STATEMENT OF RAY L. HUFF, BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. HUFF. I believe we can answer that any person who is so qualified would have been referred to Gallinger as well as any other source of employment that would be available. That would be done through the case-work service supplied by our agency, and would also include referral through the United States Employment Service. Mr. BATES. So, what you are actually saying is that there is no one receiving relief from the District of Columbia who is qualified to assume any of the positions that Dr. Ruhland is so greatly in need of. Mr. HUFF. That is my belief, yes, sir; unless they are at the moment so employed. We do have some persons who have partial employment. Whether any such persons are now employed at Gallinger, I do not know, but with that qualification, I believe that any would have been referred to vacancies where the vacancy is known and the person is available. Mr. BATES. I guess then that answers the question, and we will examine the rolls of the Welfare Department a little later to satisfy ourselves that that is true. Go ahead, Mr. Huff, in your own way and give us the same basic facts, the cost of the Welfare Department, say, in 1937 and what it is in the estimate of '48. Mr. HUFF. May I approach it from my outline? I will hit that same point in a second or third step. I would like to refer, first, Mr. Chairman, to the basic statutes under which the Board of Public Welfare operates, and I have prepared for your convenience excerpts which will identify such statutes, and which I think indicate the broad field in which the welfare operations do occur. Mr. BATES. For instance, you summarize the activities such as general welfare, mother's aid, dependent children, old-age assistance, and several items, not more than seven or eight in number that that field embraces, set up by your procurement and justification sheet. What are those activities? Mr. HUFF. Those are generalized, and I show them in general terms on an over-all table of organization which I will submit also for the record. Mr. BATES. Fine. Mr. HUFF. To supplement the detail that goes with the excerpts of the statutes. Mr. BATES. Let me see that table. These excerpts and table will go into the record at this point. (The documents referred to are as follows:) I. OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES DECEMBER 16, 1944. 1. Shall have general administration of public welfare (sec. 3-102, Code 1940: and Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 2. Shall elect a chairman, vice chairman, and secretary and shall hold not less than nine regular monthly meetings each year and shall make rules and administration of its governing its work and discharge of its duties (sec. 3-104, Code 1940). 1 Appropriation Act for 1945. 3. "No person shall be eligible for membership on the Board who has not been a legal resident of the District of Columbia for the last 3 years" and members shall serve without compensation (sec. 3–103, Code 1940). 4. "No member or employee of said Board shall be either directly or indirectly interested in any contract for building, repairs, or furnishing any institution which the Board is authorized to investigate and supervise (sec. 3-113, Code 1940). PERSONNEL 5. Shall nominate all personnel for appointment by the Commissioners (sec. 3-105, Code 1940). 6. Shall recommend discharge of personnel by Commissioners (sec. 3-105, Code 1940). 7. Shall comply with Civil Service procedure in 5 and 6, above (Public Law 363, 78th Cong.). SUPERVISION AND CONTROL 8. Shall have control and management of institutions (sec. 3-106, Code 1940). 9. Shall have supervision of all superintendents (sec. 3-107, Code 1940). 10. Shall make policies establishing rules and regulations for good conduct of inmates and employees (sec. 3-108, Code 1940). 11. Shall make rules and regulations for efficient and economical operation (sec. 3-108, Code 1940). 12. Shall make rules relating to admissions (sec. 3-108, Code 1940). RECORDS, REPORTS, AND STUDIES 13. Shall prescribe forms for record keeping and accurate registration of persons and services (sec. 3-109, Code 1940). 14. May recommend to Comptroller General uniform systems of accounts and comparative costs (sec. 3-109, Code 1940). 15. Shall study social conditions and incorporate in its reports the results thereof with recommendations designed to safeguard the well-being of children and to ameliorate conditions of poverty, disease, and lessen crime (sec. 3–123, Code 1940). 16. Shall submit to the Commissioners an annual budget of appropriations necessary to discharge the duties imposed by law (sec. 3-123, Code 1940). 17. Shall submit annual report to the Commissioners. 18. Shall make recommendations for more efficient and humane care of persons in need of public assistance (sec. 3-123, Code 1940). 19. Shall register its cases with the Social Service Exchange ("contract investigational service") (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 20. "Shall visit, inspect and maintain a general supervision over all institutions, societies, or associations of a charitable, eleemosynary, correctional, or reformatory character which are supported in whole or in part by appropriations of Congress made for the care or treatment of residents in the District of Columbia" (sec. 3-111, Code 1940). 21. Shall establish rules for the admission of all persons except those committed by the court, by whom payment for care is to be made (sec. 3–111, Code 1940). 22. Shall receive and transmit to Congress, through the Commissioners, reports showing the condition of all institutions, the supervision, the character and economy of administration and the amount and sources of the public and private income (31 Stat. 664, June 6, 1900). 23. Shall approve plans for all new institution buildings (sec. 3-112, Code 1940). (See also Act of June 6, 1931, Stat. 664, ch. 807.) 24. Shall on order of Commissioners make investigation of the management of any penal, charitable or reformatory institution in the District of Columbia and shall have power in such investigation to send for persons and papers and administer oaths and affirmations and shall make report of such investigation to the Commissioners (sec. 3-112, Code 1940). II. FAMILY WELFARE SERVICES CHILD CARE 25. Shall investigate circumstances affecting children handicapped by mental defect (Public Law 397). 