USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1934 > Part 10
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In the Town Accountant's statement it will be noted that item for clothing is small in proportion to the total welfare cost. This was due to the amount of clothing received from the C. W. A. and E. R. A. sewing projects. The greater part of the actual clothing bill was for stout shoes for men who are working outdoors in all weather.
The medical bills for the year have been heavy. After conducting a survey of methods of treating this phase of relief, this Board is of
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the opinion that the appointment of a Town physician would be of financial benefit to the town.
Also, there is a group of welfare recipients which are and always will be, a problem. It is difficult if not impossible to secure housing facilities for these people. The families are large and the children are poorly controlled by their parents. This Board suggests that it might be practical to build simple dwellings for these people on land of low value owned by the town. If this could be done with Federal help, the town would save the cost of rent for this group for years to come. If the need for these houses no longer existed, they could be sold and become taxable property.
During 1934 there have been four quarterly enrollments of boys for the Civilian Conservation Corps. The work of investigation and enlistment of the forty-eight young men who went from Reading is taken care of through the welfare department, there being in addi- tion a series of special investigations, in which President Roosevelt is personally interested, to obtain the reaction of the boys after they are discharged from C. C. C. camps.
The townspeople have been generous with donations of clothing and shoes for the E. R. A. repair projects. And the toys at Christmas time made many a child very happy who otherwise would have had little or no Christmas joy.
Through the efforts of Mr. Harry C. Young, manager of the Read- ing Theatre, 50 barrels of food and toys were collected from theatre patrons and local merchants and distributed in the Christmas baskets.
Many people from the various organizations of the town gave freely of their time and energy at Christmas. Without this generous aid the task of distribution would have been more difficult.
Respectfully submitted, MYRTLE L. LEMAN OTTO G. SCHOLZ HARRIETT L. ROONEY
To the Board of Public Welfare
Reading, Mass.
I submit herewith a report for the year ending December 31st, 1934.
The classified expenditures under the various accounts coming un- der the jurisdiction of the Welfare Department appear in the report of the Town Accountant. Although an overdraft appears in the Tem- porary Aid account, it will be noted that the balances in the remaining accounts offset this so that the overdraft for the whole department is less than one hundred dollars.
Several bills for the year 1934 against this department did not come in until the accounts had been closed by the Town Accountant and the
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Town Treasurer. Bills payable to the Town of Reading, on account of aid rendered through this department to cases having settlements in other towns, are now in process of being made out.
It is difficult to show an actual cost figure in any welfare depart- ment, except administrative, for the town's fiscal year which ends De- cember 31st. The State Department's fiscal year, on which bills for reimbursement to the town are based, ends, for Old Age Assistance, on April 30th; and for Temporary Aid and Mother's Aid on June 30th. This must be borne in mind when considering the figures shown further along in this report, where the different sub-divisions of welfare are taken up.
Of course, the great preponderance of welfare effort goes into the two divisions called "Aid, Board and Care"-those cases having legal settlements in Reading or some other town or city within the state, and "Temporary Aid," which includes those cases having no settlement in Massachusetts, sometimes referred to as "State Cases" because they come under the joint jurisdiction of the town and the state. These two divisions comprise what is ordinarily termed "straight welfare," as distinguished from Mother's Aid and Old Age Assistance.
"Aid, Board and Care" and "Temporary Aid"
The total expenditures for the year under these two accounts is some $65,000.00, in round figures. Bills rendered against the state, and bills against other cities and towns now in preparation, which apply to the year 1934, will amount to $17,000.00. In addition to this expectation of reimbursement an amount of a little over $8,000.00 was received from the Federal Government on the "one dollar in three" basis which was employed in assisting those towns which could show a proper record of welfare activities for the different quarters of the year 1933. This $8,000.00 supposedly applies to the third quarter of 1933, the first two quarterly allotments having been received during the year 1933. It does not appear likely that any reimbursement will be made by the Federal Government applying to the final quarter of the year 1933, al- though the reports requested were filed in proper form.
These receipts are not credited to welfare accounts but are en- tered as general receipts coming into the town treasury, the point be- ing that although the charges against other municipalities and the state originate in the welfare department, such sums, when received, are not available for welfare expenditures and cannot be unless the town should so specifically vote.
