USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Arlington > Town of Arlington annual report 1940 > Part 6
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The Town Clerk read the Call and the Constable's Re- turn of the Warrant, the reading of the remainder of the Warrant being waived by consent of the meeting.
On motion of Mr. Estabrook, duly seconded, it was unanimously
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ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
Voted: That if all the business of the meeting as set forth in the Warrant is not disposed of at this session, when the meeting adjourns, it adjourn to Wednesday evening, March 27, 1940 at eight o'clock.
On motion of Mr. Estabrook, duly seconded, it was unanimously
Voted: That at 8:27 P. M. the Annual Meeting be re- cessed until the business of the Special Meeting called for 8:30 P. M. is completed and that in no event shall the recess of the Annual Meeting extend beyond the time at which said Special Meeting adjourns.
On motion of Mr. Estabrook, duly seconded, it was
Voted : That Article 2 be taken up.
Article 2 taken up (Choice of other Town Officers).
On motion of Mr. Estabrook, duly seconded, it was unanimously
Voted: That the following be appointed Measurers of Wood and Bark.
Arthur B. Peirce Charles E. Hale Patrick P. Brosnahan
There being no further business under Article 2 the Moderator declared Article 2 disposed of.
On motion of Mr. Estabrook, duly seconded, it was unanimously
Voted : That Article 3 be taken up (Reports of Select- men, other Town Officers and Committees).
On motion of Mr. Estabrook, duly seconded, it was unanimously
Voted: That the reports of the Selectmen and of the various Town Officers and the committees heretofore ap-
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TOWN RECORDS
pointed, together with the statistics of the Assessors as printed in the Town Report, be received.
On motion of Mr. Cousins, duly seconded, it was unan- imously
Voted: That the report of the Finance Committee, as presented in its printed form be received.
Mr. Peterson asked that the Report of the Town Yard Committee be taken up under Article 56 when that was reached and as there was no objection his request was granted.
Mr. John Davidson presented the Report of the Com- mittee appointed to Investigate and Study the Whole Ques- tion of Relief in the Town of Arlington, and it was unanimously received.
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ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE
INVESTIGATION AND STUDY OF THE WHOLE
QUESTION OF RELIEF IN ARLINGTON
March 13, 1940.
Your Committee appointed to investigate and study the whole question of relief in Arlington submits the following report.
At the Adjourned Town Meeting held on March 30, 1938, it was voted :
That a Committee of five be appointed by the Moderator to investigate and to study the whole question of relief in the Town of Arlington, no member of said Committee to be a paid employee of the Town. That the sum of five hundred dollars ($500.00) be and hereby is appropriated for the use of said Committee, same to be raised by general tax. Said Committee to report not later than next Annual Meeting.
In compliance with this vote, the Moderator appointed to the Committee: John B. Davidson, of 61 Freeman Street ; J. Howard Hayes, of 27 Ashland Street; Mary G. Shaw, of 5 Lafayette Street; William P. Shine, of 109 Hillside Avenue; and Charles C. Warren, of 15 Maple Street. Poor health necessitated Mrs. Shaw's resignation on November 2, 1938; and on the fifteenth of the following month, the Moderator appointed Louise Bradley, of 20 Maple Street, to fill the vacancy.
The Committee met for the first time on July 18, 1938, organizing by the election of Mr. Warren as chairman and Mrs. Shaw as secretary. After Mrs. Shaw's resignation,
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TOWN RECORDS
Miss Bradley served as secretary. At the Annual Town Meeting held in March, 1939, Mr. Hayes reported that the Committee, because of the magnitude of its task, could not file a final report until 1940.
After conferring with the Board of Selectmen, the Committee familiarized itself with the laws concerning re- lief. Administrative regulations and practices were dis- cussed in numerous conferences with Clifford W. Cook, Agent to the Board of Public Welfare; Neil S. Peters, Ex- ecutive Secretary of the Emergency Unemployment Com- mittee and local W. P. A. Coordinator; heads of many Town departments; and supervisors of W. P. A. projects. Representatives of the Arlington Taxpayers' Association ap- peared before the Committee, and a joint session with the Subcommittee on Welfare of the Finance Committee was held. The Committee interviewed an expert in municipal government, and also held a public hearing.
