HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT A study and critical analysis of 910 children who were placed in foster homes by the State Charities Aid Association and who are now eighteen years of age or over. BY THE STATE CHARITIES AID ASSOCIATION MADE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF SOPHIE VAN SENDEN THEIS Foreword by HOMER FOLKS 1924 PUBLICATION No. 165 STATE CHARITIES AID ASSOCIATION 105 EAST 22nd STREET NEW YORK STUDY STAFF SOPHIE VAN SENMEN THEIS.. CoNsTANcEz GooDRIcH.................. EDITH DUDLEY................Supej MARiY AUGUSTA CLARK....... -........ -.-~Associate rvisor of Field Work.-............Statistician Field Workers RUBY S. BERR FLORENCE C. MALLON MARIoN E. BRAINER ELZzABETH E. Nyz EDITH W. FOSDICK CORNELIA M. OUGETE MARYr A. HUDSoN EGmoNT RuSCHKE HELEN KERR MARGARET SHATTUCK RICHARD LIT BERTHA STEVENS SARA MCCLEARY EL.AINE SWANSON MARY M. MACKAY CAROLINE E. WILSON ELIZABETH W. Guy, Advisor Office Assistants RENE HENDERSON PAULINE SHALITA I CORINNE A. SHERMAN MARGARET C. TIMPSON ADVISORY COMMITTEE Miss GRACE ABBOTT DR. OTns W. CALDwELL MR. GEORGE F. CANFIELD DR. Louis I. DUBLIN MRt. HO~ME FOLKS DR. BERNARD GLUECK. M-R. CHARLES H. JOHNSON Miss JULIA C. LATHRop DR. FRANK McMuRRY~ DR. THOMAS W. SALmoN DR. HENRY W. THURSTON MISS MARGARET S. WHITNEY DR. ROBERT S. WOODWORTH Chief, Federal Children's Bureau Principal, Lincoln School of Teachers College President, State Charities Aid Association Chief StatisticianMetropolitan Life Insurance Co. Secretary, State Charities Aid Association Psychiatrist (formerly with the Joint Committee on Methods of Preventing Juvenile Delinquency) Managing Director, Valeria, Home (formerly Secretary of the New York State Board of Charities) Ex-Chief, Federal Children's Bureau Professor of Elementary Education, Teachers College Professor of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University In charge of Department of Child Welfare, New York School of Social Work Member of the Child Pkacing Committee, State Charities Aid Association Professor of Psychology, Columbia University 2 FOREWORD H OW do adopted children turn out? How many of them live up to the standards of the families and communities in which they are placed? Tradition has it that every family has a black sheep. The saying is quite untrue, for we all know many families in which there are no such failures and a few in which there are more than one. How many black sheep are there among adopted children? This question is of interest to everyone. It is of great interest to social workers, scientists, philanthropic. citizens and legislators. It is of supreme interest to those who have adopted children or contemplate doing so, to needy children for whom adoption is one possible method of care, and to agencies and officials who have assumed responsibility for the care of such children. This report is a wholly unique and we believe very valuable contribution toward an answer to the above questions. It deals with 910 children placed in foster homes, who are now from 18 to 40 years of age, and it presents the facts as to the present status of these grown-up children which were secured by careful personal inquiry. These homeless children were placed in family homes by the New York State Charities Aid Association. This Association is a voluntary organization of citizens, whose purpose is to assist in the improvement and wise development of all governmental agencies in the state, dealing with public relief and public health. In the very important division of public relief dealing with dependent children, the Association decided some twenty-five years ago that one of the ways in which it could help most effectively was to aid officials and institutions by finding suitable family homes for children available for placement, and by looking after such children as long as necessary. In all, 3,363 were so placed by it from August 1898 to January 1, 1922. The group of 910 includes all of these who had reached the age of 18 by January 1, 1922, when this study was begun. 3 The State Charities Aid Association would have been a curiously complacent body, if the question had not continually recurred to it, how do these children turn out in their adult years, or perhaps, rather, how much do we know as to how these children are turning out as they grow up. We had opinions and impressions, of course, based partly on a priori considerations, partly on the accumulated impressions of our trained staff. These impressions were acquired by intensive observation of the children while under our care, and by such chance information as came to us as to their later years. These impressions were mainly optimistic, but varied somewhat from time to time. When very unpromising children seemed to respond to their new and favorable personal and community environment, we were encouraged. When the reverse took place, doubts arose. In how many cases did the favorable result happen, and in how many the unfavorable, and how permanent wesE these changes? Frankly, we did not know. We wanted very much to know, and at the end of twenty-five years of work, we laid before the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, a request for a grant to enable us to secure detailed information as to all our children who had then reached the age of eighteen. The Memorial very kindly made such a grant, and subsequently supplemented it. Our primary question, as to how this particular group of children turned out, naturally suggests other questions-how do these children compare with children cared for by other methods, how do they compare with children generally in an ordinary community, what light does this study throw, if any, on the age-old question as to the relative influences of heredity and environment. It may prevent misunderstandings to emphasize at this point just what this study is, and what it is not. It is a study from a social worker's point of view, as to the community value of this particular group of 910 grown-up children. It applies to them the ordinary objective tests of self-support, law observance, and response to educational opportunity. It is not a comparative study of adopted children and of children reared in institutions. There are no available data as to any comparable group reared in institutions. It is not a study of adopted children as compared with children generally. We found no unselected community group as to whom comparable data are available. We had presumed that a comparison could be made without special difficulty. It proved to be impossible. 