It would appear that the average citizen does not clearly under- stand this phase of the matter, but it is easily seen that although some $65,000.00 was appropriated for Town Aid and Temporary Aid for 1934, the actual cost to the town may be expected to be lessened by some $25,000.00. Again in this connection consideration must be given to
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the fact that the able-bodied men whose families receive welfare aid are required to perform labor for various town departments. A schedule is given herewith, showing the allotment of welfare labor to the different town activities :
Public Works Department $ 18,150.75
Town Forest
1,561.05
School Department 1,005.60
Wood Yard (Welfare Department)
2,469.50
Cemetery Department 481.35
Visiting Nurse Association
58.80
Hydrant Sprinklers (street bathing)
31.20
Traffic Signal excavation
26.40
Traffic Count (state survey)
93.60
$ 23,878.25
All this labor is at the rate of 30c an hour, representing some 79,600 man-hours. At such a low hourly rate it is a fair assumption that the town received a value of at least $20,000.00 from this labor. So we see that against our appropriation of $65,000.00 for Town Aid and Temporary Aid we may reasonably apply credits of $17,000.00, expected reimbursements ; $3,000.00 Federal Government allotment, and $20,000.00 worth of labor, which presents a net cost figure of $20,000.00 in round terms.
A monthly schedule of the case load coming under the two divi- sions now under discussion may be of interest and is appended.
1934
Cases
Persons represented
January
221
944
February
200
859
March
195
862
April
197
849
May
173
732
June
157
667
July
145
615
August
181
741
September
165
679
October
181
733
November
202
838
December
223
916
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An average of cases and persons represented for the year is not particularly illuminating except that it shows a mean of 187 cases with 786 persons. If we divide the total amount expended by the average of 786 persons we obtain an average welfare expenditure of $82.70 per person for the year.
Some fifteen thousand or more individual transactions have been entered in our accounting records for the past year in furnishing the different items of relief given under these classes and the greater por- tion of these have to be recorded a second time in what we call our "obligation ledger" so that the data required by the Federal Emer- gency Relief Administration can be assembled for the monthly reports which they demand.
A Schedule Showing "Obligations" as Compared With Actual "Payments" by Months (does not include Mother's Aid or Old Age Assistance)
Month
Obligations as shown
on F. E. R. A. report.
Actual payments by Town Treasurer
1934
January
$ 5,955.22
$ 3,213.01
February
6,170.99
5,773.71
March
7,153.86
8,330.70
April
6,267.26
5,967.67
May
3,995.69
5,329.57
June
3,452.38
4,482.67
July
3,434.24
3,682.62
August
4,609.31
5,260.62
September
3,506.66
4,031.32
October
4,225.33
4,315.60
November
5,358.28
6,585.01
December
6,493.84
8,291.69
$60,623.06
$65,314.19
It will be noted that the total obligations is about 93% of the total actual payments. This is occasioned by the F. E. R. A. regulations which do not allow us to list as an obligation hospital care, board of children in homes other than their own, payments to other cities and towns, etc.
118
Jan. Feb. ,Mch.
Apr. ,May
June July Aug. Sept. Oct. . Nov.
·Dec.
1800
$800 -
_700
700-
-600 -
600-
V
-500-
500-
-400
400-
-300-
AV
300_
-200
200-
Graph showing weekly fluctuations of welfare labor pay roll indicating seasonal tendencies and effects of E.R.A. lay-offs. Low summer level largely due to Public Works West Street job.
The above schedule indicates, perhaps as clearly as any other one thing, the necessity for keeping two sets of records in the welfare ad- ministrative department.
Old Age Assistance
At the beginning of the year 1934 we had fifty Old Age Assistance cases on our records. During the year nineteen new cases have been opened and seventeen have been closed, leaving us with fifty-two active · cases at the close of the year. The reasons for the closing of the seven- teen cases were as follows : death 11; removal from town, 4; committed to Danvers State Hospital, 1; disapproved by the Board after full in- vestigation (reimbursement obtained), 1.
The state reimburses one-third in Old Age cases having a legal . settlement, and in full for unsettled ones. The town has expended $16,719.75 under the Old Age Assistance account during the year. Bills issued by us for reimbursement against the state and other cities and · towns amount to $7,115.31, this amount, like all other welfare reimburse- ·ments, going into the town's general receipts when paid.
