DEFINITION OF TERMS
Placing-Out—The term “placing-out” has acquired,
during the last fifteen or twenty years, a distinctive meaning which
should be generally known, especially to charity workers, in order
that the confusion which has resulted from its improper use may
be avoided. It does not mean boarding-out, indenturing, baby-farming,
the securing of employment or the mere transfering of the custody
of a child from one person to another or to an institution without
regard to the object of each transfer. It means placing a placeable
child in a free family home for the purpose of making it a member
of the family with whom it is placed. . . .
THE CHILD
As a general proposition, any normal healthy child
is a placeable child, but aside from this subjective qualification
there are many conditions which would render placing-out undesirable.
The age of placeable children may be briefly stated as follows:
Boys to and including the age of fourteen; girls to and including
the age of ten. The placing of girls over ten years of age, particularly
when there are other children in the family, does not give promise
of good results. The most flagrant exploitation of child labor and
neglect of scholastic training occurs in the cases of girls between
the ages of ten and fifteen. The experience of placing-out agencies
will show that the most successful results occur in the cases of
children placed at or below the age of five years. No child should
be placed who is suffering from any physical or mental defect. All
such children should receive the attention necessary to bring them
up to normal standards before placement. . . .
THE FOSTER PARENTS
In view of the fact that the vast majority of the families of
our country consist of persons having a limited amount of wealth,
an ordinary education, and little or no distinction of a social
character, it would be unwise, if not futile, to set up standards
for foster parents of so high a character as to limit our possibilities
for success. . . .
We should aim to secure for foster parents, persons who desire
a child for the child’s sake. They should have an income,
with a reasonable prospect of its continuance, sufficient to ensure
proper care and support of the child. They should not be advanced
in years, as otherwise the child might lack the continuous care
necessary to enable it to reach manhood under their training and
supervision. They should be persons of good physical and mental
health, industrious and thrifty, should possess at least average
education and intelligence, and should enjoy the respect and endorsement
of their pastors and neighbors as law-abiding and respectable citizens
of their communities. They should be of the same religion as that
of the child to be placed with them, and should be vouched for by
their pastors as persons who are practical in the performance of
their religious duties and as persons who will provide religious
training for the child assigned to them. . . .
SUPERVISION
Within a month after a child has been placed it should be visited
by an agent of the placing-out society with a view to learning whether
the home fits the child and whether the child fits the home and
is a welcome member of it. Thereafter the child should be regularly
visited by the agent, not less than twice each year and as much
oftener as the necessities of the case demand. No person or society
should engage in doing placing-out work unless prepared to follow
this initial feature by providing adequate supervision continued
for the period necessary to ensure good results. To place out without
such supervision is a crime and should be treated accordingly. . . .
|