I am sure Dr. Martha Eliot and Dr. Kvaraceus, in their testimony before the committee of the House of Representatives, referred to the conference on the role of pediatric services in the prevention of juvenile delinquency held in February of this year. Her introductory paper can be read with benefit by anyone. This conference was cosponsored by the Community Council of Greater New York. The participants comprised a large majority of disciplines having to do with child behavior, directed to the orientation of all physicians having to do with child welfare. A conference publication is in the offing, which we hope will have wide distribution. Some three of four postgraduate courses of 2 to 3 days are being held this year sponsored in medical centers by the academy. Coming up in May is a unique program entitled "Psychiatric Contributions to Pediatric Problems." This will be held in Baltimore and arranged by Baltimore and Washington physicians. The committee of the academy recognizes that medical responsibility for children rests largely in the hands of pediatricians and the general practitioner. We recognize that in carrying out this responsibility we render service to all children and give advice to the parents in their total upbringing. We are impressed that the behavior difficulties of early childhood, by their very nature, lend themselves to evaluation by a physcian whenever he considers social attitudes as a part of his responsibility. We are aware that in evaluating the whole child we are concerned about both physical and adaptation problems of growth. The practice of the pediatrician, as well as that of the general practitioner, brings him in close contact with developing emotional disburbances. It is to such physicians that patients come early, before symptoms have developed to the point where the child might in later years becomes delinquent. Furthermore, the pediatrician and the general practitioner working in the area of childhood are concerned about the major area of prevention. Our knowledge of growing children has been supplemented in recent years by studies from our psychiatric colleagues, so that we have abandoned certain practices of the past and have attempted to foster good growth characteristics for all children. This is felt to be a fundamental job of the pediatrician and of the general practitioner concerned with children. It has been a part of the program of the committee on juvenile delinquency of the academy to communicate such knowledge and a concern for its use to all members of the academy. Efforts have been made to assist all physicians who are involved with the growth of children to know more about all aspects of growth to keep children as emotionally healthy as it is possible within our present knowledge. The Academy of Pediatrics has also been very concerned about community problems related to prevention of juvenile delinquency. Through the stimulation of the efforts of this committee, State committees of juvenile delinquency within the academy have been set up in almost every State. Programs for the prevention of delinquency, as well as programs concerned with alleviation thereof, have been studied and pediatricians have made every effort to place themselves on State committees dealing with this subject. It is felt to be a pediatrician's proper duty as a citizen to be a member of such committees. It is also felt that he brings a special kind of knowledge to the committees concerning children in this age period. In these two major areas, that of understanding what is known about prevention, and in community service, the pediatrician is playing his part to the limits of his ability. Because such efforts are being made, it is felt that the Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency should be aware of the efforts of the Academy of Pediatrics. The academy stands strongly behind the passage of a bill which would lend support to the study of the factors concerned with asocial behavior and juvenile delinquency. NATIONAL CHILD LABOR COMMITTEE, New York, N.Y., April 23, 1959. Hon. JOSEPH CLARK, Chairman, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. Dear Senator CLARK: I am glad to know that public hearings on pending juvenile delinquency legislation before your subcommittee begin Monday, April 27, and hope this will enable your committee to recommend to the Senate sound legislation at an early date. The National Child Labor Committee is concerned that worthwhile juvenile delinquency legislation be enacted by the Congress; we firmly believe that the magnitude of this social problem warrants and requires Federal assistance to the States and communities in their efforts to deal positively with it. We are especially concerned that legislation recommended by the subcommittee provide adequate funds to stimulate widespread research and experimentation in the causes, treatment, and prevention of juvenile delinquency, and to provide for specialized training of personnel. We look to such experimentation to provide better understanding of the possible relationship of delinquent behavior to other youth problems early school leaving, lack of suitable employment opportunities, and premature entry into work (child labor). We see a great need for more research in the role of work in adolescent development, and as possible delinquency prevention and therapy. We sincerely recommend Federal legislation that will provide a stimulus to such programs, such as your own bill, S. 694. I respectfully request the inclusion of my letter in the printed record of the hearings. Very sincerely, ELI E. COHEN, Executive Secretary. MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, INC., Hon. LISTER HILL, Dear SENATOR HILL: I have been following with great interest efforts to get a full-fledged Federal juvenile delinquency program underway, and at this point wish to offer my enthusiastic support to the Hill-Elliott bill. As you seem to recognize so clearly, the need to emphasize the prevention approach, rather than the much more expensive and difficult correction approach, is long overdue. Federal Government has an apportunity to pioneer in this regard much in the way it has in the past in the fields of institutional correction and standards for detention facilities. The I hope that such a program when it is finally set up will be truly experimental, that many different kinds of approaches will be tried, and that action programs will be designed and financed in such a way that answers may be scientifically obtained as to the effectiveness of such programs. We too often seem to choose between action programs which are then at best evaluated on