Foreword
The past ten years have brought a rapid development of public welfare services. While this has to some extent been made necessary by the depression, it has in part been caused by, and itself furthered the growth of a changed attitude towards the problems of the underprivileged. It is very difficult for the average citizen today to evaluate the welfare program in his community. Not only must the standards of adequate relief be adjusted to locality and re- sources, but many intangible factors hard to assess have come to be recognized as essential to an effective welfare department - for example, its attitude toward its clients, and the degree to which it is able to maintain their morale and initiative.
Before 1929, little thought was given to the needs and problems of welfare recipients. Local departments were only a fraction of their present size, and the greater part of
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aid was given by private charitable organizations with vary- ing aims and standards. Certain trends toward the present system, however, have long been discernible. Our system of local poor relief is a heritage from the early English colon- ists ; and to this were added during the last half of the nine- teenth century such services as care for children in need, certain of the handicapped, and the tuberculous. With the unemployment and poverty following the economic disrup- tion of 1929, the alleviation of distress became the prime concern of State and Federal, as well as local government.
There was not time to build up administrative machin- ery step by step: it had to be produced almost full-grown. Consequently, many changes in law and policy were found necessary; and the average citizen, already bewildered by new concepts of governmental responsibility, was further bewildered by these. Even within his own community he might find two or more local public welfare agencies.
A degree of State and Federal supervision over local welfare programs has come with State and Federal finan- cial participation in them. While this simplifies welfare problems, it also makes them more remote to the average citizen-policies and practices in different communities have become more nearly alike, but he has less voice in their formation. Furthermore, responsibility for public welfare has not yet been satisfactorily allocated, nor even de- limited.
"Welfare" is an elastic word, sometimes referring only to direct aid given by the community, at other times includ- ing many other services-such as medical care, responsibil- ity for delinquent children, etc. Before 1933, when Con- gress passed the Emergency Relief Act, aid given by local welfare agencies was referred to as "welfare." Since the passage of that act and the subsequqent broadening of the social program, "relief" has been the commoner term, es- pecially with reference to Federal aid. However, the fact that State, Federal, and local governments combine in
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granting many types of aid has brought confusion in the use of the terms. While there are many differences in the laws pertaining to each form of aid and the rules governing eligibility, to most laymen today the words "welfare" and "relief" are synonymous, and they are used interchangeably in this report. A distinction is usually drawn between work relief and direct relief.
Your Committee appointed to study and investigate all forms of relief in Arlington interprets its duties to consist of: (1) setting forth the specific forms of relief, with the laws and regulations governing each form, and the expendi- tures involved; (2) determining whether the local depart- ments adhere to the law, and maintain for their clients an adequqate standard of living; (3) analyzing relief costs; (4) studying the personnel, equipment, administrative costs, and policies of the local departments; and (5) making recommendations for any changes which we feel are needed.
Responsibility for public welfare in the Town of Arl- ington is vested in the Board of Selectmen, who act as the Board of Public Welfare (Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 41, Section 20), and as the Emergency Unemploy- ment Committee (Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 5). The Board of Selectmen appoints two officials to have direct supervision over all forms of public relief in the Town: (1) a welfare agent, under whose jurisdiction come Aid to Dependent Children, Old Age Assistance (un- der the Bureau of Old Age Assistance, which see), Soldiers' Relief, and Welfare Aid; and (2) a W. P. A. Coordinator, who is also Executive Secretary of the Arlington Unem- ployment Committee. In other words, the first official sup- ervises direct relief, and the second, work relief. The De- partment of Public Welfare and the Unemployed Depart- ment have entirely separate administrations. While the Un- employed Department is strictly a local affair, members of its staff have many duties in connection with local W. P. A. projects.
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ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
PUBLIC WELFARE ADMINISTRATION
Chapter I
Organization and Personnel
The Board of Selectmen, acting under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 41, Section 20, constitutes the Board of Public Welfare in the Town of Arlington. Direct super- vision is placed in the hands of the Agent to the Board of Public Welfare, who is responsible to this Board for the actual administration and disbursement of all direct relief in the Town. In Arlington, the welfare agent is also the Soldiers' Relief Agent.
In 1936, the Arlington Bureau of Old Age Assistance was established, in accordance with a State law. This bu- reau, which has general control of all matters pertaining to this form of relief, consists of the two Selectmen other than the chairman, and a third person chosen by them. Here again the direct responsibility is placed in the hands of a Supervisor of Old Age Assistance. Since the advent of Old Age Assistance in Arlington, the welfare agent has served in this capacity.
