizing the immediate necessity for providing against the
material dangers of the moment, this Conference is impressed also
with the equal necessity for maintaining internal strength and con­
fidence among the people of the strongest democracy in the world.
If the American people, in a world showing many signs of break­
down, can present a picture of a Nation devoting thought and
resources to building for the distant future, we shall strengthen by
these very actions our own faith in our democracy.” 4
3American Childhood Challenges American Democracy (speech by Katha­
rine F. Lenroot at the National Conference of Social Work, Grand Rapids
Mich., May 28,1940). The Child, July 1940, pp. 7-8.
’
4Children in a Democracy, p. 85.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN RfiACE AND IN WAR

5

The Conference affirmed its belief in the convictions of the
American people—
That democracy can flourish only as citizens have faith in the integrity of
their fellow-men and capacity to cooperate with them in advancing the ends
of personal and social living.
That such faith and such capacity can best be established in childhood and
within the family circle. Here the child should find affection which gives selfconfidence, community of interest which induces cooperation, ethical values
which influence conduct. Secure family life is the foundation of individual
happiness and social well-being.
That even in infancy, and increasingly in later years, the welfare of the
child depends not alone upon the care provided within the family, but also upon
the safeguards and services provided by the community, State, and Nation.®

The Conference called upon all citizens “ to press forward in the
next 10 years to the more complete realization of those goals for
American childhood which have become increasingly well-defined
from decade to decade.”
In accordance with a plan adopted at the closing session, the
National Citizens Committee o f the White House Conference on
Children in a Democracy was organized in June 1940.6 Under the
leadership of this organization follow-up activities were initiated
in more than half of the States by White House Conference Com­
mittees or Citizens Committees. These were organized with the
official sanction of the Governors or as voluntary groups and repre­
sented a wide range of child-welfare interests. In conformity
with the pattern set by the original conference they have been
concerned' with “the whole child,” giving equal recognition to the
fields of health, education, and social welfare, and emphasizing
particularly the need for security of family life.
Many of these committees sponsored State-wide or regional
meetings for discussion of the following topics:
What should be our goals for the protection of children throughout this
State?
To what extent does the State (or community) now provide for the needs
of children?
What action should be taken by the State and by the local communities
in order that childhood may be more secure?
How can all organizations and citizens cooperate in a long-range program
and an immediate plan of action?

Extensive fact-finding studies in the various fields of interest
usually formed the basis for consideration of these questions. In
a few States a notable beginning was made in organizing local
5 Ibid., pp. 84-85.
‘ As of January 1, 1943, the activities of the National Citizens’ Committee
were discontinued, and its work was delegated to the Children’s Bureau, United
States Department of Labor.
580076°— 44------ 2


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OTJR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

committees to work under the guidance of the State group. Be­
cause of the war emergency which soon made urgent demands upon
the time and effort of State and local leaders in the White House
Conference program, some of these committees have found it neces­
sary to merge their interests with committees engaged in emer­
gency activities in behalf o f children especially affected by wartime
conditions, and several have discontinued their work for the dura­
tion of the war.
In some States, on the other hand, wartime activities have given
an added incentive to the work of committees concerned with the
long-range program that see in the emergency a special need for
insuring the maintenance of standards of child care. These com­
mittees are continuing to keep before the citizens of the State the
principles set forth in the Conference recommendations, as a foun­
dation for a post-war child-welfare program. State White House
Conference Committees which have temporarily ceased active work
have stated that through participation of their members in com­
mittees concerned with children in wartime they will be continuing
to promote the purposes of the White House Conference, and some
of them have indicated that they hope to resume their long-range
programs when the war is over and the emergency agencies have
been discontinued.
The follow-up program of the Conference on Children in a
Democracy could not have taken root had it not been for the active
interest of National agencies and State-wide organizations con­
cerned with various aspects of family and child welfare, which
have kept the objectives of the Conference before the public and
have urged the need for translating the recommendations into State
and community action. Through publicity these organizations
have laid a broad foundation of Nation-wide understanding of the
standards essential to child health, education, and social welfare
in wartime as in normal times.

Program of Action for Children in Wartime
The Children’s Charter in Wartime, formulated by the Children’s
Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime in March 1942, begins
with these w ords:
We are in total war against the aggressor nations. We are fighting again
for human freedom and especially for the future of our children in a free world.
Children must be safeguarded— and they can be safeguarded— in the midst
of this total war so that they can live and share in that future. They must be
nourished, sheltered, and protected even in the stress of war production so that
they will be strong to carry forward a just and lasting peace.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN PEACE AND IN W AR

7

In August 1942 the Commission adopted a Program of State
Action for Our Children in Wartime, outlining 10 subjects which
should be given consideration by the States as war measures.7
The program includes health services so organized as to overcome
or compensate for overcrowding of existing health facilities and
shortages in medical and nursing personnel, and nutrition educa­
tion, school lunches, and low-cost milk in order to insure adequate
nourishing food for all children. In view of the possibility of
enemy attack, protection of children in danger zones and provision
for their safety constituted an essential part of the program. The
employment of mothers in war industries necessitates provision of
day care for their children. Also in the field of social service,
special assistance programs are advocated to meet wartime needs
of children in their own homes, community child-welfare and other
social services that will conserve home life for children and safe­
guard them from neglect and delinquency, and provision for the
care of children who because of war conditions must be separated
from their families.
Opportunities for recreation and mental-health services are seen
as measures which will help children and parents to overcome war­
time strain and insecurity and to make adjustments required by
war conditions. Emphasis is placed upon overcoming or compen­
sating for shortages of schools or teachers and assuring full school
opportunity for each child, and upon meeting the needs of the
Nation for participation of young people in war production while
having due regard fo f conservation of health and educational
opportunity for youth in accordance with the basic principles of
child-labor regulation.
The following suggestions were made by the Commission in
regard to organization for effective action:
1. Fixing responsibility for planning, coordination, and leadership on some
representative State group. Wherever practicable this group should be a com­
mittee or subcommittee of the council of defense, whose work should be prop­
erly related to the work of other defense-council committees including those
dealing with emergency and protective measures.
2. Inclusion in the State committee of representatives of State departments
of welfare, health, education, and labor, and of State-wide organizations con­
cerned with children; especially representatives of active State White House
Conference committees and other groups having a similarly broad purpose,
with provision for full cooperation with such groups.
3. Organization of a representative local committee, when practicable, as
part of the local defense council.
7For Our Children in Wartime— a Program of State Action Adopted August
28, 1942, by the Children’s Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime in con­
sultation with the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services and the Office
of Civilian Defense. Children’s Bureau. Washington, 1942.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

8

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

The U. S. Office of Civilian Defense and the Children’s Bureau
have collaborated in promoting tho development of State defensecouncil committees on children in wartime. More than half of the
State defense councils have organized such committees for action
along the lines suggested by the Commission. Notable progress
has been made in a number of States in organization of local com­
mittees which parallel the State committee in representativeness of
membership and scope of program, and which work under the
general guidance of the State group.
A publication prepared under the direction of the Children’s
Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime outlines “ Community
Action for Children in Wartime” 8 somewhat along the lines of the
earlier statement by the Commission in regard to State action.
Definite suggestions are made for action especially in communities
where war conditions have intensified certain problems:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

A well-baby clinic in every community.
Care for children of employed mothers.
School lunches.
Schooling for every child.
Play and recreation programs in every community.
Employment safeguards for every boy and girl.

A later publication9 is concerned with community programs for
the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency. This prob­
lem is “ inextricably bound up with all the factors in our social and
economic life,” and control of juvenile delinquency is recognized as
part of a complete program of community action, including:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Strengthening of resources needed by all children.
Protection of groups of children especially vulnerable to delinquency.
Control of harmful influences in the community.
Services for the delinquent child and the child with behavior problems.

Some community projects initiated as emergency measures will
not be needed when the war is over, or their need may be greatly
reduced. But problems such as juvenile delinquency, recognized
as particularly urgent because of war conditions, require the same
kind of coordinated community effort for prevention and control
in normal times as in timfes of special stress. Emergency measures
highlight services which will be essential for the protection of
children in post-war years.
8Community Action for Children in Wartime. Children’s Bureau Publica­
tion 295. Washington, 1943.
•
9Controlling Juvenile Delinquency; a community program. Children’s
Bureau Publication 301. Washington, 1943.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN PEACE AND IN WAR

9

Post-War Objectives
The long-range as well as the wartime objectives that have been
defined for the children of this Nation will be attained not through
declarations of ideals and principles but through effective action in
each State and in each community. Fulfillment of some of these
aims will require assistance by the Federal Government to enable
State and local units to provide essential resources for the health,
education, and social-welfare needs of children. In addition to
their direct responsibilities for child care and protection, safe­
guarding health, and promoting education, States have the impor­
tant task of providing leadership and financial aid to local units of
government. But it is upon the thousands of local communities
throughout the country that the chief responsibility rests for ini­
tiating and for carrying through the measures that are needed if
all their children are to be protected in their inherent rights to
the security of a home, health protection, and educational and
recreational opportunities.,
Security o f the H om e.

Secure family life is the background o f child welfare. Pro­
grams for social insurance, public assistance, and prevention of
unemployment, and for improving housing, safeguarding public
health, and making more generally available the essentials of an
American standard of living are being formulated as fundamental
parts of post-war planning. These are basic measures for the
protection of children. No ameliorative or child-caring activities
can compensate a child for the loss o f the security which he should
find in his home; no protective measures can make up to him for
malnourishment and insanitary living conditions in childhood.
Economic security which will make it possible for families,
wherever they may live and whatever may be their station in life,
to provide for their families in accordance with a decent standard
of American living is the first and by far the most important step
in preserving home life. The greatest cause o f child dependency—
broken homes— would be greatly reduced by various forms of social
insurance which lessen the burden upon families when the death
or disability o f the wage earner threatens the stability of the home.
Well-administered and adequate public assistance to families who
require such aid in order to give their children proper care is an
essential part of the program for family security.
For more than 30 years public aid to dependent children in their
own homes has been emphasized as a primary child-welfare meas­
ure, and within the past few years, through the Social Security Act,
great advance has been made in provision for children deprived of


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

10

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

parental support. The assistance given under this form of public
aid is still far from adequate in most o f the State and local units
of government, with respect to both the adequacy of family grants
and the proportion of children in each community in need of
such aid who are receiving assistance. Consideration should be
given to measures which would equalize Federal grants to States,
and State aid to local units, in accordance with the financial ability
of the State or the local unit to supply the necessary funds. With
the help of the State administrative agency, every community
should make a careful study of the need for aid to children in their
own homes, the extent to which the need is now being met, and the
strengths, the shortcomings, and the financial resources of the
responsible administrative agency, and should face the question of
how this form of assistance may be made a more effective instru­
ment in preserving home life in the post-war years.
Not only does conservation of home life for children require
these basic measures for supplying the essential means of main­
taining healthful living conditions, but there must also be available
the social services to assist families who need such help. Case-work
service by private and public family-welfare and child-welfare
agencies, homemaker service supplying a substitute for mothers
who because of illness or for some other reason cannot give their
children the necessary care, and psychiatric service by clinics help
parents to overcome difficulties threatening the home and to deal
with problems of child development and behavior.
Protection o f Child H ealth.

In order that the health of its citizens may be protected, States
have provided health services, supported in part through Federal
funds, to local units of government to assist them in making certain
types of medical care available. But the character of the health
program of the community depends upon the concern which the
county, city, village, or town itself has for the health and well-being
of its inhabitants. Every community has the responsibility of safeguarding the health of all its members through enforcement of
sanitary regulations, control of contagious diseases, and promotion
of adequate housing facilities. It is also the obligation of the
community to see to it that preventive and curative health services
and medical care are available to the entire population, to those
who are unable to pay for necessary services as well as to those
who are economically able to procure them.
The first essential of a well-rounded community program for the
protection of child health is a full-time local public-health service
organized on a county, city, or district basis and provided with
adequate funds and qualified staff.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN PEACE AND IN W AR

11

Health measures of primary importance to children which should
be available through services of qualified physicians, public-health
nurses, clinics, or hospitals include: 10
Medical and nursing care for all women during maternity and for all new­
born infants.
Supervision of the health and development of all infants and children at
stated intervals.
Health instruction in schools and health education of parents in methods of
conserving both physical and mental health.
Effective nutrition services.
Medical care when needed.

The cost of preventive services and medical care must be faced
squarely. Through a program o f education the public must be
brought to realize the vital importance o f the proposed health
measures and their relationship to family life and to education and
social welfare.
Educational Opportunity.

Equality of opportunity for education is the cornerstone of
democracy. The war emergency has brought into the foreground
many inequalities and shortcomings of educational systems now in
operation. Post-war education will be faced with many new
problems brought about by wartime shortages of teachers and in­
adequacy of funds required to maintain recognized standards of
buildings and equipment. But there will also have come a more
general understanding of the need- for making available to all
children, regardless of race or place of habitation, those opportuni­
ties which will give to every child the chance to grow into .a wellbalanced, useful citizen. Each State and each community must
meet this challenge in a realistic way.
Physical handicaps should not deprive children of academic
training and the chance to develop latent talents and abilities.
Special school facilities are essential for adequate training of
children who are blind or have defective vision, who are deaf or
hard of hearing, crippled, or unable to attend the regular classes
because of chronic illness. In order that they may become com­
munity assets and not liabilities, mentally deficient children should
receive suitable training up to the limit of their capacities. All too
few States and communities have assumed full responsibility for
the education o f those who are unable to share in the school pro­
grams of more fortunate children. The obligation for making
special training available to all children who need it rests with the
States as well as the local communities.
“ Qh^ldx^n in a Democracy, pp. 58—^9.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

12

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

The school careers of many children are impeded by emotional
problems or by home conditions, and early recognition and treat­
ment o f behavior difficulties is a measure of primary importance
in preventing delinquency and other maladjustments. Social serv­
ices should be provided within the school system or made available
to schools by clinics and social-welfare agencies.
Educational opportunity includes much more than provision of
primary and secondary schools and special training for those
equipped to profit by it. It means also making available to chil­
dren, and adults as well, the services of public libraries and the
instructive media which communities may offer through study
clubs, lectures, museums, and various forms of visual instruction.
Much that is thought o f primarily as recreation, such as boys’ and
girls’ clubs, “ scouting,” camping, and similar activities which help
to develop character and provide an outlet for individual interests
and talents should also be planned for because of its educational
values. A community program which is designed to provide full
educational opportunities to boys and girls should take into account
these means of mental as well as physical growth.
Conditions resulting from the war have emphasized the direct
relationship between the increasing problem of juvenile delin­
quency and the absence of adequate school facilities in communities
supplying war materials. Children are denied the fundamentals
o f an education and are left to roam the streets and follow their
own devices because enough schools have not been provided to
permit enrollment of all children of school age. Half-day sessions,
inadequate equipment, and a poorly paid and ill-equipped teaching
staff rob many children of the basic education which should be
guaranteed to every child. These conditions are in urgent need of
correction as wartime measures; in the post-war years every child
should have available schooling which will prepare him for respon­
sible citizenship.11
Safeguarding Employment o f Children and Y outh.

Protection against child labor is closely allied to the subject of
educational opportunity. So long as children and youth are com­
pelled by economic necessity to seek employment at an age when
they should be receiving an education, and so long as laws regulat­
ing child labor fail to provide essential protection, children will be
deprived of the schooling which is their due, and physically imma11See also Office of Education Leaflets No. 64, Planning Schools for Tomor­
row— The Issues Involved, and No. 66, Some Considerations in Educational
Planning for Urban Communities. U. S. Office of Education. Washington,
1943,


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN PEACE AND IN WAR

13

ture boys and girls will engage in work which not only stunts their
minds but may injure their bodies.
Greatly increased employment o f children has revealed weak­
nesses and gaps in child-labor protection in many States. Those
undertaking planning for post-war years should ascertain the sit­
uation in the particular State or community and make sure that
adequate child-labor standards are incorporated into law and that
provision is made for effective administration.
The community has a continuing responsibility for preventing
loss o f education and unsuitable employment that not only may
cause irreparable injury to youth now but may handicap them as
future citizens prepared to maintain security for the children of
post-war years. This responsibility extends to all the services that
relate to the child and his transition from school to work and that
depend on community support for their effectiveness— vocational
guidance, employment-certificate issuance, and placement services.
Consideration must be given also to employment and education
problems of youth that may arise in a post-war period o f restricted
employment opportunities. Boys and girls now in school should
be given a broad type of education that will enable them to qualify
for jobs in such a period. At the end of the war children who left
school prematurely because of war conditions should be encouraged
to complete their education, and young persons who cannot find
jobs should be offered further education and training and provided
with work opportunities— if necessary, under public auspices. The
years following the war should see a strengthening of child-labor
laws, both federally and in the States that do not now afford ade­
quate protection, and a quickening of community responsibility for
seeing that these laws are properly administered for the benefit
of youth.
Social Services for Children.

