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Rehabilitating Child Welfare: Children and Public Policy, 1945-1980

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Rehabilitating Child Welfare: Children and Public Policy, 1945-1980 Rehabilitating Child Welfare: Children and Public Policy, 1945-1980 Ethan G. Sribnick Silver Spring, Maryland B.A., University of Chicago, 1998 M.A., University of Virginia, 2001 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Virginia May2007 © Copyright by Ethan G. Sribnick All Rights Reserved May 2007 111 Abstract In the period afterWorld War II, a network of activists attempted to reformthe programs that supported and assisted delinquent, dependent, neglected, abused and abandoned children and their familiesin the United States. This dissertation examines their effortsto reshape child welfare arguing that it was motivated by the "rehabilitative ideal," a belief that the state was ultimately responsible forthe physical and emotional development of every child and a faithin therapeutic services as a way of providing for children and their families. This argument contributes to our understanding of the rise of a therapeutic state, placing this notion within a particular historical period and within the narrative of the changing nature of American liberalism. The rehabilitative ideal and the child welfare network emerged out of a confluence of trends within American liberalism, social welfare agencies, and social work approaches in the period after 1945. This study provides detailed examination of this phenomenon through the lives of Justine Wise Polier, Joseph H. Reid, and Alfred J. Kahn, and the histories of the Citizens' Committee forChildren of New York, the Child Welfare League of America, and the Columbia University School of Social Work. Investigations of the developments in juvenile justice, fostercare and adoption, child protection, and federalassistance to child welfareservices over the 1950s and 1960s demonstrate how the rehabilitative approach shaped child welfare reform. In each of these areas, the child welfarenetwork and the rehabilitative ideal achieved great influence by the 1960s. By the 1970s, however, new ideological and intellectual trends challenged the rehabilitative ideal and the postwar activists. Exemplifiedby Marion Wright Edelman and the Children's DefenseFund, these new lV activists and organizations had a more ambivalent attitude toward the role of the state and its intervention in familiesthan the postwar network. These new perspectives transformedthe approach to and the justification forreforming child welfarepolicy, and continue to shape public policy forchildren and families. V Rehabilitating Child Welfare: Children and Public Policy, 1945-1980 Table of Contents Introduction: The Paradox of Child WelfareHistory 1 Chapter 1: The Emergence of the Child WelfareNetwork 20 Chapter 2: Rehabilitating Juvenile Justice 66 Chapter 3: "Orphans of the Living," Foster Care and Adoption 123 Chapter 4: Rehabilitating Child Protection 185 Chapter 5: Rehabilitating the Welfare State: National Policy forChildren 228 Chapter 6: "What Ever Happened to Child Welfare?"197 4-1980 281 Epilogue: The Continuing Crisis of Child Welfare 336 Bibliography: 347 Vl Acknowledgements It is impossible to present a proper accounting of all the assistance I received in completing this dissertation; the number ofpeople who have helped are too numerous and the debts are too great. This is my inadequate attempt to thank all those who made this dissertation possible. For financial support in the research and writing of this dissertation thanks goes to the Corcoran Department of History and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia; the Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar on "Gender and Welfare" in the University of Virginia Politics Department and especially ProfessorHerman Schwartz; the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women at Harvard University; and the Social WelfareHistory Archives at the University of Minnesota. The members of my dissertation committee have given lots of time and energy to this project. Chuck McCurdy was the perfect dissertation adviser knowing exactly when I needed encouragement and when I needed to be pushed; I will always be gratefulfor his assistance. Aftersuch a long time working together I consider Chuck both a mentor and a friend. Brian Balogh deserves special thanks forhis many meetings, emails, and conversations about this dissertation and other projects. Since the first day ofHIUS 702, I have never feltas close an intellectual affinitywith anyone as I do with Brian and I look forwardto our futureconversations and collaborations. Cindy Aron has provided nothing but encouragement forthis project and went above and beyond the call of duty in finding numerous split infinitivesand problems with