FOR THE CHILDREN

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 60, 4 December 1920, Page 6

FOR THE CHILDREN

A GREAT WORK

RECEIVING HOME IN TINAKORI ROAD. (By Imogen.) A work that seeius to be less known than it deserves to 'bo is that which is done uuder the Education Act in connection with the Receiving Home, for Children in Tiiuikori Jioad, of which Mrs. l'ytt-Jackacn is the manager. The Wellington area administered under this Act extends from Woodville to Nclsoif, and there are at the present time 1010 odd destitute children who are wards of the State through its means. That is, those children who were destitute or in undesirable surroundings, or who for cogent reasons it was found desirable to separate from their natural guardians, have been "committed" to the Receiving Home, and through the agency of Mrs. Pytt-Jackson have bt;on provided with foster mothers. Various formalities ara observed, and many inquiries made before this step is taken, as naturally tha Stato does not wish to interfere without good rroson in the relationship that exists befceen parent and child, but unfortunately there are men and women who never should bo parents, and girls who, taking a wrong step in life, have been left alone to boar the brunt of their burden when least able to support it. It was in speaking of such cases as the latter t]iat Mrs. Pytt-Jackson expressed the opinion that the law should bp. amended so that when a girl in. such a position as the foregoing gives information to the police as to the plight sh# is in, the latter should have power to prevent the man 'responsible for her state . from leaving the place or district, as ho has dono in so many:cases, through the lack of preventive measures. In connection witli the Education Act, under which children are committed, there is one important and somewhat disastrous omission; children cannot bs committed for neglect on the part of their parents or guardians, and when it is realised that ncglcct is the root of many evils, physical and other, the more strange it appears that such an omission has not yet 1 lx-on rectified. Because tlicv came under the heading of "neglect" many most pitiful cases have had to 'he passed by, as it was impossible to take them away from their disastrous surroundings, and all the child welfare bureaux in the world would be ineffective in many ways, unless this is remWhen a child is committed and a foster mother i 6 found for it, the State through-Mrs. Pytt Jackson aud her officers keeps closely TIT touch with it until it reaches the age of 21. Reports as to Aealtli, progress in schooling (teachers reports being received as well), behaviour, and, in short, everything about it arc sent in regularly, and at stated intervals the child is visited in its homo by the visiting officer of the Receiving Home staff. The fn.ct that Johnny (for boys as , well .as girls are taken and placed) may have the measles or the mumps; thut George is riofci behaving so well as ho might; and all the thousand nnd one details that centre around children, are chronicled in the reports that are received by Mrs. lytt-Jnckson. Schedules ore made out in connection with each child that comes into the Receiving Home, and forms? filled in, .containing their life's history, so far as it has gone, nnd like the family lawyer and the family doctor, the head of the Receiving Home must bp undoubtedly the closed repository of many histories and many stray wisps of romance, for even on tlie reverse side life has its facets of redeeming beauty. 1 Sometimes the child is in the home for a week; sometimes for a dnyi sometimes for a few hours only, for there is never any diflicnlly in securing a foster mother and home for It. Maintenance is paid by the Government, more for a baby than for an older child, an(l in each case a most complete trousscttu i' provided the little one. That for tho baby is most extensive, and includes four little frocks (two of racjjanta and two of dMaine), n cream cor? duroy velvet outdoor coat, half a dozen bibs, also petticoats, bootees, flannels (Doctor's flannel), 'bonnets, an<l a Krga soft shawl, to say nothing of other tilings. II is equivalent 111 cost to about .£lO and' from Hit's it may be seen that, .the State is no stingy stepmothor to its charges. In regard to education, children who fchow exceptional ability are provided with secondary education, and some of the reports at the home include those of children who have done remarkably well in the careers they have fol T '°With well over a thousand, children to' act as guardian to, it may be imagined that the clerical work done m con-, nection with tho Receiving. Home is very extfiUHtve. To cope with it, Mrs. 1 yttJackson has an office staff of nine, and one Toom is set aside at the home for an: office. ,It enn hardly be describod 7» spacious, but, spacious or no, the best is made of it, and o great amount of work is dono in an atmosphere of quiet and harmonious 00-operation. Harmony and co-operation are the two -words that best describe tho home, and in such circumstances it is not surprising that a. work so important is so efficiently carried out there by Mrs. Pytt-Jackson, the matron (Hiss Wilkes), and the office and house staffs. Not the least interesting part of the home is tho storeroom, where supplies of clothing and boots are kept, and where the sewing for tho establishment is dono by Miss Brown. Innumerable shelves are piled with boys 6iuts, shirts, ierseys, quantities of boots and shoos, and others for girls and "babies colthing, made up or in hulk. The'homo itself consists of two houses, with connecting links, with separate dormitories upstairs for tho small boys and older boys, and the same arrangement for the young and the older girls, and a. nursery downstairs for tho very small children. Recently what was once known as the Lahmann Home, at Miraniar, has been acquired as an adjunct of the homo ill Tinakori Road, and this will enable further work to bo accomplished in the care and upbringing of tho State s destitute children. . .