In all States the welfare department or some other department or
board of the State government has under its jurisdiction institu­
tions for juvenile delinquents and fo r mentally deficient children.
Schools for blind and for deaf children are also under State control,
and in many States institutions for dependent children or child­
placing activities for the care of these children are conducted by the
State welfare department. These institutions and agencies are
designed to give care and training to children who are peculiarly in
need of the protection of the State, but many of them do not have
sufficient financial support to permit good standards of equipment
and staff. The rising cost o f living and, in many cases, increasing
demands for service because of the war have made conditions even
more serious than they were in normal times.
580076°— 44----- 3


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

14

OUR CO NC ERN — EVERY CHILD

State institutions and agencies providing for care, treatment,
and training of children should be studied to ascertain whether
their service is of real benefit to the children. Appropriations made
available to the responsible department should be sufficient to
assure proper care of the State’s most needy children. Careful
consideration should be given to necessary expenditures for medi­
cal care, education, specialized training, and social service. Per­
sonnel requirements are o f the greatest importance in determining
appropriations needed for child-caring activities.
Laws relating to licensing and supervision of child-caring insti­
tutions and agencies, boarding homes, and maternity homes have
been enacted for the purpose of safeguarding children who must
be cared for away from their own homes. All too often protective
laws on the statute books are poorly enforced because of failure to
make available a sufficiently large staff of qualified workers to carry
out the purposes of the law. State departments should have a
constructive program of assistance to local public and private insti­
tutions and agencies in developing standards essential to the health
and welfare of the children under their care.
Increasingly during the past decade State welfare departments
have assumed a third function— aid to counties and other local
units in planning social services and such financial assistance as
will enable the communities to carry out these programs. Public
social services for children are inadequate or they are lacking alto­
gether in many local units because the State governments have not
made sufficient provision for financial aid and for leadership in
promoting these community services.
Planning for the welfare o f all children in need of special care
and protection calls for ascertaining whether the State department
responsible for the social welfare of children has enough funds and
enough qualified workers to give adequate service to the children
under direct care of the State, to exercise supervision of child­
caring agencies in such a way that children will be safeguarded,
and to assist Ideal communities in providing social services for
children and sharing the cost of these services.
The need for social services for children in every local community
was emphasized by the White House Conference on Children in a
Democracy :
Social services to children whose home conditions or individual difficulties
require special attention should be provided in every county or other appro­
priate area. * * * The local public-welfare department should be able
to provide all essential social services to children, either directly or through
utilizing the resources of other agencies. Public and private child-welfare
agencies should cooperate in a program which will assure the proper service
to every child in need. * * * Public child-welfare services should be


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN PEACE AND IN W AR

15

available to every child in need of such help without regard to legal residence,
economic status, race, or any consideration other than the child’s need.12

Local child-welfare services have been provided in many rural
counties and in a number of areas of special need through a pro­
gram in which the Federal, State, and local units of government
share the cost. In a few States such services have been made
available, mainly through State and local funds, on an almost
State-wide basis, but in most of the States only a small proportion
of counties are. equipped with adequate public services for children.
Through its public and private agencies every community should
have available case-work services to children in their own homes,
social services which may be utilized by the schools for prevention
of behavior problems, and mental-hygiene or child-guidance clinics
which are accessible to parents, schools, courts, and children’s
agencies. For the care of children who must be cared for away
from their own homes temporarily or for an extended period the
community should have, within its boundaries or easily accessible,
the various types of resources needed for foster care, for treatment
and training of physically handicapped children, for care of men­
tally deficient children, and for constructive treatment of children
who are delinquent. Provision of essential social services for all
children needing such services is one of the most definite and
urgent problems of post-war security for children.
State Action Through Legislation.

„

The child-welfare laws of a State reflect the concern of its citi­
zens for the welfare of children. Statutory provisions do not of
themselves create beneficial conditions; they define safeguards for
those who are in need of special protection, and they give authority
for administrative action by public agencies. Legislation which
concerns children directly or indirectly should be in harmony with
principles of child health, education, and social welfare recognized
as essential to the well-being of children.
Child-welfare standards cannot be translated into action unless
State and local agencies charged with safeguarding health, provid­
ing educational opportunities, and affording child care and protec­
tion are authorized by law to adopt policies and practices required
to achieve these ends, and unless adequate funds are made available
to them for carrying out these measures. The authority of State
law is required to protect children from neglect or abuse, to safe­
guard those who are cared for away from their parental homes, to
guard children against too early or hazardous employment, and to
insure wise treatment of juvenile offenders.
12Children in a Democracy, p. 64.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

16

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

The recommendation adopted by the 1919 Conference on Mini­
mum Standards for Child Welfare (commonly referred to as the
second White House Conference) is still applicable to the situation
in many States:
The child-welfare legislation of every State requires careful reconsideration
as a whole at reasonable intervals in order that necessary revision and coor­
dination may be made and that new provisions may be incorporated in harmony
with the best experience of the day. In States where children’s laws have not
had careful revision as a whole within recent years a child-welfare committee
or commission should be created for this purpose. Laws enacted by the several
States should be in line with national ideals and uniform so far as desirable
in view of diverse conditions in the several States. Child-welfare legislation
should be framed by those who are thoroughly familiar with the conditions
and needs of children and with administrative difficulties. It should be drafted
by a competent lawyer in such form as to accomplish the end desired by childwelfare experts and at the same time be consistent with existing laws.18

There is growing recognition of the desirability o f providing for
periodic review of legislation in the fields of child health, education,
and social services for children by an official body representative of
these interests in order that statutory provisions may be brought
into harmony with recognized standards o f care and protection
and with administrative needs. Constant vigilance is required to
keep pace with changing conditions which may necessitate new
controls. Legislation relating to wartime emergencies is a case in
point.14 Not only must legal provision be made for dealing with
conditions that require special safeguards, but such emergency
legislation should be reviewed when the emergency is over so that
its provisions will not stand in the way of progress toward a unified
body of laws conforming to the standards set for the care and
protection of children in the State.
Child-welfare legislation should be studied from the point of
view of the purposes to be attained through the specific proposals—
why certain regulations and types of provision are needed and
through what supervisory or administrative processes they may
be made effective. Legal definition of the responsibilities o f State
and local government agencies and the appropriations made avail­
able to them for carrying on these duties determine the character
of the services which can be provided' by these agencies.
It is not always practicable ta review the whole range of childwelfare legislation or to “ codify” all laws which relate to the
18Minimum Standards for Child Welfare Adopted by the Washington and
Regional Conferences on Child Welfare, 1919. Children’s Bureau Publication
62. Washington, 1920.
14 See Legislation for the Protection of Children in Wartime— Suggestions
Submitted by the Children’s Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime.
Children’s Bureau, Washington, January 1943.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN PEACE AND I N W AR

17

welfare o f children, but it is important that whatever phase of
legislation is dealt with shall be studied in conjunction with other
laws which may have a bearing upon the same .subject. For
example, laws designed for the. protection of children cared for
away from their own homes should be approached from the health
as well as the social-welfare point of view ; child-labor laws should
be related to laws on school attendance; legal provision for treat­
ment and training of physically handicapped children should take
into account the need for coordinated health, education, and socialwelfare activities in behalf of these children.
Legislative commissions officially created or committees working
under the auspices of State-wide organizations have reviewed and
revised child-welfare laws in a number of States during the past
few years. Even though a commission or committee may be con­
cerned with only a small area of the total field of legislation relat­
ing to children, it is essential that it shall have in mind the under­
lying philosophy and the accepted standards of child care and
protection. This has been facilitated in some States through col­
laboration between a State-wide committee concerned with a longrange program of health, education, social welfare, and related
areas o f service and an official commission on legislation. Com­
mittees of State conferences on social welfare and of health and
education organizations, as well as committees with a comprehen­
sive program o f child welfare, may perform a most useful function
by keeping in touch with the operation of protective legislation and
the need for revising existing laws so as to make them moré effec­
tive. The active interest of organizations concerned with the
welfare of children is needed especially in relation to appropria­
tions made available by State legislatures for administration o f
State departments, support of public institutions and agencies, and
assistance to local public-health, education, and social-welfare
departments.
All citizens of the State and its communities must be kept
informed of the reasons for legislative proposals. Without general
understanding of needs and objectives, desirable measures— even
though they may be enacted into law— may fall short o f the purpose
they were intended to serve. It is one thing to secure the passage
of a law and often quite another to assure its practical application
for the protection of children.
Certain basic principles of legislation are applicable in all States,
but the development of a unified body of child-welfare laws in any
State must take into account the need for specific types o f protec­
tion in that particular State and the extent to which laws on the
statute books afford the necessary safeguards; State laws relating
to children should be developed through a continuous process of


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

18

our

Co n c e r n —

e v e r y c h il d

keeping abreast of changing social and industrial conditions and
harmonizing statutory provisions with evolving standards of pro­
tection. Legislation is a means toward an end, not an end in itself.

Unified Approach to Child-Welfare Problems
The importance of unifying health, education, social-welfare,
and related interests in planning and in carrying out programs for
the welfare of children was stated with particular emphasis by the
White House Conference on Children in a Democracy. State and
local committees for follow-up o f the Conference recommendations
adhered to this principle, and defense-council committees on chil­
dren in wartime have also included representation of public and
private organizations concerned with the various phases o f the
welfare o f families and children. Joint planning and unified
action in behalf of children should be the cornerstone of programs
for the security of children in post-war years.
Unified approach to children’s problems not only means coordina­
tion of interests in planning a community program, but implies also
balanced development of all types of necessary resources. The
forms o f service for children are to a considerable degree interde­
pendent. Problems which may be dealt with primarily from the
point o f view of child health— or of education or of social welfare—
in many instances require also one or both o f the other types of
services. For example, a child needs treatment provided by a
health agency, but conditions in the home may be such that medical
care is not likely to be effective without some service by a social
agency. Likewise, a child may be losing out on schooling because
he lacks medical attention or because of emotional difficulties, or
he may leave school to go to work before he is intellectually or
physically equipped for work because his family does not receive
assistance which should be given by a social welfare agency.
During the past few years resources which have become available
through the Social Security Act have made it possible increasingly
to apply in practice the theory that conservation of home life is the
foundation of the welfare of children. Recognition of the impor­
tance to the individual child of conditions that affect the health and
economic security o f the entire family group has brought into closer
relationship agencies concerned with the welfare of families and
children.
Facilities for safeguarding mental and physical health are
needed by schools. Institutions and foster-care agencies must
have available the resources of health agencies. Measures for the
protection of children against injurious employment cannot be
effective unless educational opportunities are provided and school


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WELFARE OF CHILDREN IN PEACE AND I N W A R

19

attendance is enforced. The interrelationship of the various agen­
cies of the community is seen most clearly in dealing with a problem
such as juvenile delinquency, which demands the interplay of social
services for families and children, schools, health agencies,
churches, the court and law-enforcement agencies, recreation agen­
cies, and all other organizations which may contribute to preven­
tion and proper treatment.
Services available in the community should make it possible to
deal with a child as an “ indivisible whole,” in need of many kinds
of opportunities and safeguards, all of which operate together for
his physical, mental, emotional, and social development.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

State and Community Planning for the
Welfare of Children
Special Safeguards for Children in Wartime
Because of the war emergency, first consideration must be
given to the immediate necessity for protecting children from
wartime dangers. These needs are urgent and dramatic; they
call for a realistic approach and quick and effective action, but
emergency measures cannot be considered entirely apart from
conditions which affect the well-being of all children in the State
and its local communities.
The problems of children in wartime are for the most part the
same as child-welfare problems of normal times, intensified in cer­
tain areas by war conditions and seen in a clearer light because of
their relation to manpower needs and to the special urgency of
conserving the health and morale of the entire population. The
standards of health and child care, child-labor safeguards, and
other protections essential for children in normal times should be
maintained with special vigilance because o f the added pressures
upon families and children under wartime conditions.
Inadequate and insanitary housing is a serious hazard to the
heafth o f families in communities where war industries have
brought a sudden influx o f workers. Living conditions which
make normal home life difficult, absence of fathers for military
service, employment of mothers of young children, and night work
and unusual strain of parents employed in war industries under­
mine family life and endanger the well-being of children. Absence
of parental guidance, freedom from restraints, and lack of pro­
tection o f youth from dangerous influences in the community
create problems of juvenile delinquency. Relaxation of schoolattendance and child-labor laws, coupled with adolescent unrest,
permits boys and girls to leave school before they are physically
and mentally equipped for work. Unprecedented increases in
child labor and youth employment due to wartime demands have
increased manyfold the child-labor problems of normal years.
Problems such as these demand immediate action and must be dealt
with as war measures; they cannot await the procedures which
are necessary to obtain statutory or administrative changes in
normal times.
20


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y P L A N N IN G FOR WELFARE OF CHILDREN

21

The State has certain definite obligations to safeguard children
by providing the legal protections required because of wartime
conditions and enforcing with special care the laws on the statute
books designed for the protection o f children. But the greater
part o f the burden of child care and protection in wartime falls
upon the local communities throughout the State. In order to
assure the necessary safeguards in all areas where wartime meas­
ures may be required, State leadership and financial aid should be
available for communities in which the welfare of children is
threatened by conditions resulting from the war emergency.
Responsibility for developing and carrying out the necessary
program of action for children in wartime should be centered in
an officially created State committee representative of public and
private agencies land citizen interest in child health, education,
employment safeguards, and social welfare. A similarly consti­
tuted committee in each county, city, or other practicable local
unit should be the focal point through which citizen interest and
the concern of public and private agencies may be coordinated in
a program of action which has the support of the community.15
State and local committees on children in' wartime should have
available the expert guidance of persons with technical knowledge
and experience in dealing with the problems under consideration.
The primary importance of security o f home life and the basic
standards o f child health, education, and social welfare should be
borne in mind in planning for the care and protection o f children in
wartime. Even though some of the services which are needed
urgently as emergency measures may not be required after nor­
mal conditions have been restored, or though the need for them may
be greatly reduced, it is important that so far as possible special
wartime services shall be integrated with existing services in the
community and made a part of the total community program for
child welfare. When the war emergency is over, special vigilance
will be needed to see that the interests of children are served in
the transition from war to peace.
Out of the. experiences o f wartime there should come a better
understanding of the basic requirements o f a community program
in behalf of children and effective methods of coordinating serv­
ices to meet the individual needs of children. From the point of
view of the well-being of children, disruption o f home life is the
most serious hazard of wartime. The community must make all
possible efforts to deal with the many angles of this problem so
See Civilian War Services; an operating guide for local defense councils
(OCD Publication No. 3626, pp. 17-19; U. S. Office of Civilian Defense, Wash­
ington, August 1943) for statements on organization and functions of local
committees.
580076°— 44----- 4


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

22

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

as to prevent needless weakening of family ties or breaking up
of homes because of exigencies of war. This is the outstanding
challenge to wartime services for children.

Planning for the Post-War Years
Urgency of Immediate Action.

A plan for the future can be projected only upon the founda­
tion of what is happening to children here and now. Action as
well as planning must begin in the immediate present; it cannot
await the end of the war period. It is of the utmost importance
that Nation-wide attention be directed now to basic principles of
child health, education, empoyment safeguards, and social wel­
fare, and that those competent to evaluate needs and resources
review the extent to which these standards are put into practice
or can be set up as goals for State and community action. To this
end reports o f the 1940 White House Conference, standards based
on these reports, and recommendations for the extension of essen­
tial services should receive wide study.
During the past few months several reports have become avail­
able which deal with problems vitally important to the welfare
of children. Reports of the National Resources Planning Board
discuss fundamental issues of family security and the economic
basis of life in a democracy. The report prepared by Sir Wil­
liam Beveridge for the British Inter-departmental Committee on
Social Insurance and Allied Services deals with post-war prob­
lems of social security. The Final Report of the Conference on
Children in a Democracy gives a comprehensive and unified picture,
of American democracy as it is related to children. These docu­
ments16 provide a background for consideration of family and
child-welfare problems in every State and in every community of
the Nation.
Planning of measures required to safeguard the health, educa­
tion, and social welfare of children is especially urgent at this time
18Security, Work, and Relief Policies; report of the Committee on LongRange Work and Relief Policies to the National Resources Planning Board.
National Resources Planning Board, Washington, 1942. 640 pp. $2.25.
National Resources Development. Report for 1943— Part I. Post-War
Plan and Program. National Resources Planning Board, Washington, 1943.
81 pp. 25 cents.
Social Insurance and Allied Services, by Sir William Beveridge. American
edition published by Macmillan Co., New York. 1942. 299 pp. $1.
White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, January 18-20,1940—
Final Report. Children’s Bureau Publication 272. Washington, 1943. 392 pp.
65 cents.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y P LA N N IN G FOR WELFARE OF CHILDREN

23

when a national emergency has emphasized the vital importance
of assuring to all children the opportunities which should be their
birthright as citizens of the United States. Not only do crises
such as the economic depression of the 1930’s and the present war­
time emergency throw a spotlight upon conditions which neces­
sitate radical action, but they open the way to a rethinking of the
fundamental values which should be protected by the Federal,
State, and local governments and by those voluntary organizations
which have a part in building the community structure. Atten­
tion is focused upon the need of families and individuals for secur­
ity and equality of opportunity; lines dividing the various fields
of concern for human welfare tend to disappear; and it becomes
easier to secure a unified approach to the problems of the family
as a whole and to the total needs of individual children.
Review o f C hild-W elfare Needs.

In every State and in every community there is need for a pro­
gram of action based upon comprehensive review of conditions
surrounding childhood. (See Outlines for Review of Conditions
and Services Affecting Children— State and Community, pp. 31-74,
Laws and administrative procedures will have little influence upon
the lives of children unless conditions throughout the State afford
security to individual children. The citizens of each of the thou­
sands of communities comprising the United States have in their
hands the power to make the National, State, and local programs
really mean something to children. They are the ones who must
see the vision of a safer and happier childhood as the first line of
defense for our democracy.
The White House Conference on Children in a Democracy con­
structed the framework of a program through which progress
may be made toward the goals of more secure family life and avail­
ability to all children of the opportunities implied in the democratic
idqals of our country. It is a long-range program and one which
requires planned action in each State and in each community. The
recommendations of the Conference are focused upon the funda­
mental importance of the family home. They emphasize the in­
terrelated responsibilities of public and private agencies con­
cerned with health, labor, housing, education, recreation, library
service, religious training, and social welfare. They stress the
need for State leadership and assistance in developing adequate
services in local units, and hold that to a certain extent Federal
action will be require to help provide necessary services because
the States and local communities differ so greatly in their financial,
ability.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

24

OUR CONCERN-----EVERY CHILD

H ow D oes Y our State Futfill Its Responsibilities to Children?

The responsibility of the State as the ultimate guardian of the
well-being o f its citizens has been written into State constitutions
and is the basis of legislation in the fields of health, education, and
social welfare. During the past decade new responsibilities have
been assumed by State governments for assistance to families and
individuals in need, and State and local governments have collab­
orated in administering these measures. Provision for education
and for maternal and child-health services has been extended, and
social services for children and aid to crippled children have been
developed in areas where .services of this kind were unknown
before. Much of this progress has been due to the cooperation
of the Federal Government with the States under various Fed­
eral-aid programs. But there are many gaps in State and local
aid for families and children who need health and social services,
and throughout many States assistance to needy families is seri­
ously inadequate for the conservation of normal home life. In
many sections of the country, especially in rural areas, educational
opportunity falls far short of an acceptable minimum for prep­
aration for responsible citizenship in a democracy. Employment
at too early an age and harmful conditions of employment for
children and young persons are other factors that often retard or
make impossible the best development of the growing generation.
New realization of public responsibility for safeguarding chil­
dren serves to emphasize the need for review of laws and admin­
istrative practices. There must also be consideration of the extent
to which financial resources are available for essential services
by State agencies and for State aid to local units. Services can­
not be improved and expanded so as to make them available to
children wherever they may live and whatever their needs may
be unless the necessary funds are provided. The wartime emer­
gency increases the importance of maintaining and extending the
gains which have been made in resources for the care and protec­
tion of children and places upon States added obligation to conserve
family life and to safeguard childhood.
State-wide review of conditions affecting the health and well­
being o f children and the opportunities open to them during the
period of growth from infancy to maturity requires careful plan­
ning by a State organization responsible for a long-range program
of action projected into post-war years.
H ow D oes Y our Com m unity Serve Its Children?