4 It is not a study of environment versus heredity, for two reasons chiefly. The majority of children remained in their own homes during what are supposed to be their most impressionable years. We are recording the results of a real and visible struggle; but it is not simply between inheritance and environment; it is between inheritance plus early environment on the one hand and later environment, personal and community, on the other. We cannot disentangle the factor of inheritance from that of early life with the children's own parents and the environment provided by them. Further, while our data as to the foster parents and the present status of the grown-up children are almost as complete as it is practicable to make them, our data as to parentage and early environment are far less complete. We made no special up-to-date study of the family background of these children, for it was not a factor in our primary objective-what the grown-up children are like now. It is our impression that, supplemented by further study of family stock and early environment, the data in hand would yield information of real value from a biological point of view. There seems no other way in which one might approach so closely the factors and processes by which human careers are determined. The value of such a study as this depends wholly on scrupulous care in collecting and.interpreting detailed facts. Just how the study was made is set forth at some length in Chapter XIX. Those who wish to form a critical estimate of the value of its results may find it profitable to begin by reading that chapter. The first step in making the study was the appointment by the President of the Association, of an Advisory Committee. This committee was made up with the purpose of bringing to our aid, experts in various fields which would necessarily be taken into account in gathering and interpreting our material. It included administrators in child welfare, educators, psychiatrists, a psychologist and a statistician. Six meetings were held. At first, the objectives and limitations of the study were determined. At later meetings, special questions which had arisen were discussed, and, later, tentative drafts of the report, sent in advance, were considered. The greatest help given by the Advisory Committee perhaps has been advice from time to time by individual members in their respective fields. We are indebted particularly to Dr. Louis I. Dublin for many suggestions as to the form and substance of the schedule in accordance with which all the basic data were collected, as well as for his advice sought very frequently and always generously given, as to the statistical handling of the data. Besides giving advice in their various fields, each member was furnished a copy, first of the 5 preliminary draft of the report, and later on, the galley proof, and most of them submitted numerous and valuable suggestions and comments. In addition, the text of the preliminary draft was submitted to several experts in biometry, biology, and statistics. Extremely valuable suggestions were received from them. We cannot claim to have followed all the advice received, for the simple reason that much of it was mutually exclusive. Perhaps the most valuable suggestion was that of safeguarding the report from too ready inferences in the biological field and making clear its limitations in that respect. However much they differed in other respects, they agreed (with one exception) in regarding the data as extremely valuable and in hoping that it might be supplemented and further analyzed for light on underlying problems, not within the scope of the present study. While invaluable help has been given by the members of the Advisory Committee and by other experts the primary and full responsibility of the report remains with the State Charities Aid Association, the members of whose staff originated the proposal, outlined the plan, directed the field work, collated the results, and drafted the report, securing at each step such expert advice as seemed necessary, and coordinating and harmonizing from time to time, the counsels received from experts in various fields. Miss Sophie van Senden Theis, connected with the Child Placing Agency for fifteen years, and- its Superintendent since 1916, was given a leave of absence from executive duties and had primary responsibility from the outset for outlining the plan, directing the staff, preparing the draft report and completing its revision. Her exceptional ability and her devotion to the development of the Child Placing Agency seem to us equalled by the discriminating judgment and scrupulous care with which she has seen this report through its various stages. We believe that this report represents the first serious effort, to collect, at first hand, on a considerable scale, the facts as to the careers of an unselected group of foster children. It is published in the hope that it may prove to be a substantial contribution to our knowledge of child welfare and to the wise development of a program for dealing with the children whom, in a special sense, we call "needy." HOMER FOLKS, Secretary State Charities Aid Association New York, August, 1924. 