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Readers are asked to report all cases of books marked or mutilated. ®0^' Do DDt deface books by marks and writing, Fl'bKlL hJNUUWMENT FUND THE BEQUEST OF lyibrarian of the University 1868-1883 1905 . fjAimn idnj.,± ¥ WHAT SOCIAL WORKERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES AN OUTLINE By Margaret F. Byington ASSOCIATE FIELD SECRETARY OF THE CHARITY ORGANIZATION DEPARTMENT OF THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION AUTHOR OF "HOMESTEAD, THE HOUSEHOLDS OF A MILL TOWN" Cornell University Library HN29 .B99 What social worlters should know about th Clin 3 1924 030 245 520 CHARITY ORGANIZATION DEPARTMENT OF THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION Room 613, 103 East Twenty-second Street new york city 191 1 FOR MANY OF THE SUGGESTIONS OF THIS OUTLINE THE AUTHOR IS INDEBTED TO THE SECRETARIES OF THE VARIOUS NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS REFERRED TO IN ITS PAGES. THEY ARE NOT TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE, HOW- EVER, FOR THE FORM OF THESE SUGGESTIONS, OR FOR THE MANY OMISSIONS RENDERED NECESSARY BY THE SIZE OF THE PAMPHLET. WHAT SOCIAL WORKERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES AN OUTLINE By Margaret F. Byington ASSOCIATE FIELD SECRETARY OF THE CHARITY ORGANIZATION DEPARTMENT OF THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION AUTHOR OF " HOmESTEAD, THE HOUSEHOLDS OF A MILL TOWN" RS •F- CHARITY ORGANIZATION DEPARTMENT OF THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION Room 613, 105 EAST Twenty-second Street NEW YORK city 1911 CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 3 I— THE CITY 4 II— COMMUNITY PROBLEMS 5 A. Housing * B. Health ^ , 8 C. Industrial Problems lo D. The Immigrant 13 E. Children 14 1. Child Labor 14 2. Schools 16 3. Clubs and Classes 18 4. Amusements 19 5. Juvenile Delinquents 19 F. THE COURTS 21 1. Drunkenness 21 2. Non-support and Desertion 22 HI— AGENCIES FOR RELIEF AND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIAL CONDITIONS 23 G. Agencies not Primarily Philanthropic 23 Women's Clubs, Churches, Settlements, etc 24 H. Philanthropic Agencies 25 1. Public Outdoor Relief 25 2. Care of Homeless Men 26 3. Private Relief 27 4. The Organization of Charity : 27 5. Child Caring 29 6. Care of the Sick 30 7. Defectives 31 8. The Aged 32 WHAT SOCIAL WORKERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES INTRODUCTION No social worker can fulfill his task alone. He must of necessity rely for help on other organized forces, on state laws and local ordi- nances, on city departments and volunteer agencies. He will, more- over, find his problem so dovetailing with other problems that all must be worked out jointly if anything is to be achieved. Equipment for his work, therefore, whether he serve as a volunteer or as a regular in the social army, includes a knowledge of the social conditions, the laws, the public and private organizations of the community in which he works. Such information this Outline endeavors to suggest and summarize. To one who works among needy families, knowledge of these forces and agencies is of vital importance. In the first place, he must almost inevitably utilize laws and agencies in any rehabilitation of families; in the second, he can learn from the study of dependency in these families what reforms are most needed, and, furthermore, should be able to focus the efforts of all agencies with a social program in order to secure the reforms thus made real to him. The subjects chosen for this Out- line, therefore, though by no means referring solely to family problems, are here related to them, as giving the most practical and Inclusive view- point. It may seem, in glancing through the pages of questions which follow, that so many of the answers are already known, in a general way at least, that the study is not worth making. Even to busy people, however, it will probably repay the time spent on it. Specific facts are more valuable than general impressions, and information is useful in proportion as it is concrete and quickly available. Whatever informa- tion is secured, therefore, should be (i) definite. For example, get the specific wording of laws when this is possible, not merely the gen- eral scope. It should also be (2) accurate. Simple, accurate statistics are better than elaborate, unreliable ones. If an estimate is the only possible answer to a question, so label it and give the basis of the esti- mate. "This law was violated twenty times last year" is much more convincing than "the law is often violated." When possible (3) com- pare the figures for a given city with those for other cities of the same size; this will show their real significance. The Outline is intended to suggest those facts which can be secured by correspondence or by personal inquiry of officials; it is not a plan for a "social survey" involving investigation by a special stafi. Even if local or state boards have not the data suggested, the request itself makes officials realize that social workers consider such facts important. More- over, officials often need the encouragement of knowing that the public follows their work with interest and can make good use of its results. To secure data based on personal observation is of course a slower task, but an important one. If each social worker kept a brief, systematic record of every violation of an important law and of every bad condi- tion not met by legislation, what valuable evidence would be available for securing enforcement and enactment. Such a record would also suggest which conditions demand more thorough investigation. Not merely to those actively enlisted in social work as a profes- sion, but to those who wish to know their own communities as a first step in good citizenship the Outline should be useful. It might provide, for instance, the course of study for a volunteer training class. Again, several paid workers might prepare the answers jointly, each securing the facts about his special problem. Such a study brings out, inevi- tably, the close connection between the tasks of the different social agencies, showing the points at which their interests coincide, and the way in which they may supplement each other's work. This apprecia- tion should result in a more careful division of work, in a greater con- centration of effort and a more thorough exchange of information. The significant facts brought out should be presented to the gen- eral public, as a stimulus to enlightened interest in civic and social prob- lems. In Chicago, the Woman's Club publishes in one of the daily papers every two or three days a law, either one which the citizen violates through ignorance, or one for his protection of which he may be uninformed. Knowledge on the part of the public, especially that portion of the public which has definitely undertaken to improve con- ditions, is certainly the basis of effective social action. I— THE CITY As a setting for the study which is to follow, every social worker should know his city as a whole. Its origin and the character of its early settlers affect the method of solving its present problems. Workers in certain Pennsylvania towns, for instance, still have to reckon with the thrift and conservatism of the Pennsylvania Dutch founders. By contrast, the secretary of a charity organization society in a "boom" town finds that his chief function is to ensure a sanely slow development of its social activities. Even in New York City, with its long and com- plex development, light was thrown on the specific problems of a given district — upon its industries, its type of housing, its racial mixtures — ^by a study of the successive stages of development through which farms upon the left bank of the Hudson had been replaced by crowded tene- ments. Therefore social workers, especially if newcomers in a town, should know about the early inhabitants and about the industries which formed its nucleus. Local history and biography may be printed and avail- able; or the oldest inhabitant may throw more light than he perhaps realizes on the means which must be used to ensure a sound social development. Equally essential is it to have a bird's-eye view of the city govern- ment, to know specifically its form of organization and its powers, es- pecially at points where its tasks and those of the social worker inter- sect ; as is the case with the boards of health, education, and charities, the police, etc. Expect no city to accomplish tasks for which it has neither the power nor the machinery; organize no private agencies to do work which can and should be done by city departments. 1. Has your city a special charter, or is there a general charter for all cities of its class? 2. How large is the city council? How is it elected? 3. Are there city boards or commissioners in charge of education; health; parks; police; charities? 4. How are they appointed?* 5. What powers have they according to the city charter or orders of the city council? 6. What responsibility rests with the mayor? 7. Do the departments publish separate annual reports, even if in one volume? The tax rate is also of intimate consequence, since many municipal activities strongly urged by social workers must go by default if the money raised by taxation is not adequate or is wasted. 8. What is the tax rate? 9. On what per cent, of the market value of real property are taxes assessed? 10. Is this basis of valuation seemingly in existence because of custom or tradition? 11. Total amount of all revenue in last fiscal year. 12. Total expenditures for all departments. 13. Is the city borrowing money to pay current expense? 14. Has it reached the borrowing limit? 15. How is the city budget made up? 16. Is there any public discussion of its items? 