USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The challenge of a heritage : one hundred years of service to children, 1855-1955 > Part 5
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The Study* was completed in December 1950 and the ninety- three page multigraphed report was submitted early in 1951 to the Bishop of the Diocese, the Department of Social Service and the other Agencies. The fact that the Survey was made by two clergymen of the National Department of Christian Social Rela- tions, trained and experienced in the skills of modern social work, gave to its findings a peculiar authority and an assurance of an understanding of the principles and problems of Church-related Agencies.
The Society gave careful consideration to the guiding prin- ciples, observations and questions raised by the factual material and to the Conclusions and Recommendations of the Report. Again the answer secmed clearly to be that the unique contribu- tion of The Church Home Society to the future, as in the past,
* " Report of the Study of the Social Services of the Diocese of Massa- chusetts; Division of Health and Welfare Services of the Department of Christian Social Relations of the National Council, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York 10, N. Y. - 1950.
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lay not in its possible merger with another Community Children's Agency, but rather in its willingness to strengthen and deepen its relationships within the Diocese through closer coordination with some of the other Diocesan Agencies. The Society's Board approved in principle a recommendation which would combine the Social Service operations of the Episcopal City Mission and the Services of The Church Home Society, the same to be administered as a unified program and to include an expanded counseling and educational program to be called an " Institute for Family Living."
The Bishop, the Diocesan Department of Social Service and the Episcopal City Mission were made acquainted with the Society's affirmative attitude and its readiness to confer.
The searching self-study generated by the Community and Diocesan Surveys, plus the frank and uninhibited discussion of fundamental principles in subsequent Board Meetings, and the provocative Recommendations of The Midcentury White House Conference on Children and Youth which laid emphasis on the importance of "religious and ethical concepts as essential to the development of spiritual values," brought about a reaffirmation of the Society's place as a Community-Church-related Agency, the Episcopal Church's contribution to Community Child Welfare.
Bishop Nash characterized this attitude in a single sentence: "I am glad that The Church Home Society is a participating member of the United Community Services, for it is right that both in securing its financial support and in its service to children, a Church-affiliated Society should recognize that it is part of a great community of those who give and those who serve, and those whose needs are served."
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On October first 1952, Ralph Barrow resigned as The Society's Executive Director, having served for twenty-two years. The Board of Directors, in the following statement, made recognition of this service -
" To Ralph Barrow - Executive Director of The Church Home Society, 1930-1952, for creative leadership, for outstanding professional accomplishment, for the steady advancement of the Society in standards and achievement, for his deeply Christian devotion to the welfare of children, and to Lillian, his wife and partner, we offer our affectionate and grateful appreciation."
The year 1953 recorded signal changes in the top echelons of the Society's administration. Mrs. Samuel S. Drury retired as Presi- dent, having served for five years. Mrs. Drury became a member of the Board of Directors in 1939, and, in 1949, assumed the office of President. As a Board Member, as Chairman of the Case Committee and as President, Mrs. Drury proved her splendid leadership. Her tenure of office was marked by a deep under- standing of the tenets of Social Work, and of Child Welfare in particular. Through consecrated and active association with the United Community Services, and with other Community Organi- zations, she enabled The Church Home Society to answer humbly, yet well, the question, " AM I my brother's keeper? "
The Rev. Rollin J. Fairbanks, of the Board of Directors, be- came President of the Society. Mr. Fairbanks, Professor of Pasto- ral Theology in the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, came to his new task strongly equipped by years of rich and varied experience in pastoral counseling and as head of the Chap- laincy services at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Mr. Sibley Higginbotham, S.B. Harvard; M.S. in S.S. Boston University School of Social Work, was appointed Executive Di- rector in June 1953, having been Casework Supervisor since 1946 and Acting Executive Director since Mr. Barrow's resignation in 1952. Mr. Higginbotham started his career in Social Work at
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The Church Home Society as the first male caseworker for boys - 1940-1942. He then served as psychiatric caseworker at the Children's Village, Dobbs Ferry, New York, until inducted into the Army - 1944-1946.
Under the young and vigorous leadership of Mr. Fairbanks and Mr. Higginbotham, The Church Home Society will go from strength to strength, developing the work for children and young people under the auspices of both the Church and the Com- munity.