6 CONTENTS CHAPTER I Why the Study Was Made............................... 9 CHAPTER II Present Situation-General Description................... 12 CHAPTER III How the Children Have Developed-Successes and Failures 18 CHAPTER IV Children Who Made Good............................... 28 CHAPTER V Children Who Did Not Make Good........................ 39 CHAPTER VI Family Backgrounds.................................... 45 CHAPTER VII The Foster Homes...................................... 59 CHAPTER VIII Education.................................... 75 CHAPTER IX Health..................................... 92 CHAPTER X Occupations........................................ 98 7 CHAPTER XI The Family Background and the Foster Iome as Factors in the Development of the Children...................... 105 CHAPTER XII Significance of the Child's Age at'Placement.............. 113 CHAPTER XIII Children Legally Adopted............................... 119 CHAPTER XIV What the Association Did................................ 129 CHAPTER XV Studies of Special Groups................................ 139 CHAPTER XVI The Foundlings......................................... 153 CHAPTER XVII Summary of Findings and Impressions.................... 161 CHAPTER XVIII The Association's Children Not Yet Eighteen Years Old.... 165 CHAPTER XIX How the Study was Made................................ 169 CHAPTER XX Further Studies......................................... 184 CHAPTER XXI Twenty-five Cases....................................... 187 Appendix.............................................. 197 8 Chapter I WHY THE STUDY WAS MADE For twenty-live years the State Charities Aid Association has been placing children in foster homes. In so doing, it has taken serious responsibilities with human lives. What has been the result? Is the foster relationship a growing vital one for both adult and child, such as exists in the natural parent-child or other family relationships? How do the adopted parents, who take a child into their innermost affections and for constant companionship, feel and think as the child grows into maturity? What is the attitude of the child? Into what sort of men and women have these dependent children developed? What positions do they hold in their local communities? Are they law-abiding, reasonably happy, useful citizens, or are they at odds with themselves and the universe?, All sorts of people have been asking these and other questions. Child placing workers especially have felt the need of stock-taking. Prospective foster parents naturally wish to know as definitely as possible how the foster children of other people have developed and whether or not they have formed lasting relationships to their foster parents. Scientists have wished definite information. Literature from ancient legends to modern novels has given evidence of the unique appeal of the foster child idea. The daily papers with their items about foster children, reflect the interest of the general public. There are available but few carefully collected data regarding the success or failure in adult life of foster children. Until now many guesses as to outcome have been made. They have ranged from the belief that a child is foredoomed to failure if he comes from a family in which there exists a serious physical or mental 9 10 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT inferiority, to the optimistic theory that any child is capable of successful development. People have unconsciously drawn conclusions from one or two instances which have come within their experience. Hitherto the Association has had to answer questions of how the children turn out perforce from general information and impressions gathered from experience, not from an analysis and interpretation of a large body of collected data. It is only in this latter way, however, that information can become even relatively authoritative. The purpose, then, of the study was to find out what kind of people our placed out children 'had grown to be, what education they had had, how they were maintaining themselves socially and economically, what their standards of conduct were and what their general place is in their own communities. Of all those who have been placed by the Association since the beginning of its child placing, there were 910 children who had passed the formative stage and were mature enough to give some indication of their development. It was planned to gather together all the data already available about these children, and to collect the information about their present condition by means of personal interviews with the children themselves, the foster parents and such other persons as might be advisable. There were several reasons why the Association was in a position to make such a study. The first was its quarter of a century of child placing. In addition, a few of the staff who have been with the Association almost from its beginning, were still associated with it and were able to give the benefit of their detailed knowledge of individual children and of foster homes to supplement the records. Of primary importance too was the relative completeness of the records available. From the outset the Association has endeavored to record all available information, and its early records are fairly complete compared with the records made by most child placing organizations fifteen or twenty years ago. The information secured and the accuracy of recording it, steadily improved. Moreover, the work done by the Association has always been individualized. Every child placed has been an individual to the WHY THE STUDY WAS MADE 11 person working with him. As a result, the records are individual and detailed. Moreover, owing to the personal nature of the contact with the children, and also to the fact that most of the children were placed in nearby states, it was relatively easy to find the children and reopen friendly contacts with them, even with those adopted ten or twenty years ago. Because of the length of its service, the quality of its records, and the painstaking nature of its work, the Association felt itself in an advantageous position to make a study which should benefit not only its own work, but child welfare work in general.