17. What is the system of accounting? II— COMMUNITY PROBLEMS The first group of subjects to be considered includes those which affect the well-being of the whole community — housing, health, indus- trial problems, child welfare, the courts. Bad conditions resulting from private interest, ignorance and indifference must be combated by commu- nity action working through legislation, through education, through increased efEciency in social work. The co-operation of all social agen- cies is needed if the fight is to be won. * If the city has a commission form of government, questions 2, 3 and 4 should be combined. A. HOUSING Housing conditions, for example, are an element in almost all social work; they affect all work for improving the health of the com- munity, and all work with families in their homes; and, through con- ditions affecting the health and moral tone of family life, they are also relatefl to work for children in connection with the schools, settlements, juvenile court, etc. Knowledge, therefore, as to whether bad housing conditions exist or are likely to develop is a part of the social worker's equipment. The most important step in securing this equipment is to bring together gradually facts about the city's actual housing conditions. This does not mean an investigation ; it means noting, as home visits are paid for whatever purpose, the violations of city ordinances and the unsani- tary conditions not yet covered by ordinances. These should be recorded on five-by-eight cards and, where possible, should be re-enforced by pho- tographs showing actual conditions. Data should be gathered as to the number of dark rooms in old houses and new, the number of outdoor privies, the overcrowding of rooms (especially by lodgers), number of cellar dwellings, high rents, unsanitary conditions, etc. The records of social agencies often contain more useful informa- tion than their compilers realize. In the annual report of the Asso- ciated Charities of Columbus, Ohio, in 1909, an analysis, by size of family and number of rooms, of the 1037 families cared for in that year showed that 142 were living with two or more persons to the room, while in some instances there were six, seven, eight, and even nine per- sons per room. Facts like these, supplemented by the description of what these conditions mean in individual cases, will be a forceful argument for a city ordinance against overcrowding. The importance of accumulating such facts is further shown in the history of the housing commission in Louisville. A joint committee of the Associated Charities and of the Civics Committee of the Woman's Club gathered just such evidence as this, first from various agencies working in the tenements, and later by personal visits. With this as a basis, they were ready for the visit of an expert to diagnose the situation, and later secured an appropriation from the city council for a full in- vestigation. As will appear from the foregoing suggestions, it is necessary to learn what laws and ordinances affecting the maintenance and construc- tion of tenements already exist, and how far they are being enforced. These may be part of a state law or may be city ordinances. This dis- tinction should be noted in view of its importance in questions of amend- ment, repeal and enforcement, for though it is easier to get city ordi- nances passed than to enact a state law, the former can be more easily amended by those opposed to good laws before the public realizes it. The following outline suggests the main points concerning which definite information should be had : I. Is there a state law, or are all the housing regulations city ordinances ? 3. What requirements does the law make concerning (a) light and ventilation of rooms and halls; (b) spaces to be left vacant in yards and courts; (c) provision of running water; (d) sewer connection for all closets; provision of indoor closets; (e) overcrowding; (f) use of cellars or basements for living purposes; (g) care of privies; (h) janitor; (i) fire escapes? 3. Which of these provisions apply to (a) new houses only; (b) old houses remodelled; (c) tenement houses only?* The board of health, the building department, or the city clerk should be able to furnish copies of these laws. Get the specific provi- sions, not simply the general scope of the ordinance. Of equal importance are the laws providing for inspection and en- forcement. These must be backed by an appropriation sufficient to pro- vide enough inspectors. The New York law, for instance, requires that each tenement shall be inspected four times a year, but provides so small a staff that practically no inspections are made except on complaint. The provisions of the law on the following points should be noted : 4. What city department or departments have the duty of enforc- ing the housing ordinances? 5. How many inspectors are there for each department; for ex- ample, plumbing, new buildings, etc.? 6. Do they inspect on their own initiative and at stated intervals, or only on complaint? 7. Have they power to vacate unfit houses, and what is the pro- cedure in brief? Also learn from the board of health how many violations were re- ported last year and their nature, what action was taken, how many cases were brought to court, and what disposal was made of them. Some such summary should appear in the records ami published re- ports of every board. As the report of the Baltimore Federated Charities says, in speak- ing of the reappointment of its Committee on Improved Housing after the completion of a new housing code, "It must not be assumed that the code will enforce itself or that the department will push its work to a finish without a governing pressure of public opinion." An admirable discussion of this whole question is found in "Housing Reform, "f by Lawrence Veiller, and in the companion "Model Tene- ment House Law"J will be found a definite standard by which local * Note the legal definition of a tenement house. t Lawrence Veiller, "Housing Reform," New York, Charities Publication Committee, 105 E. 22d St.; see also, published by the same, series of articles on "Housing Awakening," beginning in the Survey for November 19, 1910. Single weekly numbers 10 cents, monthly magazine numbers, appearing in the first week of the month, 35 cents. Annual subscription, $2.00. {Lawrence Veiller, "A Model Tenement House Law," New York, Charities Publication Committee. laws may be measured. For further advice and suggestion on these points, write the National Housing Association, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. B. HEALTH Another evil which more or less directly conduces to dependency and to low standards of living is sickness ; a cause which can and in many phases must be attacked by community action. For example, in Pittsburgh from 1903 to 1907 inclusive there were on an average 130 deaths yearly from typhoid fever for every 100,000 of the population. This high rate, more than twice that in any other large city, was unquestionably due to the contaminated city water supply. After a long fight a municipal filtration plant was opened in the spring of 1908, and while in October, 1907, there were 593 cases of typhoid, in October, 1908, there were only 96. A careful study was made, in the Pittsburgh Survey,* of the economic loss occasioned in 338 cases of typhoid fever. With the actual cost in these cases as a basis, Mr. Wingf estimated that, including loss of wages, and cost of hospital and home care of the sick, Pittsburgh had spent $3,000,000 for typhoid fever in one year, while the filtration plant cost but $5,450,000. Here then is a case where suffering and often dependence were caused by community indifference, and remedied, after a long struggle, by community action. An elementary test of the health of a community is its death-rate. It should be borne in mind, however, that death-rates are frequently misleading. Sometimes the records of the board of health are not com- plete; and sometimes the population figures from which the ratios are calculated are not accurate, especially between census years, when the population estimate is based on some optimist's idea of the way the town has grown. Moreover, many factors enter into death-rates — race, climate, diet, occupation, as well as general sanitary conditions in the town. For instance, cities in Colorado have an excessive tuberculosis death-rate because of the very fact that the climate is supposed to cure the disease and that many patients flock there only to die. Care must be taken, therefore, not to use the death-rate, even from a given disease, as a conclusive argument. Mortality figures are important, however, especially if considered in comparison with those of other cities of about the same size. Infant mortality, for instance, is always much higher in cities than in small •The Pittsburgh Survey was an investigation of social and industrial conditions in this industrial center made under the auspices of the Charities Publication Committee. While the investigations were on too comprehensive a scale for small communities to attempt, the reports as published in the magazine numbers of Charities and the Commons (now the Survey) for January, February and March, 1909, will suggest many interesting lines of inquiry concerning one's own city. Price, 25 cents each. t Charities and the Commons, February 6, 1909, p. 923. "Thirty-five Years of Typhoid," Frank E. Wing. Price, 25 cents. 8 towns, and a New York suburb is not justified in being satisfied if its infant mortality is no higher than that of New York City; it should be far lower. Comparative figures can be secured from a special annual report on Mortality Statistics in the United States Census. More recent figures should be given in the records of the local board of health or of the bureau of vital statistics. The state board of health may have these figures, even if the local board does not. The following figures should be secured: 1. Number of deaths per looo of population. 2. Number of deaths of children under one and under five per 100,000 children of those ages. 3. Number of deaths per 100,000 population from tuberculosis, typhoid and intestinal diseases of children. The number of cases of each of these diseases is also valuable, if these are reported with any accuracy. If certain diseases are unusually prevalent, effort should be made to learn the causes for it. For this knowledge of what constitutes the chief physical disability of any city is merely a first step toward finding means for removing it. The most elementary way of decreasing sickness is by preventing the spread of contagious or infectious diseases through city ordinances or rules of the board of health. 4. Is there an anti-spitting ordinance? 5. What contagious diseases must be reported to the board of health? , . , 6. Does a special order require that all cases of tuberculosis be reported; that houses be fumigated after the removal of tuberculosis patients ? These laws are frequently ignored. To get some idea of whether they are enforced, compare the number of cases of tuberculosis reported with the number of deaths from that disease. Tuberculosis experts state that on a conservative basis the ratio should be at lea^t three to one. In one town there were more deaths than cases! If it is possible, learn from the board of health in how many instances last year, when death resulted from tuberculosis, the case had not been previously reported. For information as to how the tuberculosis death-rate might be lowered in a given community, consult the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. It is particularly important that the board of health should use its powers to insure healthy infancy. 7. Is the law enforced which requires doctors and midwives to report all births? 8. Are midwives licensed to practice? . - . ,. , 9. Is ophthalmia neonatorum reportable as an infectious disease? 10! How many cases were reported last year? II. Is the local health officer empowered or obliged to secure hos- pital or dispensary care for this disease? This disease is the cause of most infantile blindness, and can be prevented and cured if immediate and adequate treatment be given. The Committee on the Prevention of Blindness, 105 East 22d Street, New York City, will be glad to furnish information on methods of pre- venting blindness.