family and that she, the mother, was the only means of support they had. That the children were dear and sweet, that they should not be taken from their mother, but that something must be done for them so that the mother might keep them under her sheltering wing, for institutions have no mothers to soothe sad babies, nor to kiss their wounds and hold them to her heart. The kindest judge in the Children's Court pressed some money in the hand of Big Sister. He said: "Mrs. Trobert non, in a lovely shaded street, where pretty cottages and lovely gardens abound, there is a lovely children's nursery. Only a stone's throw from this lives Mrs. Trobert in a sweet little cottage. Elsie, Olga and Eddie go to the nursery every day after school, where Miss Petty, the nurse, teaches them the things children love to know. In the evening Mrs. Trobert returns to her little cottage, which the children are learning to keep clean and nice and which now resembles a real home. The Movement in Connecticut A For Children's Courts And the Better Care of Dependent, Neglected and Delinquent Children By William H. Macdonald, L. L. B. NEW day seems to be dawning in Connecticut for the children, especially the dependent, neglected and delinquent children, if the movements now on foot for their better treatment is any criterion; and if Connecticut grasps the present opportunity and makes demand upon her legislators now in session at the state capitol, she will have on her books laws for these classes of children second to none, and not only that, but she will have provided methods of treatment, ways, means and instrumentalities by which this may be carried out. The State Board of Charities is asking for authority to appoint fifteen trained agents or supervisors whose duties shall be to find suitable family homes for dependent and neglected children and to investigate those homes with reasonable regularity and frequency. This method will not entirely divorce the handling of such children by the county boards, or take away the management of the county homes from the county commissioners, but it must be remembered that Connecticut is slow and steady, and that not only will this method result in doing away with the work of the voluntary investigators, and also gradually take the control of these classes of children from county management and direction, and place it in the state board, but it will also centralize and fix the responsibility, at the same time creating an instrumentality broad and capable enough to properly and efficiently handle the work, and finally bring this whole problem fully and directly under state control, with no divided responsibility in the matter. The Connecticut Children's Aid So ciety have also recently broadened out its scope and lines of effort, and have secured the services of Mr. J. P. Sanderson to head their organization, who has recently been doing such excellent work for the children of Buffalo and Erie County; his coming at this time augurs well for the work here, for such a man is what this society as well as the whole people will gladly welcome and try to co-operate with. By far the most important work however, is the movement on foot for the securing the children's courts and legislation looking to their establishment throughout the state; this movement does not seem to be local in any one part of the state, but rather scattered throughout the state, and it is also spontaneous; for it seems, that while one group in one part of the state have been carrying on their work along these lines, or working out their theories, there seems to have been other and varied movements and work being carried on in other parts of the state, but all working toward the one end, namely, the better treatment of the dependent, neglected and delinquent child. The most important legislation at the state capitol this session relative to these classes of children is senate bill 142, or perhaps it would be better to say the substitute for senate bill 142, offered to the committee at the hearing thereon. This bill seeks to take the cases of all children throughout the state from the jurisdiction of the criminal courts, and place them in the probate courts for jurisdictional purposes, but provides that there shall be appointed five special judges for the trial work connected with these cases; and also provides for uni form trained probation service throughout the state. There are 168 towns in the state, and scattered throughout the state are 113 probate districts; by this method or law it can be easily seen that we can have uniformity, for all cases will be tried in one class of courts, by qualified judges for this work, assisted by trained probation officers. Not only will we have uniformity, which is a prerequisite to the proper handling of this problem anywhere, but we shall have localization of treatment, that is, we shall be able to try these cases near where they arise, the court and its officials being thereby able to time secure to all communities throughout the state trained and efficient probation service. It is hoped that as time goes on it will be possible to decrease the numbers, if this can be done without decreasing the efficiency, which is to be the watchword. Proper methods of detention are provided in this bill, as well as psychopathic and medical treatment; in connection with the matter of detention we must not fail to bring to the attention of the reader the wonderful work that has been done in the city of New Haven in the recent acquisition of a modern, and thoroughly equipped in every detail, children's detention home and court, com 12 THE JUVENILE COURT RECORD ceeded in perpetuating the memory of their parents and of themselves can be easily determined by anyone who wishes to go to the corner of Wall and Orange streets, in New Haven and ask to be shown around the building; a visit to this home would be well worth the trouble and expense of any society, individual or locality contemplating such an institution elsewhere. New Haven has many things to be proud of including the writers Alma Mater, "Mother of Men," but none that she need be more proud of than this little institution, "Mother and Guardian of these little Children so Sinned against." It is to be hoped that other communities in Connecticut and elsewhere will profit by this example. Senate bill 142 and its substitute also provides that the record of any child coming before the juvenile court under its provisions shall not be used against him elsewhere or be evidence in any court under any circumstances except in the same juvenile court against the same child. This pernicious system of allowing the record to follow the child on and on up through the courts during and after the adolescent period is one of the things that tend to prevent a normal moral growth away from the paths of crime and degradation, and sometimes, as came under the writer's notice, was the strongest evidence against an entirely innocent young man, that swayed the jury to render a verdict of guilty. Another important feature of this bill is the broad and elastic provisions of adjudication and disposition of these cases by the judge; he is given absolute discretion in the matter of