The whole matter of aiding aged persons will undoubtedly be sub- . ject to very material changes in 1935. Pending legislation asks for a . reduction in the age limit from seventy to sixty-five years, as well as Inore leniency in eligibility qualifications, and calls for substantial in- · creases in the weekly allotments of aid. Both federal and state action . may have a tendency toward a greater proportion of reimbursement to the cities and towns whose function it is to render the aid. If these suggestions are put in operation-and the state authorities seem certain that many of them will be written into the statutes-the town will have an increased expectation of receipts into its general funds, but there 'seenis no way to avoid the appropriation of an amount substantially 'greater than that of the past year for Old Age Assistance because all aid must come originally from the town treasury.
An expression of opinion as to the feasibility of certain methods ·of old age pension which are now occupying popular attention is not a .proper function of this department. It is certain, however, that public interest has been aroused to such an extent that very radical changes in · · the handling of Old Age Assistance are to be expected.
Mother's Aid
. The major object of this specialized form of assistance is to pro- vide proper home conditions for widows, or mothers whose living hus- · bands are totally incapacitated by reason of illness, or who are im- prisoned for long terms, or who are legally separated or divorced. A deserted wife is also eligible under certain conditions. This relief is not . properly of a temporary nature and is not entered into unless there is , a reasonable prospect of its continuing at least a year.
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The state assists in Mother's Aid to the extent of one-third reim- bursement in settled cases and full reimbursement in those cases having no legal settlement in Massachusetts. Attempt is made to maintain home conditions approaching the former standard of living and aid is given for the most part in cash if the mother is found competent to manage expenditures with wisdom.
During 1934 we have had thirteen Mother's Aid cases altogether, starting the year with nine, opening four new cases, and closing five. We have at present eight cases, representing nine adults and thirty- four children.
Of the $6,281,26 expended under this account we have rendered bills against the state and one town to the amount of $2,768.97.
These reimbursements go into general town funds when received and are not credited to Mother's Aid Account.
The state regulations call for frequent periodic visits to all Mother's Aid families and a thoroughly trained investigator of the highest type is necessary on account of the specialized nature of this class of cases.
Most social authoritives agree that Mother's Aid is a form of as- sistance which exceeds all others in expectation of its ultimate benefit to the communities whose burden it is to make financial provisions for it while the children concerned are of school age.
Administrative
No branch of municipal service has ever had thrust upon it any- thing in any way comparable to the terrifically increased burden that welfare administration has been called on to carry during the past two years. As the economic depression developed into a long-continued calamity every city and town was forced to enlarge its welfare adminis- trative scope many times over. Reading was no exception but we had some advantages which were lacking elsewhere, particularly in the larger cities.
For one thing, both the Board of Public Welfare and the adminis- trative employes have considerable personal knowledge about the great majority of families who are obliged to apply for public relief. Inter- relations between families, more especially with respect to their ability to help one another out; information as to their efficiency in handling their own affairs; problems peculiar to certain cases; the tendency of the members of a family to "get along" among themselves and to make the most of what they have; all these factors, and many others, when known at the start, tend to prevent mis-application of relief and in general bring about a more favorable condition of affairs than is possible in larger communities where nearly every recipient is an abso- lute stranger to the people whose duty it is to administer aid where needed.
121
Another advantage lies in the fact that Reading has been able to employ competent visitors and investigators at a very low rate of remuneration, these workers giving many hours a week beyond the time for which they are supposedly employed and paid and neither asking nor expecting additional pay for it. The whole operation of furnishing relief is based on proper investigation and the Welfare Board itself, realizing this, has given hundreds of hours to the consider- ation of individual cases during the past year.
In the clerical work which now devolves on a welfare department it is conservative to say that it is ten times the amount formerly re- quired in what we now refer to as normal times. This tremendous in- crease is occasioned by the voluminous information which is constantly called for by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, on which information is based the federal allotment of assistance to the town, and by the far more rig'd check-up which now obtains between the state and the town. A closer contact between the towns and cities is also now necessary, there being so many cases aided whose legal settle- ment is in another municipality.
