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to the open road" and spend his $20 for a gun. He commented, "Anyway, I am only a Dago."

But, under continued and intelligent supervision of a child-welfare worker, and we had them, he agreed to enter an academy for boys under church auspices. He did exceptionally well. At 18 he entered the armed services, was wounded in battle, and is now in college.

The fine relationship between this boy and the child-welfare visitor continues and he still looks to her for guidance. His prognosis is excellent.

I desperately want this kind of service for other homeless children, who today are forgotten in other institutions; which children await the passage of this legislation to bring opportunity and enrichment to their impoverished lives.

Senator Donnell, when you were Governor of Missouri, you and I exchanged some correspondence because of your interest in improving the treatment of delinquent boys in your institutions.

At that time, I was the superintendent of the Illinois State Training School for Boys.

Let me say, parenthetically, that 3 years after we had established this child welfare service, 3 years after the superintendent of Indiana State Boys School said that the age of commitment had been raised considerably. I forgot the exact figure, about 2.2 years, because the younger boys who had previously gone to the State training school for delinquents were now being cared for in their own local community. During my recent experience as superintendent of the Illinois State Training School for Delinquent Boys, I found abundant evidence of the need for child-care services in every county of the State.

One reason I went to Hull House was that I might be freer to speak out for youth and fight the condition in my State that prevented the building of a better program for delinquent youth at the institutional level, after everybody had failed with them.

The needs of many boys could have been met in their home community if there had been intelligent direction of a child-care program. In the larger and wealthier counties where funds were made available for staff, psychiatric consultation, and payment for foster home care, there were relatively fewer boys committed.

From Peoria, for instance.

In some of the Ohio River counties we had a greater, a larger number. Peoria is located in the second largest county. It was very discouraging to see these boys come in from some of these poorer counties where they had no local services.

Without local resources, the poorer counties sent youth for first offenses, and so often for minor offenses. What was even more serious, some of the counties sent to the State-supported institution for delinquents, boys from 9 to 12 years of age whose only offense was their poverty, dependency, and neglect. They came to the State school to mingle with boys up to 21 years of age.

It should either disturb or shame the conscience of Illinois or of any other State when any county in this Nation, however poor, is permitted to send to the training school for delinquents a little, frightened, 9-year-old boy whose mother writes:

Take care of my baby; he has never been away from home before. He is not very bright and is only in the first grade. Take care of my baby.

You see, I am still disturbed about it. That is why I am willing to come here and take the committee's time and my time and insist at this late time that this program be expanded.

Not just a poor Illinois county is responsible for that boy. He belongs to the Nation, and in time of crisis the Nation can call him to service, as it should.

In view of the fact that the great majority of the counties throughout the 48 States do not have a comprehensive child-welfare programthis Federal agency we call the Children's Bureau has limited fundsand in view of the further fact that all of the children are equally important in a democracy, I want to strongly urge that this bill be passed by the Congress so that neglected children anywhere may be properly cared for locally and individual maladjustments and delinquency checked in their earliest manifestations.

I will soon be through.

There is no question but that this bill will help the child with problems to become a happier child.

I want you to get this: Happy children, enjoying the normal satisfactions of childhood, such as the security that is a concomitant of being loved, do not become delinquent youth.

As I reflect upon my experience of 25 years in working with youth, I can think of no greater service to the Nation than to promote the greater health and happiness of children, as contemplated in this bill. Gentlemen, I wish, in conclusion, to introduce to this committee, one final witness, which further makes my point.

He will be 22 years old in August of this year. I wish that he were here today to speak in his own behalf. I could not bring him with me because he is serving 199 years for killing a young woman, whom he mistook for his stepmother against whom he had developed great hostility. She was living in common-law relationship with his father and had denied the boy a place to live. I met him at the State training school. He was my ward and I released that boy at 18 years of age but only after he had spent 3 years and 4 months in the abnormal life of an institution which is 3 years longer than the average.