* Other laws regulate what might be called the city's housekeeping. Pure water and milk and a really clean city mean a reduced death and morbidity rate from germ diseases. 12. What is the source of the water supply; is it owned by the municipality or by a private company? 13. What laws regulate the milk supply, and the inspection of food and markets? What is the administration of these laws? 14. Who removes the garbage, rubbish and filth; how often; on what terras? 15. Are the streets kept clean; is dry sweeping allowed? Educational campaigns are most important if disease is to be de- creased. The co-operation of the public must be secured to enforce the laws, and more than that, individuals must be educated to observe the rules of hygiene. Does the board of health carry on campaigns of health education ? Are other organizations doing this work in regard to tuber- culosis, care of babies, etc. ? Such work is often most successfully under- taken by a charity organization society, in co-operation with the board of health and private physicians. Chicago, for example, had an appalling infant death-rate. In August, 1908, 719 babies under two died of diar- rheal diseases. The United Charities realized that this fact, serious as it was in itself, was also appalling as indicating the number of children who lived but who started life handicapped by the results of such dis- eases. "You cannot make an efficient citizen out of a blighted baby." They therefore carried out, in the summer of 1909, a comprehensive campaign to decrease sickness among babies by instruction of mothers, provision of pure milk, etc. This plan was carried out by the co-opera- tion of the board of health and many social agencies. It was at least in large part a result of this work that the infant death-rate in 1909 was eighteen per cent, lower than the average of the ten preceding years. C. INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS Industry also creates conditions which intimately concern the well- being of almost every family, but over which the public has less control. Social workers frequently have little or no specific information as to wages, hours and conditions of work; yet a prominent charity organi- zation worker said recently that one of the most important tasks of his society should be to secure data about each industry, and to make them available for other social workers. There are two reasons for under- taking this study: ( I ) It creates a background for the study of individual dependent families. What standards of living does the pay of the average wage- * See "Children Who Need Not Have Been Blind," and other literature published by the committee. earner make possible; do wages and conditions in the industry directly or indirectly increase dependency? In one district in Boston many of the men are longshoremen. Their work is highly paid, but irregular, days of absolute idleness alternating with periods of intense physical labor. Many of the men are as a result intemperate, and the women find it hard to plan household expenditures on this irregular income. The union, though it pays no out-of-work benefit, gives liberal benefits to men who are ill or injured, both frequent occurrences because of the conditions under which they work. Knowledge of these facts is abso- lutely essential for intelligent treatment of the families applying for relief. (2) It furnishes a basis for intelligent advice to children and young people who seek employment. How can such advice be intelli- gent unless we know which occupations offer training or a possibility of advancement; in which the employment is regular; and which are healthful. Facts are needed wherewith to combat the tendency of boys and girls to drift into dead-end occupations, into candy factories, the messenger service, etc. The Associated Charities of Boston in 1906 made a special study of the children fourteen to eighteen years old in families under its care. Of the 700 children fourteen years old, only 64 had started work at skilled or semi-skilled occupations. One district reported that a group of ten girls of eighteen had, in the four years, had their average wage increased from $2.25 to $4.30, but that only one had advanced to a task involving a greater degree of skill. Too often an immediate three dollars a week wage outweighs the fact that the wage will never be larger, and that the occupation ofEers no training. For each of the main industries, therefore, it is well to secure such facts as these: 1. Estimated number of men, of women, of children employed. 2. What proportion of these are unskilled; what is the wage for unskilled work? 3. What is the general scale of wages? 4. Is the labor casual or seasonal? 5. What opportunity does it afford for training or advancement? 6. Are there trade unions; if so, what benefits do they give to the sick or unemployed? 7. Are there other pension systems connected with the industry? 8. Are conditions of work sanitary and healthful? Some of these facts can be secured from employers; some from the board of trade or chamber of commerce. State departments of labor wherever they exist should be consulted for such data as they are per- mitted to make public. The figures from these sources, however, must be checked up and supplemented by data secured from individual families. There is comparatively little legislation bearing on general indus- trial questions. An important subject for legislation is the employer's liability in cases of accident. It is worth while to know the provisions of this law which apply to individual accident cases. A number of states are working for legislation on this and kindred subjects. For informa- tion as to ways of furthering intelligent legislation, write to the Ameri- can Association for Labor Legislation, i Madison Avenue, New York City. The hours and conditions of women's work have been the subject of special legislation. The United States Supreme Court has recently rendered a decision that the Oregon law limiting the hours of work for women in laundries is constitutional. This recognition of the fact that, for the good of the community, women as well as children must be protected from industrial exploitation, will doubtless encourage simi- lar legislation in other states. 9. How many industries employ women ; to what extent ? 10. Are the women doing skilled or unskilled work? 11. What are the census figures for women employed and their occupations ? 12. What is the state law governing (a) the number of hours a day and week that women are allowed to work; (b) industries in which women may not be employed? 13. What is the general run of wages in stores and factories? 14. Do any industries give out work to be done in the home; at what pay; under what conditions is the work done? The problems resulting from women's work become obvious in towns where large numbers of women are employed. If they get high pay, the families come to depend on the double earnings. As a result, children are often neglected and women become exhausted by the double responsibilities of work and home. In other towns, hundreds of girls gather from the surrounding country, to live under unwholesome conditions with an absolute lack of normal amusement. In one such town visited recently, the only agency interested in the problem was found to be providing cheap lodging for twenty girls. There were hun- dreds with no home and no entertainment. Knowledge of conditions will help determine what agencies should be started, whether a local consumers' league, working girls' club, etc. Care should be taken, however, to make sure that these activities strike at the root of the problem. In one city in a fruit-growing region, a day nursery was established near a canning factory to care for the children of women employed there. The women worked sometimes fifteen hours a day during the rush season, but no one considered the need of legis- lation limiting the hours that a woman might work. Agencies dealing with needy families, again, should not encourage women to work at home at "sweated trades," or to do exhausting work outside the home, to the detriment of their health and the well-being of the children. For information and advice, consult the National Consumers' League, lOS East 22d Street, New York City ; and, for information about clubs, the National League of Women Workers, Miss Jean Hamilton, Secretary, Oswego, N. Y. D. THE IMMIGRANT The industries of a town not only influence individual families, they also markedly affect general social problems, especially by the type of laborers they employ. A striking instance of this is the influx of Slavs to do the unskilled vi?ork in the steel mills and coal mines of Pennsyl- vania. Even in small manufacturing tow^ns, a proportionately large group of foreigners has often gathered before anyone in the town realizes their number or the problems they create. Hence the need of an analysis of the population as given by the United States Census: 1. Number of each nationality. 2. Length of residence. 3. Literacy. These figures, if secured for several decades, will show whether the number of immigrants in the town is increasing, and whether, therefore, work for them must be included in plans for future activities. Even when charitable agencies do not yet have foreigners among their beneficiaries, work should be begun to prevent the development of bad conditions. For example, in Homestead, one of the Pittsburgh steel towns, where charity is not needed, a study of conditions in the homes of the Slavic laborers showed appalling sanitary conditions. Legislative action alone could make these peasants realize that higher standards than those of village life were necessary in overcrowded alleys under the shadow of the mill. Strict enforcement of school attendance laws was also imperative, that they might appreciate our American in- sistence on education for all. It is helpful to have some background for an understanding of the racial types with which you have to deal. Such a book as "The Immi- grant Tide," by Edward A. Steiner,* with its glimpses of their lives in the old home and of their racial ideals, creates a new sympathy for these aliens. This can also be attained by getting into touch, where possible, with the more intelligent members of each race — ^with the doctors, law- yers, shopkeepers, landlords, etc., who know the needs of their people and how they can be met. For example, in one city where many Poles live, the charity organization society has a district committee which in- cludes some educated and intelligent members of the Polish group. The society is therefore able to relate the various social activities of the city to the needs of these people, and the gap which so often exists between our work and this isolated, non-English-speaking group is bridged. * Edward A. Steiner, "The Immigrant Tide: Its Ebb and Flow," Fleming H. Revell Company. See also articles on Pittsburgh conditions, magazine Survey numbers of January, February and March, 1909. Price, 25 cents each. 13 4. Do the immigrants live in a separate section of the town ? 