GUARDING THE BABIES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 222, 18 September 1919, Page 10

GUARDING THE BABIES.

THE STATE'S SUPERVISION. how the law OPERATES. FOSTER-PARENTS AXD ADOPTIO-N. Probably no enterprise needs more public interest and support than the &ovmemV efforts to ensure tne welfare of infants. Tne appalling wa*te of miant life in many countries of the world har, aroused sociologists everywhere _ The evil i* not so _reat in New Zealand as in le- favoured lands, but yet it is a matter of vital importance to the community. for the greatest need ot tta_ country is more population.

XO MORE " BABY-FARMING. The State's most direct work for j infants is its supervision over; the care and upbringing of all children, under six years of age who by force of circumstances must be in the] charge of persons who receive payment j for looking after them. Strict supervision of this kind has been proved by j sad experience in most countries to be . necessary in order to prevent j The provisions ot the Infant Life Protection Act, 1907, since, incorporated in the Infants Act, 190S, are very strict. The occupier of any house in which a birth occurs is responsible for ■notifvin- the fact within 48 hours. If any child under six years is handed over to "the care of any person apart from its | parents, in return for payments or re-j ward, such person must apply within i seven, days for a license under the Act, | If the child is retained for longer than [ seven consecutive days, the foster-parent I Incomes liable to "prosecution and a, heavy penalty. Licenses are granted by j district agents under the Education De- . partment. after the foster-parents' homes have been officially inspected and ap- | y»roved. The licenses must be re-issued j in the event- of a change of residence, and i p. child may not be removed from a j licensed home even for one night without | permission. All homes are inspected j periodically by female officers of the De-1 partment. "for the most part qualified j nurses. The magnitude of the work may j he judged from the fact that the Auckland district asent (Mrs. C. J. Brooke) | has no less than 200 licensed homes under j her supervision, while in 191S 252 infants passed through her hands. ROOM FOR FURTHER WORK. In general it may be said that the people who take care of tiny children are prompted by a genuine desire to benefit the little ones, many of whom are "unwanted-." Such foster-parents, fn almost of cases, are elderly people who have no children ot their own, or whose families have grown up. Such people are glad to have a baby in the house "for company," as they put it. The only weak point of the system appears to be the difficulty of ensuring that the -children are fed and treated generally with an. understanding of what is really best for them. To combine instruction with inspection Would require far larger staffs than the Department now possess. However, there are indications that a move is being made in this direction, for a third female officer has been appointed to the Auckland district, and doubtless the staffs elsewhere are being increased. ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN. In one aspect—its operation in the case of illegitimate children—the system has some rather serious drawbacks, which the Government appears to be trying to remedy. In a very large number of cases the fathers of illegitimate children cannot be made to fulfil their obligations. Sometimes they admit paternity, and offer to pay; but occasionally they contest the matter in court, and succeed owing to lack of proof. Again, some young women will not take pro- • eeedings. but endeavour to provide for ; their children without outside assistance. Even when magistrate's orders are secured, the men very often get behind, with their payments or abscond, and the whole burden is thrown upon the unfortunate mothers. These young women are generally unable to keep their children with them, and boarding-out is the only alternative. They struggle for a while to provide the 12/6 a ■week that the foster-parent requires, and endeavour also to make clothes for the child. Often they are girls rather helow the average mentally, and after a time they find the task too much. Then the unfortunate foster-parent is left without any support for the child, and the only course is to have it "comso that the State may hecome responsible for it. For various reasons some time usually elapses bofore this can be done, and meanwhile the arrears of maintenance may amount to £30 or so. The Department takes no responsibility for these, and the child's mother is usually unable to pay anything. To meet such cases some measure of State assistance to the unmarried mother seems to he required. There are many who win snv that such legislation would put a premium on immoralit-v. but it seems clear that something will have to he done sooner or later. At all events. it seems most unfair that the unfortunate fo<=fpr-narent should have to "'stand the racket " hhaneiallv when the child's mother finds economic conditions too bard for her.

ADOPTION PROBLEMS. One further department of infant life protection relates to adoptions. As most people are aware, a child cannot be adopted without the consent of a Magistrate, before whom ail the parties concerned must appear, in order that he may be satisaed that the adoptive parents are both able and really anxious to bring up the child as it deserves. A report is also obtained from the district agent. The point of difficulty in adoptions is nearly always the question of a premium or other reward. The law is very definite on this. Any money that passes from the third's parents or guardian to the adoptive parents must go into the hands of the district agent, who must make weekly payments, and maintain a strict supervision over the borne until the money becomes exlausted. Lately adoption has been very mneh on the increase in Auckland at aiiy rate. In 191S 79 adoptions were sanctioned, as compared with 57 the year before. This does not seem to indicate any growing desire on the part of parents "to get rid of their responsibilities, or a general loosemng-up." for though the numbers fcave gone up the annual total is really feiy sma r± One feature is the large and increasing number of applications ™aae to the Education Department by Tysons wishing (despite the cost of jß__f > ", ado P t children, especially soilllZ d f-\ had *eea moused in many to Uv. -° re the war w « re c Uve J °r themselves alone."