Please take notice that proceedings have been instituted by a petition of.. for the purpose of allowing aid out of the county treasury to. whose address is. mother of the above-named dependent child.. pursuant to chapter 223, Laws of 1917, as amended by chapter 328, Laws of 1919, and that said petition will be heard and disposed of by this court on the as soon thereafter as the matter can be heard at the office of

in

MISSOURI.

[Laws 1917, pp. 151-153.1]

An Act To provide for the support of needy mothers with dependent children, and of women about to become mothers.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri as follows: SECTION 1. County court to provide support.-The county court in every county which now has or hereafter may have a population of less than two hundred and fifty thousand shall appropriate out of the moneys in the county treasury not otherwise appropriated, and place at the disposal of the county board of welfare, such sums as may be necessary to provide for the support of needy mothers in accordance with the provisions of this act.

SEC. 2. Who entitled to support.-Any needy mother having the custody of a dependent child or children under the age of sixteen years, and any needy woman about to become a mother, who is a resident of a county and has resided therein for at least one year shall be entitled as hereinafter provided, to the benefits of this article: Provided, That the father of such child or children, or expected child, is either dead, or in any hospital for the insane or for the feebleminded or epileptic, in prison, or is permanently incapacitated to earn a living, or has deserted her or such child or children; or provided that she is divorced from the father.

SEC. 3a. Conditions of allowance.-Monthly allowances to mothers of dependent children shall be made by the county board of public welfare upon the following conditions: (a) the dependent child or children must be living with the mother during the period in which support is provided; (b) the allowance shall be made only when in the absence of such allowance the mother would be required to work regularly away from her home and children, and when by means of such allowance, she would be able to remain at home with her child or children; (c) the mother must, in the judgment of the county board of public welfare, be a person morally, mentally and physically fit and competent to rear her children; (d) such allowance shall, in the judgment of the county board of public welfare, be necessary to save the child or children from neglect; (e) no allowance shall be made in any case except when after investigation by the said county board, it has been ascertained that there are no relatives able or willing to aid in the support of the child or children.

1 Bill was drafted by the Missouri Children's Code Commission. By population limitation the mothers' pension law adopted in 1911 applied only to Jackson County, in which Kansas City is located. Another act of the same year gave the City of St. Louis power to create, by ordinance, a board of children's guardians to care for delinquent, dependent, and defective children. Such an ordinance was passed in 1912 and provided for the boarding out of dependent children with their own mothers. The present act, by population limitation, leaves undisturbed the administration of mothers' pensions by the juvenile court in Jackson County and by the board of children's guardians in St. Louis. An earlier State-wide act passed in 1915 was vetoed by the governor because it failed to make special provision for St. Louis.

Corresponds to the county commissioners in other States. The so-called "court" has no judicial functions but is the general administrative body in the county. Missouri Children's Code Commission 1918, p. 32.)

(Report of

SEC. 3b. Expectant mothers-Allowance.-Monthly allowances to expectant mothers1 shall be made by the county board of public welfare upon the following conditions: (a) The allowance shall not commence prior to three weeks before child-birth and shall not continue longer than three weeks after childbirth. (b) Such allowance shall in the judgment of the county board of public welfare be necessary to save the mother and child from neglect; (c) no allowance shall be made in any case except when after investigation by the said county board it has been ascertained that there are no relatives able or willing to aid in the support of the mother and child.

SEC. 4. Amount of allowance.-The amount of allowance to such needy mothers as shall be adjudged entitled to the benefits of this act shall be sufficient and adequate to enable the mother where she has a dependent child or children to rear such child or children properly. It shall not be more than sixteen dollars ($16) per month when the mother has only one child under the age of sixteen (16) years; and not less than eight dollars ($8) a month for each additional child under the age of sixteen (16) years: Provided, That in no case shall a larger allowance than forty dollars ($40) a month be made.

SEC. 5. Partial relief.-Should the fund herein authorized to be appropriated, be sufficient to permit an allowance to only a part of the persons coming within the provisions of this act, the county board of public welfare shall select those cases in most urgent need of such allowance.