5. How does this compare in sanitation and buildings with the homes of the other working people? 6. Do they have separate churches for each nationality? 7. Are there parochial schools connected with the churches? Is a foreign language used in them? 8. What effect are the social, political, industrial and educational forces of the community having upon their Americanization? E. CHILDREN I. CHILD LABOR Questions concerning the welfare of children are so interwoven that no agency dealing with the child at home, at school, at play, at work, as dependent or delinquent, can afford to be ignorant of any of the laws or conditions affecting child life. The universal recognition of the need for a wholesome life for children has found expression in rather detailed legislation, perhaps the most important being that which restricts child labor.* This covers two points, the age below which no child may work, and restrictions of the work of children till they are sixteen. The second point is of great importance. In New Jersey, for example, while a child may not go to work at all till he is fourteen, boys of fif- teen still work all night in glass factories at occupations seriously detri- mental to health.f Messenger boys also work at night under demoraliz- ing conditions, and recently two states. New York and Ohio, have passed laws forbidding the employment of boys under twenty-one and eighteen, respectively, as night messengers. 1. Below what age are children forbidden to work? 2. What are the laws regulating the hours of labor for children under sixteen in factories and stores? 3. In what occupations is the labor of children under sixteen for- bidden? 4. What are the laws regulating the sale of newspapers and the night messenger service? The value of these laws is obviously dependent on their enforce- ment. Mr. Fred S. Hall of the Pennsylvania Child Labor Association quotes figures showing that, in 1900, in Pennsylvania "7064, or nearly six per cent, of all twelve-year-old children, were illegally at work in factories, stores, offices, mines or breakers." In a number of states, be- fore an employment certificate is issued, a child is now required to fur- nish documentary proof of his age instead of relying, as formerly, on the affidavit of his parents. In New York City, only two per cent, of 22,423 applicants were unable to bring satisfactory evidence of age. * "The Child in Industry," by Owen R. Lovejoy, and other literature on the subject may be secured from the National Child Labor Committee, 105 East zzd Street, New York City. t After July, 1911, age limit sixteen. H S- Are employment certificates required in your state? 6. What authority issues them? 7. What proof of age is demanded? 8. Number of certificates issued last year. 9. Number of cases last year in which exceptions to the rules were made. Reasons. 10. _ Number of prosecutions for violation of child labor law in your city last year; number of convictions. 11. Are records kept and reports made to state departments? The regulations should be secured in legal form, since details are of the utmost importance. These can be had from the state factory inspector, or, if there is none, from the state superintendent of schools. Data concerning violations of the state laws are more difficult to obtain. Deputy inspectors sometimes fail to report, and often the reports do not show the number of violations in a given locality. The factory in- spector should be able to provide them, but if he cannot they can be learned only by keeping newspaper clippings, by searching court records, and by recording any known violations of the law. Someone in each community should know to what extent these laws are being enforced. Each worker should also know where his state stands in relation to others in its progress in child labor legislation. To secure these facts, if there is no state child labor committee, write to the National Child Labor Committee, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. It is important to know what exceptions are made in the law, since the attempt is often made to lower standards by recognizing poverty as a legitimate reason for letting young children go to work. Charitable societies may help by seeing that no children in their families are at work illegally, and by standing ready to provide relief when, in exceptional cases, real hardship would otherwise be caused by strict enforcement. A district of the Baltimore Federated Charities appointed in 1906 a special child labor committee to deal with such cases. In an Italian family which had a tendency to beg they secured the co-operation of the Italian societies in keeping the children in school. In six cases they gave special scholarships to keep children in school. The following story is typical of their work: "Marie offered a South Baltimore conductor a three-cent fare on her way to the factory one morning. The conductor refused the fare because, he said, 'You can't work in a factory if you are under twelve, and you can't ride for three cents if you are pver twelve.' The fact was disclosed to an agent of the Federated Charities that her mother, who needed the child's earnings, had falsified the age so as to get a work permit. Marie was got back to school, and the scholarship contributed by the pupils of one of our large private schools made good to the family the loss of her earnings. She is a frail child, and was sent, therefore, when school closed, to the country to be with relatives. She will continue at school this winter." 15 This story brings out the close relation between child labor and school attendance laws. To find out during what years school attend- ance is compulsory and where a given state stands in • comparison with others, get from the United States Bureau of Education, Washington, the report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1910. This gives a summary of child labor and compulsory education laws for all the states. To test whether children are actually as well as nominally in school during these years is less simple, but it is important. Learn from the board of education whether a school census is taken. If one is taken, summarize its findings to show the total number of children of each age, the number in public schools, the number in private or parochial schools, and the number not in school at all. Get these figures separately for each year of the compulsory school period. Dr. Ayres' figures as to irregular school attendance indicate that in most cities children are steadily losing real education because of irregular attendance. He found* that of every 1000 children enrolled the average attendance in Balti- more was only 662, in Philadelphia 695, in New York 751, in Chicago 823. In the town of Springfield, Ohio, school "keeps" for 184 days, yet of 6537 pupils, 892 or nearly fourteen per cent, were in school less than 100 days out of the year (page 208). This condition is of course due in part to an indifferent school board or an inefficient truancy de- partment. Absences even of a day or two should be at once investigated. Such thorough work is, however, impossible if the truant officer has too many cases. Dr. Ayres quotes the city superintendent of schools in Milwaukee as reporting, in 1907, that there were nearly 50,000 chil- dren in the city between seven and fourteen. There were three attend- ance officers to watch them all. It was, therefore, not surprising that four or five thousand of the children were not in school. 12. How many truant officers are there? 13. Do these officers receive daily reports from each school? 14. Does the school department maintain a card index of all children who have been enrolled, in order to trace unexplained non- appearances of children at the beginning of each school year? 15. How many cases were investigated last year? 16. How many cases were taken to court? 17. How many boys were sent to the truant school? 18. What other disposition was made of confirmed truants? 19. Are parents ever fined for permitting truancy? 30. Does the officer visit the parochial schools, and has he powet to take their cases into court? Unquestionably, the failure to keep children in school regularly has much to do with the slow progress of many pupils. In a family recently applying for relief to one of the New York Charity Organization Society •Leonard P. Ayres, "Laggards in Our Schools," page 133. New York, Charities Publication Committee, 105 E. 22d St. 16 offices, a boy of twelve, apparently normal, had reached only the second grade! If possible, find out in what grades the children of thirteen are. A very large proportion will leave school next year and this figure, which can usually be secured, will indicate what amount of actual education these children will get. As a basis of comparison, note in which grade a child of thirteen would be who had entered at the usual age and been promoted every year. Some of these facts are given in published reports of local school boards and of the state board of education. Otherwise, information must be secured from superintendents of schools, school principals, truant, officers, and teachers. Schools used to devote themselves to teaching the three R's. More and more they are emphasizing the idea that their function is to develop an all-round child, to care for the child physically as well as mentally. This broadening of our school system should be stimulated by all social workers. On them devolves the task of interpreting to the school board and the taxpayers the educational needs of that part of the community which is least able to make its wants known. This work can only be developed when there is a spirit of progress in the board itself, and when public opinion is educated to demand an increased use of the schools.* 21. Are text-books free? 22. How many free kindergartens in the public schools? How many under private auspices? 33. Are there classes for backward children? 24. Is there manual training, and domestic science? If so, what subjects in what grades? _ 25. Is there medical inspection? How often are physical ex- aminations made? How often are hearing and vision tests conducted? Number of school nurses? 26. Are there school visitors? 27. Are there vacation schools? 28. Are there evening schools? How long are they open each year? What courses do they offer? What recreational features are there? How extensively are they advertised? Do foreigners use them? The recent developments in the use of the schools as social centers are important, notably the neighborhood centers in the schools of Roch- ester, and the interesting series of lectures and entertainments given under the auspices of a committee of the Board of Education in Cleve- land. Particularly in small communities it is better to make full use of such plants for recreational purposes than to attempt to rely on necessarily inadequate rooms supplied by private initiative. Information as to the methods of developing such work may be secured from the De- partment of Child Hygiene of the Russell Sage Foundation, i Madison * See "Wider Use of the School Plant," Clarence Arthur Perry, Charities Publication Committee, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. One chapter, "Public Lectures in School Buildings," is published in pamphlet form by the Department of Child Hygiene of the Russell Sage Foundation, i Madison Avenue, New York City. Price, 5 cents. 