* *See Appendix, Note 8. Chapter II PRESENT SITUATION General Description Between August 1898 and January 1922 the State Charities Aid Association placed 3,363 children in foster homes, supervised them, and assumed with the foster parents joint responsibility for them. The group which is the main concern of the present study consists of 910 foster children-all those of the 3,363 who were eighteen years of age or older on January 1st, 1922, and who had been under the care of the Association for a minimum period of one year. There were several forces at work in the selection of the 3,363 children who were placed in foster homes. The Association made an effort to help every homeless child suitable for family life to find a foster home, but naturally the demand by foster parents for certain types of children determined to a large extent the group actually placed; for instance, since girls are more in demand than boys more of them were placed. The pressure on the part of the public officials to get certain children off the pay list influenced placements. Orphan asylum officials referred particular children for whom homes had to be found because they were getting too old for the institution or were considered a bad influence in a group with other children. All these facts determined in a large measure why these particular children rather than others were placed. They were in all probability not very different from other dependent children who had to be cared for permanently away from their own families except that naturally no attempt was made to place those who were known to be of low grade mentality, were epileptic or were for one reason or another in need of specialized institutional care. 12 PRESENT SITUATION Before presenting the results of the study it is necessary to give a few general; facts about the 910 children who made up the group. GENERAL SOCIAL DATA Number Family Background: Foundlings-nothing known of family...... 217 Some record of family background......... 693 Religion: Protestant................................ 804 Catholic.................................. 97 Jewish.................................... 9 Color: White........................... 861 Colored................................... 49 Sex: Females.................................. 525 Males.................................... 385 Per Cent 23.8 76.2 88.3 10.7 1.0 94.6 5.4 57.7 42.3 Practically all of the group are American-born, and most of them are of American parentage. The age of the child at the time he is first placed is significant. The following table shows how the children were distributed. Table 1 AGE AT FIRST PLACEMENT Age at First Placement - Under 6 months............................ 6 months to 1 year.......................... 1 to 2 years................................ 2 3 "................ 3 4................................ 4 5 so................................ Number of Subjects 38 75 111 46 19 26 Per Cent Distribution 42 8.2 12.2 5.1 2.1 2.9 Total, under 5 years..................... 315 34.7 5 to 6 years............................... 25 2.8 6 " 7 "............................. 35 3.9 7 " 8 ".............................. 38 4.2 8 " 9........................... 43 4.7 9 " 10 "............................... 47 5.2 Total, between 5 and 10 years........... 188 20.8 14 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT 10 to 11 years.............................. 74 8.1 11 " 12 "............................. 75 8.2 12 " 13 ".............................. 88 9.7 13 " 14 ".............................. 72 7.9 14 " 15 ".............................. 50 5.5 15 " 16 ".............................. 31 3.4 16 " 17 ".............................. 14 1.5 17 " 18 ".............................. 1.1 18 " 19 ".............................. 2.2 Total, between 10 and 19 years.......... 407 44.6 Total group................................ 910 100.0 As Table 1 shows, a considerable portion of the children were under five years of age when placed; that is, 315 or 34.7% were less than five years old when they were placed in their first foster homes, 188 or 20.8% were between five and ten years old, and 407 or 44.6% were more than ten years old. The present age of the group is also important.* Chart I PRESENT AGE Per Cent Distribution of Age at Last Birthday before January 1st, 1922, of 882 Subjects Now Living. Number and Per Present Cent of Age Subjects 18-21 415 47.1 21-25 314 35.6 Per Cent 0 20 40 60 80 100 - I - I..