CHILD WELFARE

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24985, 20 September 1946, Page 5

CHILD WELFARE

WORK OF HONORARY OFFICERS

“Som e 250 honorary Child Welfare Officers hold office under authority from the Minister of Education to assist the department with the supervision of children in their own homes,” .states the snnual report of the Child Welfare branch of the Education Department. “They also have the duty of adjusting numerous 109 a! cases involving minor behaviour problems and domestic difficulties, and of handling, in the Children’s Courts, away from main centres, cases presenting no unusual difficulties or unlikely to result in decisions of a drastic nature.

“Many valuable miscellaneous duties are carried out by these men and women, mainly in localities where the permanent officers are unable to visit frequently or at short notice, and the department appreciates, not only the quantity and quality of the voluntary service they render, but also the spirit and ideas prompting them to undertake a task which is of incalculable benefit to the community. It is understood, of course, that where, for various reasons, it may not be desirable for the honorary officer to act in a certain case, our permanent officers undertake the necessary action. The Honorary Child Welfare Officer system probably achieves its most satisfying results through the regular personal contact so necessary in remedial work with children, and it would be difficult to estimate just how detrimentally the whole work of the branch would be affected if the assistance of these pub-lic-spirited officers were not available.

“Gr6at difficulty is still being experienced in finding sufficient foster-homes, and, mainly for this reason, accommodation available in the department’s institutions throughout the year has been fully taxed. At March 31 there ; : ere 316 children in residence, as against 284 at March 31 the previous year.”