FOREWORD The 85th Congress of the United States established an Advisory Council on Child Welfare Services under title IX of the Social Security Act, which provides as follows: SEC. 705. (a) There is hereby established an Advisory Council on Child Welfare Services for the purpose of making recommendations and advising the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in connection with the effectuation of the provisions of part 3 of title V of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Social Security Amendments of 1958. (b) The Council shall be appointed by the Secretary before January 1959, without regard to the civil-service laws, and shall consist of twelve persons representative of public, voluntary, civic, religious, and professional welfare organizations and groups, or other persons with special knowledge, experience, or qualifications with respect to child-welfare services, and the public. (c) (1) The Secretary shall make available to the Council such secretarial, clerical, and other assistance and such other pertinent data prepared by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as it may require to carry out such functions. (2) Members of the Council, while serving on business of the Council (inclusive of travel time), shall receive compensation at rates fixed by the Secretary, but not exceeding $50 per day; and shall be entitled to receive actul and necessary traveling expenses and per diem in lieu of subsistence while so serving away from their places of residence. (d) The Council shall make a report of its findings and recommendations (including recommendations for changes in the provisions of part 3 of title V of the Social Security Act) to the Secretary and to the Congress on or before January 1, 1960, after which date such Council shall cease to exist. The Council accepted the responsibility for reviewing the child welfare services sections of the Social Security Act, title V, part 3 as well as the 1958 amendments in these sections, and for obtaining data about current child welfare programs. Against this background, the Council attempted to view in perspective the future of the public child welfare program. The Council, recognizing the enormity of the needs of children in the United States today, agreed that it must put the emphasis on identifying causes of problems that damage children and on ways of simulating preventive programs. At the same time the Council saw the necessity for an ever-improving system of services to children. in today's complex society. After a comprehensive review, the Council decided that if the governmental and voluntary social agencies in the United States are to fulfill their respective responsibilities for the welfare of our children a major change in the concept of the Federal role in the provision of child welfare services is needed at this time. Hitherto, Federal grants-in-aid have been used to establish, extend, and strengthen public child welfare services. The concept embodied in this report is that the Federal Government pay part of the total cost of such services. This report sets forth the Council's recommendations together with supporting material about child welfare services. VII The Council wishes to thank the Chief of the Children's Bureau, Mrs. Katherine B. Oettinger and the following members of her staff for their help in preparing this report: Miss Mildred Arnold, Mrs. Martha Hynning, Miss Kathryn Welch, Mrs. Georgia Pinnick, Miss Margaret Emery, and Miss Helen Jeter. Technical assistance in writing this report was provided by Miss Dorothy E. Bradbury and Mrs. June Weinstein. VIII CONTENTS Recommendation 1-A new definition of child welfare services. Recommendation 2-Federal participation in total cost of child wel- Recommendation 3-Conditions of plan approval.......... Recommendation 4-Grants for demonstration and research projects Recommendation 5-Grants for training of personnel in child welfare. Recommendation 6—Advisory Council on Child Welfare Services......-- Recommendation 7-Provision of means to examine basic causes of Recommendation 15-Expanding Children's Bureau services__ Part II-Background information: Framework for public and voluntary child welfare programs. Services in the child welfare program.......... Public and voluntary agencies cooperate in development of State plans and budgets for use of Federal funds____ Public and voluntary agencies work to develop standards. Public and voluntary agencies join forces for sound legislation__ Part II-Background information-Con. Unmet needs in child welfare... Personnel.. Foster-care facilities. Specialized services. Homemaker service... Day-care services... Services to unmarried mothersOther child welfare services. Goals for child welfare programs.. Basic community services... Essential child welfare services_ Personnel..---. Requirements for adequate child welfare programs. Appendix: Tables and chart REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COUNCIL ON CHILD WELFARE SERVICES INTRODUCTION The establishment of the Children's Bureau by the Congress in 1912 was an expression of the belief on the part of many people that children are the most important resource of the Nation and that the Federal Government should foster their development by setting up a center of research and information devoted to their health and welfare. During the several decades prior to 1935, many voluntary agencies and a growing number of public agencies in many urban areas and a few States developed services for the care and protection of children who were neglected, abused, or abandoned by their families or whose families were unable to provide for them for a variety of reasonsillness, death, desertion. Institutional care was giving way to foster family care in cities. Adoption programs, programs for the care of unmarried mothers, day-care centers-all these had developed in cities. But little of this kind of help existed in rural areas. The Federal Government took no part in financing child welfare services prior to 1935, although the Bureau had made studies of many of these services and, on a very limited basis, given consultation to the States and communities in developing them. During the depression years, existing child welfare services were sharply curtailed. This brought suffering to and endangered many children. In planning for the economic recovery of the Nation, the President and the Congress recognized that the heart of a program to meet human needs was the care and protection of children everywhere. As a result, under the Social Security Act of 1935, the first Federal grant-in-aid program was set up to assist the States in the development and improvement of local public child welfare services. Although these grants to States have increased over the years and, as a Nation, our attitudes and methods of helping children have advanced remarkably, our problems are so complex that a wide range of unmet needs still exists. Great changes in the lives of peopleincrease in size of families, in the mobility of the population, in the number of working mothers, in the complexity of living-have brought greater tensions to children and families. States and communities must cope with more cases of neglect and abuse of children, serious emotional problems, and with the impact of juvenile delinquency. More children are affected by desertion, divorce, or separation of parents. The number of children who are not living with both parents is high. More girls are giving birth to children out of wedlock. If present trends are to be reversed, our society must assume responsibility for the conditions that underlie these problems and take respon |