an impressionistic level or research programs the results of which are untranslatable into effective action. I also believe that it is essential that such a program not be captured by some one theory of delinquency. I am thinking in particular of the, too prevailing I'm afraid, view that all or nearly all delinquents are psychologically maladjusted. There is a significant body of social science theory and evidence which seriously questions the validity of this particularistic point of view. It is essential that answers to the complicated question of delinquency etiology not be assumed at the start. It is also essential, in my opinion, that it be clearly recognized that the delinquency problem be met and dealt with right where it is on the streets, in the schoolyards, etc. We must not rely solely on big and special buildings and the hope that troubled youngsters will come seeking help. And finally, I hope that financial aid which might be forthcoming from such a program will not be reserved exclusively for municipal and other local governments to apply. Nor should it be thought of as simply a source of support and expansion of professional youth services. Grassroots, nonpolitical, often largely nonprofessional, community delinquency efforts have long been the stepchild in this whole field. Some provision should be made for the support of citizen efforts at delinquency prevention, which are, I am convinced, the least expensive and most promising approach of all. Very sincerely yours, CLARENCE C. SHERWOOD, Ph.D., Director, Crime Prevention Program. HON. PAUL DOUGLAS, GEORGE WILLIAMS COLLEGE, Senate Office Building, DEAR SENATOR DOUGLAS: It has come to my attention that there is a bill pending in the Senate that would provide Federal assistance for projects to demonstrate or develop techniques and practices leading to a solution of the Nation's juvenile delinquency control problems. I understand that this is S. 694. It is not necessary for me to impress you further with the gravity of the problem that America faces in the rising delinquency rate. As dean of George Williams College, I have observed many of our students and graduates who are working in the most difficult areas of Chicago, and I am convinced that there are many constructive ways in which relief can be brought to our cities in this area, provided that the agencies now working in these directions are given some financial assistance. We are not lacking in ideas but rather in the means for putting these ideas into action. I would be most thankful to you if you would send me a copy of S. 694 for further study, and if you would bring this letter to the attention of Senator Lister Hill, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare and to Senator Joseph Clark, chairman of Mr. Hill's subcommittee dealing with problems related to juvenile delinquency in legislation. Should you cosponsor this bill or in other ways give it your strongest support at the appropriate time, those of us who are close to this problem will be most appre ciative of your efforts. With kindest regards and good wishes for your continued high level performance on our behalf. Sincerely yours, ARTHUR H. STEINHAUS, Professor of Physiology and Dean of the College. STATEMENT PREPARED FOR SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE BY REV. FRANK E. DUNN, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF RELIGION The problem of juvenile delinquency and crime is in the main a community problem. It is at this point it must be solved. While resources of Federal and State Governments can be helpful, even instrumental in acheiving solution, it is the community that must use all available ideas, funds, and personnel in a continuing thrust at this problem for the final answer. The current bills to provide aid in combating juvenile delinquency, now before the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, are steps in the right direction. The institute would like to suggest that a small portion of the sums proposed by these bills could demonstrate unquestionably, in two or three cities, that crime can be halted, and juvenile delinquency prevented, and a blueprint for the solution of this problem would evolve that could then be made available to other American communities. What could be given to the local community as a trial or test program that would provide the way out of this vexing problem? In the main the test community would receive a plan of organization, an extensive detailed program of operation, and a professional staff to oversee program and personnel. Initial informational surveys would be taken to determine community awareness of its crime and juvenile delinquency index, and of citizen willingness to go all out in an effort to solve this problem. The operation of this test action could, within a single year, provide American experts in this field with the ultimate answer. In the process of the trial operation evaluational studies would be made, revealing the weaknesses and strengths of operational procedure, of organization, of program, and of personnel including the staff. The institute would recommend the test action be conducted in three cities of varying population categories: one in the 500,000 class; one in the 250,000 population class, and the third in a city of approximately 75,000 population. Yes, the all-out effort of the community, its institutions and organizations, its leaders, its experts and its citizens, all organized on a permanent corporate basis, utilizing the services of a vast army of personnel as well as the total . facilities of the community and all this directed by a professional staff; this can reduce crime and prevent juvenile delinquency. This is total mobilization of the community on a scale never conceived heretofore. This idea as such has never been used in America. If the citizens of a community banded together and using the sum total of their resources cannot solve this problem, then we had better face up to it as insolvable. But the problem can be solved. This is not to say there will then no longer be crime and juvenile delinquency. These things will be as long as there are people on the earth. But the problem, like smallpox, can be controlled and its effects minimized. The American Institute of Religion has the solution to the problem of juvenile delinquency and crime. Five years of research in the ideas and answers of the experts has produced it. The critical will say that what we have is only theory. But this theory is based upon the sound principles of citizen action that have been productive and successful in the American scene. Here is one overall plan that can meet