His natural mother was released from a mental hospital when the boy was 4 years old, and the record is clear-very clear-that she was cruel to him throughout his childhood. There was no understanding child-welfare worker to come to his rescue and finally the community, having grown tired of him or ashamed of itself, sent him to the training school as a delinquent and returned his mother to the hospital for the insane.

I want to place in the record an excerpt from an editorial from the August 5, 1943, issue of the Daily Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill., relative to this youthful offender, who I think could have been saved had a child-welfare worker come across his path.

BOY MURDERER WILL NOT SUFFER ALONE

* His father testified that when the boy was 7 years old, his mother made him sleep in the barn. When he was 13, his mother refused him the family home, according to the father, who built a house for the child two blocks away. He was living there alone when first arrested as a delinquent. The cruelty and inhumanity did not start with the boy. After going to a reform school and coming back with the idea of getting revenge, it may have been too late to save him.

Says the editorial.

But who knows what contribution he might have made to society, if he had had an ordinary boyhood with ordinary love and attention.

There are parents in Bloomington-they are in every town

they are in every elementary school in this country today

who today are creating the criminals of tomorrow. These are not the boys who are born wrong, with deep-rooted physical and psychological flaws which lead to crime. There are normal boys and girls—

like I have known back in my years as a school principal—

whose parents do not give them a chance.

And then they go on to say:

The boy murderer will not be alone in his cell. The conscience of a decent society must suffer with him. He never had a chance and society did nothing to see that he got one.

The child-welfare services in the county that might have saved this boy would have cost money, but if the life of an innocent victim could have been saved and the incarceration of only one boy prevented, it would have been worth whatever the cost.

During the period of destitution in the thirties, when unemployment relief was an absolute necessity if hunger and, indeed, revolution were to be averted, the question was often asked in legislative halls, in the press, and on the streets: "Where is the money coming from?"

I am convinced that the richest Nation in the world which is able to spend $2,000,000,000 for an atomic bomb, is rich enough to surround its neediest children with every protection from hurt and fear and insecurity.

I have committed myself in the few remaining years I have to try to make society conscious of its obligation to take care of neglected youth. Let us stop and catch our breath and give human engineering a chance to catch up with our mechanical engineering.

We have a distinct obligation to serve the children. Today, our youth of whatever circumstances become our greatest resource.

Conserve land, yes. Improve the livestock, yes.

By the way, how I needed this act at the Illinois School near St. Charles. This legislation provides for helpful supervision of State child-caring institutions.

From the State level of government there was no children's bureau as part of the State department of welfare responsible for services to youth committed to institutions for delinquents.

We had public assistance but we had no services geared into the institution to give supervision and help us to do a better job, but we had licensed veterinarians to look after the cows, and we had other political employees coming in regularly to count the towels and the linens.

We had a gardener to take care of the flower beds, but never once did anybody come from Springfield to say, "Ballard, what are you doing for these boys?"

And this bill contemplates that the Federal Government can reach down into State child-caring institutions and improve the standards of care. And, by the way, the sorriest educational job in America is carried on in institutions for delinquent youth. And, listen, these

are children's institutions; yet the poorest child welfare job is carried on. I lived in one 2 years and spent the saddest 2 years in my life among little boys and big boys, dependent boys and neglected boys, some of whom had drifted into delinquencies and most of whom never had a chance; and too many of whom, after they had done everything we had asked of them, nobody wanted.

Reforest our wastelands, certainly; conserve the land, to be sure! But our children are more important.

After two wars-I mentioned earlier I am representing children today because some of them cannot speak for themselves. Some of the children I knew back in the 1920's and 1930's are buried all over the world, and some of my generation left a leg or a life in France, and I am trying to keep faith with them this afternoon.

They are entitled to equal opportunity in a democracy if we mean what we say.