The goals set by the White House Conference on Children in a
Democracy will be attained only when there is a sincere desire
on the part of citizens of each community to obtain for children


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y P L A N N IN G FOR WELFARE OF CHILDREN

25

those opportunities for healthful development which should be
assured to every American child. Whether he lives in a large
urban center, a small city, a village, or a rural town, the life of
the child is influenced by his community environment. The char­
acter o f his home, the standard of living of the family, and the
health of its members are largely dependent upon conditions in
the community. If children are to have a fair chance, the agen­
cies entrusted with responsibilities in the fields of health, educa­
tion, employment, recreation, and social services, organizations
fostering religious and cultural activities, and citizens who have
the welfare of children at heart must share in the planning of
a community program which has as its slogan “ Our Concern—Every Child.”
The recommendations of the White House Conference on Chil­
dren in a Democracy provide a measuring rod for determining
whether the children in the community have a fair chance
to develop characteristics essential to the democratic way of life.
Obviously, in the wartime emergency, the first thing to do in re­
viewing the situation in a community is to study what is being
done for children now— how far the needs o f children are being
met in the war period and what is being neglected. (See Outlines
for State and Community Action to Protect Children in Wartime,
pp. 75-79.)
Review o f ;a community’s assets and liabilities in terms of child
welfare should answer these questions:
What resources does it afford for building a happy healthy
childhood?
Are these resources available for all children?
What conditions in the community may lead to stunted char­
acter, injury to health, or social maladjustment?
Whjat needs to be done to make the community a better place
for children?
Committees Planning Long-Range Programs o f Action.
T he Central State Com m ittee.

After the 1940 Conference on Children in a Democracy longrange child-welfare programs were initiated in a number of States
and communities by committees promoting follow-up o f the Con­
ference recommendations. These committees usually were
created through official action, with a membership broadly repre­
sentative o f public and private agencies and citizen interest in the
various fields o f concern for children. It has been noted in an
earlier section that the activities of many o f these committees
have changed their emphasis or have been suspended temporarily

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

26

O tm CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

because of urgent needs of wartime activities* In States where
a White House Conference Committee or a citizens committee or
Council is now active, or where such a committee anticipates resum­
ing a broad child-welfare program, this committee will probably
be the logical group for long-range planning projected into the
post-war years.
In some States no committee was organized especially for fol­
low-up of the recommendations of the White House Conference
because there was already in existence a State-wide organization
whose program included a broad range of child-welfare interests
or whose functions might be broadened so that it could become the
logical organization to give leadership in planning for the welfare
of all children in the State. Where it is not practicable to expand
some existing organization so that it will include representation
of all essential areas of service, it may be found desirable to coor­
dinate the activities of State-wide organizations concerned with
child health, education, and social welfare through a central plan­
ning committee which will unify their activities and guard against
omission of interests which should be included in a complete childwelfare program for the State.
In some States where a recognized State-wide committee has not
already been active in planning a long-range child-welfare pro­
gram, the State defense-council committee on children in wartime
may be the logical group to be developed into a representative com­
mittee for long-range planning when the immediate urgencies of
the wartime program permit such extension of interest.
The principle which should guide organization of State-wide
committees concerned with children was utilized by State White
House Conference committees. Activities projected by these com­
mittees included the entire range of the recommendations of the
White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, and their
membership therefore represented the various interests concerned.
Composition of committees will necessarily differ in the various
States, but it is essential to have representation of at least the fol­
lowing agencies: State departments of health, education, social
welfare, and labor, and such other departments or commissions
as may exist in the State; State-wide agencies under private aus­
pices in the fields of health, education, labor, housing, library serv­
ice, recreation, and social welfare of families and children; State
or regional branches of national agencies and organizations con­
cerned with various aspects of child life. The committee mem­
bership should also include some representation of outstanding
local organizations and citizens whose first-hand knowledge of com­
munity needs and resources will help to integrate local planning
and action with the State-wide program. The size of the State

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y P L A N N IN G FOR WELFARE OF CHILDREN

27

committee will of course depend upon the variety of interests
which should be represented in the particular State. If neces­
sary, smaller working groups may be formed for consideration of
particular problems.
It should be the function of the State committee not only to
review the situation as it relates to the agencies of State govern­
ment and resources made available through voluntary organiza­
tions and to formulate objectives of State-wide action, but to pro­
vide practical assistance to localities in organizing community
programs. It is therefore essential that the State committee hjave
available in its own set-up or through the collaboration o f other
organizations an adequate staff of workers qualified to assist local
committees in planning review of community needs and resources
and in developing and carrying out the necessary plan of action.
T he Com m unity Com m ittee.

,

In cities and other local areas planning should be done by a cen­
tral committee whose membership is representative of the com­
munity’s concern for the welfare of children and which is defi­
nitely related to the group responsible for central State-wide
planning. It should be the function of this committee to plan the
program, to coordinate activities of existing community agencies,
and to work for the creation of such new facilities as may be needed
in order to carry out the program. Operation of services should
be the function, of properly constituted public and private
community agencies.
Unification of child-welfare interests is even more important
in local communities than at the State level. In some cities the
welfare federation or council of social agencies may be sufficiently
broad in its representation of community interests to be the nat­
ural center for community planning. In cities where this organi­
zation is too limited in scope to assume responsibility for the
development of a broad community plan of action in behalf of
children a representative committee should be organized in a man­
ner which will assure its acceptance by the community as the center
for planning a coordinated child-welfare program. In some cities
a coordinating council created to deal with a particular problem
may be expanded to cover the broad field. Where a local commit­
tee has been organized as a part o f a State-wide plan for follow­
up of the White House Conference recommendations, this group
may be the one which should be responsible for developing the
community program for post-war years, or a defense-council com­
mittee on children in wartime, such as is now active in many
communities, may be the logical nucleus of the group which will
be concerned with long-range planning.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

28

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

Planning a program of community action involves first of all
utilizing the experiences in dealing with human problems which
have accumulated during the vital years of the immediate past.
Membership of the committee responsible for developing the pro­
gram should therefore include men and women who have taken
an active part in community services during the depression and
the wartime years, as well as persons whose professional equip­
ment will make available to the committee guidance in the various
fields in which technical knowledge is essential to the development
of a sound program.
The committee which is to coordinate community interest in the
welfare of children should include representation of : Public-health
and social-welfare administration and the school system; familywelfare and child-caring and protective agencies under private aus­
pices; the juvenile court and law-enforcement agencies; church
groups ; racial groups ; libraries ; recreational and youth-serving
agencies ; labor and employer interests ; housing agencies and farm
organizations; civic clubs, the parent-teacher association, and
similar organizations of men and women concerned with various
aspects of community life. Citizen interest should receive expres­
sion through membership on the committee of men and women
who have roots in the community and who therefore have a long­
time and continuing concern for the welfare o f families and chil­
dren in the community.
Responsibility for the activities of the committee should be
lodged in a chairman who has the necessary qualities of leadership
and can devote sufficient time to the task. In order to facilitate
action it may be desirable to have an executive committee as well
as small working committees selected from the entire membership
to deal with various phases of the program.
Community review and action should be planned in harmony
with the program developed by the central State committee respon­
sible for the State-wide plan and with its advice and assistance,
so that the work in the various local areas may make a contribu­
tion to the State-wide program as well as provide a basis for local
action. There should be unification of plans for studies within
different areas of a county as well as integration o f community
and county-wide programs with the central State plan in order
to conserve effort and give strength to the program of action in
behalf of children.
“ Community,” as here used, may mean a county, town, city, or
other defined area. Just as the laws and administrative provisions
of the State government determine to a large extent the fiscal and
administrative situation in each local unit of government, so in
most States the administration of county affairs in the fields of

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y P LA N N IN G FOR WELFARE OF CHILDREN

29

health, education, and social welfare is of immediate concern to
the towns, cities, boroughs, or villages within the county. There­
fore, if it is not practicable to include the county in its entirety
in a community study, certain aspects of county government
and resources must be considered in relation to conditions in the
particular locality.
Wartime experience in cooperative planning by public and pri­
vate organizations (and by citizens who have a continuing concern
for the children of their State and community, and the first-hand
knowledge of child-welfare needs gained by the great numbers of
men and women who have participated in volunteer services, hold
the promise of a program for the post-war years which will focus
attention upon children as individuals whose welfare is vital to
the State and the community.
M aking the Program K now n to the General Public.

Informed public opinion is essential to the success of State or
community programs of action. Proposals by committees desig­
nated to formulate programs for the welfare of children are not
likely to be accepted unless there is general understanding and
approval of these measures, whether they relate to legislation,
administration by health, education, or social-service agencies, or
provision of other forms of child care and protection. Represen­
tation on the planning committee of the various fields of interest
will, of course, spread knowledge of the objectives of the commit­
tee’s program, but the general public must be made aware of the
problems which demand attention and must understand the rea­
sons why the recommended action is needed to safeguard children.
Perhaps the most effective means of bringing this information
to the attention of citizens of the community is through the medium
of civic organizations, clubs, and discussion and study groups. In
order to avoid duplication of effort and undue emphasis upon prob­
lems in one field of child welfare to the exclusion of others which
call for equal or greater consideration, these groups should coor­
dinate their activities with plans o f the central planning com­
mittee. Local organizations of this kind can be of great service
in spreading knowledge of child-welfare needs of children and they
can help to secure legal and administrative action which will
safeguard the children of the community.
After the 1940 Conference on Children in a Democracy many
national agencies concerned with the problems dealt with by the
Conference gave notable service in promoting follow-up of the rec­
ommendations through various forms of publicity. Especially
580076°— 44— =-5


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

30

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

important was the work of certain National organizations with
State and local branches or affiliates who not only distributed infor­
mation regarding’the objectives of the Conference but who planned
special study outlines for the use of their local associations. Inter­
est in wartime problems of children has been fostered by these
organizations in the same way and they are already pioneering in
promoting understanding of problems of post-war planning.
Regional and State organizations affiliated with National agen­
cies and State conferences and associations concerned with health,
education, social welfare, labor, recreation, and other phases of
State and community programs can be of very great assistance to
State and local committees through well-planned campaigns of
publicity to acquaint their members and the general public with
the needs of children and the purposes of programs looking toward
greater security for children.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Outlines for Review of Conditions and
Services Affecting Children—State
and Community17
Use of the Outlines
Especially in times such as these, State and community review
of conditions affecting child life should have the definite aim of
securing action where action is needed. The following outlines
for review of needs and resources have as their basis the standards
of child health, education, and social welfare developed by the
White House Conference on Children in a Democracy and they
should be used in connection with these criteria of services for
children. (See list of White House Conference reports given in
footnote 1, p. 2.)
The outlines were planned originally to serve as guides to prac­
tical interpretation o f the recommendations of the Conference on
Children in a Democracy. The preliminary edition, issued in mim­
eographed form in June 1941 and distributed mainly to State White
House Conference committees, brought evidence of widespread
interest in material of this kind by many types of organizations
concerned with children. The war emergency has greatly in­
creased the demand for outlines which may be used by State and
local defense-council committees on children in wartime and by
civic clubs and other community groups. National agencies and
their State and local branches, as well as State and community
committees with a long-range program of action, have already
begun to think in terms of services needed for the proper care and
protection of children in post-war years. It appears evident that
in the months to come many States and communities will wish to
develop fairly detailed review of their needs and resources in order
to project plans for expansion of services for children in the post­
war period so that all families and children may have access to the
essentials of health, educational development, and social welfare.
It is obviously impossible to. project outlines which will be appli­
cable to the situation in each of the 52 State and Territorial juris1TSee Outlines for State and Community Action To Protect Children in War­
time, pp. 75-79.
31


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUR CONCERN'— EVERY CHILD

32

dictions and the several thousand local communities differing
widely in population, social and economic conditions, and statutory
provisions. It will, therefore, be necessary to adapt the items
to the conditions and the programs in each State or community.
A more comprehensive plan for obtaining factual data may be
found desirable in some States and local communities, and more
detailed items will be needed for subjects to be given intensive
study.
As a framework for its activities the responsible State or local
committee should draw up a statement of the aims of the longrange program for the security of children in post-war years. It
may be necessary to consider first certain needs which demand
immediate attention and to place major emphasis upon topics of
particular and timely interest, deferring other subjects until these
matters have been dealt with. Urgent needs of wartime should,
of course, receive first attention. But even though the program
may have to be dealt with piecemeal and ground gained in what­
ever area of need may be practicable from a realistic and oppor­
tunistic point of view, activities should be fitted into the whole
pattern in order that there may be steady progress toward the
objective of greater security for children. The structure must be
built up story upon story and room by room, with the general archi­
tectural plan in mind. Unless the various parts are interrelated,
the result will be omission of some important features and over­
emphasis of others.
In planning review of conditions affecting children, it must not
be forgotten that family welfare is the foundation of the welfare
of children and that a secure structure for children cannot be built
unless basic economic and social opportunities are available in the
community. A program concerned with the various aspects of
child welfare cannot be a thing apart from the approach to basic
problems of human welfare. The committee planning a State
or community program centered around the child must relate its
program to efforts being made to meet economic and social needs
of families.

Scope and Method of Inquiry 18
State and local committees undertaking review of child-welfare
needs and resources should determine as early as possible what
phases of the problem are to be studied within the near future,
and definite arrangements should be made for division of respon18 See pp. 75-79 for suggested outlines relating to special safeguards for chil­
dren in wartime.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

33

sibility for obtaining information and preparing reports relating
to various topics. Constructive studies are possible only if quali­
fied leadership is available in the different fields to be covered.
Such leadership should come from persons with broad experience
in the work of public or private agencies and organizations con­
cerned with health, education, social service, or other subjects to
be included. Responsibility for planning and for integrating re­
ports relating to various fields should be centered in one committee
or in a single competent individual.
For most of the sections of the State outlines the chief sources
of information will be the State departments of health, education,
labor, and welfare. Other sources from which information and
assistance may be obtained by the State committee include State
housing authorities, department of taxation, employment service,
civil-service commission, State defense council, and universities
and colleges. State-wide professional and lay organizations under
private auspices will also have important contributions to make
to the study.
Publications of agencies of the Federal Government pertaining
to various topics in the State and community outlines may be found
in libraries, or may be obtained from the Superintendent of Docu­
ments, Washington 25, D. C., or from the agencies issuing them.
Information may also be obtained from national organizations
whose work relates to subjects covered by the outlines.
The way in which the community outlines can be used will depend
upon the facilities of the community group responsible for the pro­
gram and the leadership available. The local committee should
secure the aid of persons who have special knowledge of conditions
affecting children and o f community resources. If intensive
studies are to be made in any field it will be necessary to plan much
more detailed inquiries than are indicated in the suggested outlines.
Reports of State and local departments of health, education, labor,
and social welfare, and other agencies under public and private
auspices will constitute primary sources of information in regard
to community conditions. It is not desirable to gather first-hand
factual material except as it can be interpreted by someone with
a knowledge of the particular field, nor should data be collected
at first hand if they can be made available to the local committee
by the central State committee or obtained from State departments
of health, education, labor, or social welfare or other State-wide
organizations.
A word of warning may be needed to guard against unrelated
community “ surveys.” Study vand discussion groups planning
consideration of certain phases of community needs and resources
should ascertain whether a representative committee has under
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

34

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

taken review of conditions affecting children in the community
with a view of formulating a program of action" If there is such
a committee the group should fit its efforts into this program. In
adapting the outlines to club programs or study plans it is desir­
able that advice and assistance be obtained from persons who can
interpret the problems under consideration and who have first­
hand knowledge of State and community conditions. Such assist­
ance may be obtained from State and local public agencies and
from privately supported organizations in the various fields of
interest.
In communities in which there is not already available a direc­
tory of social-service agencies, health agencies, and other activi­
ties which constitute the community’s resources for services to
families and children, it may be advantageous to arrange for such
a descriptive listing as an initial step in studying the ways in which
the needs of children are now being met and to ascertain gaps in
essential services. The existence of an organization with a given
purpose does not necessarily imply that the needs are being met,
as to either quantity or quality of service. Intensive study of the
equipment of each agency and the way in which it fits into the
whole community picture is needed, but such a technical study
should be made only by persons professionally equipped to evaluate
services in the various fields. A descriptive directory of organi­
zations available in the community for various forms of services
to children will, however, serve a useful purpose. A suggested
outline for an inventory of community organizations will be found
on pages 80-84 of this report.

Safeguards of Family Life
[.Children in a Democracy, pp. 10-31, 67-74. Preliminary Statements Submitted
to the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, pp. 1-85, 243-257.
Standards of Child Health, Education, and Social Welfare, pp. 1-2, 19.]

The central theme o f the White House Conference on Children
in a Democracy was the dependence of the welfare of children upon
the welfare of the family of which they are members. Everything
that affects, for good or for ill, the well-being of the family unit
and the integrity of the home has a direct bearing upon the for­
tunes of individual children. The recommendations adopted by
the Conference are built around this conception of the family as
the “ threshold of democracy.”
In spite of the great changes which have occurred in family life, espe­
cially in cities, there is still no more far-reaching educational institution
than the family. It can be a school* for the democratic life, if we make it
so. * * * Giving the child food, shelter, and material security in


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

35

general is a primary task of the family. In the family there is oppor­
tunity also to teach the elements of personal hygiene, health, and the pre­
vention of disease. * * * Less conspicuous but more important by
far is what the child acquires through the family in regard to his relations
with his fellows. Standards of conduct may be formed by fear or by
example; they may be enforced by authority or by persuasion. It is in
the relations of members of the family to one another that the quality of
the American democratic way may find opportunity for its most con­
spicuous realization.
The child, whether in the family, the school, the church, or leisure-time
activities, needs to have a personal appreciation of ethical values con­
sistent with a developing philosophy of life. Increasingly as he matures,
he needs to see life whole and in its complex relationships. Here the potent
influence of religion can give the child a conviction of the intrinsic Worth
of persons and also assurances that he has a significant and secure place
in an ordered universe. * * * The primary responsibility for the
religious development of the child rests upon the parents. In the family
he is first introduced to his religious inheritance as he is introduced to his
mother tongue. Here the foundations are laid for the moral standards
that are designed to guide his conduct through life. * * * Responsi­
bility for the religious growth of children and youth is shared by the church
and other social organizations that are concerned with their guidance.
(Children in a Democracy, pp. 10-11, 29.)