17 Avenue, New York City. Another means of education is the public library. 29. How many free libraries are there? 30. How many children took out books last year? How many adults? 31. Does the library encourage its use by publicity work, by refer- ence lists on current topics, etc.? 32. Is there a reading room for children, and a children's librarian? 33. Are there branch libraries in schools, homes and shops? Home libraries and other special work for children have been ex- tensively developed by the Pittsburgh Public Library.* 3. CLUBS AND CLASSES While this movement for providing education and recreation through public institutions is a wholesome democratic one, it may well be supplemented by such work as that of settlements, boys' and girls' clubs and Young Women's and Young Men's Christian Associations. The Boys' Club of Pittsfield, Mass., offers in a finely equipped building many kinds of educational and industrial work, commercial, manual, musical and physical. Many of the classes are taught by boys who have graduated from the club and have since received special training. The programs of the Young Men's and Young Women's Chris- tian Associations show a steadily increasing emphasis on the social aspects of their tasks. Secretaries are being specifically trained for work among immigrants, Young Women's Christian Associations are being opened up in remote industrial centers where many girls are employed; all the secretaries are being urged to co-operate more fully in the general social activities of their towns. If opportunities for such social-religious work appear, write to the International Committee of Young Men's Chris- tian Associations, 124 East 28th Street, New York City, and to the National Committee of the Young Women's Christian Associations, 125 East 27th Street, New York City. 34. Boys' and girls' clubs. (a) Number, membership, average attendance, (b) Under what auspices are they conducted? (c) Is the club work adequately supervised? (d) What is the character of the education or amusement offered ? 35. Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations. (a) Number of educational classes, subjects, attendance. (b) Is there a gymnasium? (c) What other amusements? (d) What is the membership fee? Class fees, if any? (e) Are the classes limited to members? (f) What groups of young men most frequently join? * See "The Public Library, a Social Force in Pittsburgh," by Frances Jenkins Olcott, Survey, March 5, 1910. Price 25 cents. ig For adults, too, normal entertainment should be offered. Women absorbed in household routine need variety, as do men tired with the day's work. What provision, is made for giving them such mental change ? Is the saloon the only pleasure club open to the men ? Specify any special activities provided for them by church, school, etc. 4. AMUSEMENTS A vital force in preventing juvenile delinquency is the presence of plenty of wholesome amusement. Mr. George E. Johnson, Superin- tendent of the Pittsburgh Playground Association, tells the story of little Tim who appeared in the juvenile court for stealing apples. "The probation officer took the boy aside and said, 'Now, Tim, tell me honest, why do you steal these apples? Do you get so hungry for them you just can't help it?' The boy looked a little surprised, hung his head a moment and then said, 'Why, I don't care much about eating 'em, but it is such fun to have old Smudge chase me.' " Properly supervised play would have provided an outlet for this boyish impulse and have saved him from the court. For the growing child outdoor recreation must be provided. It is not enough that there should be free space for play; the play itself should be so supervised that it may serve to develop the character of the children. Supervised playgrounds are therefore desirable even in smaller cities where there is still open space for play. For information on the need for and methods of maintaining playgrounds, write to the Playground Association of America, Metro- politan Building, New York City. 36. Area of unimproved land in city. 37. What regular playgrounds are there? Area. Amount of supervision. Maintained by whom? 38. Parks; fare from congested quarters. General moral standing. What amusements are ofiFered? Can children play on the grass? 39. Estimated number of children who use the parks; the super- vised playgrounds. 40. What use is made of streets as play spaces for ball, coast- ing, roller-skating? What is the attitude of the police? 41. What other forms of entertainment are offered? Where are they located? What is the character of the amusement? What is the price of admission? 42. Do these places have a desirable influence on those attending? 43. Are there police rules or ordinances regulating dance halls, moving-picture shows, etc.? 5. JUVENILE DELINQUENTS Not only must the new attitude of the school toward the child be utilized for the betterment of children in our community, but also the new attitude of the court. Does a city's court still consider the delinquent child a criminal to be punished, or merely a wayward child whom it must protect and help? In all stages of its proceedings, one attitude or the other must be evident. 19 44- Is there a juvenile court? 45. Are all cases affecting children under sixteen brought before it? Does it deal not only with delinquents, but also with dependent, neglected and truant children, and with child labor cases? 46. Are any cases of delinquent children finally transferred to regular criminal courts of record, such as superior courts; and if so, for what reasons ? 47. Is there a separate detention home, or is the child kept in the jail with older offenders? 48. Is a complete investigation made of the conditions of the child's life as a basis for judicial decision? 49. Are full records kept? 50. Is the court a separate one or part of a police, municipal or other court? 51. Where are the cases heard? 52. What differences are made from the ordinary procedure? In some so-called juvenile courts, for instance, the judge still sits on the bench, the police ofBcer brings in the offender, and the case is tried much as with adults. This is not the real spirit of the juvenile court. The judge's povi'er is in the close personal relation that he es- tablishes vv^ith each boy brought before him, which, with preliminary knowledge of the conditions of the boy's life, makes possible intelligent and successful treatment. For the juvenile court does not aim to punish the child for the offense committed, but to decide what, in view of all the circumstances surrounding his life, it is best to do for him. 53. Are there probation officers? How many? 54. Are they paid from public or private funds, or are they volunteers ? 55. How many cases of delinquent children and how many of dependent were before the court last year? 56. How many of these were fined, put on probation, placed in institutions, or dismissed? 57. Is there a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children? 58. What is its relation to the court? What constitutes "cruelty"; what "neglect"? 59. For what reasons does the community sanction the removal of children from their parents? Often it is the fault of the parents rather than of the child that he becomes a delinquent. Does the state recognize this in a law permitting prosecution of parents for contributing to the child's delinquency? How many cases were tried last year? The answers to these questions can easily be found in places hav- ing a well-organized juvenile court. In places that have not, it is, if anything, more important to secure them so that the data may be ready when it is time to work for a court; it is equally important, if there is a so-called juvenile court that is not doing good work. As a preliminary step to creating a juvenile court, the judge may set aside one day in the week for children's cases and hear the cases in a room separate from the court room. To demonstrate the value of probation, it is sotnetimes possible to get the judge to suspend sentence in hopeful cases, putting the child in the care of some social worker known to him who acts as an unofficial probation officer. In some cities, women's clubs or other organizations have paid the salary of a probation officer until the value of the work has been demonstrated and the city been willing to assume the responsibility for it.* By careful studies of the circumstances out of which delinquency arises, we shall get light on conditions which must be remedied for the benefit of all the children in the community; on the need of more amuse- ments, the unwisdom of forcing widowed mothers to go out to work and neglect their children, the need of better child labor and school en- forcement laws. F. THE COURTS By thus providing for all a wholesome childhood with adequate education and amusement, delinquency may be lessened. Are the courts acting intelligently so as to cure the delinquency which exists and pre- vent its increase, or are they, by their methods of dealing with petty offenders, tending to confirm them in this career? 1. Are judges or magistrates appointed or elected? How long do they serve ? What are their qualifications ? 2. What courts have jurisdiction over cases of intoxication, dis- orderly conduct, non-support and vagrancy? 3. What powers and what options has a magistrate in dealing with cases arraigned on such charges? 4. How many cases of each class were there in the court last year? What disposition was made of these cases? 5. Is there adult probation? 6. To what extent is the summons used instead of arrest? 7. How long are prisoners detained at the police station before being brought to court? 8. Does the arrangement of detention rooms and jails permit proper separation of sexes and of new from hardened offenders? 9. What are the correctional institutions in your city and state? 10. How is the head of each institution appointed? How long does he serve? What has been his previous experience?! 11. What medical attention is given the prisoners? Is work provided for them? 13. Does any association visit institutions, getting in touch with prisoners before their discharge? What effort is made to help them on their discharge? 