Until 1929, the poor of the Town were aided directly by the Selectmen, then called the Overseers of the Poor when acting in that capacity. The first welfare agent in Arling- ton was appointed June 1, 1929, when welfare problems were beginning their rapid growth toward the gigantic business which they comprise today. In that year there were only two employees in the department, and the total ex- penditures were $48,115.02. With the economic depression and the resultant unemployment in the early part of this decade, welfare case loads and expenditures grew enormous- ly. The development of the Federal program necessitated changes in our State laws in order to conform to it, and to receive Federal reimbursements. The local department grew
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TOWN RECORDS
correspondingly; and today, in addition to the welfare agent and the Town Physician, who gives a great deal of his time to the health problems of relief recipients, there are nine employees in the Department of Public Welfare. Outside the department, a regular police officer is assigned to the investigation of Welfare Aid cases. Following is a list of the present employees of the department, with sal- aries, lengths of service, and summaries of duties.
Clifford W. Cook, 6 Iroquois Road Annual Salary $2,820.00
Agent to the Board of Public Welfare Supervisor of Old Age Assistance Soldiers' Relief Agent
Employed in department since December 15, 1932 General supervision under Board of Public Welfare of all work in connection with the administration of Wel- fare Aid, Aid to Dependent Children, Old Age Assist- ance, Soldiers' Relief, State and Military Aid
(a) Mrs. Olive W. Holton (widow), 8 Schouler Court $1,560.00
Chief clerk, stenographer and typist Employed in department since April, 1931 Principal duties : Stenography and typing of all correspondence, preparing and typing of weekly warrants and vouchers; disbursement of Sol- diers' Relief, State and Military Aid, and post- ing to these ledgers ; general supervision of cleri- cal work of office
(b) Mrs. Fannie Bingham (widow),
389 Massachusetts Avenue $1,040.00
Clerk and typist Employed in department since August, 1932 Principal duties: Responsibility for proper ac- counting of purchase orders, receiving and checking of bills from grocers, fuel dealers, hospitals, and others
.
PUBLIC WELFARE DEPARTMENT
ORGANIZATION CHART
BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE ( BOARD OF SELECTMEN )
AGENT TO BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE
(SUPERVISOR OF OLD AGE ASSISTANCE) (SOLDIERS RELIEF AGENT)
WELFARE AID AID TO DEPENDENT CHILDREN SOLDIERS'RELIEF
BUREAU OF OLD AGE ASSISTANCE
CHIEF CLERK
(2 VISITORS )
VISITOR ON OLD AGE CASES (I VISITOR)
A.D.C. VISITOR
SETTLEMENT CLERK
SOLDIERS RELIEF VISITOR
TOWN PHYSICIAN MEDICAL CARE OF ALL RELIEF RECIPIENTS
OUT PATIENT CLINIC
WELFARE AID VISITOR
DISBURSING CLERK
CLERK TYPIST
CLERK - TYPIST
BOOKKEEPER~ CLERK
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ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
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TOWN RECORDS
(c) William E. Comeau, 66 Varnum Street $1,300.00 Disbursement clerk
Employed in department since July, 1933 Principal duties : Disbursement of all orders and cash vouchers to Welfare recipients; work in cooperation with local W. P. A. office, keeping up to date a permanent payroll record of all Welfare and Soldiers' Relief cases who are em- ployed on W. P. A. or occasionally on other town work
(d) Ernest W. Floyd, 67 Mount Vernon Street $1,248.00 Settlement clerk
Employed in department since April, 1933 Principal duties: Obtaining of necessary settle- ment history from various sources in cases aided by Arlington in order to enable department to prove settlement elsewhere and to claim reim- bursement; checking of claims against Arling- ton in cases aided in other municipalities and gathering of sufficient information to allow de- nial of settlement and responsibility where these denials are warranted; responsibility for com- pilation of all Federal reports
(e) Mrs. Minnie Wood (widow), 23 Wellington Street $1,430.00
Visitor and social worker for all Aid to Depend- ent Children cases and those Welfare Aid cases in the district between Medford Street and the Lexington line
Principal duties : Visiting of new cases, revisit- ing of old cases, investigating and reporting ; as- sisting of recipients with budgetary problems, and serving in a general advisory capacity ; transportation of persons when necessary to institutions, infirmaries, and hospitals
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ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
(f) Mrs. Ethel Gray (widow), 40 Hopkins Road $1,040.00
Old Age Assistance visitor Employed in department since January 1, 1938 Principal duties : Same as those of other visitors
(g) John Travers, 7 Newton Road $1,040.00 Visitor for all Soldiers' Relief, State and Mili- tary Aid cases, and for Welfare Aid cases in the district between Medford Street and the Cam- bridge line
Employed in department since May 1, 1938 Principal duties : Same as those of other visitors
(h) Mrs. Sadie Jalson (widow), 15 Newman, Way $1,040.00
Bookkeeper, posting clerk and typist Principal duties : Posting to ledger accounts of all Welfare Aid, Old Age Assistance, and Aid to Dependent Children cases ; assisting in compila- tion of all State and Federal reports
(i) Dorothy Washburn, 221 Lowell Street $780.00 Typist and clerk
The entire staff of the Department of Public Welfare, with the exception of the last two employees, Mrs. Jalson and Miss Washburn, are under Civil Service. These two employees are paid from the welfare appropriation.
