professional preintake counseling services, to assure that day care is used as the best plan for strengthening family life. Very sincerely yours, Hon. MARTHA W. GRIFFITHS, Mrs. NETTIE PODELL OTTENBERG. NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA., February 14, 1962. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MRS. GRIFFITHS: The enclosed study was made by me for the Committee on Dependency of the League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia. It represents an attempt to evaluate a program started last April by our director of public welfare. The purpose is to teach women skills so that they may become self-supporting. The women on ADC and their children live at the center 6 months. The rehabilitation pertains to the children also. Since April some 50 mothers have been trained for jobs, which were in many instances made for them. They have been taken off the relief rolls, and are under the supervision of trained caseworkers. As you will note in my report, it would be an altogether successful program if the children could be placed in day-care centers instead of the present haphazard way of placing them with anyone who can be found to look after them. Since the purpose of the Aid to Dependent Children Act is to give the best of care to fatherless children whose mothers have no means of supporting them, improper day care of these children while the mother is at work defeats the very purpose of the act. Furthermore, the whole project is in jeopardy, as mothers and social workers fail to find proper day care for the children. While I am in sympathy with your fear that this may act as a subsidy for employers, we must bear in mind that today jobs are scarce and the unskilled woman worker with children to support has two strikes against her at the start. Without a skill, and required to pay for the high cost of day care for her children, she cannot compete in the labor field. A recent study on the cost of private day care made by the United Community Services of the District of Columbia reveals that such care costs between $900 and $1,200 per child per year. On the other hand, the best salary the pioneer center has been able to secure for their workers recently trained there has averaged about $2,000. Tax-supported day nurseries would not be so expensive, since low-cost housing centers where the mothers live may be available for such day-care centers. Recently I visited Denmark, where publicly supported day-care centers are well established. Mothers bring their children to the neighborhood centers located near public schools, and leave for work assured that their children will be well looked after while they work. The community is assured that the children will not become delinquents with no one responsible for their behavior before and after school. I do hope that we may look for your support in this very worthy project. Very sincerely yours, Mrs. NETTIE PODELL OTTENBERG. PIONEER PUBLIC WELFARE CENTER On April 3 of this year, a pioneer public welfare center was opened at 1719 13th Street. Its purpose to rehabilitate recipients of aid to dependent children (ADC) in an effort to make them self-supporting by teaching them skills. Also to bring them under the influence of trained specialists in child care who would help them to develop new patterns for living and working. In September, 30 of the mothers who were selected for this resident 6 months' training were graduated without fanfare, taken off the relief rolls, installed in National Capital Housing Authority facilities and holding jobs which averaged $188 in earnings per month per woman. Their children had also gained from the 6 months' residence at the center. Since this project is the first and only one of its kind in the country, and the techniques used seemed to have been successful, a description of the program followed is pertinent, especially since the city fathers here are well pleased with the initial results, and plan to open more centers for retraining not only for ADC mothers but also for other relief recipients. First step. At the Public Assistance Division of the Department of Public Welfare, a caseworker scans the rolls of ADC mothers who have one or two children and are between the ages of 18 and 32. The most likely mothers under that category are sent to their initial interview with the social worker at the center. Second step.-If the social worker is satisfied that the mother has the ability and desire to enter the center and to remain in residence with her progeny (this last word is used to cover one or two children as the case may be) she proceeds to the next step. Third step.-A thorough physical checkup for herself and progeny by the Department of Health. Up to this point only Welfare has been in the picture. Since this is a cooperative effort involving six departments, it is well to point them out as we proceed. Fourth step.-A period of evaluation is now undertaken by the USES, the purpose to determine through aptitude tests the mother's abilities and potential skills and preferences in preparing to qualify for training which will lead to a job. If accepted by the center for training, No. 5 follows. Fifth step.-Now the mother and progeny are about to move to the center and the social worker steps in to help in storing her belongings and helping the mother with other adjustments. Sixth step.-Vocational guidance now steps into the picture. A consultant sees the mother, discusses with her the possibilities of employment in the field which presumably she has chosen, and determines the mother's suitability for such employment. Seventh step.-USES now returns in its efforts to aid the mother to find employment. If the mother has chosen to learn sewing, woodwork, or upholstery, she can enter training right at the center. Vocational guidance has also granted $41.000 to equip a modern apartment and eventually that will be ready for use in training for the domestic arts. Eighth step.-While the mother has been busy getting ready for her training, the older children are sent to school, while the younger ones are being looked after by trained workers assigned by the Department of Recreation. It should be stated here that the Board of Education has assigned four adult education teachers to assist those mothers who remain at the center taking sewing, cooking, and the other items mentioned in step 6. Ninth step. An analysis of the employment statistics will be attached to the report. Much of the employment offered has been on-the-job training, which included minimum wage payments for learners. The children have gained weight and benefited by the excellent care given to them during the 6 months of training. Now comes the problem of getting (1) housing for the mother who is ready to leave the center, (2) day care for her progeny. The social worker has already conferred with the NCHA and 22 of the mothers are fortunate in getting one- or two-bedroom apartments at a maximum cost of $29.50 per month. The problem of getting day care for the children is not so easily solved. In fact, the solution becomes the fly in the ointment. There is no public day-care plan in the District since 1950 when the wartime Lanham Act was abolished. Private day care under UGF is crowded and furthermore not accessible to the mothers since the centers are not geographically located nor are they suitable as to hours of opening and closing. So of the 22 mothers at NCHA Arthur Capper Housing Center only one child is placed at the southeast center. The arrangements that are now in effect for the care of the children of the former ADC mothers are at best makeshift. The social worker and the various consultants at the pioneer center are very concerned that unless public day care is available, the mothers now independent and off relief rolls may be overwhelmed by this lack of a service for the children that seems so necessary for their sense of security. There has been some suggestion made that before the 27 mothers and their children now in training and residence at the center are ready to go forth on their own, a private foundation might provide the funds to start a day-care center at the Arthur-Capper unit. Some assurance has been given that NCHA may find the room or rooms necessary at the unit in which 22 of the mothers are now housed. Public day-care centers are absolutely necessary to complete this wonderful cooperative effort to give ADC mothers a new lease on life. The success of the center is due (1) to the careful selection of the mothers; (2) continued evaluation of the mother while in training by trained specialists resident at the center; and (3) last but not least the devotion of the entire staff. NEW YORK, N.Y., February 10, 1962. Mr. LEO H. IRWIN, Chief Counsel, New House Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIR: In lieu of getting testimony in a personal appearance, I would like to go on record, endorsing the principle of Federal aid for day-care services. I am chairman of the day-care center committee of the Grand Street Settlement of New York City. I speak in behalf of our organization on this vital subject. In our city alone we have 7,000 children on our waiting lists. What more need be said? We wish to support Secretary Ribicoff's recommendations, and so have worked diligently in letting our feelings be known to our Representative Keogh and Representative Derounian. Day care has been proven to be very successful in giving the unfortunate, underprivileged children a constructive start in life, the first step in eliminating juvenile delinquency. An increased budget for child welfare may be the salvation of our future underprivileged children of the United States. Sincerely, LUCILE HARTEVELD Chairman, Day Care Center Committee, Grand Street Settlement. PHILADELPHIA, PA., February 7, 1962. Mr. LEO H. IRWIN, Chief Counsel, New House Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. IRWIN: I should like to go on record as endorsing the principle of Federal aid for day-care services as proposed in the bill on public welfare introduced by Congressman Wilbur D. Mills, chairman, House Ways and Means Committee. It is my earnest hope that this bill, specifically that section pertaining to Federal aid for day care, will be given the support it so much deserves. Sincerely yours, LEAH A. GINGRICH. MEDIA, PA. February 12, 1962. Mr. LEO H. IRWIN, Chief Counsel, Room 1102, New House Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIRS: Please support the bill entitled "Public Welfare Amendments of 1962" (the number of the bill is H.R. 10032). Fine day care means so much to working women with small children. Take these families for example: (a) Mrs. Potter is a registered nurse with two small children. The reason she is working-her husband attends Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia (majors in engineering). (b) Mrs. Pavese's husband walked out on her several years ago. She has four children to support. (c) Miss has an illegitimate child. She must work to support herself and that child. I thing it admirable that she has fought to keep that child and raise it herself without being a burden on either her family or herself. (d) Mrs. Sanker has two boys in child care. One is in the kindergarten class and the other is in the school-age group. Her husband hopes to be called Doctor Sanker some day. He is attending the osteopathic medical college in Philadelphia. These are all actual cases. I know them to be true because I teach at one of Philadephia's child care centers. Sincerely, Miss ESTHER STERN. P.S.-Child care includes such things as hot meals, proper rest, supervised play, learning skills, plus lots of understanding and love. NEW YORK, N.Y., February 11, 1962. Mr. LEO IRWIN, Chief Counsel, Room 1102, New House Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIR: As a professional person whose life work has been in the fields of family guidance and work with young children and the teachers who care for them, I urge the House Ways and Means Committee to act favorably on bill No. 10032, Public Welfare Amendments of 1962. The sections in relation to which I am competent to testify are those dealing with the day care of children and the training of welfare workers for the day care program. Extent of the need DAY CARE OF CHILDREN The number of young children whose parents cannot give them adequate supervision vastly exceeds the number for whom facilities are now available. Here in New York, for example, where we have a good private-public sponsored program, there are many thousands on waiting lists. In one day care center I know there was an enrollment of 100 children and a waiting list of 106. Clearly many of these will never get service, for once a family is in, they stay if it is possible. Though not so acute in less congested areas, the problem is similar all over the country, and is increasing. Day care services for preschool children are everywhere inadequate to meet the justifiable demand, and provision for primary