Children under the Poor Law : their education training and aftercare : together with a criticism of the report of the Departmental Committee on Metropolitan Poor Law Schools / by W. Chance.

Chance, Sir William, 1853-

Date:: 1897

Credit: Children under the Poor Law : their education training and aftercare : together with a criticism of the report of the Departmental Committee on Metropolitan Poor Law Schools / by W. Chance. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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$“ Article 143. The [superintendent] shall keep a book to be furnished to him by the Guardians, in which he shall duly enter (1) all cases of refractory or dis- orderly children reported to the Guardians for their decision thereon ; and (2) all cases of children who may have been punished without the direction of the Guardians, with the particulars of their respective offences and punishments. “ Article 145. Such book shall be laid on the table at every ordinary meeting of the Guardians, and every entry made in such book since the last ordinary meeting shall be read to the Board by the clerk. The Guardians shall thereupon in the first place give direction as to the punishment of any refractory or dis- orderly child reported for their decision, and such direction shall be entered on the Minutes of the proceedings of the day, and a copy thereof shall be inserted by the clerk in the book specified in Article 143. The Guardians, in the second place, shall take into their consideration the cases in which punishments are reported to have been already inflicted by the [superintendent] or other officer, and shall require the [superintendent] to bring before them any child so punished who may have signified a wish to see the Guardians. If the Guardians in any case are of opinion that the officer has acted illegally or improperly, such opinion shall be entered on the Minutes, and shall be communicated to the [superinten- dent]. “18. That arrangements shall be made for the medical officer of the district in which a home is situated to inspect the children at intervals of not exceeding one month, and upon the summons of the superintendent or foster-mother to attend duly and punctually upon any child that may need it. “ 19. That arrangements, where possible, shall be made for the children to attend classes for technical education. “ 20. That relief-mothers shall be appointed to take charge of homes during the absence of the foster-mothers, and that leave of absence shall be granted to every foster-mother for half-a-day in each week. “ (It may be desirable that the wife of the superintendent of the homes should be a relief-mother, as under such an arrangement the superintendent would be likely to obtain fuller information as to the administration in each home than would other- wise be the case.) “21. That the fullest liberty consistent with reasonable discipline and their moral welfare shall be accorded to the children outside the homes, the yards of which would not, as a rule, afford adequate space or scope for recreation. “ It will of course, be understood that any premises proposed to be acquired as a home must be inspected and reported on by the inspector of the district before the assent of the Local Government Board is given to the hiring or purchase of the premises, and in the selection of any house for the purposes ol a home it is very important that the Guardians should ascertain that the sanitary arrangements are satisfactory, that the water-closet accommodation is sufficient, that there is a constant supply or adequate storage of water, that there are means of obtaining sufficient hot water, that there is an alternative means of escape in case of fire, and that there is a spare room reserved in case of illness. “ When homes are provided, the Board will issue an order embodying regulations for their administration, and an order as to accounts. “Local Government Board, August, 1896. APPENDIX O. SCHEME OF THE WHITECHAPEL BOARD OF GUARDIANS FOR PROVIDING FOR THE PAUPER CHILDREN OF THE UNION. Provision for one hundred children is to be made in the form of four pairs of semi-detached cottages of simple construction, each for ten children of mixed ages and both sexes; and one cottage for twenty boys who, by reason of age, may be inadmissible into a “ mixed” cottage. The cottages will not be on one site, but on separate sites and sufficiently apart to prevent the children of the several pairs of cottages from forming one community.$