1. DRUNKENNESS The average social worker feels rather helpless in efforts to improve the treatment of the criminal. Those courts and institutions which deal with minor ofienses, notably drunkenness and vagrancy, have however an intimate relation to family problems. Moreover, _ public opinion must be aroused to recognize the importance of treating intelligently » In the Survey for February s, 1910 (P"ce 35 cents), is a full and suggestive discussion of methods in juvenile court work. „a. . , „ „ ,r , p t See "The Professional Training of Prison Officials," R. Vambery, Sumey, January 3i, 1911- Price 10 cents. ai these minor offenders. The articles in a special number of the Survey for October i, 1910, give ample demonstration of the fact which every social virorker knows, that the present system of fines and short sen- tences usually meted out by the courts is neither deterrent nor reform- atory. Of 90,500 arrested for drunkenness in Massachusetts in 1909, 8 per cent, were put on probation, 26 per cent, fined and a little less than 10 per cent, sentenced to jails and county houses of correction, though nearly half of those fined were imprisoned for non-payment of fines. Of the 8709 sentenced to imprisonment, 8298 were sentenced for less than six months. Mr. Burritt, formerly of the New York State Charities Aid Association, tells of a man sixty-one years of age who had been in the workhouse 62 separate times, and had spent 3165 days there at a total cost for maintenance of $1858.53. The lines along which advance may be made are indicated in a plan recently formulated by the New York State Charities Aid Associa- tion for the treatment of drunkards, which includes adequate probation and a series of carefully graded remedies, culminating in commitment to a farm colony on an indeterminate sentence with a maximum of three years. Recent changes in methods of treatment at the state institution for inebriates at Foxboro, Mass., also open up hopeful possibilities for other states. An interesting study of families in which some member of the family was intemperate, made by the Associated Charities of Boston in 1907, showed clearly that it was worth while to work for the re- form of drunkards through individual treatment, but that such work must be supplemented by intelligent action on the part of the courts. The facts in individual cases can well be used to help arouse the public to a realization of the folly of the present system. 13. What is the state law governing the sale of liquor in your town? 14. Is it a license or no-license town? Number of licensed saloons. 15. Terms on which licenses are granted and procedure in re- voking. 16. Are saloons forbidden within a given distance from school or church? 17. Is there regulation as to the sale of liquor to minors or women; as to Sunday and night closing? 18. What active temperance propaganda is there? 2. NON-SUPPORT AND DESERTION Another group of delinquents which creates special tasks for the social worker is that of the men who refuse to support their families. An interesting attempt to deal with this class has been made in Wash- ington, D. C. The man is usually put on probation and has to pay weekly a certain proportion of his wages to his family through a ser- geant of police. Confirmed offenders are sent to the workhouse, where they really have to work, and fifty cents a day from the proceeds of their labor is paid to their families. In one year there were 899 non-support cases. 608 of these were placed on probation and paid through the police $38,319-65 to their families, while the payments to families for the labor of men in the workhouse amounted to $2340.* 19. What is the state law in regard to the treatment of non-sup- porting or deserting husbands? 20. Has a deserter ever been brought back to your state by ex- tradition ?t 21. How many men in the last year have paid toward the support of their families upon non-support orders through the courts? How much? III. AGENCIES FOR RELIEF AND FOR THE IMPROVE- MENT OF SOCIAL CONDITIONS We have been discussing the factors which enter into community well-being — sanitation, education, industry, amusements, delinquency, — both their legislative status and their practical activities. Wholesome conditions do not develop spontaneously, and those who are aware of existing evils must organize to make their demands for improvement effective. Agencies with this origin work to better state or local legis- lation, to stimulate the activity of city or state departments, to educate the public. Among them may be included child labor, tuberculosis, tene- ment house, juvenile court and playground committees, consumers' leagues, settlements, etc. Every social worker should know specifically the general aims and the plans for immediate action of each of these agencies. If there are no such local agencies, learn of the work elsewhere, es- pecially by correspondence with the national organizations. But do not start a new movement without such knowledge as shall demonstrate which particular kind of effort is most needed and that no existing agency is able or willing to do the work. One small city has a tuberculosis relief society with a paid worker on half time who dealt in a year with thirty-seven cases of tuberculosis. It has no housing committee, and no ordinance compels sewer connection for the houses, though more cases of typhoid fever than of tuberculosis are reported to the board of health each year. There is an associated charities in this place which should handle both tasks through special committees ; it confines itself at present to elementary relief work. G. AGENCIES NOT PRIMARILY PHILANTHROPIC Agencies not primarily philanthropic are most helpful as allies — churches, business associations, fraternal orders, settlements, clubs, etc. Many a social agency has been organized by an active woman's club, and many improvements in civic conditions have been forwarded •See "Family Desertion and Non-Support," Judge William H. DeLacy, Survey, February 5, 1910. Price 25 cents. fBy a requisition issued by your governor upon the governor of the state to which he went. 23 most eilectively by business men's organizations. A woman's club in Texas, for instance, secured the appointment of a police matron, agree- ing to pay her salary. At the end of six mouths she was put on the city pay-roll. Then a probation officer was paid by the club, and later be- came a county employe. Now they have a first-class playground director and hope that within a year the city will pay his salary also, leaving them free to demonstrate further possible lines of advance. Every worker should know, therefore, the personnel of this group of agencies which are only secondarily philanthropic, should be informed upon their attitude toward social problems, their special committees on social topics, etc. He can then utilize their interest and influence in his own task. A card catalogue of such agencies should be kept ; taken at first from the directory, it should be supplemented by newspaper clippings telling of their activities, and especially by facts as to their methods and interests drawn from the worker's personal experience with them. 1. Fraternal orders. Number. What charitable work do they do aside from sick and death benefits to members? 2. Women's clubs. Membership; objects. What committees have they on social matters? What active work have they done? 3. Business men's associations. What committees have they to deal with social problems? Have they co-operated in movements for better housing, better police administration, etc. ? 4. Churches. (a) Number in each denomination. (b) Location of churches. Is there a serious overlapping of territory ? (c) Number of members in each. (d) What churches have paid visitors? (e) _ What relief organizations have they? Are there St. Vincent de Paul conferences in the Roman Catholic churches? Do they work outside the membership of their own church? (f) What social features are there, sewing schools, clubs for men or children? (g) Is there a ministerial association? Does it discuss or take an active part in the improvement of conditions? It Is perhaps unnecessary to emphasize the importance of close co-operation with the churches in order to draw upon their strength and enthusiasm. The ministerial association might be urged to discuss this Outline, since the churches sometimes are uninterested simply because they do not know conditions. In Buffalo for the last two years a semi- nar has been conducted twice a month by a number of churches jointly. Each meeting, under the direction of a separate committee, is devoted to a discussion of some phase of the local situation, such as industrial conditions, provisions for education and amusement, the cost of living, etc. This year they plan to "make a systematic study of what the city government is doing for the social welfare of Buffalo and to stimulate interest in the development of its efficiency in this direction." Any group that had made so careful a study would control a powerful lever for social betterment. 24 Another social agency that has meant much both as interpreter and as initiator of reforms in many communities is the settlement. It is often a primary source of information on a neglected neighborhood and its residents can give invaluable aid in making social betterment pro- grams effective. H. PHILANTHROPIC AGENCIES So far we have discussed activities vv^hich tend to raise or lower the social efficiency of the whole community. We are now to consider agencies which aim to improve the condition of individuals or families who have fallen below the general level and have become partially or wholly dependent. These two subjects are closely related. If wages are low, if disease, unwholesome tenements or overwork decrease vitality, dependency will increase. This inter-relation between the well-being of the community and of the individual becomes very clear to one who works for needy families in their homes. It is in such work that many movements for social betterment have had their birth, for the home is the point where social activities center and at which their failure is most apparent. Moreover, the skillful treatment of individuals with a view to rendering them as soon as possible normal and inde- pendent helps to ensure steadier and surer development for every other form of social endeavor. This detailed work is, in fact, both the source of social energy and its conservator. I. PUBLIC OUTDOOR RELIEF Provision for the dependent is a public responsibility. Certain classes who need institutional care — the destitute, the aged, the insane and other groups of defectives — are usually provided for by the state. Much discussion has centered about the question whether this care should be extended by giving relief to needy families in their homes. There is the danger that public outdoor relief will get tied up with politics. There is the more serious danger that its administration will become cut and dried, that relief will be given with little or no effort to do con- structive work with dependent families. Public outdoor relief is still, however, a part of the charitable provision of most small cities, and, in towns, is often the only provision. The officials in charge of it should realize the importance of adopting intelligent standards of work and of co-operating with those private agencies that could help to improve the condition of the families. 