BALTIMORE ADOPTS NEW CONCEPTION OF PUBLIC WELFARE

BY BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ

THE report of the municipal welfare commission of Baltimore, recently sub- mitted to the ma or, contains a new

gained ascendency in the last decade. It i s in line with the city prsnning movement now engaging the attention of the most progressive citiea in the United States. After studying the wdare activities of 14 cities of over 100,OOO population and comparing their programs with that of Baltimore, the commission found that municipal endeavors along socisl welfare lines m Baltimore are without vision and care- ful forethought. Under the present system of government, no person or b m a u is speci6caUy charged with planning for the d a r e of its inhabit- anb. Thecare,insomedegree,ofthe pow, the helpleq the dependent, and the delinquent, is the limited concep- tion of public welfare as carried out by the supervisors of city chdies.

The canfused state of dairs in Baltimore is exemplified by the fact that expenditures are made and d fare tunetiarw are p e r f o a r m e d by aa many as eleven municipal agenrciea. CO-g of seven boards or commi!4 sions and lour &partments These do not include the many su-b and bureaus under their supwiskm nor do they include the state depart- ments and agencies that perf- d fare work for the city- The city of

conception of pub i c w & m which has

Bdtimore further discharges its health, charities, recreational and correctional functions through 48 contract institu- tions and private agencies. It is obvious that under this arrangement, without proper co-ordination, the wel- fare activities of the city lend them- dves neither to progress and growth, nor to the most efficient expendi- ture of the funds devoted to t h e s Purposes. Started in Kansas City in 1908, the

movement for welfm departments in municipalities has constantly grown, with the result that 19 cities in the United States of over 100,OOO popula- tion have such departments. The tendency in the larger cities is to

t i od and recreational adtivities in one independent department. A study of fourteen of these citiea

by the commission shows the wide range of activities included in the con- ception of public welfare. The city of Cleveland has gone furthest by in- cluding the folIowing within the scope of its d a r e department: municipal hoapitd, bureau of vital statistics, Iabuzatorks, bureau of Sanitation, pub- lic nuLseg, bureau of child hygiene, burean of communicable diseases, in- spection of markets and foods relief of poor, employment bureau, hmipmt aid, workhouse and jail, correctional farms, care of parks and p laypmds

centralize dl health, charities, corn-

and planning community recrea- a ~ a a m r m i c i p l - ~ - - tD tianal program. ~hese cities that a**- - d 9 a have adopted modern methods for the ~ & 6 b periormal by & city. - & d a r e of their citizens have raised the rrathcrcrrbrgopthea=lmkh. department in charge of the work to

a N o k ' 3 b - d * msxdy

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8 NATIONAL MUNICIPAL REVIEW [January

one of dignity, second only to the department of education.

The commission did not see fit to include in one department all the re- lated welfare activities of Baltimore. It was felt that the greatest present need was for improvement and co- ordination in the charities and recrea- tional phases of the city’s work, and that the new department should com- mence with these. As a matter of fact, the commission, satisfied with the way the health department was function- ing, recommended that the care of the indigent sick, fourteen contract hospi- tals and ten dispensaries should be transferred to the health department under an appropriate bureau. We agree that the care of the sick is not -properly a function of the supervisors of charities and that the question of health, not poverty, should determine the jurisdiction. Future developments will dictate whether the health depart- ment and the correctional institutions should be incorporated under the gen- eral direction of the larger welfare de- partment.

The major recommendations of the commission are three:

1. The creation of a new depart- ment of public welfare in charge of a small board of five, one of whom shall be a paid chairman and executive director of the department.

2. The concentration under this de- partment of the powers of the present supervisors of city charities, the free public bath commission and the board for mothers’ relief, with certain welfare functions of other city departments. 3. The recommendation of four new

activities to be undertaken by the department :

a. Legal aid to the poor. b. Social service for city em-

c. Limited regulation and endorse- ment of private charities.

d. Research and social surveys. It is not expected that this whole

program can be put into operation at once. The commission has limited its suggestion to those things which seem to be practicable and in accordance with the present scheme of city government. Further progress can be safely left to the future as the new department demonstrates its useful- ness.

ployees.