23. Shall receive for custody and care persons not more than 45 years of age who are committeed by the United States Court for the District of Columbia as feebleminded (sec. 32-624, Code 1940). 27. Shall permit the Superintendent of the National Training School for Boys to certify to the court whenever in his or her opinion any inmate of his institution is feebleminded (sec. 32-624, Code 1940). 28. Shall see that any citation, order or process required by laws to be served on any inmate of the District Training School shall be served by the superintendent or by someone designated in writing by him (sec. 32-627, Code 1940). 29. Shall make thorough investigations and keep permanent records to be held confidential but made available in its discretion (Public Law 397, 77th Cong., sec. 4). 30. Shall make provision for study of physical and mental conditions of children received for care, that care for each child may be planned to meet his particular physical and mental needs (Public Law 297, 77th Cong.. sec. 4). 31. Shall make investigations for the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, in adoption proceedings, to report the findings within 90 days; and to visit the adoptee during the period of the interlocutory decree and upon entry of final decree, to seal all papers in the proceedings (Public Law 370, 75th Cong.; and Public Law 140, 76th Cong.; sec. 16-201, 203, 206, Code 1940). 32. Shall provide for services for protection and care of children and to conserve home life (Public Law 397, 77th Cong., sec. 1). 33. Shall safeguard children born out of wedlock, providing services for their mothers for care and support of such children (Public Law 397, 77th Cong., sec. 1). 34. Shall accept for care, custody, and guardianship, dependent or neglected children whose custody or parental control has been transferred to the Board of Public Welfare (Public Law 397, 77th Cong., and sec. 3-114, 116, Code 1940). 35. Shall provide care and support for all children committed to the guardianship of the Board by the courts, including white girls committed to the National Training School for Girls and all children accepted by the Board for care as authorized by the "act to give additional powers to the Board of Public Welfare" (Public Law 397, 77th Cong., and Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 36. Shall assume responsibility for care and support of dependent and neglected children under the age of 18 years needing public care away from their own homes when such need has been determined by investigation and is requested by the parent or parents, or any person or agency responsible for the care of such children (Public Law 397, sec. 1, par. 3). 37. Shall have full power with respect to all children accepted by it for care, to place them with private families, either without expense or at a fixed rate of board, or to place them in institutions willing to receive them either without expense or at fixed rate of board (Public Law 397, sec. 3: and Public Law 371, 78th Cong.,' and sec. 3-115, Code 1940) ("not to exceed $2,500 each to institutions under sectarian control”). 38. Shall place in boarding homes all white girls committed to the National Training School for Girls (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 39. Shall place children under its care, when practicable, in institutions or homes of the same religious faith as the parents and when this is not done to set forth the reasons for its action in the record of the case (sec. 3–123, Code 1940). 40. Shall provide that a ward placed outside the District and the States of Virginia and Maryland shall be visited not less than once a year by a voluntary agent or correspondent of the said Board (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.1 and sec. 3-124, Code 1940). 41. Shall maintain continuously not more than three foster homes (at a cost not to exceed $1,680) for temporary or emergency care of nondelinquent children (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 42. Shall incur expense in placing and visiting children (but not for visiting outside the District of Columbia and the States of Maryland and Virginia) and for office and sundry expenses (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 43. Shall provide for burials for children dying while under charge of the Board-not to exceed $400 (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 1 Appropriation Act for 1945. 44. Shall accept for care at the District of Columbia jail, in a room separate from adults, a child over 16 years of age on order from the juvenile court (sec. 11-927, Code 1940). 45. May consent to adoption of children committed to its care whose parents have been permanently deprived of custody by court order (Public Law 397, 77th Cong., sec. 1). 46. Shall discharge on proper showing any child committed to Board's guardianship (Public Law 397, 77th Cong., sec. 1; sec. 3-125, Code 1940). 47. Shall consult with the Commissioners with reference to appointees on the Committee of Eight to recommend and review annually, the rules and regulations prescribing standards of placement and care of children under 16 years of age placed in homes other than those of certain relatives, a member of the Board of Public Welfare to be chairman of this committee (Public Law 292, 78th Cong.). 48. Shall investigate applicants for license to operate a child-placing agency and to recommend to the Commissioners with reference to granting a license or a provisional license for not more than three consecutive years, and shall make all necessary investigations and inspections necessary to carry out the provisions of the act (Public Law 292, 78th Cong.). 49. May accept voluntary aid in the placement and supervision of children under its care (sec. 3-119, Code 1940). 50. Shall operate the Receiving Home for Children for the reception and detention of children under 18 years of age (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.') and "to make suitable provision for the reception and care of children in need of detention" (Public Law 397, sec. 1, and Public Law 571, 75th Cong., sec. 26). 