~~~ --- 25-30 30-40 99 11.2 54 6.1 U *See Appendix, Table 43. PRESENT SITUATION 15 As Chart I shows, 47.1% of those studied are under twenty-one, and 35.6%b are between twenty-one and twenty-five. These facts raise the question of the extent to which individuals of these ages present significant and lasting traits of character, habits or social adjustment. Will they present essentially the same traits of character and adaptation to life five or ten or twenty years from now? The varied histories and often abnormal experiences in the early lives of the study group make it extraordinarily difficult to get at the underlying individuality and capacity of these young people and to predict as to the probability of the number and type of changes which are likely to occur. It is possible, on the one hand, that the child who has lived with irresponsible, unstable parents until he is twelve or fourteen, and then stayed for a short time in one foster home after another without taking root anywhere, has succeeded less well in finding himself than the child who has grown up in a sheltered environment with continuity of training, and that the former, therefore, at eighteen or twenty presents fewer traits indicative of his own type. Such a person may be prematurely sophisticated and yet be undeveloped, showing traits that may have little or no permanent significance. On the other hand, the maturity of this particular group of children may have been hastened by their struggle for existence in their own homes and by transplantation from one environment to another. Experiences of this sort are likely to force development. Moreover, the majority of foster homes belong to the economic class in which children begin to take responsibility at an early age. It seemed that some light might be thrown on this question by a special study of the 153 subjects* who are now over twenty-five years of age, comparing them with the 729 who are still under the age of twenty-five. If the older group should be conspicuously more successful in the matter of self-support and social adjustment than the younger group, this would indicate that the general trend among this entire group of homeless children placed in foster fami*"Subject", although not an entirely satisfactory term, was the one selected for referring to the children of the study as it would have been misleading and odd to call members of this group, all of whom are now over eighteen years of age and many of them established in their own homes and occupations, "children". See Appendix, Note 1. 16 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT lies is toward a greater degree of stability and conformity to community standards as they approach middle life. On the other hand it the group between twenty-five and forty should be conspicuously less successful than those under twenty-five, this fact might suggest that the effect of the influences of the foster parents and the environment in which the children were placed was merely temporary. The comparison of the group between eighteen and twenty-five with the group between twenty-five and forty shows almost exactly the same proportion of subjects who have adapted themselves to community standards. Naturally a larger proportion of the older group are married but in the matter of measuring up to the standards of the communities in which they live, that is, in the proportion of those "capable" and those "incapable" as defined in the next chapter, the difference between the two age groups is negligible.* Further studies to check up the development of these subjects at intervals of possibly five or ten years would be valuable. An estimate of the probable degree and manner of change in the study group, or in fact in any group of individuals, is difficult. There is considerable difference of opinion as to the extent to which qualities and traits developed by eighteen or twenty-one are significant indications of later development. For the present we have to content ourselves with the only material which is available, and present our conclusions about the habits, ability, personality and mode of living of the 910 subjects as tentative. It is natural to ask where the subjects live. Almost all of the children were placed in New York or nearby states, but some households moved to other parts of the country and a number of young men have struck out for themselves and are in distant parts of the United States. A few are in foreign countries. The largest number are living in New York and nearby states, but there is a scattering of them from Canada to Florida and from New England to California. *See Appendix, Table 44. PRESENT SITUATION 17 What has happened to the 910 subjects, how many of them are living, how many of them are in their foster homes and how many are married? The following table answers these questions: Table 2 PRESENT WHEREABOUTS OF SUBJECTS Present Whereabouts - In foster homes............................ Married; in own homes...................... Working away from home.................. With relatives.............................. In institutions.............................. Dead....................................... Total known........................... Whereabouts unknown.................. Number of Subjects 272 244 190 25 22 28 781 129 Per Cent Distribution 34.8 31.2 24.3 32 2.8 3.6 100.0 Total group................................ 910 As Table 2 shows, the largest group, 272 subjects, is that still in the foster homes, and the next largest, the 244 subjects who have married and have established their own households; that is to say 516 subjects are in more or less settled households. The 190 who are working away from their foster homes include the subjects who sought opportunities other than those afforded by their local community, who were restless or desirous of trying their luck independently, and those who never settled down in their foster homes. Chapter III HOW THE CHILDREN HAVE DEVELOPED Successes and Failures Into what kind of men and women have the children grownwhat sort of people have these children who have lived in foster homes and have now reached an age of maturity become? The answer to this question is the crux of the whole study. Guesses have ranged anywhere from "Half of them go to the bad anyway," to "Ninety-nine per cent of them are successful." The only possible approach to this problem is through a study of the individual child and of the grown-up person he has become. It