And so the ninety-ninth year of The Church Home Society's service to children ends.
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THE 100TH YEAR Annual Report for 1954
In our 100th year of stewardship to children and their families, 371 children and their parents received attention and some kind of service from the staff. Of these, 236 children received plan- ning and casework service either in their own homes, homes of relatives, foster homes supervised by our staff, or in boarding schools and other specialized group facilities. Expressing this in another way, a total of 41,147 days care were given, of which 24,501 represented paid care in foster homes or foster group resources available to the Society, plus care in adoption homes.
A social agency's year is measured not only with figures. There follows, then, what seem to be some of the trends and events of the year that bear upon our service to the community.
The social worker in a children's agency often has the grave responsibility of planning around the total life of a child. In spite of the many details and occasional emergencies confronting our staff every week, it is encouraging to find in 1954 stronger evidence than ever before of thoughtful planning. Most striking has been the marked increase in our work with parents whose children we have in care. This year to its already busy schedule the staff has added weekly meetings so that thinking may be shared in the areas of intake and adoption with the goal in mind of sounder decisions and more effective policy.
In 1954 we had our first Foster Mothers Tea. This provided the opportunity for our foster mothers to share their experiences informally with each other as well as to talk with both staff and board members. It was planned that there would later be some joint gatherings of foster mothers from the Children's Aid Association and The Church Home Society with programs keyed to their interests and concerns. Two of these have already been held and we, together with Children's Aid, hope that we can continue to develop meetings that will be helpful to that group
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of devoted people, our foster parents, without whom a good child- placing program could not exist.
This year, for the first time, we brought three parish clergymen into a consultant relationship to the staff. One of our purposes was to make more vital the relationship between the clergy and the Society's program. Our monthly meetings with them have been characterized by an atmosphere in which feelings could be shared freely about problems of mutual concern. We hope that out of our growing understanding of each other's work and point of view will come an enrichment of our services to the people of this diocese.
In 1954 to further the working relationship between The Church Home Society and the Diocesan Department of Social Service, a joint committee of the two organizations was formed. Out of the deliberations of the committee a proposal was made to have joint representation on the Board of the Society and the Committee of the Department. The two organizations have since voted in favor of this recommendation and this plan will be effected in 1955.
There is a growing trend in the Society to provide more opportunities for board and staff to work together in areas of common interest. In addition to the refocusing of purpose and content of Case Committee meetings reported last year, 1954 brought a challenging prospect of board-staff cooperation in an area traditionally fraught with feeling on the part of all con- cerned. The Board of Directors took initiative in an experiment to reorganize the Personnel Practices Committee to include balanced representation from board and staff. This committee discussed, worked toward and achieved a salary scale more in line with those offered in other agencies in our community. However, probably all the participants would agree that the larger outcome of the committee's deliberations was the increased awareness of the unique responsibilities of both the board and the staff in the healthy functioning of the Society.
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In the Spring of 1954 The Church Home Society, in company with other children's agencies, supported at the State House the most important and far-reaching child legislation to come before the public in many years. This bill, when it became law, pro- foundly changed some of the traditional concepts around neglect, dependency, custody and adoption. This experience helped stimulate us to realize that an important contribution of a modern social agency is in the field of social action. To give vitality to this a new committee of the Board was created, the Legislative Committee, to act jointly with a similar committee from the Children's Aid Association. This joint committee will review legislation of pertinence in the child welfare field and will recom- mend what action, if any, the two agencies should take in it. This is a further example in the long line of cooperative projects between the Children's Aid Association and The Church Home Society.
It is perhaps not surprising that what we have touched on in this report is a story of growing relationships, the dynamic that operates between individuals and between groups and out of which can come constructive change as it has in the past. Some- where here are those links that will bring our future into full and proper relationship with our past.
SIBLEY HIGGINBOTHAM, Executive Director
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THE CHURCH HOME SOCIETY PERSONNEL, 1955
OFFICERS
Honorary President: THE RT. REV. NORMAN B. NASH, D.D.
President: THE REV. ROLLIN J. FAIRBANKS
First Vice-President: CHANDLER BIGELOW
Second Vice-President: ALBERT W. ROCKWOOD
Treasurer: WILLIAM V. TRIPP, JR.