51. Shall prepare a plan annually, and upon approval by the Children's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor, to administer that plan for services to children, as provided for in title V, part 3 of the Social Security Act (Public Law 271, 74th Cong.). ADULT ASSISTANCE 52. Shall administer a program of public assistance for relief of indigent residents (general public assistance, l'ublic Law 271, 78th Cong.) .' 53. Shall administer the act to provide for old-age assistance, prescribing forms and making rules and designating an agency to carry out the provisions. (Commissioners have assigned the administration to the Board of Public Welfare.) (46-203, D. C. Code 1940.) 54. Shall administer the act to provide aid to blind persons, making rules and regulations and to assign any or all provisions of the act to any agency of the District of Columbia Government to be carried out. (Commissioners have assigned the administration to the Board of Public Welfare.) (46-101, D. C. Code 1940.) 55. Shall submit to the Social Security Board a plan for administration of social security allotments for old-age assistance, aid to the blind, and aid to dependent children, and to operate this plan (Social Security Act, August 14, 1935), Public Law 271, 74th Cong.). 56. Shall distribute surplus commodities received through the Department of Agriculture (Public Law 107, 78th Cong.).1 57. Shall carry a program for food conservation and canning and to make regulations therefore (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 58. Shall carry penny-milk program for school children (44). 50. Shall certify persons eligible for any benefits (Public Law 107, 78th Cong.).1 60. Shall provide burial for indigent residents (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).' INSTITUTIONS FOR THE INDIGENT 61. Shall operate the Home for the Aged and Infirm and the Municipal Lodging House (Board of Public Welfare Act, 44 Stat. 209, ch. 58). 62. Shall supervise the Temporary Home for Soldiers and Sailors (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).' 63. Shall contract for care of children in the Florence Crittenton Home and St. Ann's Infant Asylum (Public Law 47, sec. 10; Public Law 371, 78th Cong.," and Public Law 397, 77th Cong., sec. 1). 64. Shall make contracts for certain services for the blind (Columbia Polytechnic Institute and Library for the Blind, Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).' 1 Appropriation Act for 1945. III. JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL SERVICES 65. Shall provide, under contract, for maintenance of boys committed by District courts to the National Training School for Boys (sec. 3-110, Code 1940; Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 66. Shall operate the National Training School for Girls, the Industrial Home School (colored) and the Industrial Home School (white) (sec. 3-106, Code 1940; Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 67. Shall parole girls from the National Training School for Girls (36 Stat. L. 300, sec. 2). IV. ADULT CORRECTIONAL SERVICES 68. Shall operate the District of Columbia asylum and jail; and the workhouse and reformatory (sec. 3-106, Code 1940; Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).' V. MENTAL REHABILITATION 69. Shall make collection for care of persons committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital and able to pay (Board of Public Welfare Act and act to create Commission on Mental Health; 21-308, Code 1940; 52 Stat. 625, ch. 326). 70. Shall pay for the maintenance of indigent District of Columbia residents in St. Elizabeths Hospital (sec. 3-110, Code 1940; Public Law, 371, 78th Cong.).1 71. Shall deport nonresident insane persons to places of residence (sec. 3-110, Code 1910; Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 72. Shall provide transportation for nonresident indigent persons to places of residence (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 73. Shall prescribe regulations for parole by the Superintendent of the District Training School (Public Law 578, 68th Cong., sec. 25). 74. Shall operate the District Training School (sec. 3-106, Code 1940; (Public Law 371, 78th Cong.).1 Mr. HUFF. I believe it is important, Mr. Chairman, for me to give the groundwork of the basic statutes as they applied in 1938, under the conditions then existing. Then I shall use this as a basis for considering the trend of costs and the present situation with which we are confronted, because certain conditions have changed which, in turn, have changed the elements which are used in developing units of cost. The work of the department has both general and specific characteristics. Those general characteristics frequently have been referred to elsewhere as the type of work which is done normally through State departments. There are also the operational services which commonly are found in municipal departments. In our own organization they are found within that organization itself, so we, as all the other departments, do have to a considerable degree those two functions to carry out. Those functions, generally speaking, which are found in State departments, will be found in what we have called in our appropriation titles, "the Office of the Director." Those items which are operational in character, and more commonly found in municipalities, will be found under our divisions, the first, "the Agencies Division," which includes certain subtitles, and our "Protective Institutions Division" which, in turn, is able to be subdivided. Speaking generally then to those points, we have expressed on this table what represents our departmental organization. Now, I need to say a word to that so that the figures which we will give will be understood. Beginning in 1937, and continuing for a major part of the time until the present, the agencies operating under the Board have not functioned through departmental operations. This is important with respect to certain items which we will propose. 1 Appropriation Act of 1945. |