Definite criteria cannot be used to measure the content o f family
life and the way in which experiences in the home influence the
formation of character and affect the individual’s relation to
society. Conference recommendations suggest, rather, the things
that should come out o f wholesome family life.
Education in the essentials of child care and training and in
homemaking which will help to raise the level of family life is
needed by families in all economic levels. Directed group discus­
sion of parental responsibilities and evaluation by families them­
selves of the way in which their homes are preparing their chil­
dren for life and instilling democratic principles may well be a
part of a plan for review of community child-welfare conditions.

Conserving the Health of Children 19
[Children in a Democracy, pp. 51-61, 67-74. Preliminary Statements Submitted
to the White House Conference on Children in a' Democracy, pp. 163-206.20
Standards of Child Health, Education, and Social Welfare, pp. $-7.]
The health and well-being of children depend to a large extent upon the
health of all the members of their families. Preventive and curative
19This outline was prepared in the Division of Research in Child Develop­
ment and the Division of Health Services of the Children’s Bureau.
20Reprints of this section of the report— Health and Medical Care for Chil­
dren—are available from the Children’s Bureau upon request.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

36

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

health service and medical care should be made available to the entire
population, rural and urban, in all parts of the country. A considerable
portion of the population is able to obtain from its own resources all or
part of the necessary medical service. Another large section of the popu­
lation, however, consists of families whose incomes are below the level
at which they can reasonably be expected to budget all the varying costs
of illness without interfering with the provision of other items essential
to the family’s health and welfare; for these there should be available ade­
quately supervised medical and dental care through a program financed by
general tax funds, social-insurance systems, or such combination of
methods as may be best suited to local conditions. 0Children in a Democ­
racy, pp. 57-58.)
S T A T E O U TL IN E

Health of Mothers and Infants.

1. During the last calendar year for which figures are avail­
able—
How many children were bom in the State? Is this an
increase over the previous year?
What was the maternal mortality rate? How many States
have a lower rate ? Has there been a decrease over the past
5 years ? How much ?
What was the infant mortality rate? How many States
have a lower rate? Has there been a decrease over the past
5 years? How much?
Are the maternal and infant mortality rates in your State
higher for some racial groups than others?
2. Are studies being made to determiné the causes and preventability of maternal and infant deaths?
3. How many mothers were delivered by physicians in hospitals ?
By physicians at home ? By midwives ? By others ?
4. Are crippling conditions reported on birth certificates ? What
is being done about follow-up?
M ajor Public-Health Problems Affecting Children.

1. What are the major causes of death in each of the following
age groups:
Under 1 month?
Under 1 year?
1-4 years?
5-9 years?
10-14 years?
15-19 years?
What measures are being taken to prevent these deaths?
2. Are there other diseases which in the opinion of the State
health officer deserve early consideration because of their increase
or potential increase in wartime, or because newer methods make
their control possible?
3. What percentage of the children in your State are immunized
against diphtheria and smallpox? Describe State and local pro­
grams for diphtheria immunization and smallpox vaccination.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

37

4. Does the State have laws covering—
Premarital medical examinations ?
Blood tests for pregnant women ?
Silver-nitrate treatment for the eyes of newborn infants?
Smallpox vaccination for children ?
State and Local Public-Health Organization.

1. What staff in the State health department is responsible for
stimulating the organization of local health units ? Does the State
department have health districts covering the State?
2. Which counties have full-time county health units?21 In
addition, how many cities or towns have full-time health units?
What proportion of the area of the State does not have full-time
local public-health service? What proportion of the population
is not so covered ?
3. Federal grants to State during the last fiscal year and
amounts approved for the current fiscal year under—
Social Security A c t: Title VI for public-health w ork;
Title V for maternal and child-health
services;
for services for crippled chil­
dren.
Venereal-disease act.
Defense appropriations for public-health services;
for training nurses.
Defense appropriations for emergency maternity and infant
care for the wives and infants of enlisted men.
4. State appropriations or budget allotments for current fiscal
year or biennium.
Total for State health department—
For maternal and child-health division.
For division of public-health nursing.
For dental-hygiene division.
For communicable-disease division.
For services for crippled children.
For vital-statistics division.
For health education (if separate division).
21
“ It is assumed that by units of full-time local health service are meant
departments of health of single or several counties or districts which are
administered by a health officer devoting his entire time to such public employ­
ment, with accessory nursing, sanitary, and other personnel in proportion to
the population and area involved. * * *.
“ For administrative efficiency and economy, a full-time local medical health
officer should be employed for population units of not less than approximately
50,000 each.- * * *
“ One public-health nurse for health-department purposes to each 5,000 of
the population. In each unit of 50,000 population, at least one of the publichealth nurses should be of supervisory grade.” (Units of Local Health Serv­
ice for All States. Progress Report, approved by the Committee on Admin­
istrative Practice, American Public Health Association, from American Jour­
nal of Public Health, April 1943.)
580076°— 44------ 6


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

38

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

5. What funds, Federal and State, are available for grants to
local health departments ? How is this aid apportioned to the local
units ? Does State aid go to each county or city health department ?
6. Does the State by law or administrative regulation provide
for the appointment of local health-department personnel on a
merit basis ? Is legal residence in the State a prerequisite for such
appointments ?
Maternal and Child-Health Services.

1. Describe the functions and list the staif of the maternal and
child-health division of the State health department by title and
number employed of each type.
2. What are the principal activities under the State maternal
and child-health plan ?
3. What other divisions.in the State health department partici­
pate in the maternal and child-health program?
4. Describe the program of the maternal and child-health divi­
sion for the postgraduate education of practicing physicians, den­
tists, nurses, and other health workers.
5. What consultants does the division provide to aid county and
local health departments in the development of health services for
mothers, including conduct of prenatal clinics, home nursing visits,
group instruction, supervision of midwives, supervision of mater­
nity hospitals and homes?
6. What counties have prenatal clinics held at least once a
month? Will any mother need to travel more than 30 miles to
reach such a clinic? What percentage of women who had babies
in the last calendar year received care in the prenatal clinics ?
7. Which county or city health departments have bedside-nurs­
ing programs including home-delivery nursing service?
8. What consultants does the State maternal and child-health
division provide to aid county and local health departments in the
development of health services for children, including conduct of
child-health conferences, home-nursing visits, group education of
mothers and fathers, school health service and nutrition, dental,
and mental-hygiene programs?
9. What counties have child-health conferences conducted by a
physician and held once a month or oftener? Would any mother
need to travel more than 30 miles to reach such a clinic? What
percentage of the children under 1 year are given health super­
vision in such clinics? of the children 1-4 years?
10. What responsibility does the State health department have
for the health program for school children? What responsibility
does the State department of education have? Is there an agree­
ment between the two departments on how health and school au­
thorities will cooperate on this program ?
11. What is the State maternal and child-health division’s plan
for health services for elementary-school children? for secondaryschool children ? for young workers ?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

39

12.
Which county or city health departments have medical-care
programs for sick children?
Public-Health-Nursing Service.

1. Is there a division or unit of public-health nursing in the State
department of health? List the nurses on its staff by title and
give the number of each type. Is there a special consultant nurse
for maternal and child-health services ?
2. Chart on State map the counties that have public-health
nurses employed by the county public-health departments. Which
counties have a ratio of 1 nurse to 5,000 population or less?
3. What are the State qualifications for appointment to county
public-health-nursing positions ?
4. List the cities and towns that have publicly supported or pri­
vately supported public-health-nursing service (in addition to
county public-health-nursing service).
5. Describe plans for using volunteer or auxiliary workers to .
assist in public-health-nursing programs.
Nutrition.

1. Describe the nutrition activities of the State department
of health. How many nutrition consultants are there in the ma­
ternal and child-health division or other divisions who advise local
health departments on their nutrition activities ?
2. What nutrition programs other than services through ma­
ternal and child-health divisions contribute to the health of moth­
ers and children ? How are these coordinated ?
3. Describe ways in which health, welfare, and educational pro­
grams are contributing to better nutrition of expectant and nurs­
ing mothers, infants, preschool children, children of school age,
and out-of-school youth.
4. Is there provision for State-wide supervision of school-lunch
progams by one or more individuals specially trained in meeting
food needs of children in groups ? Do existing school laws need to
be modified to permit use of State funds in connection with school
lunches ?
Dental Hygiene.

1. Is there a dental division or unit within the administrative
framework of the health department?
2. List dental staff and describe functions.
3. What are principal activities of the dental division?
4. What proportion of time is devoted to—
a. Dental health education.
b. Dental inspection.
c. Dental care:
(1) Preschool children.
(2) Mothers.
(3) School children,

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

40

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

Health Education.

1. Who in your health department is responsible for handling
health education? Has this person had training in health
education?
2. Is there coordination of all health education?
3. List members of staff and functions.
Services for Crippled Children.

1. In what State department is the State crippled children’s
agency?
2. List by title the professional staff of the State crippled chil­
dren’s division or agency.
3. By what means does the State crippled children’s division or
agency locate crippled children?
4. How does the State agency provide diagnostic service: At
permanent clinic centers? By means of itinerant clinics sent to
various sections of the State ?
5. How many names are on the State register of crippled chil­
dren? Has a thorough canvass of the State been made?
6. Has the State crippled children’s agency prescribed standard's
for the selection of physicians and surgeons who treat crippled
children? For the hospitals and convalescent homes to which
crippled children are sent?
7. What aftercare services are provided for children who leave
the hospital? How are these planned and supervised? Are con­
valescent facilities adequate?
8. What services are provided for children who do not need to
be hospitalized ?
9. For what types of crippling conditions are special services
provided; e. g., children with spastic paralysis or rheumatic fever,
and so forth?
10. How many admissions were there to diagnostic and treat­
ment clinics during the last calendar year? How many admis­
sions to hospitals ?
11. How does the State crippled children’s agency use the serv­
ices of local voluntary groups and agencies?
12. What effort is being made after treatments to provide voca­
tional training and job placement for physically handicapped youth
of employable ages ?
General M edical Care.

1. Are there parts of the State without adequate hospital facili­
ties ? Without obstetricians or pediatricians ?
2. Is medical care in the home or in hospitals provided by health
or welfare departments for those unable to purchase such care?
Describe the auspices and methods o f administration.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

41

M ental Hygiene.

Is there a public State-wide agency concerned with the provi­
sion of mental-hygiene services for children? Describe its organ­
ization and function. List staff by title.
SUMMARY of outstanding State maternal and child-health prob­
lems and most promising lines of advance.
O U TLIN E FOR C O M M U N IT IE S

General Community Provisions.

Obtain information for your county, city, or town; that is, for
the area served by your local health department.
1. What local health department serves your area— county, city,
or town ? List the staff by title and number employed of each type,
and indicate which are full time and which are part time. What
is the total number of public-health nurses employed by all agencies
in your county ?
2. What was the local appropriation for your health department
for the last fiscal year ? How much State aid was received ? What
is the appropriation for the current year?
3. What hospital facilities, public or private, are available in
your community?
Are there special wards or divisions for maternity pa­
tients? For children? For communicable diseases? Is
special care provided for premature infante?
If your community does not have a hospital, will any
mother or child have to travel more than 50 miles to
reach one ?
4. Do the hospitals have out-patient clinics or are there other
clinics where mothers and children may obtain medical service at
moderate cost or without charge?
5. Does your county or city provide free or low-cost medical care
to low-income families, including families receiving public relief
and children receiving aid for dependent children? What official
or agency is responsible for administering this program ? To what
extent is such care provided? Do private agencies provide such
care?
6. What are the facilities in your community for dental care for
children whose families are not able to pay for such care?
7. What other health agencies are in your community, and what
services do they provide ?
Health Services for Mothers and New born Infants.

1. How many births, maternal deaths, infant deaths, and still­
births were there in your county or city during the last calendar
year?
2. If your community is a city of more than 100,000 population,
how many cities in the United States had rates lower than yours


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

42

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

during the last year ? Are the infant and maternal mortality rates
higher for certain racial or nationality groups than for others ?
3. Descibe the health services for mothers provided by your
health department. At how many centers are prenatal clinics held
at least once a month ? What proportion of the pregnant women
in your community received care in such clinics last year? Are
public-health nurses available for prenatal home visits ? For post­
natal home visits ?
4. Where can expectant and nursing mothers obtain reliable
advice on their food needs? Is assistance in obtaining essential
foods available to mothers unable to provide these foods for them­
selves ?
5. How many births last year occurred in hospitals? How many
were attended in homes by physicians? By midwives?
6. Is medical care at delivery provided at public expense if fam­
ilies cannot pay ? Does the county or city provide bedside nursing
care, including home-delivery nursing service? Is hospital care
provided if needed at public expense in case the family cannot pay
for it ? How long do such mothers remain in the hospital ?
7. Are there enough physicians in the county (at least 1 physi­
cian to 1,500 persons) ? Are obstetricians and pediatricians avail­
able to give consultation service ?
8. What are the regulations governing the practice of midwives
in your county? Do nurse-midwives practice midwifery and su­
pervise midwives ?
9. How should the health program for mothers be extended?
Health Services for Infants and Preschool Children.

1. Describe the health services for children provided by your
health department. At how many centers are child-health confer­
ences conducted by a physician at least once a month ? Are publichealth nurses available for home visiting? What proportion of
the infants and of the preschool children in your county or city are
under such health supervision ?
2. Where can mothers or foster mothers and organizations en­
gaged in feeding children in groups obtain reliable advice on food
needs of children and on how to meet these food needs through food
production, food purchasing, menu planning, food sanitation, and
rood preparation? Is emphasis placed on the relation of these
activities to health and purchasing power?
3. What provision is made for immunizing children against
diphtheria, smallpox, and other communicable diseases? What
proportion of the preschool children have been so immunized ?
4. Were there any cases of diphtheria or smallpox reported in
your community last year ? Any deaths ?
,, 5- Wag there an increase in the occurrence o f any disease which
the health authorities considered to require especially vigorous
methods for control ?
6.
What dental supervision is provided for preschool children in
child-health conferences or otherwise? Is provision made for

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

43

dental service for fillings and extractions if the family cannot pro­
vide such care?
7. What is the program for locating crippled children and chil­
dren with defective vision or impaired hearing and for giving them
the necessary attention?
8. What is done about children who, through child-health con­
ferences or otherwise, are found to be in need of medical treatment
for some physical conditions? Who is responsible for following
through to see that the child receives such treatment?
9. Does your county or city provide medical care for children
whose families cannot afford it ? In clinics ? Through physician’s
home calls? In the hospital, if necessary? Does this public pro­
vision include medicines, appliances, and special foods ?
10. How should your health program for infants and young chil­
dren be extended?
Health Services for Children of School A ge.

1. What part of the health program for children in school is the
responsibility of each of the following agencies: The health depart­
ment ? The school board ?
2. Does the health program for school children in your county
provide for—
a. Thorough physical examinations by competent physi­
cians and dentists on entrance and thereafter when indicated
with provision for explanation to parents of conditions need­
ing care and follow-up by the public-health nurse to help
parents arrange for the care needed ?
b. Continuing health supervision for early discovery of
communicable disease and other conditions needing medical
attention and follow-up with parents by the public-health
nurse to see that care is provided ?
c. Tests of hearing and vision and provision for remedial
measures when necessary ?
d. Special medical examinations for boys and _girls taking
part in competitive athletics?
e. Special medical examinations for boys and girls before
they are given their first employment certificates ?
3. Do your schools have a well-developed health education pro­
gram with professional instruction for teachers on the content of
such programs? Does this program include safety education?
4. Are school lunches provided, at cost or free to those unable to
pay, as an integral part of the total school program of health serv­
ices and health education? Describe the plan and the extent to
which it is used.
5. What is the program of your health department for promoting
and safeguarding the health of boys and girls who have gone to
work?
6. Is medical care available in your county for school children of
school age? In clinics? Through physicians’ home calls? In the


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

44

OUR CONCERN— EVÊRY CHILD

hospital, if necessary? Are public or private funds available to
pay for such care if the family cannot pay for it?
M ental H ealth.

1. How does the public-health program for prenatal, preschool,
and school health services contribute to the mental-health program
for children ?
2. Do the schools have a program for the supervision of the
mental health of children ?
3. Does your community have a well-developed program for
parent education in child guidance ?
4. Is there in your community, or easily available, a child-guid­
ance or mental-hygiene clinic staffed with a psychiatrist, a psychol­
ogist, and social workers?
SUMMARY : What are the best features of your local maternal and
child-health program, and what more should be done?

Education Through the Schools 22
[.Children in a Democracy, pp. 32-37, 46, 49. Standards of Child Health, Educa­
tion, and Social Welfare, pp. 8-10.]
A primary responsibility of our democracy is to establish and maintain
a fair educational opportunity to which every American child is entitled.
(Children in a Democracy, p. 32.)
S T A T E O U TLIN E

State Educational Organization.

