which we have actually undertaken projects on a very small scale. None of them have been carried to the point of any final and definite findings even where they have shown promise. Limited staff and funds available for these purposes are not enough to do the job right. Nevertheless they illustrate the type of action research that we believe, from our own experience, could be most practical and productive if pushed a little further with Federal funds. 1. SCREENING FOR EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF CHILD ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS Over a period of several years our State department of public welfare, division for children and youth, has been interested in developing techniques for early identification of child adjustment problems through systematic screening in the fourth and fifth grades in the schools. As part of our community surveys, we have undertaken experimental projects in schools in five counties scattered throughout the State. Much remains to be done in this area to test various techniques and to validate them through followup research studies. 2. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR MENTAL HEALTH IN THE SCHOOLS Our State department of public welfare, through its representation on the State school health council, has been an active participant in the development of guiding principles for mental health and is an instrument designed for inservice training of teachers and other school personnel. Through a subcommittee of the State school health council, a proposal has now been developed for testing the use of this guide in two or three pilot schools under sponsorship of the State department of public instruction in cooperation with the State board of health, State department of public welfare, university school of education, and La Crosse State College. Ultimately funds will be needed for more extensive testing and evaluation of this mental health education tool. 3. MADISON CASE COORDINATION PROJECT This is a special research project in the Madison, Wis., delinquency survey now underway. It is designed to learn more about the gaps in the community pattern for prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency. A detailed design of the project and research methodology is available and can be provided to the committee. Our department of public welfare is also involved in two projects seeking to find out more about the role of peer group influences upon youth behavior. By employing detached youth workers to contact young people on the streets and in commercial hangouts in the community, we try to learn more about the attitudes, interests, and motivations of young people who tend to get into conflict with the community. This involves such mental health considerations as probing adult attitudes toward these so-called delinquents or hoodlums and the attitudes of these youth toward adults in the community. One of these projects is now being planned in Milwaukee, Wis., and an experiment in this area is now underway in Madison, Wis., under our staff direction. 5. SPECIAL PROJECTS TO DEMONSTRATE EARLIER TREATMENT OF FAMILY AND CHILD ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS Demonstration projects of early treatment of children in their own homes are now underway in several counties, with research methods being used for project evaluation. The one county project involves placement of a child welfare worker in the county welfare department with special assignment to work only with schools on early referrals of child adjustment problems. This project was initiated by the county mental health council. 6. COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY DEMONSTRATIONS All of the above projects, while testing the effect of important separate factors in delinquency causation or delinquency treatment, represent a piecemeal approach. Ideally, what we would like to do would be to set up comprehensive demonstrations in two separate communities of different size (less than 100,000 population) in which a combination of the most promising methods would be tested in relation to each other. This would involve the roles of schools, social agencies, courts, police, and volunteer citizens. We have already done con siderable planning of the design of such a project and would be in a position to undertake such a coordinated research approach with the aid of additional funds. The findings from such a project might well be of nationwide significance. The above examples could be multiplied many times from the scattered limited and disjointed experiences of other public and private research teams throughout the country. A national approach such as would be made possible under H.R. 3464 and S. 694 would make for an orderly, systematic, and thoroughgoing attack, not now possible with the skimpy support now available and the piecemeal approach that comes from lack of national participation. The national council proposed in this legislation would provide the much-needed leadership to embark upon and carry through projects in these areas. Much has been written and said in the last few years about needed action to attack the serious delinquency problem in our country. Definite action on the Federal level now could start the ball rolling in a way which would galvanize State and local action across the country that might make some real inroads on this social drain on our national strength. And may I strongly reiterate my personal opinion that H.R. 3464 and S. 694 are an excellent step in the right direction, but that they fall decidedly short in not making funds available to aid the States in training personnel and in strengthening programs for the delinquent and encouraging the States to establish effective and ongoing community consultation services for State and local planning. CHILD WELFARE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, INC., New York, N.Y., March 13, 1959. Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. MY DEAR MR. ELLIOTT: I am enclosing a statement from the Child Welfare League of America endorsing H.R. 3464. We would very much like to have this statement filed in support of the bill you have introduced in Congress. Sincerely yours, JOSEPH H. REID, MARCH 13, 1959. To Hon. Carl Elliott: The Child Welfare League of America wishes to urge the passage of H.R. 3464, entitled "Juvenile Delinquency Control Projects Bill." We believe that this bill should make it possible for States and local communities to develop better programs to control and prevent juvenile delinquency. The magnitude of children's problems in the United States calls for action and support from all levels of government, as well as voluntary agencies. The modest but significant proposals of H.R. 3464 should result in an imaginative attack on the problem of juvenile delinquency, permitting the widest participation of all organizations, public and voluntary, which have a contribution to make in strengthening programs for the welfare of children. The league is the national voluntary standard-setting agency in the child welfare field. Its membership is composed of 240 voluntary and public agencies from all parts of the United States. Since we have not poiled our membership, we cannot speak for each of our members, but our membership has in the past endorsed the principles contained in this important piece of legislation. JOSEPH H. REID, Child Welfare League of America, Inc. STATE OF WASHINGTON, DEPARTMENT OF INSTITUTIONS, Representative CARL ELLIOTT, HONORABLE SIR: We have read your speech to the House of Representatives introducing a bill, H.R. 3464, entitled "Juvenile Delinquency Control Projects Act." We wish to indicate our strong support of this bill and ask that this letter be incorporated in the record of the hearings on juvenile delinquency prevention and control. The State of Washington, through its Department of Institutions, Division of Children and Youth Services, has for several years been actively engaged in attempts to improve the adequacy both of institutional and community services to delinquent and pre-delinquent youth. We have come to stress in our institutional programs treatment and rehabilitation as against mere custody. In our community services program we are providing, with considerable success, direct child guidance services to children and parents. We are also providing consultation to law enforcement agencies throughout the State in the area of encouraging enlightened and progressive police work with youth. However, just as in relation to the State, local communities, by reason of the vast extent of the problem, need help from the State, it would be of inestimable value to the State to be able to draw on the Federal Government for assistance and technical help in meeting this grave and ubiquitous problem which has no respect for State boundaries. Sincerely yours, Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, VAN R. HINKLE, Division of Children and Youth Services. CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS, Minneapolis, Minn., March 13, 1959. House of Representatives, House Office Building, Washington, D.C. HONORABLE SIR: It has been brought to my attention that on March 17, 1959, hearings centered on juvenile delinquency legislation will commence. The juvenile delinquency control projects bill (H.R. 3464) is of particular interest to me. Being actively engaged with the problem as head of the crime-prevention bureau of the Minneapolis police department, I feel that passage of this bill is essential to advancing the work many have struggled to promote. As one of the organizers and instructors in the Juvenile Officers Institute (a 10-week course in juvenile control and techniques) at the University of Minnesota, I fully appreciate the need for research and instruction in this field. Police, generally, are seeking instruction and methods of dealing with this evergrowing problem, and we have had officers from all parts of the United States in attendance at our school here. The financial aid offered in H.R. 3464 is desperately needed to enable further research and study pertaining to this truly national problem. As one who is daily meeting this problem and who has served on many committees at the local, State, and National level considering this problem and its causes and possible remedies, may I urge your wholehearted support for, and in behalf of, H.R. 3464 and S. 694, its companion bill in the Senate. Sincerely, CLIFFORD G. BAILEY, Captain, Crime Prevention Bureau. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH, Harrisburg, March 17, 1959. Representative CARL ELLIOTT, House Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR CONGRESSMAN ELLIOTT: The Governor's Committee on Children and Youth of Pennsylvania has, for the past 2 years, been developing plans for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency in our State. The problem, however, has become national in scope and, therefore, warrants Federal aid as well as leadership. There is much that we need to do in our own State, but Federal funds will give fresh impetus and permit us to make a concerted effort to meet the increasingly critical situation. We believe that your bill (H.R. 3464) would provide the means for all States to obtain urgently needed knowledge if we are to direct our efforts effectively and purposely, instead of on a trial-and-error basis. The provision in your bill for demonstration projects would give us supporting data on fresh approaches which have been found to be successful. By pooling our knowledge, we can develop more effective State programs and can use the findings in our efforts to secure increased State appropriations for such programs. Our committee arranged for the National Probation and Parole Association to conduct a statewide study of probation services for juveniles. All too often, we found that probation was a token gesture and, because of high caseloads, made any semblance of rehabilitation impossible. Additional funds would make it possible for us to demonstrate what a probation office, adequately staffed with qualified workers, could achieve. The project would help us to measure the effectiveness of various types of community services in the prevention of delinquency, such as the expansion of child-guidance clinics, gang-control programs, and specially trained juvenile-aid workers in the police departments. We would also be enabled to develop a more effective handling of the so-called hard-core families. These are just a few of our aspirations which might be realized if your bill were to be passed with adequate appropriations. Five million dollars is far too little. The city of New York spends this amount, annually, for its own program. Many times this appropriation is needed if our nationwide approach is to be commensurate to the magnitude of the problem. We would appreciate your including this letter in the record of the hearings. If there is any further action which we could take in support of this bill, we would be glad to hear from you. Cordially yours, Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, ROBERT C. TABER, Chairman. THE OSBORNE ASSOCIATION, INC., Chairman, Subcommittee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, House Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. ELLIOTT: Recently at the annual meeting of the board of directors of the Osborne Association, I was authorized to inform you a motion was carried encouraging the enactment of H.R. 3464 which you have introduced into this Congress. The Osborne Association has been in existence many years and its function is to assist individuals released from institutions and to encourage improvements in rehabilitative programs. The members of this board believe the legislation you have sponsored would make it possible to find more effective techniques of rehabilitation and, in addition, to encourage local communities and States to accelerate their preventive activities. Your interest in this important work is commendable. Sincerely, E. PRESTON SHARP, Director. THE BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMAN'S CLUB OF PHILADELPHIA, INC., Philadelphia, March 7, 1959. Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, MY DEAR MR. ELLIOTT: At the meeting of our board (32 members), as chairman of our club's committee on legislation, I read to them from the Congressional Record, the outline of your timely and worthwhile bill on juvenile delinquency control. As a rule we are pressed for time, but they were so impressed by the bill H.R. 3464, and a part of your excellent speech, I was asked to read it in its entirety. It is encouraging and heart-warming to know that someone really has thought of something constructive which might be done to control the unhappy situation. All we have heard are discussions, etc. Thank you on behalf of the club membership for launching an attack from a new angle and something 'which can really curb the wave of delinquency. It is our sincere hope that the bill will become law. With assurances of our appreciation and esteem, MRS. MARGARET T. GROFF. Mr. ELLIOTT. Our next witness today is Mr. Leonard, of the industrial union department of AFL-CIO. Mr. Leonard has been kind to the subcommittee in that he has allowed us to schedule him and reschedule him several times. We are happy to have you today, Mr. Leonard. Mr. LEONARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. STATEMENT OF RICHARD T. LEONARD, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO WALTER P. REUTHER, PRESIDENT OF THE INDUSTRIAL UNION DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO Mr. LEONARD. My name is Richard T. Leonard. I am the administrative assistant to Walter P. Reuther, president of the industrial union department of the AFL-CIO, and I am appearing here today to present that organization's views on the pending bills relating to juvenile delinquency control. Mr. Chairman, it is encouraging to us that you, as well as other members of this committee, have taken the lead in proposing legislation offering a constructive program for the solution of our growing juvenile delinquency problems. We of industrial labor share your vital concern with the mounting delinquency of the Nation's youth. As you know, we believe that America's people need more than bread and butter alone--that they have social and cultural needs as well and that fulfilling these needs is the best way of obtaining a better way of life. Certainly, one of these non-bread-and-butter goals must always be to provide the best of all possible worlds for our children. A world that is free of fear, free of want, and free of all those factors that restrict the healthy development of a child. Unfortunately, statistics show that we are making little or no progress in this field. In fact, to put it bluntly, we are moving backward. |