Since 1933, a police officer has been assigned to the Department of Public Welfare by the Board of Selectmen. His duties are primarily to investigate all Welfare Aid cases, to check the criminal records of applicants, and prosecute in court cases of attempted fraud. At present Officer William M. Germain is doing this special work. His salary is paid from the police appropriation, and he uses a welfare car for transportation. He has a record of all ac- tive Welfare Aid cases, which he constantly checks to pre- vent fraud. For each case that he investigates, he files
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TOWN RECORDS
three reports, one with the welfare agent, one with the Board of Selectmen, and one with the Chief of Police.
Transportation
The Department of Public Welfare has two Chevrolet two-door sedans, a 1937 model and a 1939 model. One of these cars is used by the police officer assigned to the de- partment; and the other by the agent, the visitors, and sometimes by the settlement clerk, for office business. Both cars are kept in private garages, at a cost of $6.00 each a month. The visitors submit a monthly slip for carfares in connection with their work.
Relation of Administrative Costs to Total Expenditures
The following tables indicate the amounts spent for administration of the Department of Public Welfare, as compared with the total expenditures for welfare, during the years 1937, 1938, and 1939.
1937
Welfare Aid
$107,847.12
Salaries
$10,475.76
Old Age Assistance.
78,006.48
Office Exp. 2,989.97
Aid to Dependent Children
28,269.13
Soldiers' Relief
24,309.18
State & Military Aid.
2,388.00
*$240,819.91
*Gross expenditures for all forms of aid
Administrative costs for 1937 were slightly over 51/2% of the total expenditures for that year.
1938 :
Welfare Aid $119,337.36
Salaries
$10,812.40
Old Age Assistance
98,556.93
Office Exp.
1,716.98
Aid to Dependent Children
34,225.95
Soldiers' Relief
24,440.59
$12,529.38
State & Military Aid
2,700.00
*$279,260.83
*Gross expenditures for all forms of aid
Administrative costs for 1938 were slightly under 41/2% of the total expenditures for that year.
$13,465.73
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ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
1939
Welfare Aid
$122,504.38
Salaries
$10,958.00
Old Age Assistance
120,714.12
Office Exp. 3,619.54
Aid to Dependent Children
41,284.95
Soldiers' Relief
26,190.91
State & Military Aid.
2,750.00
*$313,444.36
*Gross expenditures for all forms of aid
Administrative costs were about 42/3% of the total ex- penditures for that year.
Headquarters and Equipment
The Robbins House, behind the Public Library, has been headquarters for the Arlington Department of Public Welfare since 1933. Five of the twelve rooms are used for welfare offices, and the rest for W. P. A. activities. The first floor contains a disbursing room for local welfare, and an adjoining room used for the disbursement of Federal Sur- plus Commodities, to which recipients of any form of re- lief, as well as certain other persons, are entitled; here also are the main welfare office and the agent's private office. On the second floor are the visitors' room, used for inter- viewing applicants and for making out reports; the clinic ; and two offices used by the Federal Recreational Project. The entire third floor is given over to a W. P. A. engineer- ing project.
These offices are centrally located, near the Town Hall and other Town Departments. Heating, lighting, and ventilation are satisfactory. There is no sprinkler system in the building. The work area is adequate, and should con- tinue to be so for a long time. As added space is needed for welfare work, other rooms in this building may be taken over and the W. P. A. activities moved elsewhere.