<

1.
Is the State department of education well organized, with
definite administrative and supervisory responsibilities allocated to
well-qualified persons ?
22This outline was prepared in the U. S. Office of Education.
Community groups wishing to study their State and local school programs
may secure .from the National Education Association, Washington, D. C., a
pamphlet entitled “ Where Stands Your School?” at 10 cents per copy; and,
from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., the following
Office of Education leaflets at 5 cents per copy:
No. 47, Know Your Board of Education.
No. 48, Know Your Superintendent.
No. 49, Know Your School Principal.
No. 50, Know Your Teacher.
No. 51, Know Your School Child.
No. 52, Know Your Modern Elementary School.
No. 53, Know How Your School is Financed.
No. 55, Know Your State Educational Program.
No. 56, Know Your School Library.
No. 57, Know Your Community.
See also Office of Education Leaflets No. 64, Planning Schools for Tomor­
row— The Issues Involved, and No. 66, Some Considerations in Educational
Planning for Urban Communities. 10 cents each.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

45

2. What was the total State appropriation for elementary and
for secondary education during the past fiscal year? What was
the amount appropriated for each pupil? Do these figures repre­
sent the best effort the State can make in helping local communities
to meet the cost of education ?
3. Is State aid to local school districts apportioned on a sound
financial basis, with provision for meeting local inequalities in
ability to pay?
4. What provision does the State school law make for the inclu­
sion o f kindergartens in the public-school system ? What provision
is made for the inclusion of nursery schools? Would a change in’
State law be necessary in order to provide kindergartens or nursery
schools ?
5. Does the plan of State aid to local school systems apply to
kindergartens? To nursery schools?
6. What local school systems in the State have established kin­
dergartens or nursery schools? What proportion of children
under 6 years of age attend these schools ?
7. What provision does the State make for special financial aid
for local day schools for suitable education and guidance: Of chil­
dren with various types of physical handicaps ? Of mentally defi­
cient or retarded children? Of socially unadjusted children?
8. Are the State residential schools for the blind and the deaf
considered an integral part of the State’s educational system?
9. What financial provision is made by the State for the support
of residential schools for the education of blind children? Of deaf
children ?
Has a recent study been made to determine whether these
schools are adequately equipped and staffed?
10. Are these schools able to provide for all blind or deaf chil­
dren who need residential care ?
11. What provision is made in your State institution for the
mentally defective for giving educational experiences, through an
organized school program, to those children who can profit by such
a program? Does the State department of education cooperate in
planning and supervising this program?
12. What emphasis is placed upon the importance of an adjusted
educational program for boys and girls sent to State training
schools for juvenile delinquents? Does the State department of
education cooperate in planning and supervising this program?
13. In what way do educators use the services of medical workers
and social workers in planning for the educational welfare of all
handicapped children within the State?
14. In what way does the State help to extend the consolidation
of small rural schools? How many consolidated school districts
are there in your State?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

46

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

15. What does the State do to insure safe and hygienic school
buildings for all children? Are standards established by statute?
By regulation ?
16. What does the State do toward developing a school building
program that insures continued improvement of the physical school
plant?
17. What does the State do to encourage the establishment of
local school administrative units large enough to make possible
an economical management of funds with a maximum o f modern
efficiency and equipment?
18. What does the State do to guide into the teaching profession
well-qualified persons and to guide away from it those not suited
to the profession ?
19. What teacher-training institutions does the State provide
for the education of its teachers ?
20. Do State regulations covering the certification and tenure
of teachers guarantee that appointments and promotions occur on
the basis o f ability rather than on the basis of political and other
extraneous considerations ?
21. What action is taken by the State to insure salaries for teach­
ers which will provide at least a reasonable living for them ?
22. What research activities does the State education depart­
ment carry on to investigate and evaluate present school practices
and to explore desirable improvements ?
School Attendance.

1. Do the State laws require school attendance on the part of all
children from at least 6 through 15 years of age ? What exemptions
are permitted?
2. To what extent are children of compulsory school age excused
from school attendance for reasons other than physical or mental
incapacity ? At what ages ?
3. Are the requirements for compulsory attendance the same in
rural as in urban districts? If not, how .are the exemptions to the
law framed so as to apply to rural children to a greater extent than
to children in urban localities? Are these exemptions justifiable?
4. Are there additional legal requirements of school attendance
applying to unemployed youth beyond the age of 16?
5. Does the State make provision for the enforcement of com­
pulsory school-attendance laws in local school districts ?
6. Does the State provide by law for an annual school term of at
least months ? If so, how does the State enforce this provision ?
7. If the minimum school term required by the State is less than
9 months, does the State give additional aid to local communities
extending the school term beyond the minimum required by law?
8. In which school districts, if any, were the school terms shorter
than the legal requirement during the past school year? Approxi­
mately how many children were affected in each area?

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

47

9. Does every child in the State have access to a school within
reasonable distance from his home ? Are transportation facilities
provided for all who live too far to walk to school ?
10. If your answers to item 9 are “ No,” in which area of the
State are children being deprived of regular schooling because of
the lack of school accommodations or transportation facilities?
How many children are affected in each of these areas?
Educational Opportunities in the Schools.

1. What advisory service does the State provide to encourage
modern school practices and a vitalized curriculum in both ele­
mentary and secondary schools?
2. Does the State encourage, through its plan of financial assist­
ance and its advisory service, a ratio between the number of teach­
ers and pupils low enough to permit attention to individual needs in
local school systems ?
3. What opportunity has the State provided for high-school
pupils in small towns and rural areas, as well as for those in large
cities, to enroll in suitable vocational courses?
4. Has the State provided equal educational services for all the
schools o f the State, regardless of race or residence of the pupils
enrolled ?
5. Is there a State guidance and employment service for youth
carried on either as part of the State’s educational program or in
cooperation with it?
6. What assistance does the State give to local communities in
planning an adult-education program in the interest of home and
family life ?
7. What provision is made by the State to stimulate wholesome
school recreational programs in the cities? In rural areas?
8. What school health services does the State provide through
its State education department, or through some other agency in
cooperation with the State education department?
9. To what extent does the State leave to local school systems
freedom to select teaching materials which will insure local initia­
tive in meeting local needs ?
10. How many and which school districts o f the State include
kindergartens as a regular part of the school system? How many
conduct nursery schools ?
11. Is there a State library agency serving the schools of the
State?
12. How do the various State agencies serving children make an.
effort to coordinate their respective services so as to avoid over­
lapping and duplication?
SUMMARY of outstanding needs in the field of education and.
measures which should be taken by the State.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

48

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

O U TL IN E FOR C O M M U N IT IE S

Organization and Attendance.

1. Does your local school district provide a 12-year school pro­
gram (elementary and high school) for all pupils, with modern
curricular provisions and competent supervisory service ?
2. What qualifications do the members of your teaching staff
have : Are they appointed on the basis of merit?
3. What is the average size of the classes in your schools? Are
they small enough to make it possible for the teachers to give atten­
tion to the individual needs of pupils ?
4. What financial assistance does your State provide for the
maintenance of modern, well-equipped school facilities ?
5. How many cents of the local tax dollar are used for schools?
How many cents for other specific purposes ? Do you consider the
distribution a satisfactory one?
6. What compensation do the teachers in your schools receive
for their services? Is this adequate to provide for a reasonable
standard of living? Is it comparable to the salaries of other pro­
fessional employees of the community?
7. What steps are taken to make your school buildings safe and
hygienic? Are they planned so as to make possible a modern edu­
cational program?
8. What playground facilities are there in connection with or
adjacent to each school building? Are these facilities adequate
to meet the needs of the children? Are the playgrounds open after
school hours under supervision?
9. Does your school system maintain a school term of at least
9 months?
10. Does your community have effective endorsement of the com­
pulsory school-attendance law? Under what conditions are chil­
dren exempt from compulsory-education provisions? If children
are exempt because of mental or physical handicaps, is the commu­
nity aware of the need for proper provision for the training of these
children? What is being done to meet this need?
11. What percentage of children in your community aged 7 to
13 years are enrolled in school ? 14 ancf 15 years ? 16 and 17 years ?
12. Are school facilities of the community equally available to all
children, without discrimination based on race, residence, or social
status ?
13. Are transportation facilities provided for all children who
live too far from a school to walk?
14. How many children in the community attend school not at all
or very irregularly because of the lack of transportation facilities ?
15. How many children in your community did the last school
census reveal who were physically handicapped or mentally defi­
cient or retarded who were not receiving any educational oppor­
tunities?

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW---- STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

49

16. What staff of school-attendance workers or home visitors is
provided to investigate irregularities in attendance? What do
they do toward the removal of the cause of such irregularities ?
17. What psychological and guidance service does the school
system provide to study children’s difficulties, including those -of
nonattendance and educational maladjustments?
18. Do equally high standards prevail in elementary and second­
ary schools as to teacher qualifications, teachers’ salaries, pupilteacher ratio, and other items of organization and administration?
Types of Educational Opportunities.

1. What do the local school administrators and teachers do
toward keeping in touch with modern and progressive educational
developments, and applying them to local school situations ?
2. What encouragement and financial support does the com­
munity give to the progressive improvement of the school program ?
3. Are free educational opportunities furnished for all children
and youth up to the age of 18 or 20 years?
4. Do such opportunities include provision for :
a. General education and cultural advancement?
b. Basic and specialized vocational training?
c. Preparation for higher education?
5. Does the school system provide nursery schools and kinder­
gartens for children between the ages of 3 and 6 years?
6. What provisions are made in your school system for the educa­
tional needs of children who are blind or whose vision is defective,
those who are deaf or hard of hearing, those who need special
equipment because they are crippled in any way, and those who
require special training because they are mentally deficient or
subnormal? Are these provisions adequate?
7. What attention is given to the correction of serious speech
defects, and to the development of clear, articulate speech among
all pupils?
8. What provision is made for instruction, in the home or in the
hospital, of children who are physically unable to get to school?
9. What provisions are made for a school guidance program that
begins in the nursery school, kindergarten, and first grade, and
that extends through high school, with attention to social adjust­
ment, health development, educational problems, and vocational
possibilities?
10. What provisions are there for a child-guidance clinic in the
school system or in the community which gives needed»adj ustment
services for serious or potentially serious behavior and personality
problems referred by the schools ?
11. What systematic vocational guidance and organized assist­
ance in job placement are given to young people, while in school and
after they leave school?
12. What protection is given to the health of children through
adequate periodic physical examinations, health and safety instruc
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

50

tion, health supervision, physical education, and school feeding
programs ?
13. What are your schools doing to prevent or to reduce juvenile
delinquency in the community?
14. What service does your school library provide to meet the
reading needs of children and youth?
15. What program is provided to meet the educational needs of
parents and other adults in the interest of wholesome family and
community life ?
16. What program for wholesome leisure-time activities is spon­
sored by the schools or in cooperation with the schools ?
17. What do your schools do to provide adequate preparation
for the assumption of civic responsibilities on the part of all
community citizens ?
18. What plan of cooperation exists between the schools and
other community agencies serving the needs o f children and youth ?
SUMMARY of outstanding needs and measures which should be
taken by the community.

Library Service 23
[Children in a Democracy, pp. 41-42. Preliminary Statements Submitted to the
White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, pp. 133-143. Standards
of Child Health, Education, and Social Welfare, p. 11.]
“ Whether for leisure, for education, for vocational advancement, for
research, or for the dissemination of knowledge, the library is an indis­
pensable public service. The free public library is a characteristic insti­
tution of democratic life.” (Children in a Democracy, p. 41.)
“Children should be encouraged early in the educational process to turn
to books and libraries for information and for pleasure. Adaptation of
library programs to children and youth is one of the significant develop­
ments in the library field and is occurring through improvement in school
libraries and through the initiation of specialized services in public
libraries.”
“New services for the preschool child and in the closely allied field of
parent education are also being developed in libraries.”
“ It is only proper * * * that the State with its broader tax base,
its responsibility for education, and the precedent of State aid to schools,
should provide financial aid for the development of rural public-library
service.”
“The Federal Government must cooperate with States and local units to
assure a reasonable minimum standard of library service throughout the
Nation.” (Preliminary Statements, pp. 135, 136, 141, 142.)

23This outline was prepared in the School and Children’s Library Division of
the American Library Association.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

51

S T A T E O U TLIN E

State Advisory Service and State A id for Libraries Through a
State Library Agency . 24

1. To what extent is library service available to all the children
and adults in your State ? What areas most need additional library
services ?
2. Are your State laws concerning State and local library service
modern and effective? Does your State have county or regional
library laws which have resulted in the expansion and strengthen­
ing of library service to rural areas ?
3. Has your State an active State library agency, provided by
State law? Which of the following functions does it perform?
a. Development of effective State-wide public-library
service on the basis o f sound legislation.
b. Development o f a program for district or regional
libraries.
ic. Development o f effective State-wide school-library
service.
d. Legal certification of libraries.
e. Administration of State grants-in-aid.
/. Promotion of standards of service and provision of
advisory service.
g. Aid to citizens and trustees interested in improving
libraries.
h. Promotion o f a high quality o f personnel in the
libraries throughout the State through encouraging train­
ing, including in-service training programs, and advisory
placement services.
i. Advancement o f adequate salary and retirement
provisions.
j. Supplementary book and materials service for all
libraries in the State.
4. What is the staff of the State library agency: Number of
workers, qualifications, and responsibilities?
5. How does this agency strengthen library service to children
throughout the State? Is there a children’s librarian, young
people’s librarian, school librarian, on the staff o f the State library
agency? Have they had training and experience in the special
field of library work with children and young people?
6. Does the State library agency provide book service to isolated
homes in areas where no other library service has yet been devel­
oped? How?
7. Is there a State library supervisor or adviser for libraries in
State institutions ? If not, who is responsible for library services
24Forty-seven States have official State library agencies. These may be
called State libraries, State library commissions, or library divisions of State
education departments. Fourteen States have State school-library supervisors,


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

52

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

in them? Is a study of these services needed to learn to what
extent they meet the needs of their clientele ?
8. What is the current appropriation for the State library
agency? Is this a biennial or an annual appropriation?
9. Is State financial aid available to supplement local support of
public-library service and to make possible the extension and im­
provement of library service throughout the State? How much is
currently appropriated for this purpose? Is this amount included
in the preceding item ?
10. Is Federal aid as well as State aid necessary to provide essen­
tial library services to all the people in your State? To what
extent?
State Advisory Service and State A id for School Libraries
Through State Education Departments.

1. In what ways does the State education department aid in the
development of effective school-library services for all boys and
girls ? ( See also 3 and 5 above.)
2. Is advisory service to school libraries in the State provided
through school-library consultants or supervisors on the staff of
the State education department? What are the functions of this
service? What is the size of the staff ? What professional qualifi­
cations are required ?
3. Is there State aid for school libraries either specifically allo­
cated to or available for school-library use from general State funds
to schools ? How are these funds used ?
4. Has the State education department established standards
for high-school libraries? For elementary-school libraries? Are
these standards enforced? By what agency? How do these stand­
ards compare with those of other States or those of National or
regional organizations ?
5. Has the State education department adopted standards of
qualifications for school librarians and teacher-librarians? What
are these ? Are they comparable to requirements for other special
teachers? To what extent are schools required to meet these per­
sonnel standards?
B. Does the State education department or any State body set
up standards for the training of school librarians and teacherlibrarians ?
7.
Does the State education department promote a program of
in-service training of school librarians and teacher-librarians?
Accessibility of Library Services Throughout the State.

1. To what extent do people living in the open country and
small towns of your State have the advantage of effective county
or regional library service? Chart the areas served by these
libraries on a map of the State.
2. How many public libraries in the State— town, city, county,
or regional—have an annual appropriation of $25,000 or more?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

53

Chart these libraries and the areas they serve on a map of the
State. Compare library service in these areas with that in other
areas of the State.
3. Do libraries in the State which serve sparsely populated dis­
tricts, especially rural districts, give that service through branches,
stations, and book-mobiles ?
4. Are there people in the State who are totally without local
public-library service? How many? Where do they live?
5. How many public libraries in the State have children’s librar­
ians ? Have some libraries appointed young people’s librarians to
work with youth of high-school age? Chart the location o f these
librarians on a map of the State.
6. Are libraries in your State beginning to serve as a local book­
ing and distribution center for educational films, especially for
adult groups ?
7. How many of the secondary schools in the State have profes­
sionally trained librarians ?
8. In how many school systems do elementary schools have
organized school libraries with professionally trained librarians?
9. Which school systems have school-library supervisors on the
administrative staff ?
Improvement o f Library Services.

1. What institutions in your State or region provide education
for librarianship? Are they accredited by the American Library
Association? Do they give special attention to the training of
children’s and school librarians ?
2. Is there stimulation to improve library services in the State
through carefully planned in-service training opportunities ? Are
there special workshops, institutes, courses, and conferences for
librarians or for professional personnel (including librarians)
working with children and young people ?
3. What plans have the State library agency, the State library
association, the State association of library trustees, or the State
organizations of school and children’s librarians for the develop­
ment of library service? What steps have been accomplished and
what are still to be carried out in these plans ? Are there special
plans for library service to parents and to children and young
people?
4. Has any part of the library service in the State been studied
by groups set up for the purpose by State follow-up committees of
the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy? What
are the findings and recommendations of such committees? What
progress has been made in solving problems ? What further action
is now needed ?
5. What steps can communities without library service take to
obtain service for themselves and neighboring areas ? Such com­
munities will always wish to consult the State library agencies to
learn of patterns which might be established.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

54

OUR CONCERN---- EVERY CHILD

6.
How can lay community leaders aid in extending and strength­
ening library service in the State?
Cooperation W ith Other Agencies.

1. Are the various State agencies concerned with the welfare
and education of children— among them the State library agency—
working together on programs of parent education and educational
experiences for children and young people?
2. Are librarians serving as members of any State council of
child- and youth-serving agencies?
O U TL IN E FOR C O M M U N IT IE S

Public-Library Facilities— A vailability and Use.

X. It is important that information contained in books and in
other library materials shall be easily accessible to all in the com­
munity. The resources of the library should be available also as a
source of enjoyment. Does your local public library provide adults
and children with the information, reading materials, and reading
guidance which they need ? Are library materials reaching all who
need them in the community? If not, what are the obstacles, and
how can they be overcome ?
2. If your community has no library service, have you consulted
your State library agency about steps to take to get that service on
a basis most satisfactory for your part of the State?
3. What is the current appropriation for your public library?
What are its sources of income ?
4. Does your library meet the American Library Association
standards of annual library appropriations of at least $1 per capita
for limited or minimum service, $1.50 per capita for reasonably
good service, and $2 per capita for superior service ?
5. Does your State provide any financial aid toward maintaining
your local public-library service ?
6. What percentage of the adult population have library cards in
your community? What percentage of children?
7. Are library facilities in your community equally available to
children regardless of location of their homes ? Do traffic or trans­
portation problems deprive certain children of the privilege of
using libraries ?
8. Do children and young people o f minority groups in the com­
munity have full access to adequate library facilities ? What prog­
ress is being made in providing needed service ?
9. If your library is a branch in a larger library system, are you
acquainted with the supplementary services from the central
library available to you through your library branch or station or
book-mobile?
Public-Library Services— Standards and Types.