Clerk: MISS GERTRUDE HOOPER
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mrs. Henry K. Beecher
The Rev. Harold T. Handley
Chandler Bigelow
Paul C. Hanna
Gerhard D. Bleicken
Frederick W. Holmes
John E. Buddington
Miss Gertrude Hooper
Mrs. Albert S. Crockett
William D. Manice, Jr.
Mrs. Samuel S. Drury Mrs. Maurice Osborne
Miss Margaret Emery
Albert W. Rockwood
The Rev. Rollin J. Fairbanks
Mrs. Ernest D. Scott
George E. Gardner, M.D.
William V. Tripp, Jr.
Mrs. Samuel H. Hallowell George E. Wheatley
STAFF SIBLEY HIGGINBOTHAM, Executive Director MISS JENNIE CHING, Supervisor of Casework
Miss Dorothy Culligan, Caseworker
Miss Charlotte Dunmore, Caseworker
Miss Sophie Harris, Caseworker
Miss Beatrice Towne, Caseworker
Mrs. Robert A. Young, Clinical Psychologist
Mrs. Ralph M. Aims, Secretary
Miss Joy Cosseboom, Secretary
Miss Evelyn L. Fleet, Bookkeeper
Miss Carol A. Cooley, Secretary to the Executive Director
CLERGY CONSULTANTS
The Rev. Robert H. Anderson, Jr. The Rev. Sewall Emerson The Rev. Elmore C. Young
PSYCHIATRIC CONSULTANT Dr. Robert A. Young
JOINT WITH CHILDREN'S AID ASSOCIATION Homefinder - Miss Anne Stedman Clothing Department - Miss Frances Miller Switchboard Operator - Miss Eleanora J. DeAngelis Case Aide - Miss Ruth Lawton
PREVENTIVE CLINIC
Marshall B. Kreidberg, M.D., Director Francis X. Fellers, M.D. Mrs. Hazel Weil, Social Executive
Lester M. Abelman, M.D.
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083-11 :: 1
TREASURER'S REPORT: YEAR 1954
The Treasurer's books and records have been audited by Harris, Kerr, Forster & Company, Accountants and Auditors.
RECEIPTS
For Services Rendered
$ 20,143.53
Investments
John Brooks Fenno Fund
Walter E. C. Smith Fund
24,819.09 487.50 64.94
Contributions :
Churches and Church Organizations
$ 1,905.24
Individuals
439.74
Diocesan Council Dept. of Social Service
10,000.00
House of Mercy
2,337.53
Benton Fund
24.00
Sears and Other Funds
1,000.00
Episcopal City Mission
162.00
Inez A. Tinkham Fund
355.83
The Committee of the Permanent Charity Fund, Inc.
3,500.00
United Community Services
31,286.00
51,010.34
The Penny Wise Thrift Shop
4,500.00
Total Income 1954 Excess of Expenses Over Income
5,416.55
Total Cash to be Accounted For
$106,441.95
DISBURSEMENTS
Direct service to children: Cost of Board
$38,074.75
Transportation, legal, clothing, tuition, allowances and recreation, medical,
sundries, and the skilled services of trained social workers
35,041.26 $ 73,116.01
Administrative Cost:
Clerical salaries, insurance, telephone, office expense, publicity and advertising, transpor- tation, equipment, conference, retirement, dues, audit, pensions, operation of No. 5 Walnut St., and miscellaneous
33,325.94
Total Cash Accounted For
$106,441.95
The General and Permanent Funds now total $639,000, market value of securities, December 31, 1954, representing the highest figure that the So- ciety's Endowment Fund has ever reached. The Society has been fortunate from the beginning in its Treasurers, men experienced and astute in the management of funds - its present incumbent, William V. Tripp, Jr., has held the office with distinction since 1944.
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$101,025.40
A Red Feather Service
SYMBOL
OF.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
THE CHURCH HOME SOCIETY
is a Member of United Community Services of Metropolitan Boston; Episcopal Service For Youth; The Child Welfare League of America.
HECKMAN BINDERY INC.
JULY 98
Bound -To-Pleas®
N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962
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