For a time during the first part of the year 1934 we were allowed an E. R. A. project which gave us some clerical help and this oppor- tunity was taken to set up a system of records comprehensive enough to meet the greatly enlarged needs. This project was disallowed by the E. R. A. authorities for some reason after about four months and a half and the welfare department was obliged to take on the whole clerical expense and in addition to employ and pay a special investigator to cover E. R. A. cases (i. e. non-welfare cases). This additional clerical and inves- tigation expense is still an absolute necessity and provision will have to be made for it in 1935.
The pro rata administrative costs in Reading compare very favor- ably with those of other communities and with federal relief administra- tive costs. It is now granted as axiomatic that proper attention to ad- ministration lowers the total cost of welfare relief.
In conclusion I wish to express appreciation of the efforts made by the various town departments to use welfare labor to the best ad- vantage. The supervisory forces have cheerfully taken on this added burden.
The state visitors, Mr. J. J. O'Leary of the Temporary Aid Depart- ment, and Mr. Lazare Boule of the Old Age Assistance Bureau, have both worked with the local welfare department in a spirit of efficient co-operation for the benefit of all concerned.
Respectfully submitted
EDWARD E. HARNDEN Welfare Superintendent.
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REPORT OF SOLDIERS' RELIEF AGENT
Dec. 31, 1934. Reading, Massachusetts.
Honorable Board of Selectmen,
Gentlemen :
I herewith submit my first annual report of the Soldiers' Relief De- partment of the Town of Reading for the year ending December 31, 1934.
During the past year the Soldiers' Relief Department has aided thirty-six families, having a total number of one hundred and fifty persons. We have also aided nineteen single veterans, making a total of one hundred and sixty-nine people who have received aid at various times throughout the year.
The cost of veteran's aid during the year has been less than in 1933, because of the Civil Work's Program which granted preference to honorably discharged veterans. The difference in the amount of money expended in 1933 and 1934 being $5,673.06.
This Department is indebted to the Board of Public Welfare for the use of its truck in making deliveries of wood, food and clothing to Soldiers' Relief recipients.
It is not anticipated that the payments to veterans will be larger in 1935 than in 1934, provided that the Federal Government continues the program of federal aid to the town.
Respectfully submitted, FOREST H. BRYANT, Soldiers' Relief Agent
REPORT OF CIVIL WORKS ADMINISTRATION
February 7, 1935.
Honorable Board of Selectmen,
Reading, Massachusetts.
Gentlemen :
The Civil Work's Administration was in full force January 1st, 1934, and continued until April 1st, 1934, when the Emergency Relief Administration took over the Civil Work's Administration projects, and made the Federal Program one of relief.
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Al-group which comprises the head of the household and two or more dependents.
A2-group which comprises of a married couple or a parent and one child; and single women.
A3-group which is comprised of single men.
B -group consists of persons who have some income but not enough to enable them to be self-supporting.
The government issued strict regulations governing the amount of money which was to be alloted to each family, depending entirely on the number of persons. For instance, the Government Budget for a family of two would consist of the following items :
Rent $ 5.00
Food
4.00
Clothing
1.50
Fuel
1.50
Total .... $ 12.00
While a family of a father, mother and four minor children would receive $17.50 per week.
The restriction of number of hours to be worked by a laborer made it necessary for the government to supplement the worker's earn- ings by giving him surplus government foods and clothing. During the winter of 1934, coal was distributed to those who were certified to the Welfare Department as needing it. There has been no coal available for distribution during the first part of the winter 1934-1935.
The Town of Reading has been extremely fortunate in the amount of money granted to the local Emergency Relief Administration. It has been sufficient to take care of all the families who have no income and would naturally fall into the Al and A2 groups.
During 1934, all of the Municipal Buildings, with the exception of the High School, Junior High School, Highland School and Prospect St. School have been completely refinished inside and painted on the outside. All of this work has been two coat work and at the present time all the Town Buildings are in exceptionally fine condition.
A great deal has been accomplished during this year which could not have been done for many years, if the cost was to be borne from a local tax levy.