disposition, and he is no way to be limited as to what disposition he will make of the child, even to the matter of finding a suitable family home, though it is not the intention of those interested in the juvenile court movement here to interfere with the placing out work of any agency, state or private, engaged in that work, but rather to co-operate in every sane and intelligent way, yet, allow a judge to make any disposition of a child that seems best for its interests and those of the state; and in addition to this very broad provision, it is provided that no disposition of a child under the terms of this act shall divest the ju venile court of future control of such child, but that the court may change or modify any order or decree, even to the retaking a child out of an institution. It is hoped to fix, define and determine the responsibility of the court under this bill, in the treatment of these cases, and while doing that, to leave the court full, proper and wide discretion in their disposition, so that it may meet that responsibility. This bill in its main provisions follows the latest Flexner draft, with some additions suggested by study of other drafts, together with some provisions designed to meet local conditions and circumstances. It might be of interest to touch upon a few of the cardinal points in this bill, discussing them with reference to the conditions it is sought to remedy. Under this bill we will be able to remove the cases of all these children under 18 years of age throughout the state from the jurisdiction of the criminal courts and contact with its machinery and atmosphere; this is a very important matter, and at the same time it is not a criticism of any criminal court, police department or its officials, but merely of the system that attempts to treat the child and adult offender at the same time and by practically the same method. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that the criminal court judge is not in the right mental attitude toward the youthful offender in turning from the adult. Certainly it has been demonstrated to any of us who have had experience with the criminal courts, and especially police departments that their attitude is not one that will tend to lift up, aid and assist the erring youth once he gets the reputation with them of being an offender; rather is it the tendency to more and more look upon him as a criminal, and class him with the adult offender; and if he is not actually hounded by the police, opportunity is rarely ever lost to publish his reputation broadcast and characterize him as a criminal. It has also been the observation of the writer during the past ten years, that from one-quarter to onethird of the offenders in our superior criminal court (high court) dockets, are youthful offenders under the age of twenty-two years; and they will range all the way from 10 years up. We cannot lay too much stress upon this question of getting these children and their cases away from the criminal courts and its atmosphere. In the past it has been the tendency of Connecticut and those administering the criminal courts to look to penal institutions to solve the problems of these youthful offenders; and send him along the criminal route. It is hoped that if we can secure the passage of substitute for senate bill 142, where the child is not classed as a criminal (nor do we satisfy ourselves by merely classing him as a delinquent, but we say he is in need of the care, aid, guidance and assistance and protection of the state, and is entitled to it) to change the attitude of the public, police authorities and those dealing with the child, so that he shall no longer be classed with the adult offender. An easy disposition of cases in the past has been to send the child to reform school, industrial school (another name for same class of school) (only for girls) or to the reformatory, and the judges and officials have solaced and comforted themselves with the thought that they had done no worse for the child; but today it has dawned upon the people of this state that worse could hardly have been done for most of these little ones. The reform school and reformatory lacks the facilities or the money for the proper training and education of their inmates; the life of the inmate has become retarded, and stultified, lack of initiative, to think and act for one's self has increased, and the chance for normal development has been denied such child, while outside these institutions we spend liberally for educational purposes to develop our children, and then expect the inmates of these institutions to cope with other children and the problems of the outside world after such treatment; could anything be more absurd? This takes no account of the moral growth and the physical treatment the state accords to these little ones; robbed of most every opportunity for normal development or the normal chance, and yet we wonder what is the matter with them when they do come out, and we keep on paying the bills; doctoring from the top down instead from the foundation up. Still another feature in this bill is the provision for the co-operation of outside agencies, such as the public schools, authorities, child welfare and helping agencies, for the better carrying on this work of developing the delinquent child. And right here the writer wishes to impress upon the reader that this matter of co-operation is not a theory in any sense of the word if it is approached in the proper spirit and attitude, rather is it a striking reality, that perhaps can do more for these children than any other agency of the juvenile court save the probation officer; for co-operative agencies and their assistance cover a wide field of effort and endeavor in behalf of the child. In this category are included the churches, their pastors and organizations of big brothers and big sisters; organizations of business men or employers who are willing to give employment to these youngsters when necessary. The judge or probation officer should have a list of positions for the classes of children he deals with constantly by him; the schools are still another agency, with their system of report cards and data as to the mental, moral and physical standing of the child; the vocational guidance instructor, with his or her expert knowledge as to what lines of effort will best develop the boy or girl; the police officer on the beat near where the offender lives, who, by being furnished with a stamped and directed card can keep the court or its officials informed of the life and environment of the child on probation, thereby rendering very great assistance to the probation officer, who, can only occasionally, not over once a week, probably, be able to visit the home either at night preferably, or in the day time; but it must be seen to that the young probationer and officer on the beat are first brought into the right spirit of helpfulness, co-operation and understanding upon the right basis before this is undertaken; and then too there are many local organizations and religious workers who would be only too willing to assist the court if given the proper opportunity for co-operation and interest. (To be continued in July Issue.) |