1.
How adequately does your library service meet the standards
recommended in Post-War Standards for Public Libraries (Ameri­
can Library Association, 1943) ?

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

'

55

2. Are the librarians serving your community qualified by train­
ing and experience to carry on their work? Have children’s and
school librarians had special training and experience in these fields ?
3. Are there children’s librarians in each public-library branch
in your community? Is there a young people’s librarian on the
staff of your public library ?
4. What compensation do the professionally trained librarians
in your public library receive? Is this adequate to provide for a
reasonable standard of living? Is it comparable to the salaries
of other professional workers in the community ?
5. In your public library are the following services provided?
To what extent?
Individual reading guidance (personal reading lists or
recommendations of books for specific problems).
Guidance in materials for parents on child care and
related problems.
Library service for young people (for 15-to-20-yearolds).
Children’s library service (for 5-to-14-year-olds).
Books and guidance for parents of preschool children
and for the children themselves.
6. Is your public-library building (and its branch buildings)
adapted to meet the needs of your community for such things as
the following?
Reading.
Looking up information.
Borrowing books.
Discussion groups and meetings.
Opportunities for hearing records and radio programs
and for seeing educational films.
Opportunity to consult with librarians on reading
problems.
Provision for children.
Provision for high-school-age readers.
Provision for displays and exhibits.
7. Are the following types of materials readily available through
your local public and school libraries?
Many carefully chosen children’s books.
Books and other library materials selected for young
people.
' >
Books and pamphlets on parent education.
Books on human relations which will help in gaining
an understanding of others.
Up-to-date material on homemaking, child care, foods,
and so forth.
Educational films and recordings.
Materials for study groups.
8. Do boys and girls in your community like to read ? Are they
reading good books? Are they at home in their public and school
libraries ?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

56

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

9.
Do high-school-age young people naturally turn to the public
library for information and reading? If not, what are the
reasons? No quarters for them? No special librarian trained to
meet their needs? Inadequate books which appeal to them?
School-Library Services.

It Do school libraries provide the reading materials, reading
experiences, and other informational and cultural resources needed
for the school’s eduoational program ?
2. Does each school, elementary as well as secondary, have an
up-to-date library with professionally trained librarians? If not,
what efforts are made to meet this need?
3. Are school librarians on the same salary schedule as other
special teachers with comparable training and experience? Do
they have comparable status?
4. How well do the school libraries meet State, regional, or
National standards as to personnel, quality and extent of the book
collection, and library services provided?
5. Are annual expenditures for school-library books adequate?
Is $1.50 per pupil per year supplied for books and materials in
schools with enrollments up to 500? Is at least $1 per pupil
allotted for larger schools ?
6. Is there a central department o f school libraries which has
responsibility for central ordering, cataloging, preparation of
books for use, repair and rebinding, and special bibliographic and
reference services and otherwise consolidating and economizing on
technical and clerical work? (This is important because it saves
time of librarians in the schools for work with children and
teachers.)
7. Is there a school-library supervisor on the administrative
staff of the local school system? How does that person help in
strengthening library services ?
Library A id to Community C hild-W elfare Programs.

1. Are annotated lists o f books and films on child care, family
relations, health, nutrition, adolescent problems, and other subjects
prepared by the library for leaders working on child-welfare prob­
lems, for newspapers, or for duplicating and distribution to parents
and child-welfare workers?
2. Does the library feature books and materials on problems of
children and youth in its book displays, by special shelves for such
materials and by assigning a librarian staff member to serve as
readers’ adviser for these materials ?
3. Does your library have a parents’ room or a parents’ alcove
where books about children and selected books for parents to read
to children are assembled?
4. Are children’s and school librarians on local councils of social
agencies or other councils of youth leaders ?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

57

5. How do the school and public libraries cooperate in local
nursery-school programs? In extended-school-services programs?
6. Are children’s and school librarians training young people
(Girl Scouts and similar groups) in simple storytelling and in use
of books with little children?
SUMMARY of the first steps that should be taken by the commun­
ity in order further to improve its library service to meet the
needs of its boys and girls and adults.

Facilities for Recreation
[jChildren

in a Democracy, pp. 37-41. Standards of Child Health, Education, and
Social Welfare, pp. 10-11.]

All children and youth need experience through which their elemental
desire for friendship, recognition, adventure, creative expression, and
group acceptance can be realized.
The development of recreation and the constructive use of leisure time
should be recognized as a public responsibility on a par with responsibility
fo.r education and health. (Children in a Democracy, pp. 37, 40.)
S T A T E O U TLIN E

1. What State department assumes responsibility for the pro­
motion of recreation facilities ? In what ways does the department
assist local communities in establishing and maintaining recreation
facilities ? Does it promote leadership courses and institutes ?
2. What recreation facilities does the State itself provide for the
free use of its people— State parks, camping sites, and so forth?
3. Does your State planning commission (or council or board)
include in its program the development of public recreation facili­
ties?
4. Is there a State-wide recreation committee with a full-time
executive secretary? What information do they make available
on recreation programs ?
5. What financial aid is available for recreation programs and
leadership? Through what State department (State Recreation
Commission, State Departments of Welfare and Education, and so
forth) ?
SUMMARY of outstanding needs in this field and measures which
should be taken by the State.
O U TL IN E FOR C O M M U N IT IE S

1.
Has your community studied its recreation facilities to deter­
mine the extent to which all children have full opportunity for
wholesome play? What did this appraisal show? What has been
done to meet inadequacies?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

58

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

2. What has been done toward educating the public to appre­
ciate the values and importance of child play and the play needs of
children at various age levels ?
3. Does your community have a planning council which assures
cooperative action by public and private agencies promoting play,
recreation, and informal education programs? Is youth repre­
sented on this council?
4. If your community is large enough to have a public recreation
agency, is there such an agency? If there is not, has investigation
been made of the means by which a recreation agency can be
formed ?
5. If an independent recreation agency is not feasible in your
community, what responsibility do the schools assume for initiat­
ing recreation services for persons of all ages throughout the year ?
6. Describe the school facilities for recreation available in the
community and the use made of these facilities.
7. What has been done in the way o f joint planning between
city and county agencies for reaching children in areas adjacent to
the city?
8. Are public facilities which can be used* in a recreation pro­
gram, including schools, planned in consultation with directors of
recreation programs?
9. What facilities do churches have for recreation? Do they
have special activities for youth?
10. Have the various agencies in your community concerned
with recreation examined their programs, personnel, facilities, and
policies in the light of community needs? What action has been
taken as a result of such study?
11. Do the public and private agencies administering recreation
facilities or conducting recreation activities in your community
give sufficient attention to the adequacy o f leadership provided ?
12. Are recreation leaders selected after a careful review of
their equipment for the responsibilities with which they are to be
entrusted ?
13. Is a staff for public recreation programs employed under a
merit system? What volunteer-training courses are conducted?
Is there special training for leaders working with children?
14. Are parks, school facilities, museums, libraries, and camp
sites utilized as extensively as they might be?
15. Is the necessary attention given to making recreational op­
portunities available to certain neglected groups of children, such
a s: Children living in rural or sparsely settled areas; children in
families of low income; Negro children and children of other
minority groups; children living in congested neighborhoods; chil­
dren just leaving school, especially unemployed youth; children
with mental, emotional, or physical handicaps?
16. What is the situation in your community with respect to the
various forms of commercial recreation? What safeguards are
needed?

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND COMMUNITY

59

17. Are radio and motion-picture programs planned so as to
contribute to the wholesome development of children ? To whom is
this responsibility entrusted, and how is it carried out ?
18. How extensively is your community utilizing the educational
and recreational facilities afforded by 4—H clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, and similar organizations? Do the facilities need to be
extended to certain neighborhoods and age groups?
SUMMARY: What are your community’s assets and what are its
outstanding needs in provision o f facilities for recreation?

Child Labor and Youth Employment28
[iChildren in a Democracy, pp. 43-50, 67-74. Preliminary Statements Submitted
to the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, pp. 147-159.2®
Standards of Child Health, Education, and Social Welfare, pp. 12-13.]

At the time of the White House Conference, in 1940, child labor
was still a serious problem in this country in spite of progress in
its control under State and Federal Laws. Although the number
of employed children had decreased markedly during the preceding
decade, children under 16 were still cutting short their education
to go to work, or were engaging in work outside school hours, under
conditions detrimental to their fullest physical, mental, and social
growth.
The labor demands of the war period have re-emphasized the
findings of the White House Conference and redoubled the need for
remedial measures in this field. Labor shortages have brought
about not only a tremendous increase in the employment of boys
and girls under 18 years of age but also a trend toward relaxation
of the labor standards that have been developed over the years for
their protection.
.
These changes throw into bold relief the need for the protective
measures recommended by the Conference for the prevention of
industrial exploitation and premature employment of children and
youth, and for counseling and guidance services during the
transition period from school to work. Briefly, the employment
safeguards proposed, now more than ever demanding public
concern, w ere: (1) A basic 16-year minimum age for employment,
with a minimum age of 18 or higher for employment in hazardous
or injurious occupations; employment at 14 and 15 to be permitted
only after school hours and during vacation periods in agriculture,
light nonmanufacturing work, domestic service, and street trades;
(2) maximum hours for workers under 18 not to exceed 8 hours a
day, 40 hours a week, and 6 days a week, with provision for lunch
periods and prohibition of night w ork; (3) employment certificates
and health examinations for minors under 18 going to work; (4)
at least double compensation under workmen’s compensation laws
“ This outline was prepared by the Industrial Division of the Children’s
Bureau.
26Reprints of this section of the report— Child Labor and Youth Employ­
ment—are available from the Children’s Bureau upon request.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

60

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

m cases of injury to illegally employed minors ; (5) minimum wage
standards; (6) abolition of industrial home work; (7) adequate
provision for administration.
The following outlines (see also outline relating to employment
safeguards in wartime, p. 76) are suggested to guide States and
communities in obtaining concrete information as to their laws
governing child labor, so as to measure their standards against the
Conference recommendations :
S T A T E O U TL IN E

1. Does the State law require a minimum age of 16 years for all
employment during school hours? A minimum age o f 16 for
employment at any time in manufacturing or mining occupations
or in connection with power-driven machinery? A minimum age
of at least 14 years for restricted employment after school or
during vacation in agriculture, light nonfactory work, domestic
service, and street trades ? If not, state existing provisions.
2. Does the law specify a minimum age of at least 18 years for
employment in hazardous and injurious occupations, with author­
ity in the appropriate governmental agency to determine such
occupations ? If not, state existing provisions.
3. Does the law limit the hours of work for minors to not exceed­
ing 8 a day, 40 a week, and 6 days a week? If not, describe existing
provisions. Between what hours is work at night or in the early
morning prohibited ?
4. Are employment certificates required for all minors under 18
years permitted to go to work? If not, describe existing require­
ments. What provision is made for administration of employ­
ment-certificate program ?
5. Are employment certificates issued only after the minor has
been certified as physically fit for the proposed employment? By
whom are the examinations given ? Character o f examination ?
6. Is double or triple compensation required under workmen’s
compensation laws in cases of injury to illegally employed minors?
State provisions o f law on this subject.
7. Does legislation relating to wages include minimum-wage
provisions applicable to minors ?
8. Has industrial home work been abolished or regulated by law ?
If so, how are these provisions administered?
9. What provision is made for State administration o f childlabor laws? Describe organization, functions, and staff.
10. Does the school system include provision for vocational
preparation, guidance, and counseling services adapted to modern
conditions and the changing needs of youth? Describe these pro­
visions.
11. Is there provision in the local communities in the State for
placement services for young workers, staffed by properly qualified
and professionally trained workers, with full cooperation between


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

61

the schools and the public employment services? Describe these
provisions.
SUMMARY of outstanding problems relating to child labor and
youth employment; legislative and administrative measures
needed.
O U T L IN E FOR C O M M U N IT IE S

1.
How many children under 16 years of age are gainfully em­
ployed in your community ? In what occupations ?
2. What are the most serious child-labor problems in your com­
munity ? What attempts are being made to meet them ?
3. Do the State laws relating to child labor conform to the
standards endorsed by the Conference on Children in a Democ­
racy ? 27 If not, in what respects do they fail to measure up to
these requirements?
4. Are the provisions o f the State laws relating to child labor
enforced in your community? What agencies are responsible for
such enforcement?
5. If there is laxity in enforcement, what steps are being taken
to improve the situation?
6. Does your community provide a suitable educational program
for all youths over 16 who are not employed or provided with work
opportunities? Describe such programs.
7. Is there any provision for financial aid to young persons to
enable them to continue their education beyond the required
attendance age if they wish to do so and can benefit thereby? If
so, describe.
8. Are vocational preparation, guidance, and counseling service
available to boys and girls in the school system? Is placement
service available for young workers ? If so, describe these services.
SUMMARY o f outstanding needs in the community for protection
of children from injurious labor and for safeguarding youth
employment.

Social Services for Children
[.Children in a Democracy, pp. 62-74. Preliminary Statements Submitted to the
White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, pp. 207-242.28 Standards
of Child Health, Education, and Social Welfare, pp. 14-18.]
Upon the State rests the duty of making sure that care and protection
are within reach of all children who have no parents or natural guardians
and those whose home conditions or individual disabilities or difficulties
require special attention. This aim may be achieved through services
furnished by the State itself or by local governments or private agencies.
87 See Children in a Democracy, pp. 43-50.
28Reprints of this section of the report— Social Services for Children—are
available from the Children’s Bureau upon request.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

62

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

Social service for children who need care and protection has the double
function of helping to provide material resources and other environmental
conditions favorable to their physical, mental, and social development; and
of aiding individual children to find personal security, acceptable means
of self-expression, and satisfying achievement within the circumstances
under which they live. (Preliminary Statements, p. 209.)
S T A T E O U TLIN E

Children’s Services in the State W elfare Department.

1. What bureau or division of the State welfare department has
the main responsibility for promoting the social welfare of chil­
dren ? What are its functions ?
2. Describe the organization of the bureau. Number of workers
assigned to each type of service; qualifications required for profes­
sional staff.
3. If other bureaus or divisions o f the welfare department or of
other departments of the State government also have responsibili­
ties directly related to child welfare, describe these functions.
Staff assigned to this work— number and qualifications.
4. What duties does the law place upon the welfare department
with respect to child care and protection? Is the department able
to fulfill all of these? If it is unable to carry out some responsibili­
ties because o f lack of necessary staff or for other reasons, is an
effort being made to obtain requisite funds and staff to carry out
the State’s legal responsibilities for care and protection of chil­
dren?
5. Does the State welfare department have an adequate staff of
workers competent to give constructive help to institutions and
agencies in raising standards of care and to enforce laws and regu­
lations relating to licensing and supervision of institutions, childplacing agencies, foster-family homes, and maternity homes?
6. Is psychiatric service for children provided by the welfare
department or through the cooperation of other State departments ?
7. What other special services are provided directly by the State
welfare department or through consultation service to local agen­
cies— control of juvenile delinquency, recreation, child cafe, and
so forth?
State Assistance to Local Units.

1. Does the State welfare department help counties or other local
units to plan and develop social services for children? Staff
assigned to this work— number and qualifications.
2. Does the State give financial assistance to counties or other
local units to enable them to provide adequate social services for
children? Under what conditions is such aid given and for what
general or specific purposes (lump-sum grants, reimbursement for
salaries of qualified workers, and so forth) ?
3. What does the State welfare department do to help local units
to equip themselves with qualified child-welfare workers (in-sery
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR R E V IE W -S T A T E AND C O M M U N IT Y

63

ice training by State workers, aid in financing educational leave,
and so forth) ?
4. In which counties (or other areas) are there child-welfare
workers in the local welfare departments whose training and
experience equip them for social services to children ?
5. How many of these workers are paid entirely from State
funds (including Federal funds disbursed by State department) ?How many are paid from State and local funds? How many are
paid entirely from local funds ?
6. In which counties (or other areas) are social services for
children provided by workers who also perform other duties in the
welfare department but who are equipped by training and exper­
ience for specialized work with children ?
State Institutions and Child-Caring Activities.

1. How many boys and how many girls were in State training
schools or correctional institutions for delinquent children on a
given date? Has any recent study been made to determine
whether these institutions are adequately equipped and staffed?
What did the study show ?
2. Are the State training schools for delinquent children admin­
istered by the bureau or division of the State welfare department
which administers other child-welfare services?
3. Is the work of the State institutions for delinquent children
closely related to social-service activities in the communities from
which the children are admitted ? How is this done ?
4. How many children under 18 years of age were in State insti­
tutions for the mentally deficient on a given date ? Has any recent
study been made to determine whether the institutions for mentally
deficient children are adequately equipped and staffed ? What did
the study show?
5. Are the institutions for mentally deficient children able to
provide for all children in the State who need such care and train­
ing? If not, how many children were on waiting lists on a given
date, or what is the probable number of children needing care in
State institutions who cannot be given such care at the present
time ? What is being done toward providing the necessary institu­
tional facilities ?
6. If the State provides direct care o f dependent children in a
State institution or institutions or through a State child-placing
agency : On a given date, how many dependent children were under
direct care of the State? How many of these children were in
institutions conducted by the State? How many were under the
supervision o f State agencies or institutions in boarding homes ; in
free homes; in prospective adoption homes; in wage or work
homes?
7. Has any study been made recently to ascertain whether the
staff is adequate in number and training for the institutional or
child-placing service, and whether the dependent wards of the State
are given the kind o f care which their needs require? Summarize

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

64

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

the findings of the study. What is being done as a result of the
study? If no such inquiry has been made recently, is there need
for one?
8.
Are State services available for Negro children on the same
basis and to the same extent as for white children?
SUMMARY of outstanding problems of protection and care by the
State, and next steps which should be taken in order that social
services may be made available to all children in the State whose
home conditions or individual difficulties or disabilities require
special attention.
O U TL IN E FOR C O M M U N IT IE S

Services to Children W h o Are Dependent or Neglected, D e­
linquent, or in Danger of Becoming Delinquent.

