STATE PUBLIC SCHOOL

REPORT OF THE

BOARD OF MANAGERS AND SUPERINTENDENT

FOR THE

Biennial Period Ending July 31, 1906.

To the State Board of Control,

St. Paul, Minnesota.

Gentlemen: I herewith respectfully submit the eleventh biennial report of the State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children. Yours very respectfully,

GALEN A. MERRILL, Superintendent.

Information in detail as to the number of children received and cared for in the school, the number placed out and supervised in homes, and the cost of the same for each of the two years, and a resume of the work of twenty years, is presented as follows:

Returned to counties from which they came because improper subjects for this school....

139

Present July 31, 1906....

198

3,234

Average age of children when received, years.. Average time of residence of children in the school before being placed in homes....

6

6.5

MOVEMENT OF POPULATION.

The activities of the institution during the two years are indicated by the foregoing figures. In comparison with former years the number of children cared for is considerably larger. It will be noted that the number received for the first time during each of the two years is exactly the same, and that the number returned from homes increased slightly the last year. This increase, however, is not larger than should be expected, in view of the larger number placed out. Indeed, the number returned seems small when we consider the large number out in homes and subject to return. The average of yearly returns for ten years has been ten percent of the number out, while for the last year it was only nine percent, an indication that the children are well situated.

The number received for the first time during the last two years exceeds that of the preceding two years by 222 and of any preceding like period in the history of the school by 102. The records show 542 as the largest, and 346 as the average number received annually from all sources for ten years. So it appears that the 542 received from all sources last year is a considerable increase over the number received in any previous year. The efficiency of county commissioners and others in rescuing dependent and neglected children affects the number received at this school. Activity in such work on the part of county authorities who send children to the school results in an increase in the number received and the increase of the last two years need not be taken as an indication that the number of children to be cared for at public expense is unduly increasing in this State, but rather as an indication that such children as are in need of the State's care are receiving it. In Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth the Humane Societies are active in rescuing children from abuse and neglect, and many of the children received from the cities come through the efforts of these organizations.

The probation officers of the cities, who are charged with the duty of bringing to the school the children committed to it by the juvenile courts, also investigate many cases and begin proceedings for the commitment of the children.

Notwithstanding the increased number received, the average number maintained in the institution has not increased but slightly decreased

during the last two years, as a result of the efforts put forth to secure homes for the children and place them out. The record of our placingout work indicates that diligence has been exercised and a larger number placed than ever before in the same length of time, the number placed the last year being 501. While this is true, thoroughness has characterized our investigations of the homes before the children were placed. The fact that no child should be placed with people unfit to rear children has been kept in mind, and under the careful methods of selection pursued less than one-half of the applications received have been approved.

The number of children cared for in the school is large, much larger than the number in daily attendance, so rapidly does the population change. The number that received temporary care last year was 708, an excess of 120 over any previous year.

The attendance necessarily varies from day to day as the children come and go. The number present sometimes varies enough in a month's time to vacate or fill a cottage. As many as 77 children have been placed out in one month. But there is also a constant influx so that we have not always been able to avoid a crowded condition as the figures given indicate, the number present reaching 281 for two or three days in August last year, while the number ought not to exceed 250. Relief from such condition soon follows, however. The number present was reduced to 181 in May of this year, the average number present for the year being 221. The average daily attendance for the last ten years has been 233.

The replacing of children returned to the school after having been placed is often a harder task than to place them in the first instance. However, in many instances it is through no fault of the child that he is returned.

When a child is placed in a home. a trial period is given, during which the foster-parents may return him at will, but after the expiration of the trial period permission must be obtained from the superintendent before he is returned. Such permission is readily granted when conditions in the foster home have become disturbed and are such as to render longer residence there unpleasant or injurious to the child. The right to recall children whenever their interests require it is always reserved as a safeguard against possible ill-treatment. Under these provisions children are returned to the school and replaced or transferred directly to other homes.

The number under supervision in homes has steadily increased until it has reached 1,268, the daily average for the last year, and it will continue to increase until the number that annually pass beyond our guardianship through legal adoption, restoration to parents, becoming of age, etc., equals the number received. That time has not yet come.

The very important work of placing out and supervising the children in homes requires no less time and no less effort on the part of the superintendent than the management of the institution which receives and prepares the children to be placed out.