can be answered only by the facts about his way of living, his habits, and his participation in community activities, and it must take into account his work, his ambitions and his achievements. The obvious question, of course, is of the measure of success or failure among the subjects in their adjustment to the conditions of life. And how is success to be measured? There are as many standards of success as there are individuals. Even within a selected group having the same background and opportunities it is difficult enough to determine an individual's relative success; in the group which is being considered in this study the difficulties are tenfold increased. For here every variety of background and opportunity is represented, from the demoralizing homes in which some children have lived until after adolescence, to the cultured surroundings in which abandoned children have grown up from babyhood. The foster homes themselves offer a varied measure of opportunity. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary at the outset of such a study as this to find some standard independent of differences in 18 HOW THE CHILDREN HAVE DEVELOPED 19 upbringing, opportunity and achievement, which shall in some valid way measure the subject's ability, general standing, and his relation to his community. It was necessary to rephrase the obvious question of success or failure, and the form in which it seemed most searching and most nearly applicable to our problem was to determine in each case"Has the subject shown himself capable (or incapable) of managing himself and his affairs with ordinary prudence?" Neither by this formulation of the question nor by any other can the difficulties of the problem be entirely smoothed away. It will always remain partly a matter of personal judgment to gauge a subject's degree of social adaptation and his ability to maintain himself on an equal footing with his neighbors; and even the answer to the question of the measure of ordinary prudence must be complicated by the infinite variety of backgrounds. Some of the subjects have grown up in plain country homes, some in cultured city households, some have gone to work at fifteen, and some have graduated from college and gone into a profession. Some subjects were placed as babies and have grown up unaware of the fact of their foster relationships; others were placed at thirteen or fourteen and have never forgotten their own homes. In estimating the accomplishment of each subject, an effort was made to consider only his capability-taking no account of his family background, the length of time during which he remained under favorable influences, or the type of environment in which he had grown up. It was an evaluation of personality and character based solely on accomplishment and judged by comparison with the good standards of his own community and not by an arbitrary standard. To arrive at an answer to the question-How many of the 910 children (now grown up) who were placed in foster homes, are capable of managing themselves and their affairs with ordinary prudence and how many are not?-was one of the principal problems of the whole study. What is the proportion of the subjects who were successful, compared with those who failed in some way? How is this difficult question to be answered by numerical tabulations? Judgments must always depend upon the personal and 20 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT 20 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT social traits of the individual, and it is these with which we have reckoned. The more subtle characteristics and qualities of the subjects were observed. His build, coloring and looks; his preferences, as, for instance, his liking for athletics, his interest in his school work; his character shown in such qualities as self-control, will power, and perseverance; his connection with various organizations such as clubs and granges, and his religious affiliations-all these things have been set down and taken into account. They make rich and valuable material. It is not, however, the sort which is valuable in tabulated form. Personality and appearance, tastes, modes of thinking and acting inevitably lose their individuality if they are reduced to classifications, and the results are colorless generalizations. Even definite characteristics like stability and instability proved to be so widely different in their manifestations in different individuals that it was futile to attempt to tabulate them. There were no sufficient common denominators in character, no general classes into which temperaments could fruitfully be divided. Nevertheless, this material is of tremendous significance and value, not only as a personal analysis and record of each subject, but as illuminating the effect of a particular foster home upon a particular child. For students who wish to understand more than the merely external facts, knowledge of the psychological and emotional make-up of the individual-that is, knowledge of what kind of human being he is-is as necessary to an understanding of his development as is information about his income and the number of types of jobs he has had. Moreover, it is only when one knows these highly personal facts about the subject that one can judge what effect his foster home and his foster parents 'have had on him; that one can trace the inter-action of the child's temperament and the foster parents', and can understand the influences which have probably helped to mould his character and habits. It is only by quotations that these characteristics can be presented. Subject is a man of thirty four, married. Appearance: Thick-set, redfaced, healthy looking, laughing eyes. Tastes: Motorcycle enthusiast, very gregarious. Personality: Unusually