children outside of school hours is so rare as to be almost negligible. Three basic factors are operating to cause this: The rapid increase in child population; the general population drift to large cities, with the resultant overcrowding; and the economic pressures which are compelling an everincreasing percentage of mothers to work outside the home. Census figures confirm all these nationwide trends. Charitable organizations and local governments alone are unable to meet this critically large problem. The gap between the number needing service and the number served is growing and will continue to grow unless Federal assistance makes possible great extension of services. Families needing day care service As mentioned above, rising costs are making it increasingly necessary for both parents to hold jobs in order to support the family. Arrangements for the care of the children by relatives or neighbors are both unstable and in many cases harmful because of the ignorance or indifference of the caretakers. Even when the parents arrive home from work they are tired and tense; the children, neglected during the day, are demanding and difficult, and tensions mount. In many cases they become so heavy that they result in a broken home. Many homes are broken for other reasons, death, serious illness, illegitimacy, or the institutionalization of a parent for various reasons. In such cases responsibility for support falls upon one parent only, who cannot also supervise the child or children. She must resort to relief or find day care for her child. My long experience has taught me that a great majority of such parents want to be self-supporting. Only if day care services are available can they safely hold jobs, thus relieving the government of their full support, maintaining their self-respect, and providing a stable future for the family as the children grow older. Parents also need the guidance which is a part of the program of good day care. When they are relieved of anxiety about the child for a part of the day and guided in good methods of handling him, their relations with him can be a joy and relaxation instead of a source of irritation. The child who has had a good day is ready to respond more happily and less demandingly to the parent. Even ignorant parents can be taught simple ways of working with a child which not only increase family harmony but actually improve the child's intelligence. They become proud of their children instead of anxious and worried about them. Children's need for good day care The most obvious and widely recognized needs of neglected children are for physical safety, good diet, opportunities for adequate sleep, and suitable exercise. None of these can be guaranteed without clean, safe play areas properly supervised, quiet rooms for rest and sleep, and a well planned and skillfully supervised dietary. A day care program provides all these as a bare minimum basis for operation. It also provides health supervision in many other ways, periodic medical examinations with referrals for remedial treatment when necessary, eye and ear testing, sometimes dental services. All these contribute to later school success. But children, too, do not live by bread alone. They develop mentally and socially in a daylong situation where they have the concerned affection and attention of adults who understand their needs. Thus supported, they can develop alertness, friendliness, and self-respect. They learn to enjoy learning and look forward to further education with positive attitudes. To them teachers are accessible friends who guide one in interesting investigations. This contrasts sharply with the indifference and antagonism to adult authority characteristic of neglected children, and frequently leading to delinquency. The Nation's need for day care Our children are our greatest resource. We cannot afford to have any of them warped by neglect, or to have their potential abilities destroyed for lack of fostering care. Study after study has shown that our slum children tend to deteriorate in intelligence and social attitudes as they grow older, but that this tendency can be halted, even completely reversed, if they are given affection, encouragement, and suitable learning experiences in the early years. On a purely financial level, the Nation needs a broad day care program so that mothers who are now living on relief payments may be able to take jobs and become self-supporting. Some of them will need training, but most will be glad to accept an opportunity for it. It is my experience that most relief clients with children are only too happy to become independent. It is not any fun, really, to be "investigated" and supervised in the details of your life by a social worker, however kindly intentioned. Only the hard core "oldtimers" whose spirit of independence has been broken by long acceptance of a dole are likely to resist, I believe. Why Federal? Because private charities and local government programs alone cannot meet the problem a great expansion is needed. Because a Federal program can, and must, set standards that will protect the children from ill-planned and actually injurious programs hastily started by people ignorant of or indifferent to the children's real needs. Those of us familiar with other emergency programs of child care know how necessary this is. The shortage TRAINING OF WORKERS FOR DAY CARE Already at the present time there exists a considerable shortage of trained teachers in the preschool field and of good leaders for afterschool groups for older children. The work has not been as well paid as other teaching and the hours are often longer. Teacher-training institutions find most of their students choosing to prepare for kindergarten or the grades as more secure. In a number of States (which shall be nameless here) teacher-training institutions do not offer courses in nursery education, or offer a very incomplete curriculum. The authorities there have not yet realized that children think and develop attitudes toward learning, even habits of learning, as well as significant social sets long before they enter public school, or that these things persist and affect their whole educational experience. When Federal grants encourage the States to expand day care facilities the shortage of suitable personnel will become even more acute and can be met only by extensive training, probably preservice plus inservice training of teachers, day care social workers, perhaps dieticians and cooks. |