SEC. 6. When allowance shall cease.-Whenever any child, in whose behalf an allowance under the provisions of this act has been made, shall reach the age of sixteen years (16) such allowance shall cease: Provided, That the county board of public welfare, in its discretion, at any time before such child reaches such age of sixteen (16) years may discontinue or modify such allowance within the restrictions as to the amount prescribed by section 4 of this article. It shall be the duty of the county board of public welfare to investigate at least semiannually, every case in which an allowance has been made, and to determine whether such allowance should be discontinued or modified.

SEC. 7. Penalty for fraud.-Any person procuring, or attempting to procure any allowance for a person not entitled thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) or more than five hundred dollars ($500) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment.

SEC. 8. Record of allowances to be kept.-In each case where allowance is made to any woman under the provisions of this act, the board of county welfare shall make and keep a record of such allowance and of all payments made under it.

• SEC. 9. Repeal.-All acts and parts of acts inconsistent or in conflict with this act, are hereby repealed.

SEC. 10. County court to carry out.-If for any reason the county does not contain a “board of county welfare "" then the county court shall carry out the provisions of this act.

Approved April 12, 1917.

1 An allowance for an unborn child may be made also in Colorado and Pennsylvania. by amendments adopted in 1919.

2 The bill providing county boards of child welfare, recommended by the Children's

JACKSON COUNTY (KANSAS CITY).

[Laws 1911, pp. 120-122, as amended by Laws 1913, pp. 146–7.1]

An Act To provide for the partial support of poor women, whose husbands are dead or convicts, when such women are mothers of children under the age of fourteen (14) years and reside in counties now or hereafter having not less than two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) inhabitants and not more than five hundred thousand (500,000) inhabitants, and now or hereafter having or holding a juvenile court, with an emergency clause.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: SEC. 1. County courts to make appropriations.-In every county now containing or that may hereafter contain two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) inhabitants and less than five hundred thousand (500,000) inhabitants and in which a juvenile court is now being held or may hereafter be held, it shall be the duty of the county court to provide out of the moneys in the county treasury, not already appropriated, an amount sufficient to meet the purposes of this law, but not exceeding in any one year the sum of twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) for the partial support of women whose husbands are dead, or whose husbands are prisoners or whose husbands are in either one of the four State hospitals for the insane or in the Missouri colony for the feebleminded and epileptic, when such women are poor and are the mothers of children under the age of fourteen years, and such mothers and children reside in such counties.

SEC. 2. Amount of allowance.—The allowance to each of such women shall not exceed ten dollars ($10) a month when she has but one child under the age of fourteen (14) years, and if she has more than one child under the age of fourteen years, it shall not exceed the sum of ten dollars ($10) a month for the first child and five dollars ($5) a month for each of the other children under the age of fourteen years.

SEC. 3. Conditions of allowance.-Such allowance shall be made by the juvenile court and only upon the following conditions: (1) The child or children for whose benefit the allowance is made must be living with the mother of such child or children; (2) the allowance shall be made only when in the absence of such allowance the mother would be required to work regularly away from her home and children, and when by means of such allowance she will be able to remain at home with her children; (3) the mother must, in the judgment of the juvenile court, be a proper person morally, physically, and mentally for the bringing up of her children; (4) such allowance shall in the judgment of the court be necessary to save the child or children from neglect; (5) no person shall receive the benefit of this act who shall not have been a resident of the county in which such application is made for at least two years next before the making of such application for such allowance.

SEC. 4. When allowance shall cease.-Whenever any child shall reach the age of fourteen years any allowance made to the mother of such child for the benefit of such child shall cease. The juvenile court may, in its discretion, at any time before such child reaches the age of fourteen years discontinue or modify the allowance to any mother and for any child.

SEC. 5. Partial relief.-Should the fund herein authorized be sufficient to permit an allowance to only a part of the persons coming within the provisions of this law, the juvenile court shall select those cases in most urgent need of such allowance.

1 The amendment of 1913 extended the provisions of the law to women whose husbands were in State hospitals for the insane or the Missouri colony for the feeble-minded and