| By the early
twentieth century, child welfare reformers had declared that families—not
institutions—were the environments in which children should
grow up. In 1909, for example, the first White House Conference
on Children called the family “the highest and finest product
of civilization.” As the table below shows, this famous declaration
obscured the stamina of institutional care. In 1910, there were
well over 1000 orphanages in the United States, their average size
had grown considerably since the late nineteenth century, and they
housed more than 100,000 children. Not until 1950 did the number
of children living in foster families exceed the number of children
living in institutions, and the number of adoptive placements did
not surpass the number of institutional placements until 1960.
Estimates of Numbers of Children in Institutions, Foster
Family Care, and Adoptive Homes, 1910-1960
|
Institutions |
Foster Family Care |
Adoptive Homes |
1910 |
101,403 |
61,000 |
|
1923 |
132,258 |
61,475 |
3354? |
1933 |
140,352 |
102,577 |
5833? |
1950 |
95,073 |
98,082 |
80,000*
|
1960 |
70,892 |
163,000**
|
107,000 |
* estimate for 1951
** estimate for 1961
|