1. What board or department in your county (or other local
governmental unit) is responsible for making available the social
services needed by children and their families ?
2. Do the public child-welfare services include all of the follow­
ing:
a. Social service for children living in their own homes or
elsewhere who are dependent, neglected, mistreated, or ex­
ploited by the natural guardians or other adults; delinquent or
in danger of becoming delinquent; for unmarried mothers and
their babies; and for children placed for adoption.
b. Child-guidance service for the study and treatment of
children with special problems of personality or behavior.
c. Foster care in family homes or institutions adapted to
the children’s individual needs, for children who must be cared
for away from their own homes, temporarily or over long
periods.
d. Day-care services through day nurseries, day-care cen­
ters, or foster-family homes for children of employed mothers
and other children needing such care. ( (See outline relating
to day care for children of working mothers, p. 78.)
e. Service to physically handicapped children, in coopera­
tion with health and educational agencies.
/. Social protection of mentally deficient and psychotic
children, in cooperation with State and local agencies provid­
ing education, special training, and custodial care.
3. If these public welfare services are not available in your com­
munity, what should be done to bring the needs to the attention of
citizens so that the necessary services may be provided?
4. How many workers on the staff of your local public welfare
department have full-time or part-time duties related to care and
protection of children ? How many of them have had special train­
ing for child-welfare services ? If more child-welfare workers are
needed, what effort has been made to obtain an adequate staff?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

65

« 5. On a given date, how many children were receiving services
from the local public welfare department? How many of them
were: (a) In their own homes ; (b) in foster-family homes (board­
ing, free, or wage or work homes) ; (c) in institutions?
6. What private agencies provide protective and case-work serv­
ices for children: List and describe briefly the functions of each
agency. How is the work of these agencies related to the work of
the public agency?
7. What means are provided by a council o f social agencies or
other representative planning body for development of coordinated
community-wide programs of public and private child-welfare
services ?
8. How many children were born out of wedlock during the last
calendar year? What services does your community provide for
the care and protection of unmarried mothers and children?
9. Is homemaker service available for families that might other­
wise suffer or be broken up because of the mother’s illness or
absence from the home? What agency makes this service avail­
able? Describe the plan. Does it meet the need for such service
in the community?
10. When agencies or institutions in the community receive ap­
plications for care of children away from their own homes do they
try to discover whether the children might be cared for properly
in their own homes if aid or social service were given to the family ?
What steps do they take to make sure that such aid or service is
provided for the family ?
11. Is there a child-guidance center or other clinic in the com­
munity which deals with behavior problems of children? Under
whose auspices is it conducted? If there is no clinic in the com­
munity, how are the necessary services made available to schools,
agencies, and parents ?
Prevention and Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency.
(a) Preventive Measures.

1. What public or private agencies in the community are pro­
viding case-work services for children whose behavior is likely to
lead to delinquency? (See also items 1, 6, and 10 in the foregoing
section.)
2. Are full-time school facilities available to all children in the
community, and is there adequate enforcement o f attendance laws?
(See outline relating to education through the schools, pp. 44-50.)
3. Are laws for the protection of children against child labor
enforced? (See outline relating to child labor and youth employ­
ment, pp. 59-61.)
4. Is the necessary provision made for care of children whose
mothers are out of the home because of employment, including
facilities for supervised activities during hours when schools are
not in session? (See the outline relating to day care for children
of working mothers, p. 78.)


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

66

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

5. Are there adequate facilities in the community for leisure*
time activities, play, and recreation? (See outlines relating to
facilities for recreation, pp. 57-59, and library service, pp. 50-57.)
6. Do the schools have social workers or visiting teachers or do
they utilize the services of social workers of public or private agen­
cies for helping children who exhibit conduct problems or other
difficulties in school ?
7. Has any study been made in your community of the possible
relationship between juvenile delinquency and the absence of rec­
reational facilities ? If so, what were the findings of this study ?
Are your school buildings and grounds utilized for after-school
activities ? Is there need for such a program ?
8. What is being done by law-enforcement agencies and officials
toward elimination and control of conditions in the community
which are conducive to delinquency of boys and girls ?
9. Does your police department use special procedures in dealing
with children? Is this done through a juvenile bureau or by
assignment of a special staff to juvenile cases?
10. Do the social agencies, court, and police cooperate with one
another in preventing and controlling juvenile delinquency?
(b) Treatment of Juvenile Delinquents.

1. Does your county (or city or district) have a special juvenile
court? If not, what court handles children’s cases? Does this
court use special procedure in dealing with juvenile-delinquency
cases ?
2. Is the judge who hears children’s cases a person with legal
training, who understands children and has a knowledge of social
conditions and community services? How frequently does the
judge have hearings for juvenile-delinquency cases?
3. How many boys and how many girls appeared before the court
in official hearings during the last fiscal or calendar year? In
unofficial hearings ?
4. How many children referred to the court because of delin­
quency during the year were detained pending court hearing?
Were any children under 16 years of age held in police stations or
in jail pending court hearing?
5. Is it the practice to get in touch with the parents before the
children are placed in detention? Who is responsible for doing
this? Could detention be avoided or shortened if court hearings
were held more frequently? If more adequate social services had
been available to determine the need for detention?
6. Who investigates complaints and gives case-work service to
children coming to the attention of the court because of delin­
quency: Court probation staff? A social agency at the request of
the court ?
7. How many boys and how many girls were committed by the
court to State institutions for juvenile delinquents during the


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

67

past year? How many were assigned to probation officers for
supervision ?
8. How many children were referred by the court to public or
private agencies for supervision or for case work with the families
or with the children themselves? Which agencies are used, and
for what types of cases ?
9. How many boys and how many girls, white and Negro, from
your community were in State institutions for delinquent children
on a given date? How many were in county or city training
schools ? How many were in private institutions of this kind ? *
10. While a child is in training school or correctional institution,
is contact kept with his family? Is this responsibility carried by
the court, by the public-welfare department, or by some other local
agency?
Foster-Care Services for Dependent and Neglected Children.

1. Has there been any significant change within the past few
years in the total number of children belonging in your county who
are given foster care away from their own homes? If there has
been a decrease, may it be attributed t o : More adequate assistance
of needy families ? Availability of public aid to dependent children
in their own homes ? Development of case-work services for fami­
lies and children by the public welfare department? If there has
been an increase, what are possible reasons for this ?
2. How many children were being cared for, on a given date,
directly by the county welfare department: In county institutions;
in boarding homes; in free homes; in prospective adoption homes;
in wage or work homes ?
3. Does the court handling children’s cases place children in
boarding homes or in other types of family homes through its own
staff? How many children under supervision of the court on a
given date were in boarding homes; free homes; prospective adop­
tion homes; wage or work homes ?
Is it necessary for the court to do its own child placing because
the services of public or private child-caring agencies are not avail­
able ? If so, what is being done to make these services available ?
4. If direct State care of dependent and neglected children is pro­
vided by your State welfare department or some other State agency,
how many children from your county were under care of a State
institution for dependent children or State child-placing agency on
a given date ?
5. List the institutions and agencies conducted under private
auspices, located within the county or elsewhere, caring for chil­
dren received from the county, and give for each the number of
children on a given date.
N ote .— The

answer to item 4 should be obtained from the State welfare depart­
ment; data for item 5 can also be obtained from the department in many
States. If practicable, data for items 2, 3, 4, and 5 should be classified as
to race and sex, and figures relating to children in foster-family homes
should give the number of children in each type of home—boarding, free,
wage or work home, prospective adoption home.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

68

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

6. Total number of dependent or neglected children from your
county under care away from their own homes. (Items 2, 3, 4, 5
above.) If your State welfare department has such data available,
compare this number with data on the prevalence of child depend­
ency in other counties and in the State as a whole.
7. For how many of the children under the care o f private insti­
tutions and agencies (item 5) were public funds paid toward main­
tenance? How many of these children were placed with the pri­
vate organizations by court order as wards of the public welfare
department? By the public welfare department without court
order? By the court without reference to the department?
8. If the county welfare department arranges for care of itswards by private institutions and agencies, does it safeguard the
children for whom it is responsible by making sure that they are
receiving the kind of care they need and that their family relation­
ships are protected ? How does it do this ?
9. Do the child-caring institutions and agencies keep contact
with the families of children under their foster care or keep
informed about home conditions so that the children may be
restored to their homes if this proves to be desirable?
10. Are there any child-caring institutions or agencies in your
county which are not licensed by the State welfare department in
accordance with State law or which do not have the approval of
local health or welfare agencies given this authority? If their
work is not approved, what is being done to raise the quality of
their services for children ?
11. What provision is made for investigation and social service
in adoption cases ?
Social Services for Physically Handicapped Children.

1. Medical, educational, and social-service agencies have joint
responsibility for seeing that the needs of physically handicapped
children are met. In your community are social services for physi­
cally handicapped children related to the medical and educational
programs?
•
2. How many blind children and how many deaf children from
your community were receiving care and training in State or pri­
vate institutions on a given date? Are the programs of these insti­
tutions related to the social services of the community? In what
ways?
3. How many crippled children are known to the responsible
authorities in your county? How many of them are now receiving
medical care and other needed services ? How many received such
care during the past year?
4. What steps are taken to find blind, deaf, or crippled children
who may not be receiving the treatment or training needed ? Does
your school census enumerate such children ? Between what ages ?
Whose responsibility is it to see that the necessary medical care,
training, or social service is given to these children?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW---- STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

69

Social Services for M entally Deficient Children.

1. How many children from your community are in State or local
institutions for the mentally deficient?
2. How many children are on waiting lists for admission to insti­
tutions for the mentally deficient? What are the prospects for
their admission?
3. What is being done in your community to discover mentally
deficient children who are not receiving the care, training, and
social protection needed ?
4. Does the local public welfare department have any plan for
the supervision o f mentally deficient children who remain in their
own homes ? Describe.
5. Is boarding-home care made available by the local public
welfare department or by private organizations for mentally
deficient children who need care away from their own homes?
Describe the plan and the adequacy of the provision made for board­
ing-home care for these children.
SUMMARY of strengths and weaknesses of community’s provision
for social services for children ; next steps to be taken.

Economic Aid to Families
[Children in a Democracy, pp. 12-24. Standards of Child Health, Education, and
Social Welfare, p. 19.]
A necessary condition o f the family’s capacity to serve the child is an
income sufficient to provide the essentials of food, clothing, shelter, and
health, as well as a home life that means for the child education, happiness,
character building.
*

*

*

*

*

*

*

* * * many families and children are left without an assured livelihood
because of unemployment, disability, low wages, or other factors beyond
their control. It is becoming the established American policy that these
families be given adequate economic assistance. This economic assistance
has been called by various names, such as general relief, public assistance,
work program, old-age assistance, aid to dependent children. * * *
(Children in a Democracy, pp. 12, 21.)
S T A T E O U TLIN E

Public Assistance.

1.
Is adequate provision made throughout the State for general
relief to needy individuals and families who are not eligible for aid
under the public-assistance categories ? In which counties is gen­
eral relief well administered ? In which counties is it poorly admin­
istered or inadequate to meet the needs ?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

70

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

2. Does the State give financial assistance to local units to meet
the costs of relief and administration? Is this State aid adjusted
to the need and financial capacity of the local units ? Is the amount
of State aid sufficient to meet the needs ? What progress has been
made within the past year toward improving the general-relief sit­
uation in the State ?
3. What provision is made for public medical care for families
whose resources are insufficient to purchase such care?
4. Does the State law place upon the local unit responsibility for
the care of all needy persons with local residence ? What provision
is made for those who are without local residence ?
5. During the last fiscal or calendar year how many families or
individuals in the State received economic aid under the following
classifications, and what was the total cost for each category, includ­
ing local, State, and Federal funds : General Relief ; Old-Age Assist­
ance; Aid.to the Blind; Aid to Dependent Children; Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance ?
A id to Dependent Children in Their Own Homes.

1. In which counties in the State are available funds adequate
and administration such that all families eligible for this aid may .
receive the assistance needed ?
2. In which counties does the aid fall short of this objective?
3. What are the reasons for inadequacy of this program : Limi­
tation of State or local funds? Poor administration? Lack of
interest of the public? Restrictions on size of grant? Other
reasons ?
4. For each county in the State, how many families received
aid-to-dependent-children grants during a recent month? How
many children ? What was the average grant per family and per
child (or, if available, average monthly grant per person in ADC
households) ?
5. What provision, by law or policy, does the State make for
medical care of these children and of members of their families ?
6. Is provision made for examination, treatment, and vocational
adjustment of incapacitated parents whose inability to support the
family is a major reason for assistance?
7. Has the State suggested a limitation of workers’ case loads
which should make it possible to provide the necessary social serv­
ices to children and their families? What measures might be
taken to bring such services to children in counties where the case
loads are too high?
8. If the State does not receive Federal aid for this form of pub­
lic assistance, what efforts are being made to meet the requirements
for Federal aid ?
SUMMARY of outstanding problems and needs in publiç-asslstariçe and relief programs*.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOR REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

71

O U TL IN E FOR C O M M U N IT IE S

Family R elief and Service.

1. Does the State share in the cost of general relief? What pro­
portion of the local expenditure for relief is paid from State funds ?
2. What control or supervision does the State exercise over local
relief administration?
•
3. What is the requirement regarding residence in the county
(or in towns) as a requisite for granting general relief? What is
happening to persons in need in your community who do not have
local residence in accordance with this requirement?
4. Is the aid to be provided determined on the basis of family
budgets showing the needs and resources of each fam ily; if not,
how is it determined?
5. Does the aid given permit a proper standard of home life?
6. Is the amount o f aid to needy families limited because of
insufficient funds or are there other reasons for inadequacy?
7. In your community, as of a given date, how many children
were in families receiving general relief from the public welfare
department ?
8. In a recent month, what was the average amount of public
relief given in your community, per family and per child ?
9. Does the staff of the local public welfare department include
workers with training and experience in family case work ?
10. Is family relief and service provided in the community by
private agencies or other voluntary groups ? How extensive is this
assistance ? How is it related to public assistance ?
Aid to Dependent Children in Their Own Homes.

1. In your community, how many children, in how many families,
were receiving on a given date aid to dependent children in their
own homes or in the homes of relatives eligible for such aid under
the State law ?
2. Are there children in your community who should receive such
assistance but for whom it is not now available ? What is the rea­
son for inadequacy of this form of aid ?
3. What are the average monthly grants per family and per
child (or, if available, average monthly grant per person in ADC
households) ?
4. Is the aid given adequate to provide proper housing, food,
clothing, and other necessities of family life ? If it is inadequate,
what is the reason for this, and what steps need to be taken to safe­
guard the welfare of the children ?
5. Do ADC workers collaborate with other agencies in the com­
munity in efforts to make family life as normal as possible for
children receiving aid?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

72

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

6. Are ADC families encouraged and aided to utilize adult-educa­
tion programs and self-help projects, such as household-manage­
ment classes, home gardens, and canning demonstrations?
7. Does the public-assistance agency cooperate with the schools
in assisting the older children in ADC families to ascertain the work
which they may be fitted for, helping them to secure vocational
training, and aiding in placement ?
8. Is the amount of assistance needed by individual families
determined by workers equipped for this task ? Are these workers
able to deal with social problems of families and children so that
they may provide case-work services when they are needed ?
SUMMARY o f outstanding problems of general relief and aid to
dependent children.

Families and Their Dwellings
[<Children in a Democracy, pp. 24-28. Standards of Child Health, Education, and
Social Welfare, pp. 1-2.]
The character of a dwelling is important to every member of the family,
but especially to children, who spend so much time in and near the house
and are peculiarly susceptible to environmental influences. (Children in a
Democracy, p. 24.)
S T A T E O U TLIN E

1. What State agency, if any, is concerned with promoting good
housing ? Functions ; appropriations ; staff.
2. Are special rural-housing programs carried on through State
action ? By the Federal Government ? Where are they located ?
How many families are reached? How are these programs
administered?
3. In what urban communities are Federal housing projects
under way ? Describe extent and character.
4. Are newly created or expanding industrial centers presenting
housing problems? If so, describe, and indicate what measures
are being taken to meet them.
5. To what extent do State laws and regulations provide for
observance of minimum housing standards ? How are these regu­
lations administered ?
6. What provision for housing regulations and their administra­
tion is made in the cities of the State ?
7. What areas of substandard housing are in urban centers ; in
rural sections ?
8. Does the State carry on research and educational programs
to promote better housing? Through what agencies? How
conducted ?
9. Have any studies been made, or is any study contemplated of
the prevalence of substandard housing in both urban and rural


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES FOE REVIEW— STATE AND C O M M U N IT Y

73

areas? What sections of the State have been covered by these
studies ? What action has been taken as the result of the findings
of such studies ?
10. What private agencies conduct housing research? What
research programs are carried on ?
11. Do citizens’ organizations include study of housing in their
programs ? If so, to what extent ?
SUMMARY of outstanding housing problems and measures which
should be taken by the State.
OU TLINE FOR COM M UNITIES

1. _Approximately what proportion of the families in your com­
munity live in dwellings which are substandard or overcrowded, or
which are otherwise unsuitable for the maintenance of proper
standards of family life ?
2. Is your community aware of the dangers of bad housing?
What is being done to eliminate conditions injurious to health and
safety ?
3.. What measures are being taken to improve the housing of
families of moderate means ? In what ways are housing programs
which are encouraged by the Federal Government utilized in your
community ?
4. What provision is made in your community for regular hous­
ing inspection service, including water supply, excreta disposal, fire
hazards, space, light, ventilation, sanitary equipment ?
5. Have any studies been made of substandard housing? What
action has been taken as the result of the findings of any such
studies ?
SUMMARY of outstanding housing problems and measures which
should be taken by the community.

Children in Migrant Families
[Children in a Democracy, pp 69-74.]
T h e p r o b le m o f th e m i g r a n t f a m ily is n a t io n a l in s c o p e .

B u t s h e lt e r , e d u ­

c a t i o n f o r c h ild r e n , h e a lt h s u p e r v is io n , a n d m e d ic a l c a r e m u s t b e m a d e a v a il­
a b le l o c a l l y w h e r e v e r a n d w h e n e v e r n e e d e d .

(Children in a Democracy

P* 73.)