They are entitled to an equal chance for medical care, and they are entitled to live in the sunshine, and too many kids I love are living in rat-infested homes and do not have their equal chance. Yes; these children are our greatest resource.

Tomorrow they must carry forward this Nation in its great tradi

tion.

Thank you very much for your courtesy, and I will be glad to respond to any question.

Senator PEPPER. Senator Donnell, do you have any questions?
Senator DONNELL. I would like to ask just a very few.

Mr. Ballard, in addition to the experience that you had that you detailed, would you tell us, please, for our record, what has been your background, training, and experience.

Mr. BALLARD. Yes; I will be glad to, Senator.

I attended the University of Chicago after the last war.

If I may be perfectly frank with you, I soldiered in Arkansas. I was a home hero, and a lot of fellows I grew up with did not come back, so I borrowed a little money and came to the University of Chicago in 1920 to enter the School of Social Work.

But within a year-my marriage had ben delayed, and I got married, and took a job as physical training teacher in a shabby, industrial community and found a great social laboratory to work in.

I had security in education and I remained for 15 years.

Later I became principal of this school of 1,250 children of 27 nationalities. I lived in a mixed foreign community and reared my two boys, which was a great privilege because they learned what democracy means.

They have grown up in that great industrial city.

I lived there for 20 years; 15 years I spent in education, 5 years as county director of public welfare.

I was granted leave of absence to help organize this county welfare department, and I needed help, and I got help through our State and Federal agencies.

And let me make this point: We were able to level up our county administration. Why? Because we had grants-in-aid. We had money coming from Washington and from Indianapolis, and we had a little from the county. Because of financial participation, we had supervision from the upper levels of Government; and I wel

comed it because under a merit system it helped us to improve our administration.

Without a merit system, it would have been more difficult. It was known in the county that if we had not conformed with the merit system we would not have received millions of dollars in grantsin-aid from Washington.

I want to make clear that the administration in our county unit was leveled up because of joint participation, and I like it.

I like it because I think it does more for the people in need.

Now let me go on for just a minute, and I will be through answering the question.

I was asked to become superintendent of the Illinois State Training School for Delinquent Boys after a boy had been killed at the school by an allegedly drunken father. Anyway, the boy died. The school was reorganized by 114 lay and professional people appointed by the State director of public welfare; and I was asked to come across the border from Indiana and serve as superintendent. I only agreed, however, when the reorganizing committee had carefully selected psychiatric social workers to work with the individual boys as counselors, and other professionally trained personnel, who could help these neglected and delinquent boys. Then after this service, I went to Hull House.

Senator DONNELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. Ballard, are there any amendments that you desire? You heard Senator Pepper's suggestion that we would be glad to have ideas along the line of amendments if there are any the witnesses desire to offer.

Are there any improvements you think could be made in this bill? Mr. BALLARD. I will say, frankly, that title III has been my primary interest. I read the bill two or three times. I am not too conversant with all of the other phases of it.

I have seen too many children die, though, because they were poor and because their parents could not afford diphtheria inoculation. After all of these years, I want more opportunity for medical care so that children can live.

Senator DONNELL. Are there any amendments to title III you think should be made, or are you satisfied with it?

Mr. BALLARD. I think I am pretty well satisfied. If I were questioned, maybe there are some aspects I would want changed, but I do not recall any.

Senator DONNELL. I was very much interested to note your comment in regard to foster homes.

You regard that as quite essential and important, do you not?

Mr. BALLARD. Yes, Senator, I think that foster homes are very important to a comprehensive child-care program.

Senator DONNELL. I was reflecting back, as you were speaking, to the city of St. Louis many years ago. It found great benefit in the use of foster homes.

Mr. BALLARD. Yes.

Senator DONNELL. These were not delinquent children.

Mr. BALLARD. I understand.

Senator DONNELL. I may say that I have not studied all of this bill. This is our first hearing, is it not, Mr. Chairman, and I have not studied it, but I notice one provision in title III that I do not, by a

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