friendly, smiling, genial, pleasant man HOW THE CHILDREN HAVE DEVELOPED 21 ner. Happy disposition, convivial fellow. Character: Works regularly but not over-ambitious; comfortable, satisfied nature. Warm-hearted and generous, honest and decent. Subject is a boy of nineteen, unmarried. Appearance: fine looking, well-built, regular features, large, expressive, brown eyes, thick, dark hair, dark skin, rosy cheeks, face oval in shape, expressive and interesting. Tastes: Enjoys being out of doors. Enjoys reckless, dare-devil, spectacular things. Has a certain style and is fastidious in choice of clothes. Habits: Happy-go-lucky, irresponsible, has cultivated a flirtatious manner and tries to win strangers' sympathies by his pleasant manners. When out of work is easily discouraged, thinks the world owes him a living. When he has a little money in his pocket, he is satisfied with life. Character: Lacks ambition and perseverance. Apparently satisfied if he has a bed and food; as long as these are provided by some one he is content. Subject is a girl nineteen years old. In college. Appearance: Very sturdy, plump figure, heavy, light-brown hair arranged simply, large gray eyes. Full face and rounded features, considerable refinement and a frank expression. Dresses in good taste. Tastes: Particularly fond of athletics, expert swimmer. Likes to read and shows good taste in literature. Fond of music and dancing; domestic. Wants to be a teacher. Personality: Refined instincts and good intuition. Very fond of children and competent in handling them. Good poise and no timidity. Character: Good selfcontrol, thoughtful, level-headed and has become quite practical. She is entirely unspoiled, is unselfish and without conceit. She has good initiative and is ambitious. The subjects' social life was also taken into consideration and it was found that of the 585 subjects whose social connections were known, 177 or 30% were affiliated with some sort of club, lodge or organization. There were, for instance, 39 members in lodges and granges, 14 in school or college clubs, 27 in the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., and the others in athletic clubs, civic or political organizations, library clubs, social clubs or orchestras. An analysis of the religious activities of the subjects showed that of nearly 600 whose relations to church were known, more than 400 were interested and took part in church affairs; 250 of the 400 were noteworthy for regular attendance and active participation in church life; 46 were members of church clubs or societies. The following examples tell something of the social and community life of the subjects. One subject is on friendly terms with neighbors but knows only a few of them intimately. Attends church regularly. On one Sunday visits his foster mother and the next his mother-in-law. Has always been a regular church-goer. Is a member of the Grange. Another subject knows few people in her neighborhood, has many friends. Foster father says subject makes friends very easily and keeps them. She shows her best side to her friends. She goes regularly to 22 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT church and takes part in the activities, belongs to the Young People's Society at church, also to a girls' club which is purely social. Another subject is "an outcast in his community." Another, a boy of twenty-one, is popular with all the neighbors for 15 miles around. He seldom goes to church; claims he had too much of it when a lad, but goes to all church social gatherings. Is a member of the Grange. Another knows only a few of her neighbors, as she lives in the city. She is on friendly terms with those she knows, has many friends and acquaintances of both sexes, has been a member of her church since she was twelve years old, is interested in Sunday School and Young People's Society and an active worker in both. She is also a member of a college club. These quotations and statements about the subjects give qualitative individual descriptions topic by topic but clearly a general summing up of all the traits and qualities of the subject and an evaluation of them was needed. "Did the subject show himself capable (or incapable) of managing himself and his affairs with ordinary prudence?" was the question which was used as a general standard to estimate the subject's adjustment to life. The factors considered in answering the question of the subject's capability or incapability with regard to managing himself and his affairs with ordinary prudence were the personal characteristics described above; his common sense, his general reputation and place in his community; his earning capacity and degree of self-support; his school and work record; and his sense of responsibility. The decision was based not solely on the opinion of the visitor, but on what neighbors, foster parents, teachers or employers said. This was in accordance with our plan of judging the subject according to the better standards of his own environment and not by an arbitrary standard. It involved necessarily a careful balancing of evidence in each case, and every case was considered individually by the visitors and the supervisor. In spite of differences of family background and temperament among the subjects, certain facts about their managing their lives could be made the basis of classification. Those who support themselves honestly and adequately, work steadily, are law-abiding, who live in accordance with the better standards of their community and have good social and personal ethics, are rated "capable". Those who fail to get on either because of irresponsibility or HOW THE CHILDREN HAVE DEVELOPED 23 lack of general ability are, on the other hand, "incapable". These failures range from persons unable to get on because of physical incapacity to those who are lawless or immoral. Including, therefore, those about whom no recent or reliable information could be secured, we have these three main classifications:* "Capable"-Subjects who are law-abiding, who manage their affairs with good sense and are living in accordance with good moral standards of their communities. "Incapable" —Subjects who are unable or unwilling to support themselves adequately, who are shiftless or have defied the accepted standards of morality or order of their communities. Unknown Capability-Subjects who were not sufficiently well and recently known to be classified. The number of subjects in each group is as follows: "Capable".................................... 