The department has two telephones, one listed under the Department of Public Welfare, and the other under Soldiers' Relief. In the main office is a large fire-proof safe in which all case folders are kept. The office equipment is
$14,577.54
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TOWN RECORDS
adequate for the present time. About the first of this year, a visible card index system was installed. This index, en- closed in a steel file, contains every case history, with the amounts expended, information which formerly was scat- tered in several different files. This new system has been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Wel- fare, and should prove of great assistance to a department overburdened with clerical work.
Findings
The Committee finds that the administration of welfare in Arlington by the Board of Selectmen, constituting the Board of Public Welfare, has been humane, efficient, and economical. For nearly six years, from 1933 to 1938, Mr. Ernest W. Davis, Mr. Harold M. Estabrook, and the late Mr. George H. Lowe, Jr., remained on the Board. During this period a great many of the major changes in the relief laws came, and the Board became familiar with them and the new State regulations as they were put into effect. Prior to this period, at the beginning of the depression, an equal- ly well qualified and interested Board of Selectmen had studied the needs of the department in personnel, housing, and equipment; hence the Town was prepared for the ex- pansion and complication of the relief business.
The Bureau of Old Age Assistance, established in 1936, has likewise been conducted in a commendable manner. The choice of Mrs. Roscoe R. Perry as the third member of this board was wise, because she brings to this important work over twenty years of experience in welfare problems, hav- ing served during that long period as the active head of the Arlington Welfare Council (now known as the Social Service League). The bureau has the final decision as to who shall receive Old Age Assistance, and as to what amount over the legal minimum shall be given. The Com- mittee is of the opinion that this bureau has acted prudent- ly.
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ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
Two other methods of administering welfare in Arling- ton have been suggested to this Committee. The first method was by a separate Board of Public Welfare, instituted to handle all the matters now handled by the Selectmen, the members to be elected, and to serve without pay. The other method was essentially the same, except that the members would be appointed rather than elected.
Your Committee has considered both these methods from all angles. We are of the opinion that in either case there would be a great opportunity for politics and possible corruption. If the members of such a board were elected, they would have to look from time to time to the welfare recipients for their votes. If the board were established as an unpaid commission, there would be agitation for salaries before long, and the Town would have another set of paid officials.
Recommendation :- The Committee recommends that the administration of public welfare remain in the hands of the Board of Selectmen acting as the Board of Public Welfare, aud we take this opportunity to commend the present Board of Selectmen as well as the previous Board.
Welfare Agent and Staff :- It was through the Agent to the Board of Public Welfare that a sum exceeding $300,- 000.00, of Town, State, and Federal money, was disbursed for welfare in Arlington in 1939. Needless to say, a man with such power, who has the wide discretion allowed by law in making up budgets, should be of the highest possible integrity, and should be imbued at all times with the neces- sity for economy and efficiency, as well as a practical reali- zation of the problems of the poor.
The Committee is of the opinion that Mr. Cook, the present welfare agent, meets all these requirements. His experience in this position since 1932, when the relief prob- lem was beginning to be a huge one, has qualified him to cope with various changes in the laws and regulations as they become effective. We feel that he is thoroughly com-
-
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TOWN RECORDS
petent, not only in the larger matters of administration, but also in the planning of the office routine. In spite of his manifold duties, he knows personally the case histories and needs of practically every person on his rolls. We feel also that he is conscious, at all times, of the fact that the welfare situation is affecting the taxpayer of the Town more and more vitally ; and that in matters of disbursement he is as conservative as the circumstances of the cases permit him to be.
The agent usually reports to the Board of Selectmen at its Monday evening meeting; frequently an extra session is held. He submits monthly reports, showing case loads, expenditures, settlement statuses, etc., and comparable fig- ures for the same month in the preceding year. He also pre- pares for the use of the Board comparative charts showing expenditures in the various categories of relief for the three preceding years. Similar reports are made at the monthly meetings of the Bureau of Old Age Assistance. Mr. Cook prepares many statistical records in addition to those required by law. Officials of the Massachusetts De- partment of Public Welfare think highly of the administra- tion in Arlington. Mr. Cook is President of the Welfare Agents' Association in Massachusetts.
The six clerks in the department at present are neces- sary in view of the heavy case loads. Concerning visitors, the State regulations state: "It is recommended that there be one social worker per one hundred general relief and aid to dependent children cases, and one per two hundred in old age assistance cases." Many authorities would consider even these figures far too high for the maximum service.
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