every test and which in any trial run will provide us with the elusive answer we have so long sought. FULD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE, Mr. STEWART E. MCCLURE, Chief Clerk, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. MCCLURE: In response to your letter of April 23, 1959, we respectfully submit the following statement on behalf of the Fuld Neighborhood House in, support of S. 1286 (Javits bill) and S. 694, “Juvenile Delinquency Control Projects Bill" (Hill-Clark bill). At its regular meeting of April 1959, the board of trustees recorded its full support of S. 694 (Hill-Clark bill) and S. 1286 (Javits bill) as two vital and necessary pieces of supportive legislation. In this era of urban renewal and social redevelopment, the Fuld Neighborhood House represents, as a nonprofit social welfare agency, a bulwark against the growing social needs in the city of Newark. The service described in the enclosed booklet, New Ways With Youth, is one effective method of dealing with teenagers who find the city streets more conducive to limitless activity than the well-structured, socially acceptable neighborhood house. The street club worker, who deals with the teenage gang, meets them on their own grounds, and through genuine, warm and firm friendship, moves them to higher, firmer and more acceptable grounds. He represents good social and moral values to the hopeless group, yet he allows the group to decide for themselves, individually and collectively, the values important to them. He represents firm and strong limits to a group who knows only confusion, detachment, and punishment. He represents hope for the hopeless. S. 694 would provide the means for further experimentation and work with a group of teenagers who, if left to their own devices, will ultimately cost more to city, State, and Federal Governments in the form of funds for correction and penal institutions. We strongly urge the adoption and passage of S. 694. MARTIN A. LIVENSTEIN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF STATE INSTITUTIONS FOR JUVENILES, Hon. BARRY GOLDWATER, Senate Building, Washington, D.C. Tucson, Ariz., April 30, 1959. DEAR BARRY: I see where there is a juvenile delinquency control project bill, S. 694, cosponsored by Senator Lister Hill, to be presented to the Senate. They have written to me for my opinion and here goes: Let's not appropriate any more money for any more studying of problems. If we could take the money appropriated for studies and surveys and use it directly, and locally, juvenile delinquency would be cut. What we need at present is placement officers to check boys and girls who have been released. We need prevention officers to work with idle youth and keep them from getting into trouble. We need more supervised playgrounds. If the Senate does not know how to spend the money, give it to the State agencies, already provided, to use directly with juveniles. Thank you for all past favors and with kindest personal regards, I am T. D. ROMERO, President. STATEMENT OF THOMAS C. CORBITT, SR., FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE TRUE CITIZENSHIP NATIONAL UNITED IDEAL CONSTRUCTIVE AND INSTRUCTIVE ASSOCIATION, INC. Mr. Clark, and most worthy members of this committee, I Thomas C. Corbitt, founder and president of the True Citizenship Association, do highly appreciate the privilege extended to me to appear before this committee in behalf of this association to support this great and most worthy effort which deals with juvenile delinquency. This subject carries with it many complex problems yet to be solved, such as the cause and cure, and most important, the prevention of juvenile delinquency. To these problems, apparently, it is hard to find a solution. They have puzzled our top experts who are specialists and who are highly trained to work in such fields. Even the many schools, churches, and various organizations that worked and are still working with whatever support they may have thus far have failed to find the answer to the problems relative to juvenile delinquency. However, some good has resulted from such efforts, but much more must be done. The bill, No. 694, that was so wisely designed and introduced by the chairman, Mr. Joseph Clark, and Mr. Hill, is being supported by his coworkers, and others, seems to be the right kind of bill, designed to "hit the spot". First, it will offer great financial aid, and help workers who are and who may be willing to devote their time to working, thinking, and searching for new ideas and new projects that may be fitted with necessary equipment to do the job of curbing and preventing delinquency. If such a bill is passed, and I hope it will be as soon as possible so that financial aid may be available at an early date, it will stop this terrible pest, stop the acts that are ruining and even destroying our children of today who would otherwise be good citizens of tomorrow. Second, No. 694 is also planned to aid new projects and new ideas, and even dormant projects which might have been retarded due to the lack of finances. Such federal aid as this bill would give would set up and put into operation projects and new ideas, among which may be the very solution to the complex problems concerning juvenile delinquency; the cause, the cure, and even the prevention. Over a period of many years I have been dealing with children in various capacities and in many types of services. I have served as a teacher in both public and private schools; also I have served as a teacher in churches, as well as director of youth recreation department and other departments. I have actively affiliated with such organizations as the Y.M.C.A., Boy Scouts as counselor, and I am now a member of the commissioner's youth council. By serving in these capacities, I have been able to study youth and their needs. In addition to such contact with children of the public, I have had the opportunity of further observation of my own very large family of 11 children, including 7 boys, all of whom have served, and some of whom are still serving, in different branches of our Nation's Armed Forces. Each of them made good servicemen, having served with honor. Through strict parental guidance these boys grew to manhood and they were never identified with delinquency. I cited this personal case as an example to show how they (the parents), can teach and emphasize good citizenship in the homes, while rearing the children and also to show that if this method is followed by all parents we would go a long way on the road toward prevention of this evil among our youth. This formula will work for rich and poor, high and low. |