The Children’s Branch of the Home Office
It is ten years since the Children’s Branch of the Home Office last issued a Report, and during that time the Children and Young Persons’ Act with its important new procedure has come into force. This Report therefore is a document of outstanding sociological interest and of practical value to all social workers. A great deal of ground is covered, as a glance through the headings of the chapters reveals, viz. : ” Constitution and Procedure of Juvenile Courts”; “Amount of Juvenile Delinquency”; ” Remand Homes”; ” Psychology in Relation to Juvenile Courts”; “Methods of Treatment”; “In need of Care of Protection or Beyond Control “; ” The Approved Schools “; ” Orphanages and Preventive, Rescue and other Children’s Homes”; ” Employment of Children and Street Trading by Young Persons.”
So much material is contained in these chapters that for an adequate idea of it, the reader must be referred to the Report itself; all we can do here is to draw attention to those parts of the Report concerned with, or applicable to, defective and retarded children.
In attempting to give some estimate as to the percentage of ” Dull ” children in the Approved Schools, the Report quotes some findings taken from the record of investigations carried out in two such Schools which show that in one, 44 per cent, of the boys had I.Q.s between 70 and 90, and in the other, 54 per cent, had I.Q.s between 70 and 85. A comparison of these figures with the Board of Education’s estimate as to the proportion of ” Dull” children in the ordinary school population?viz., between 10 and 15 per cent.?shows how great are the special difficulties with which the Approved Schools are called upon to contend.
Dealing with the number of definitely Mentally Defective children to be found in the Schools, the Report states that since the Children and Young Persons Act was passed in 1933, 125 boys and girls have been found so defective as to require certification and removal to an Institution under Section 9 of the Mental Deficiency Act. This state of affairs proves! the need, it is pointed out, for greater care on the part of local education authorities in supplying the Courts with information as to the children brought before them. Similarly there is too often a failure to observe the requirement of the Children and Young Persons Act which directs local authorities in all but trivial cases of delinquency, to render available to the court any information likely to be of assistance to it, and, in another chapter, striking?and in some cases almost incredible?instances are given of essential information withheld from the School to which a child is committed.
It is the intention of the new Act that defectives coming before a court shall be dealt with by the facilities provided under Part V of the Education Act 1921 and by the Mental Deficiency Act. From the eight schools certified under the Children Act 1908, for the reception of delinquent defectives, the certificates have therefore been withdrawn.
Fifth Report, January, 1938, H.M. Stationery Office, Price 2s, 6d,
The Report calls attention to the large number of voluntary homes which accept mentally defective girls ” even imbeciles,” and one home particularly is mentioned which ” regards it as a social duty ” to take such girls. This is deemed to be an ” improper practice ” and one to be deplored.*
In the chapter on ” Psychology in Relation to the Juvenile Courts,” there is sounded a note of warning against placing too much power in the hands of the psychological specialist, and a reminder is given that:?
” whatever psychological advice is made available to a juvenile court, the responsibility for determining how far to accept and act upon it, rests with the court which is ordinarily composed of laymen. This fact may not always be sufficiently present to the mind of the specialist.”
At the same time, a tribute is paid to the help that can be given by the trained and experienced psychiatrist in certain cases whose diagnosis presents difficulties, and attention is called to the need for facilities for observation by a skilled sta’ff in a residential centre. The offer of a sum of ?6,000 by the Goldsmiths’ Company towards the establishment of such an Observation Centre for London is appreciatively recorded.
Since the passing of the Children and Young Persons Act the number of children sent to Approved Schools has increased from 163 in 1924, to 246 in 1936, and the pressure on available accommodation has therefore been great. Every effort has been made by the Home Office to overcome this difficulty either by persuading Local Authorities to provide their own schools or by inducing Voluntary Associations to enlarge existing accommodation. Since 1933, however, only six Authorities (Hertfordshire, London, Middlesex, Manchester, Staffordshire and Surrey) have opened new schools, and the lack of accommodation is still so serious that a series of regional conferences have been held in Nottingham, Bradford, North Wales, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire, to review local possibilities. The outcome of these conferences has been the promise of a school to be opened by the Nottingham Authority, and the recognition by the West Riding Group of Authorities of their obligation in the matter though so far no suitable building has been found. Another school is being planned by the Buckinghamshire Authority, and proposals are being considered for a school to be provided by the four North Wales counties. In the meantime, overcrowding continues and, in some cases, has reached a limit that is not free from danger. Paying a tribute to the After-Care work done by the staffs of the schools themselves, the Report records that of the pupils on licence during a period of three years, 95 per cent, of the boys and almost as large a percentage of the girls, remain in touch with the managers. It is true that the number of girls and boys recalled from Licence has risen considerably, but this is attributed to * Mental Welfare Workers, whilst appreciating the force of this criticism, are nevertheless frequently indebted to such Homes for their willingness to consider defectives for whom, at the moment, no other accommodation can be fonnd. experimental use of early licence on a wide scale, largely because of the great demand for vacancies.
A useful summary is given in the Report (Chapter VI) on the methods that can now be used, under Section 44 of the Children and Young Persons’ Act, as alternatives to committal to an Approved School in cases where a child or young person (up to the age of 17) has to be removed from undesirable surroundings. These are : ?
(a) The making of a Probation Order with a residence condition attached. requiring the child to reside with a foster-parent, for which purpose payment of up to 15s. a week can be authorised. This method is suitable in cases where only temporary removal from home is needed, due to illness of the mother, e.g., or where attendance at a Clinic is prescribed. (b) The making of a Probation Order with the condition attached that the young person shall be placed in “Approved Lodgings ” near the employment found for him. The maximum total sum estimated to be necessary for board and lodging, etc., has been fixed at 24s. a week and to meet this cost, a maximum supplement of 15s. can be paid where it is necessary to bring the boy’s wages up to the required amount.*
(c) Alternatively, such a young person placed on probation may be required to live in an ” Approved Hostel.” (d) Where ” Approved Lodgings” or an ” Approved Hostel ” do not appear to meet the needs of the case, a young probationer may be sent to a short-term Approved Home for a period not exceeding 6 months. The minimum age for admission to such a Home has been reduced to 14.
An important innovation of the new Act is the provision by which a boy or girl coming before the Court as an offender or as being in need of care or protection, can, up to the age of 17, be committed to the care of the Local Education Authority (as a ” fit person”) who is then empowered to place them with foster-parents or in Approved Lodgings. This procedure is recommended where removal from home for a long period is desirable. In 1936, such Orders were made in the case of 414 children and 99 young persons. It is also now possible for a juvenile Court to make a “Supervision Order” in respect of boys and girls found to be in need of care or protection or alleged by parents or guardians to be beyond control, thus extending the probation method, for the first time, to a group to whom the Probation of Offenders Act does not apply. In 1936, 490 such Orders were made.
To other valuable information given in this very ” human ” and readable Report, consideration of space prevents us from alluding, but to all who are concerned with the educational and social problems presented by the younger generation we commend it for the study which it so well repays. * A circular on this subject was issued by the Home Office in December, 1937,
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