1. Is there public outdoor relief, Le., relief to families from the city or county treasury? 2. How is the overseer appointed? 3. Has he other duties? Salary. 4. What is the annual appropriation for outdoor relief, made by whom, on what basis ? 5. Number of diflferent cases aided last year. 6. Is an investigation made of each case in the home of the ap- plicant ? 25 7- What references outside of the family are seen? 8. Among the families aided, what proportion were families of (a) sick breadwinners; (b) unemployed; (c) able-bodied men, who were drunken or lazy; (d) deserted wives with children; (e) widows with children ; (f) how many were aged couples? (g) how many were aged single men or women? 9. What is the maximum amount per month given to any one family ? 2. CARE OF HOMELESS MEN One person for whom city care is most desirable is the homeless man. Too often the treatment accorded him is help from the house- holder's back door, a night on the floor of the police station, and free transportation to the next town in the morning. While the tramp problem is more pressing in large cities, it still merits careful consideration in smaller places. In a few instances, such as Evansville, Ind., and Sherbom, Mass. — one a small city, the other merely a town — officials have found it a real economy to maintain muni- cipal lodging houses on a small scale. Especially do small railroad centers need an intelligent system for dealing with these transients. As a first step toward convincing town officials of the possibility of adequate treatment, try to get them to sign the Transportation Agreement. This Agreement, now signed by over four hundred charitable agencies and public officials, is a promise to provide charitable transportation only after an investigation which proves that the applicant will be better off at his destination, and then to send him the entire distance. This method proves in the long run kinder and more economical than the "passing on" system now too often used.* Such a study of individual cases will show the need of care and opportunity for the honest searcher for work, and of deterrents, such as a bath and a wood-pile, for the tramp. 10. Is there a municipal lodging-house, or a lodging-house with an adequate work-test for the homeless supported by private charity? 11. Or is the police station still used as a lodging place? 13. If there is a municipal or private shelter, is any real attempt made to get work for the men? 13. Are there many cheap lodging-houses? What are the police or sanitary regulations concerning them ? 14. Does the city or any public or private agency give transpor- tation without investigation? Are all who grant charity transportation signers of the Transportation Agreement? 15. Is there a farm colony to which confirmed vagrants may be sent?! 16. Is there a city ordinance forbidding street begging? Is it enforced ? * See "Passing On," a pamphlet on this subject published by the Russell Sage Foundation, sent free upon application to Room 613, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. This Foundation secures signatures to the Agreement t See "Concerning Vagrancy," O. F. Lewis, Survey, September 5, 1908 (25 cents) ; January 23, 1909 (10 cents) ; September 4, 1909 (25 cents). 26 J. PRIVATE RELIEF Intelligent treatment of homeless men is important in assuring more successful dealing with dependent families, for often the man whose deserted family is being treated by a charitable society is himself being cared for as a homeless man in another city. Does the treatment of both the man and his family stimulate him to resume his normal responsibili- ties ? For with homeless men as with many other dependents, the treat- ment of the individual nnay directly affect the family as a whole, and it is the family that we must consider. The first provision for the care of needy families is usually made by churches or other agencies not specifically organized for this purpose. They often have little consciousness of the fact that their every chari- table act is affecting for better or worse the efforts of others, and so con- tinue to do work which must be superficial because it is unrelated. What agencies give relief in the home? 17. How many of these are independent organizations? 18. How many have paid workers? 19. In those that have none, how do volunteers divide the work? 20. Is the relief given only to certain classes? 21. On what principles of decision is it given or withheld? 22. Number of families relieved last year? Total amount in relief? 23. What records are kept? 24. Is there any formal or informal exchange of information among the agencies? 4. THE ORGANIZATION OF CHARITY In places where a study of social conditions shows that the activi- ties of social agencies lack co-ordination, leaving gaps at some points and overlapping at others, the next step is to create some central agency, such as a charity organization society or associated charities.* This society will make a careful study of each family that becomes dependent, devising on the basis of this knowledge a plan for its rehabilitation. It will use, in working out this plan, the help of all the existing agencies, co-ordi- nating not superseding their efforts. It will save that duplication of relief by which a family sometimes loses its independence, but its methods will assure far more adequate relief where relief is needed, and will combine with this relief the personal services needed to prevent a recur- rence of distress.f That, in its work, it also makes use of the unorgan- ized social spirit of the community is shown in the following story quoted from a recent report of the Associated Charities of Atlanta, Ga. : How a crippled man became a shoemaker illustrates an agent's services and the organization of helpfulness. •See "What is Organized Charity," a booklet published by the Charity Organization Department of the Russell Sage Foundation, Room 613, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. Sent free on application. tSee "The Good Neighbor," Mary E. Richmond. Sold by Charities Pub- lication Committee, 105 E. 22d St., New York Ci^. Price, 60 cents. 27 On the first day of December, 1909, as this man walked along the street upon his crutch, a gentleman, noting his crippled condition, stopped long enough to tell him to go to the Associated Charities. "The gentleman said they might help him" was as definite as he could make his appeal. A kindly interview brought out the facts that he was thirty years old, and had a wife and three small children. Until a year previous he had worked on a farm when he lost his leg by an accidental gun-shot wound. Coming into town, for he could no longer support his family in the country, they were all living in one small room, rented from the wife's sister, herself a poor dressmaker. The wife worked in a factory and was earning $4.50 a week. The husband took care of the children. "Why couldn't your wife stay at home with the children, do sewing, and let you find some light work?" he was asked. "She can't see to sew, and it makes her eyes hurt," was his reply. Let us set down the rest of the story step by step, just as an agent of the Associated Charities brought it about: An oculist examined the wife's eyes. An optician gave her the glasses. An institution supplied temporary employment to the man at which he proved his willingness to work. Relatives cared for the children while both parents worked. A shoemaker agreed to take the man in his shop and teach him the trade. A Sunday-School class provided money equivalent to the wife's earnings so that she might care for the children while the man served his apprenticeship in the shoemaker's shop. A public hospital treated both husband and wife during temporary sickness. The same Sunday-School class guaranteed the cost of a shoemaker's outfit for the man and paid rent while he was building up a business. Numbers of individuals were found to giv6 him work. The result has been that this man paid for his outfit, and is now making three times as much as his wife formerly earned. The oldest child is in school, and has done so well that he has been advanced in his grade. In short, a hovel has been made into a prosperous home. When, in its work for individual families, a charity organization society becomes aware of certain causes of poverty, it attempts, either through special committees of its own or by stimulating the formation of new agencies, to remove these causes. How such work is inaugurated is shown in the report of the Associated Charities of Washington, D. C, for 1909, which reviews fifteen years of work. Recognizing the evil ef- fects of bad housing on family life, the society formed in 1902 a Com- mittee on the Improvement of Housing Conditions, which in 1905 made an investigation of conditions in 248 houses. Two years later the work was taken up by the President's Homes Commission, appointed by Presi- dent Roosevelt to consider housing and general social conditions in Washington. At the same time, to cite another instance, the society was brought, through its knowledge of individual families, face to face with the appalling death-rate from tuberculosis. A Committee on the Pre- vention of Consumption was appointed in 1903 and began a campaign of education and prevention. This committee was later succeeded by the Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, which has continued and increased this work. In 1895 the death-rate from tuberculosis was 283.8 per ioo,cx)0 of population; in 1908 it was 209.5. 28 These two campaigns illustrate the fact that a society is most effec- tively aroused to public action for the good of the whole community through direct contact with the lives of poor people. The records of many smaller societies show equally fine attempts to use the knowledge thus gained to bring about improved living conditions. It is perhaps unnecessary to add that this work, which includes the rehabilitation of individual needy families and efforts to lessen the social causes of pov- erty, demands skill and experience. For its successful carrying out trained workers are needed. _ 25. Is there an associated charities or charity organization society ? 26. How many paid workers has it? 27. Have they received special training? Do they know how to make good investigations, leading to constructive plans for the benefit of families? 28. Are careful records kept? 29. Does the society maintain a confidential exchange in which the other agencies index or register their cases? 30. By how many other agencies is this registry regularly consulted ?* 31. Is relief given from the society's own funds? Or is it procured for each case from citizens or agencies whom the society interests in a plan of help? 32. To what extent does it win the co-operation, in both relief and constructive treatment looking to the cure of distress, of such natural resources as relatives, friends, former employers, fellow church-members, etc. ?t 33. How does it classify its various forms of family treatment in its last annual report, or what specific problem has it worked out there? 