The distribution of the Federal clothing and food was handled by the Reading Board of Public Welfare. This entailed a tremendous
124
amount of extra work as the government requires a receipt to be taken for each article of food or clothing from the recipients. The deliveries were made by the Welfare Dept's. truck and the labor in connection with this work was paid for by the Welfare Dept. It was also necessary for the Board of Public Welfare to provide Emergency Relief Adminis- tration with the services of an investigator, whose duties are to periodically check by home visits, the employees of the Emergency Relief Administration.
We respectfully call your attention to the reports of the various town departments which list the projects worked on under their juris- diction.
In closing I wish to thank the heads of all the departments, the various Boards of the Town for their extremely helpful co-operation during the past year.
Respectfully submitted,
MYRTLE L. LEMAN Emergency Relief Administrator.
SUMMARY OF REGISTRATIONS 1934
Total registered
542
Total number ineligible
134
Total number A1
278
A2
71
A3
44
B
133
Non-relief
16
Total number who have gotten
work elsewhere
41*
542
542
*Only 7 1-2% of numbered registered were able to find regular em- ployment during the year.
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SUMMARY OF FEDERAL PAYROLLS
1934
Month
Amount of Aver. No. Payrolls of Employees
Aver. Weekly Payment Allotment
January
$ 19,914.53*
309
$
16.08 No. Specific
Allotment
February
17,333.68*
321
13.47
March
19,631.33*
245
16.10
April
8,403.40*
181
15.44
May
9,950.60
136
14.56
$ 10,000.00
June
8,999.93
160
14.06
9,000.00
July
9,998.91
149
13.38
10,000.00
August
9,999.48
195
10.23
10,000.00
September
9,999.96
196
12.74
10,000.00
October
10,993.00
185
11.96
11,000.00
November
10,999.13
228
9.64
11,000.00
December
11,999.67
235
12.76
12,000.00
$148,223.62
Monthly
Monthly
Aver. for
Aver. for
Year
Year
211
13.36
*C. W. A.
REPORT OF THE WORK OF THE MIDDLESEX COUNTY EX- TENSION SERVICE IN READING DURING 1934
To the Board of Selectmen :
The following is a report of the work of the Middlesex County Extension Service done in this town during the year 1934.
The Extension Service has assisted the organized poultrymen in the Metropolitan-Reading Poultry Association by furnishing speakers for their monthly meetings and judges for the Annual Show.
The poultrymen in turn have co-operated in the Extension poultry projects. Three poultrymen submitted monthly records on the pro- ject, "Raising Better Pullets" while six are co-operating in the pro- ject, "Keeping Pullets Healthy in the Laying House."
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Mr. George E. Morrison assisted in the work of the County Com- pliance Committee of the National Breeder Hatchery Code.
The County Egg Marketing Committee held two meetings in the Town Hall in conjunction with the Essex County Committee.
Many farm visits were made, especially to those interested in fruit and poultry.
A pruning demonstration was given to fruit growers and also assistance was rendered in the C. W. A. project for cutting down neglected fruit trees. The Extension Service has been emphasizing the danger of neglected trees in breeding pests such as the apple maggot.
Moving pictures of apple picking and packing, cost figures and details of production were presented at a winter meeting.
Six 4-H clubs carried on activities in clothing, poultry and gar- dening under the leadership of Mrs. L. M. Gale, Mrs. Herbert Hen- derson, Miss Gwendolyn Hunter, Mrs. Roland Perry, Mrs. Harold White, Mr. Charles Melendy and Mrs. Ida C. Lucas. Mrs. Herbert Henderson heads the 4-H Town Committee. In January, club members took part in a town rally and in March the sectional rally was held in Reading. Other sectional activities of interest to local club members were the annual dress contest, poultry judging school, and 4-H garden field day at the Waltham Field Station. The annual spring exhibit and program was held in conjunction with the May meeting of the P .- T. A. The members of the club put on a mock club meeting as their part in the program. The first prize winners were Barbara Marshall, Annette Benton, Irma Wren, and Elizabeth White. John Dobbins and Ernest Marshall were awarded a two-day trip to the Massachusetts State College on their excellent work in gardening and poultry.
That homemakers in Reading take advantage of the Extension Service program is shown by the continued enrollment in Extension Service groups. The program for the last year has included Foods and Nutrition, Home Management and Home Grounds Improvement. Eight groups in different parts of the town are carrying on the program.
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