subject-verb agreement. Eric Patashnik provided friendly guidance into the worlds of public policy and political science and made insightful suggestions on how to strengthen this dissertation. vu Assistance fromarchivists and librarians across the country made the completion of this project possible. Special thanks go to Sarah Hutcheon at the Schlesinger Library, Dave Klaassen at the Social WelfareHistory Archive, and the staff at the Columbia University Health Sciences Archive. Also prompt assistance from Interlibrary Services at University of Virginia was much appreciated. My hosts on various research trips deserve a special note of thanks. Eric Tencer and Gen Daftarygraciously showed me around Boston. My great-uncle Sam Hirsch provided a place to stay in New York and acted as my guide to the city. Omar Syed, Meagan Riley,and SofiaRiley Syed made my trip to Minneapolis especially enjoyable. A great group of friends made my graduate school career not only bearable but enjoyable. Thanks to Carl Bon Tempo, Brian Campbell, Kristin Celello, Andre Fleche, Peter Flora, Laurie Hochstetler, Kurt Hohenstein, Chris Loss, Carrie Janney, Rob Parkinson, and Kate Pierce. I want to especially thankChris Nehls, my frequent traveling companion, and John and Cat Mooney whose friendship sustained me as I completed this dissertation. The Woodside Park gang has always supported me in this venture, and distracted me when I needed to be distracted (and even when I didn't need to be distracted), and I thank them as well. I have also received assistance from scholars working in similar areas. David Tanenhaus has provided guidance since I firstmet as an undergrad, and has always provided helpfulsuggestions. Andy Morris has always encouraged me in this project and deserves particular thanks forpointing out a helpful source. Laurel Spindel has provided sympathy and insight into this subject. Mary Jean O'Sullivan helped me understand the Vlll world of the CCC and was a frequentconference collaborator. Wayne Carp provided helpfulsuggestions for parts of this dissertation. Unlike many of the children in this dissertation, my familyhas always provided me with love and support. My fatherhas read virtually every word of this dissertation correcting the prose and debating the arguments. My mother, as she always does, has provided support and encouragement, believing in me and prodding me to finishwhen I could not see an end in sight. My siblings Jess and Jon have also provided assistance in their own ways. My second family, the Mehtas, have also always supported this project and I want all of them to know how much I appreciate it. The greatest thanks go to Zenobia who has lived and struggled with this project as much as I have. It was Zenobia who supported me--emotionally, financially, and spiritually-and who believed that I could do this even when I had lost faith. And, finally, a special note of thanks to Kaizad whose arrival at the end of this project spurred me to completion and who has made my time away fromthis dissertation more enjoyable and fulfillingthan I could ever have imagined. 1 Introduction: The Paradox of Child Welfare History On July 3, 1899, the world's firstjuvenile court opened in Chicago, Illinois. In the firstdecades of the twentieth century, the concept of a court forchildren would spread across the United States and around the world. Germany, forexample, created juvenile courts in 1908 and Japan applied the American Progressive model in its juvenile law of 1922. Back in the United States, every state but two had created a juvenile court by 1925. The role of these juvenile courts varied from location to location, but in many instances these courts were at the center of a system of child welfareacting as a gateway to a host of institutions, services, and financial support. While federalism prevented the creation of a national child welfarepolicy, the United States was a world leader in providing forchildren in need of care, guardianship, and financial support.1 Nearly a century later, the United States no longer held such a hallowed place among the nations forits care of children. In 1997, child welfareexperts Sheila B. Kamerman and AlfredJ. Kahn could write that "the United States has no explicit national, comprehensive familyor child policy, nor has there been any such policy or cluster of policies in the past." The promising beginnings of the progressive era failedto lead to a national, integrated child welfaresystem that now exists in many European nations.2 1 David S. Tanenhaus, "The Evolution of Juvenile Courts in the Early Twentieth Century: Beyond theMyth oflmmaculateConstruc tion," 42--45;Akira Morita, "Juvenile Justice in Japan: A Historical and Cross­ Cultural Perspective," 360-367; Jaap E. Doek, "Modem Juvenile Justice in Europe," 510-512 in Margaret K. Rosenheim,
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