1. What is the nature and extent of the migrant problem in the
State. Is it seasonal; for what occupations? Which communities
are affected? Do migrant families come from other communities
within the State? Do they come from other States with the hope
of permanent settlement or for seasonal work ?
2. What has the State done with respect to plans for employment
of migrant workers ?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

74

3. What has the State done with respect to the problem of fami­
lies who wish to settle in the State or a district other than their resi­
dence in the State ?
4. Are State and community housing and sanitary regulations
applicable to the shelters of seasonal and migratory workers ? Are
these regulations enforced ?
5. What local health services are available in actual practice to
migrant families and their children ? Are such services available
to them to the same extent as to resident families ?
6. Are local school facilities in practice open to migrant children ?
What percentage of the migrant children in your community
between 6 and 14 years of age attend school? 14 and 15 years?
7. To what extent does employment interfere with the school
attendance of migratory children between 6 and 12 years of age?
12 and 13 years of age? 14 and 15 years of age?
8. To what extent are local health services and school facilities
available to migrant families and their children ?
9. How long a period of residence is required in the State and in
a county or city before a person can be eligible for general relief?
For aid to dependent children ? What provision is made for needy
persons who have not acquired legal residence? ,
SUMMARY of strengths and weaknesses of services for children of
migrant families, and plans for improving and extending these
services and for enlisting the interest of the general public in
these problems.

Children in Minority Groups
{.Children in a Democracy, p p . 6 7 -6 9 . Preliminary Statements Submitted to
the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy, p p . 2 4 5 -2 5 7 .]
T h e c h ild r e n in f a m ilie s o f m i n o r it y g r o u p s o f t e n s u f f e r s e v e r a l t y p e s o f
h a n d ic a p s .

T h e i r p a r e n t s h a v e le s s c h a n c e f o r e m p lo y m e n t a n d e c o n o m ic

a d v a n ce m e n t;

th ey

e x p e r ie n c e

a

degree

of

s o c ia l e x c l u s i o n ;

th ey

m ay

r e c e i v e a n u n e q u a l s h a r e in p u b lic a n d p r iv a t e s e r v i c e s : S c h o o l, r e c r e a t io n ,
m e d ic a l c a r e , a n d w e l f a r e s e r v ic e .

( Children

in a Democracy,

p. 67.)

1. Do Negro children and children o f other minority groups re­
ceive the same services, or services of the same character, as other
children receive? Review outlines on each of the preceding topics
and indicate under each heading the extent to which equal services
are available or the extent to which children of minority groups
are excluded from services or receive services of inferior quality.
2. What efforts are being made in your community to discover
and to deal in a constructive manner with problems of racial dis­
crimination or racial tensions, especially as they affect children?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Outlines for State and Community Action
To Protect Children in Wartime
Because of the interdependence of State and local action in behalf
of children who require special wartime safeguards, the outlines
which follow are not divided into State and community sections, but
approach the various problems primarily from the point of view of
the needs in local areas in which war conditions endanger the wel­
fare of children. The outlines are based upon measures suggested
by the “ Program of State Action” and “ Community Action for
Children” formulated by the Children’s Bureau Commission on
Children in Wartime and should be studied in relation to these
programs.29

Areas of Special Need Because of War Conditions
1. What communities or areas within the State are especially
affected by wartime conditions because they are centers of war
production or military operations ?
2. What is being done by defense agencies or by departments of
the State government to ascertain conditions in areas of special
need and to help the communities to handle problems adequately?
3. Is housing of families a serious problem in these communi­
ties ? What is being done about it ?
4. Are adequate sanitary regulations enforced ?
5. How adequate are facilities for medical and dental service and
hospital care? If they are inadequate for the needs of the com­
munity, what is being done to remedy conditions ?
6. Is full-day schooling available for every child of school age in
the community, regardless of race, permanency of residence, or
29A Children’s Charter in Wartime. Children's Bureau Publication 283.
Washington, 1942.
F or Our Children in Wartime— A Program of State Action, adopted August
28, 194.2, by the Children’s Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime in
consultation with the Office o f D efense Health and W elfare Services and the
Office 'of Civilian Defense. Children’s Bureau. Washington, 1942.
Community Action fo r Children in Wartime. Children’s Bureau Publication
295. Washington, 1943.
Legislation fo r the Protection of Children in W artim e; suggestions sub­
mitted by the Children’s Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime fo r chil­
dren’s committees o f State defense councils and other groups concerned with
child-welfare legislation. Children’s Bureau. Washington, January 1943.
75

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

76

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

social status? If not, is any special provision made for children
who are on half-day schedules ?
7. Are there enough qualified teachers and other school staff to
assure every child a well-rounded school experience ?
8. Are school lunches available?
9. Is there adequate enforcement o f child-labor and schoolattendance laws ?

Wartime Health Services for Children
1. Have the services given to mothers and babies as part of
the public-health program been curtailed because of the war
emergency ?
2. What adaptations have been made in the public-health pro­
gram to provide adequate service on State and local levels during
the war period ?
3. What assistance does the State make available to local units
to enable them to provide adequate health service and medical and
dental care for mothers and for children ?
4. Is the withdrawal of doctors and nurses for military service
leaving some areas without obstetricians or pediatricians or ade­
quate hospital facilities ?
5. Does your community take advantage of the provisions made
for maternity and infant care for wives and infants of enlisted men
under the Emergency Maternity and Infant Care program?
6. What provision is made for protection and care of pregnant
women employed in defense industries ?
7. Are your community well-baby clinics or child-health confer­
ences overcrowded ? Is there need to establish others ? Are they
properly staffed and equipped ?
8. Is special attention paid in your community to medical and
dental care of boys and girls in the age groups that may soon be
called upon for military service or war production?
9. What does your community do to insure adequate nourishing
food for all children through such means as nutrition education,
school lunches, and low-cost milk?
10. Is special attention being paid to finding crippled children of
families that have moved across State lines into military or warindustry areas?

Employment Safeguards
1. Does the community provide counseling and placement serv­
ices to help boys and girls decide whether to leave school for work
and to assist them in finding suitable part-time or full-time jobs?
2. Is there an adequate staff for prompt issuance of employment
and age certificates to make sure that no child under legal working
age goes to work?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUTLINES— CHILDREN IN W A R TIM E

77

3. Are health services available where young persons going to
work can be examined to make sure that they are physically fit for
the job?
4. Is the State endeavoring to meet needs for participation of
young people in war production without breaking down the stand­
ards essential to conservation o f health and educational opportu­
nity, in accordance with the principles of sound child-labor laws ?
5. Do the schools provide guidance and health services which
prepare children for entering employment?
6. What plans are being carried out by the State health or labor
department or by other agencies for protecting the health of boys
and girls employed in agriculture, in defense industries, and in
other types of work?
7. What school or community safeguards are provided to protect
the health, education, and general welfare of school children em­
ployed outside school hours or on school-released time?
8. Is any representative committee or group in your community
making plans for coordinated efforts to safeguard the conditions
under which children are now employed or to meet their problems
during the period of demobilization?

Community Recreation Programs
1. Is there an over-all planning group for recreation representa­
tive of all interests in the community, and is youth represented?
2. Are the recreation facilities of the community adequate in
view of increased population, housing conditions, and the special
need to counteract problems arising in congested areas of industrial
and military operations?
3. What efforts are being made to provide supervised recreation
facilities so that boys and girls in the community may find healthful
outlets for their need of activity and companionship ?
4. What is being done by the State to aid communities in provid­
ing these facilities ?
5. Is there adequate community control of commercial recreation
facilities ?
6. Is any organization or agency helping parents to plan for outof-school activities of their children ?
7. Does the community recreation program take into account the
recreational needs of adults and of family groups? What provi­
sion has been made?
8. Is adequate support being given to the agencies in the commu­
nity which provide organized group activities ?


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

78

Prevention and Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency

30

1. Has delinquency increased because of war conditions? What
do statistics of the juvenile court show? The police department?
Other evidences of increase in juvenile delinquency?
2. What are some of the major factors producing juvenile de­
linquency in your community ? Discuss such factors a s:
Unwholesome living conditions.
Employment of mothers.
Lack of full-time school facilities.
Lack of recreational facilities.
Unregulated commercial amusement places.
Nonenforcement of regulations for social protection.
Other conditions.
3. Has any study been made of the problem of juvenile delin­
quency in your community? By whom? Findings of study?
Action taken growing out of study ?
4. Has responsibility for leadership in developing a program to
prevent and control juvenile delinquency been placed on some rep­
resentative group in the community? If so, describe its organiza­
tion and activities.

Day Care of Children of Working Mothers
1. What official State committee or departments are responsible
for assisting local communities in making plans for day care of
mothers whose employment is essential to the war effort?
2. What staff is made available by the State welfare department
to assist communities in planning, developing, and supervising local
programs of day care?
3. What staff is made available by the State department of edu­
cation to assist in the development of extended school services?
4. What provision is made by the State health department for
safeguarding the health of children receiving day care? By your
local health department?
5. What committee, department, or organization in your com­
munity has studied the local situation? What did the group find
with respect to prevalence of employment of mothers and the need
for day-care services?
6. If there is need for such care, has a community day-care pro­
gram been planned which includes: Nursery schools and day-care
centers; extended school services for children attending school;
foster-family day care; homemaker service; other forms of activ­
ities and supervision of children whose mothers are absent from
the home? What progress has been made in developing these
services?
30See also Prevention and Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency, pp. 65-67.,


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

o u t l in e s — c h il d r e n i n

w a r t im e

, 79

7. What projects have been developed with the aid of Lanham
Act funds? For what services?
8. Has information and counseling service been provided in the
community, easily accessible to mothers who are considering going
to work, or who need help in planning for the care of their children ?
9. Which State and local agencies are responsible for the en­
forcement of laws and regulations for the protection of the health
and safety o f children given day care ?
10. What provision is made for the care of children with minor
illnesses who must be excluded temporarily from group care?
11. Does the community day-care program provide services for
adolescents and thus help to prevent juvenile delinquency?
12. Has an effort been made to recruit foster-family homes for
day care? What success has been met with?
13. What is the total capacity o f existing day nurseries, day-care
centers, and nursery-school facilities for children of working
mothers? Is full use being made of these facilities? If not, why
not? Are there waiting lists?
14. Are there any areas of the community in need of such serv­
ices which do not have them available?
15. Are the needs of school children supplied, as well as children
o f preschool age?
16. Do your local departments of health, welfare, and education
cooperate in developing and safeguarding the community program
for day care? Do private agencies, church groups, neighborhood
houses, and recreation centers participate in the program? How?


i
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Suggested Outline for an Inventory of

Community Resources
An inventory of the community’s resources for the care and pro­
tection of children will serve two purposes: (a) It will provide
“ directory” information which should be available to the commu­
nity; (b) it will serve as a basis for studying the adequacy of pres­
ent facilities for child health, education, social welfare, and related
services and planning to fill the gaps in essential services.
Directories of community agencies compiled by councils of social
agencies or other central organizations in most of the larger cities
and in some county areas supply this information, but for smaller
communities and sparsely settled areas there is need for a descrip­
tive listing of resources, preferably with the county as the area to
be covered. In addition to local agencies, institutions, and organi­
zations, the director should include information regarding services
of State departments and institutions available to the local com­
munity, as well as State-wide or regional organizations concerned
with the welfare of children.
It must be remembered that the existence of organizations with
a given purpose does not necessarily imply that the need for this
form of service is being met. Intensive study of the equipment of
each agency is required in order to evaluate its services and to de­
termine how it fits into the whole community picture. In many
communities the results of studies o f this kind are already avail­
able; in other localities certain outstanding needs will be evident
without detailed study. Technical surveys should not be under­
taken unless they can be made by persons professionally equipped
to evaluate services in the various fields. The directory should,
therefore, be confined to statements regarding the field of service
undertaken by the agency as reported by its governing board or
executive.
The plan for the inventory should be made by, or in collaboration
with, the local committee responsible for review of child-welfare
needs and resources, and material should be obtained and compiled
under the direction of the committee. Directories of social agen­
cies compiled by central organizations in various cities illustrate
methods of classification of agencies and organization of material.
For small communities and for county areas which do not contain
large cities the problem is, of course, very much simpler, and listing
under the headings of general types of services will suffice.
80

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

INVENTORY OF C O M M U N IT Y RESOURCES

81

This outline of possible types o f agencies available to a commu­
nity must not be misunderstood to imply that a county or other local
unit should necessarily have examples of all of these types of organ­
izations. It is intended merely as a guide for obtaining informa­
tion regarding resources to be used in connection with the com­
munity outlines presented in the preceding pages. It should be
noted that the classification is by types of services; one agency may
therefore appear in the list several times.
The suggested inventory is in effect a plan for laying out a pic­
ture puzzle whose general outlines are known and for fitting into
it the services now at hand. Gaps in the picture will become evi­
dent, but there will also be duplications and inadequacies which
require further exploration in order that essential services may be
made available for all children in the community.

Community Agencies To Be Included in Inventory
1. Health Protection and M edical Care.

(a) Public department of health (or its divisions) pro­
viding health services for mothers and infants and for
children.
( b) Hospitals caring for maternity cases (public and
private).
(c) Children’s hospitals or children’s wards of general
hospitals.
(d) State hospitals receiving children from this com­
munity.
( e) Visiting-nurse service.
( /) Other public or private agencies providing maternal
or child-health services (including school health services).
(g )
Child-health centers; clinics (specify types of con­
ditions treated).
(In) Dental clinics.
(i) Local agencies providing services for crippled chil­
dren.
(j) State agencies receiving for care crippled children
from this locality.
2. M ental-H ygiene Clinics and Child-Guidance Clinics.

(a) Clinics conducted by local department of welfare or
health department. By the school system. Under private
auspices.
( b) Clinic services available to the community from a
State department or State hospital.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

82

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

3. Educational Facilities.

(a) Schools conducted by the department of education:
Nursery schools, kindergartens, grade schools, high schools
(or junior and senior high schools), vocational schools
(specify type) ; vacation schools; evening schools for adults.
( b) Parochial and other schools conducted under private
auspices: Classify as above.
(c) Special schools or classes for mentally deficient
children.
(d) State institutions receiving mentally deficient chil­
dren from this community for training or for custodial care.
(e) Special schools or classes for crippled children; blind
children; deaf children. Sight-saving classes in public or
private schools.
( /) Provision made for home instruction of children
who are physically unable to attend school.
(g ) State schools for blind or deaf children; State hos­
pital schools for crippled children.
(h) Play schools or nursery schools conducted under
private auspices.
(i) Attendance and visiting-teacher services.
(j ) Facilities for adult education.
(k) Libraries: Public library and its branches; special
children’s libraries.
(l) Museums and art galleries.
4. Facilities for Preventing T oo Early Employment of Children
and for Safeguarding Y oun g W orkers.

(a) Guidance and counseling services in schools.
( b) Placement services, including local U. S. Employ­
ment Service offices and other placement agencies.
(c) Scholarship agencies.
(d) Officials issuing work permits and employment and
age certificates.
( e) State labor department inspection services (these
will be under State auspices, but their relation to the com­
munity should be noted).
5. Facilities for Leisure-Time Activities and Recreation (see also
items 3 (k) and 3 (1)).

(a) Local and State parks providing for recreational ac­
tivities of family groups and individuals.
(b) Public playgrounds, swimming pools; athletic
centers.
(c) Organizations providing group activities (such as:
Boys’ Clubs; Girls’ Clubs; Boy Scouts; Girl Scouts; Camp­
fire girls; Y. M. C. A .; Y. W. C. A .; settlements and neigh­
borhood associations).
( d) Summer camps; vacation day camps.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

INVENTORY OF C O M M U N IT Y RESOURCES

83

6 . Public Assistance and Family Service.

(a) Public department administering general relief, oldage assistance, aid to dependent children, old-age and sur­
vivors insurance.
( b) Family-service and relief agencies under private
auspices.
(c) Organizations providing special forms of aid, such
as scholarships for needy children, orthopedic appliances,
milk, and so forth.
7. Social Services for Children in Their Own Homes.

(a) Public welfare department (or its division) provid­
ing social services for children.
(b) Children’s aid or protective agencies under private
auspices, giving case-work service.
(c) Other agencies providing services to unmarried
mothers and their infants. Maternity homes.
(d) Agencies providing homemaker service for families
when mothers are ill or out of the home.
(e) Division or person in school system helping children
who have emotional problems or other maladjustments.
( /) Public and private agencies providing social services
for children who are physically handicapped (crippled,
blind, deaf) or mentally deficient.
8. Care o f Children W h o M ust Be Provided for Aw ay From
Their Own Homes.

(a) Local public welfare department (or its division)
providing foster care in family homes or institutions for
dependent and neglected children (and for mentally defi­
cient or delinquent children who need such care).
(b) State child-placing agencies or institutions caring
for dependent children from this community.
(c) Private child-caring agencies and institutions lo­
cated in the county ; located elsewhere, providing foster care
for children from this community.
(d) Agencies providing day care for children whose
mothers are working ; in day nurseries, day-care centers, or
foster-family homes.
(e) State training schools or correctional institutions
for delinquent children, receiving children from this
community.
( /) State institutions for mentally deficient children re­
ceiving children from this community.31
(g) Local institutions for delinquent or mentally defi­
cient children conducted by the county or under private
auspices.
81State schools for blind or deaf children and for crippled children are
included in section 3.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

84

OUR CONCERN— EVERY CHILD

9. Courts— Law Enforcement— Legal A id.

(a)
cases.
( b)
(c)
cerned

Juvenile court or other court handling children’s
Public or private agency furnishing legal aid.
Police department or its division especially con­
with juvenile delinquency.

10. Organizations Concerned W ith Community Conditions.

Civic organizations; parent-teacher association; groups
concerned with various aspects o f family life and child
development.

Information To Be Obtained for Each Organization
The following information should be obtained and recorded for
agencies and institutions in the fields of health, education, labor,
social welfare, and allied activities:
Name and address of agency or institution (and branches,
if any).
Auspices under which the activity is conducted.
Name o f president of managing board.
Name and title of executive.
Brief description of kinds of services given (or types of
cases treated).
Limitations of service: Race, religion, sex, age, and so forth.
Number receiving care on a specified date, or approximate
number served during a given period of time (children or
families).
If the approved capacity of an institution or hospital is
greater or less than the number reported as under care, state
the capacity.
For other types o f organizations: Name; purpose; name and
address of president and secretary; brief statement of program as
it relates to family life, child welfare, or community conditions.

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1944

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


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis