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Q. At the end of those three months, is a report made to you about the offender? A. Not necessarily; the probation officer discharges them when he feels they should be discharged, and a report is filed with the secretary (of the court).

Q. Does that involve any action on your part confirming that? A No.

Q. Not if there was a suspension of sentence at the outset? A. It is supposed that when sentence is suspended they are placed on probation.

Q. That suspension of sentence remains how long? A. As I look upon it, it is practically a discharge, when he is discharged.

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Q. Would it seem to you that it would be wise for each of these cases to come back to you for your knowledge and action when the discharge takes place; that it should be your act, based on the statement of your probation officer? A. It might have a little more effect; I do not think it is necessary. I think there are results we have obtained with the plan we have followed; I think they have been satisfactory.

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Q. Suppose a child does not report regularly, as he is instructed to do by the probation officer; what happens then? A. He is sent for; the police department is notified to bring him in.

Q. Notified by you, or directly by the probation officer? A. By my clerk.

Q. Then what happens? A. They are supposed to bring him in. I do not know that they always have done it, but they have been notified.

Q. Then you talk with the boy? A. Oh, yes, and give him another chance; everything is done; they are sent away only as a last resort."

There was some effort to district the city, dividing it at least into an East Side and a West Side, in each of which there was a Catholic man having the older boys and a Catholic woman the girls and younger boys; a Protestant man for the older boys and a Protestant woman for the girls and younger boys, besides whom there was one Jewish officer, two attendance officers from

the Department of Education, a Polish officer, who is a practicing lawyer, and several others. All Polish children are placed under the care of the Polish probation officer, but there being a large number of such children it has not been possible for him to give them as much attention as is desirable.

There is extreme reluctance on the part of the judge to commit to an institution-so much so that in many cases children are placed on probation several times in succession. A number of probation officers testified that children reported by them either to the clerk of the court or directly to the police department as violating the terms of probation had not been apprehended.

In Rochester the Children's Court is presided over by the judge of the Juvenile Court, who is also a police justice. It is held in a separate room, though in the same building as the police court, the records being kept by the clerk of the police court. A special statute was enacted in 1905 in relation to the Juvenile Court of Rochester, but has not as yet gone fully into effect. Children placed on probation are placed under the care of the agents of the Rochester Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The salaried agent of the society has been appointed a probation officer of the Juvenile Court, and also some sixteen volunteers, most of whom are connected with the society or are clergymen. These volunteer probation officers reside in different portions of the city and the children are expected to report to them instead of reporting to the central office of the society. From January, 1904, to December, 1904, 151 children were placed on probation on this plan. A card is given to the probitioner and the probation officer notes on the back of the card each visit made to him by the child. The usual term of proba

tion is three months. It is sometimes extended.

There is no stated period of visitation by the probation officers at the homes of the children, but they are expected to visit from time to time. They do not make any reports to the society or to the court in regard to their visits to the home of the child, unless the surroundings are unfavorable or the child does badly, when these facts are reported to the society or to the court. The child does not return to the court after being placed on probation unless he does badly. The volunteer probation officers meet, perhaps once in six months, to confer in regard to the work.

In Syracuse there is a separate Children's Court in the same building as the Police Court, presided over by the police justice. Few are placed on probation. Of 168 children who appeared before the court from January 1, 1905, to December 1, 1905, fifty were committed to institutions, about ten were discharged as not convicted, and the remainder (about 108) were discharged. Of these some twenty were placed under probation. They are not placed on probation for any particular length of time. The probation officer for children is Mr. Fillmore Smith, agent of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Mr. Smith was appointed as probation officer some two years ago. The children are required to report weekly for a fortnight, and when there seemed to be occasion therefor the requiring of weekly reports has been extended to a period of six or even nine months. The original period of probation is stated by Mr. Smith to be three months. The cases are not usually reported to the judge unless they do badly. The homes of the children are visited in some cases, but not as a uniform practice. If visited, it is usually an incidental visit paid on account of other reasons. The other duties of the probation officer are so numerous and

extensive that he is unable to give the amount of time to probation work that it should require.

Since the date of the examination of the witnesses from Syracuse, several additional volunteer probation officers have been appointed, and the city authorities have taken the first steps toward providing salaries for one or more probation officers.

In Utica the police court has jurisdiction of children's cases and hears them at separate hours from the cases of adults, but in the same room. It is held at 2:30 o'clock each afternoon except Saturday, and on Saturday at 11 o'clock. The number of children brought before the court during the year ending November 30, 1905, was 241. Of this number eighty-six were discharged absolutely, forty-five were adjourned for a period of six weeks or two months; forty-eight were sent to institutions.

There is no probation, as such, but the cases which are adjourned are regarded as in a sense probation cases. In some instances one or the other of two truant officers of the city are asked to "look after" truant children, and the children are requested to bring school reports to the court each Friday afternoon. There are no probation officers. In the course of the year four children were placed under the oversight of volunteers, who were asked to report to the court occasionally in regard to the children. At the end of the period of adjournment, if the reports have been satisfactory, the child is definitely discharged. In the opinion of the judge it would be desirable to have some probationary oversight over children released under the period of adjournment, or, in terms, on probation. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is inactive if it still exists.

In Schenectady, cases of children are heard in the police court, at a different hour from the cases of adults. From January 1, 1905, to December 19, 1905, 63 children were released on probation under suspended sentence. The period of probation is usually one month or two months; never longer than ten weeks.

The agent, in Schenectady, of the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society has been requested to act as probation officer, though not formally appointed as such. When the child is released on probation, he is directed to report once a week to the agent of that society. The case is not reported to the judge after the child is placed on probation unless the child does badly, refusing to report or committing some further offense. In such cases the child is brought before the judge and after reprimand and counsel may be again released on probation. Only thirteen children were committed to institutions during the year, and these on account of improper guardianship. In probation cases no record of conviction is entered. When the child reports at the office of the society he brings with him a card upon which an entry has been made by the school authorities each week as to his conduct and attendance, and also an entry by the parents as to the boy's conduct. Upon the basis of these reports, and also the record as to punctuality in reporting, an entry is made upon the card by the society that the child is doing well, or otherwise. The boy's home is visited occasionally, ordinarily not for two weeks after he is released on probation. The agent of the society regards his personal influence with the boys as an important factor in the probation system. An additional agent has been appointed by the society since the probation work was undertaken. It is stated that none of the 63 boys who have been placed on probation during the past year have subsequently been committed. There is no volunteer assistance in the probation work.

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