34. Has it a corps of volunteer workers, some of whom are doing personal work in families? 35. What committees on improving social conditions has it? 36. Name any special branches of work that it undertakes? If there is need for such an organization in any community, or if one already in existence seeks advice either about case work standards or about the further co-ordination of the social activities of the city, write to the Charity Organization Department of the Russell Sage Foun- dation, Room 613, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. 5. CHILD CARING Our earlier discussion of child welfare referred to children who are part of normal homes. For another group of children, those who have no real home because of the death or evil character of their parents, and those delinquents whom the court has decided need institutional care, some special provision must be made. * See the Survey for March 18, 1911. Price 10 cents. tSee "Relief," by Frederic Almy, and "Treatment," by Porter R. Lee, booklets published by the Charity Organization Department of the Russell Sage Foundation, Room 613, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. Single copies sent free on application. 29 37- What provision is there in your community for infants, de- pendent children, delinquents? State kind of provision, whether in- stitutional or placing-out in family homes, and, if the latter, whether free or at board. 38. How many children were cared for last year by (a) institutional agencies; (b) placing-out agencies; (c) other agencies. 39. What was the cost of such care to public funds? Private funds? We must consider not only whether there is adequate provision for the care of children, but also whether it is sufficiently safeguarded. Some institutions which receive a per capita state subsidy are over-willing to receive children, and take those who should be cared for by parents, relatives, etc. Again, city departments are not always well equipped to determine when children should be taken. In New York City, for in- stance, where there is no city outdoor relief, the Department of Public Charities used to put children in institutions with little or no preliminary inquiry. In 1903 the New York Charity Organization Society organized a committee of those interested in the welfare of children to investigate the condition of all families where application for the commitment of the children had been made. When relief in the home seemed desirable, this was secured, and other necessary care provided. In 1908, the com- mittee was given up, as the city department was then equipped to do this work. Before children are discharged, the society responsible for them should investigate the homes to which they are to go, to make sure that they will receive proper care and education. An outsider, unless he is an expert in child-caring work, is hardly in position to determine whether the supervision of placed-out children is adequate, or whether the chil- dren in an institution are being cared for on modern lines. Such a book, however, as Reader's "How Two Hundred Children Live and Learn,"* with its suggestions of how normal an environment an insti- tution on the cottage plan may give, is helpful to all workers for chil- dren. If questions arise as to the care being given children in your city or state, write to the Child-Helping Department of the Russell Sage Foun- dation, 105 East 22d Street, New York City. 6. CARE OF THE SICK The causes of sickness and the steps which may be taken to prevent it were discussed in an earlier section.f The social worker must also be familiar with institutions or agencies for the care of the sick, with the classes of cases they provide for and the terms of admission. •Rudolph R. Reeder, "How Two Hundred Children Live and Learn," New York, Charities Publication Committee. t See section B, page 6. 30 40. Hospitals. (a) Number of free beds. (b) Classes of cases admitted. (c) Sources of support. Amount of state or city subsidy; endowment ; subscriptions. 41. Dispensaries. (a) Number. (b) Diseases treated (if special). (c) Number of patients treated in each. (d) Have they "social service" departments? (e) Are there special classes for the instruction of mothers in the care of their infants? 42. What provision is there for tuberculosis cases? (a) Special clinics. (b) Sanatoria for incipient cases. (c) Sanatoria for advanced cases. (d) Are there fresh-air schools or day camps? 43. What provision is there for convalescents? For incurables? 44. Are there any diseases for which no provision is made? 45. Is there a visiting nurse association? How many nurses has it on full time? 46. What other agencies have visiting nurses on their staff? 7. DEFECTIVES For defectives, for the crippled, deaf, blind, epileptic, feeble-minded and insane, there is often state as well as local provision. Marked im- provements in their care and education have been introduced in recent years, and it is important to learn if possible what agencies measure up to these standards. Is permanent custodial care provided for feeble- minded who, if discharged, become a menace to the community? Are the deaf, the blind, and the crippled given such training as shall enable them to leave the institution and enter the industrial world, thus mini- mizing their isolation from normal people? The New York Charity Organization Society, through an employment bureau for the handi- capped, is making a special study of defectives and trying to find work for people whom ordinary employment agencies cannot place. For ex- ample, a girl with only one arm was secured a position as telephone operator at the switchboard of a private office. Similar efforts to deal with individuals can be made by any charitable agency. Efforts are also being made to secure early treatment for those who, if their disease is neglected, become defectives. Such is the pro- vision for reporting ophthalmia neonatorum mentioned on page 7, by which infantile blindness may be prevented. Again, to prevent insanity special clinics are being opened to treat nervous and mental disorders. The terror that accompanies the word insanity has prevented people from securing the careful treatment that might prevent purely nervous and curable disorders from developing into serious, often incurable, in- sanity. 31 47- What care for deaf, blind, epileptic, feeble-minded, insane? | Educational institutions for adults; for children. ' Custodial institutions for adults; for children. 48. Are they state or private? 49. How many inmates have they? 50. Is their capacity adequate for local needs? 51. Are there special non-institutional agencies to enable defectives to become self-supporting? Trade classes? Employment bureaus for the handicapped; the aged? 52. Is there a special clinic and a hospital pavilion for the ex- amination and early treatment of mental and nervous disease? _ _ J 53. Does any agency undertake the after-care of patients dis- I charged as recovered from hospitals for the insane? 8. THE AGED Dependent aged people appeal instantly to our sympathy, yet for them provision is often most inadequate. Many social workers know little of conditions in the almshouse, and yet complain that needy old people will not go there. A volunteer committee under the New York State Charities Aid Association has done a kindly service to some resi- dents of the New York almshouse. One of the chief hardships to many formerly active people is the enforced idleness. This committee pro- vides material out of which the old people manufacture salable things — rugs, raffia baskets and other household articles. They have sales at Christmas time, and the proceeds go to the makers for tobacco or other luxuries. Moreover, really respectable old people, for whom there is no provision in private homes, should not have to mingle with the frequently disreputable transients, the "ins and outs," of the almshouse. New York and Boston have city homes for the aged, separate from the rest of the almshouse, to which only people of proved respectability are admitted, and where aged couples are allowed to live together. It is worth while to consider the real conditions in the local almshouse. Is the city asking respectable aged people to live in impossible surround- ings? Have all possible efforts been made to better these surroundings? 54. How many inmates had the almshouse last year? Cost of maintenance. 55. Are there restrictions as to admission or discharge? 56. Is any record kept of the number of repeaters? 57. Are there feeble-minded or insane inmates? 58. Are children admitted? 59. Is there a hospital ward for chronic cases? 60. Are there any volunteer visiting committees ? 61. Are there private homes for the aged? Number of inmates in each. Terms of admission. It may seem an anti-climax to close this Outline with the subject of the aged, when so much of our social work is with the young, but there should be no conflict of interests between these two groups, and there is none in a normal society. We do youth an ill turn whenever we set it the example of disrespect to age. The last word of all, however, belongs to the children. Are conditions in your city such as to create a wholesome environment for childhood ? This is at once the simplest and the most searching test of the social well-being of any community. 32 Charity Organization Department OF THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION MISS M. E. RICHMOND, Director FRANCIS H. McLEAN, Field Sec'y MISS M. F. BYINGTON, Asso. Field Sec'y Publications of the Department What Social Workers Should Know About Their Own Communities Margaret F. Byington 5 Cents each in quantities; special rates for large orders The Dominant Note of Modern Philanthropy Edward T. Devine 40 Cents per Hundred What is Organized Charity? Series B, No. 1 Relief. A Primer. Series B, No. 2 Frederic Almy Treatment. (Family Rehabilitation.) Series B, No. 3 Porter R. Lee On Being a Director. Series B, No. 4 Alexander Johnson Passing On as a Method of Charitable Relief. Series B, No. 5 No. 1, 60 Cents a Hundred, plus postage. No. 3, 50 Cents a Hundred, plus postage. Nos. 2 and 5, $1.00 a Hundred, plus postage Telegraphic Code and Transportation Agreement 15 Cents each The Inter-relation of Social Movements, with information about sixty-seven national organizations $1.50 per Hundred The Formation of Charity Organization Societies in Smaller Cities $6.00 per Hundred, plus expressage Francis H. McLean Organization in Smaller Cities Alexander Johnson 40 Cents per Hundred First Principles in the Relief of Distress Mary E. Richmond 40 Cents per Hundred Efficient Philanthropy Rev. George Hodges, D.D. Published by the Exchange Branch. $1.00 per Hundred Sample copies of all of the above, except the Transportation Agreement, will be sent free upon request, or in quantities at the prices named. Address Charity Organization Department of the Russell Sage Foundation Room 613, 105 E. 22d St., New York City kiM^h