615 "Incapable".................................. 182 Unknown Capability.......................... 113 "Capable Subjects." It was thought at first that the 615 "capable" subjects should be graded as to levels or degrees of ability and success. Plans were worked out, only to be discarded as useless and arbitrary. What should be taken as a basis for judgmentincome, character, physical development, popularity, or social position, or a combination of them all? Should the subject who is a physically robust young man, earning his living at strike-breaking and who probably has one of the best incomes of the group, be graded higher or lower than the timid, respectful, slowly advancing clerk in a New York City bank? Is the girl who has had some high school training, and is the dutiful daughter at home with her foster parents, more or less capable than the twenty-two-year-old subject who did not even finish the grades, who married at eighteen, is the mother of two sturdy children, and is helping her husband to make a living on their tenant farm? There will probably be general agreement that a young woman of thirty-one who through *See Appendix, Table 45. 24 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT her own efforts has secured an education and is now the competent secretary of the head of a first-class school, and who has won recognition and affection for herself through her excellent character, ability and generous spirit, should be considered in the upper levels of "capables." But how about the girl of twenty-three who has had every possible encouragement and assistance from her foster parents, who wished her to go to college but who had no interest in study? She likes music but does not care to practice. She is pretty, clever, popular with the boys, but considered selfish and domineering. She has taught successfully, and always has a beau. In what level of "capables" should she be graded? It has seemed wisest, therefore, to claim for this group only the general fact of satisfactory adjustment to life and to make no further ranking of their achievements. "Incapable Subjects." It was relatively simple to distinguish among the 182 incapable subjects those who are socially harmless from those who are socially harmful. Four classifications were made of the incapable group: Harmless-Irresponsible or shiftless persons of limited capacity or inferior character, or those who are incapacitated but who are not anti-social: "On Trial"-Persons who because of some previous offense against social standards need special supervision and whose future development is not clearly indicated; In institutions-Inmates of custodial or correctional institutions; Harmful-Persons now in conflict with law or with accepted standards of morality. Unknown Capability. The 113 unknown subjects need some explanation. If their capability were known, would the distribution of successes and failures agree approximately with that in the known group, or would it be such as to throw into confusion the conclusions we have arrived at in this study? Our opinion, based on a careful analysis* of this unknown group, is that its distribution between the capable and different grades of incapable, would be approximately the same in proportion as that of the known group. "Knownness" was bound to be a relative matter. There is a *See Appendix, Note 2. HOW THE CHILDREN HAVE DEVELOPED 25 shadow-line between the unknown and those of whom the Association or some other organization or individual had discriminating knowledge but perhaps not absolutely up-to-date information. This latter group was made up for the most part of subjects who had presented serious mental and moral problems and with whom little progress had been made up to the time they were last heard of; or in some cases no special effort was made on the part of the staff to have an interview with the subjects as there seemed to be enough general information available to determine their capability or degree of incapability. It seemed to the staff that the subjects whose habits and characteristics and tendencies were well understood should be included in the known group rather than in the unknown.* Most of them fell into the known incapable group. On the basis, then, of this study of the individual habits and adjustments of these 797 subjects whose condition is known at the present time, how many may we say have proved themselves capable, how many incapable? How have these subjects developed? What kind of people are they? Table 3 SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT Distribution of Subjects Whose Capability Was Known Number of Per Cent Social Adiustment Subiects Distribution Capable..................... 615 77.2 Incapable.................... 182 22.8 Harmless.................. 89 11.1 Harmful................... 47 6.0 "On Trial"................. 26 3.2 In institutions.............. 20 2.5 Total known................. 797 100.0 Six hundred and fifteen or 77.2% of the 797 subjects whose general ability was known are "capable" persons. They have proved themselves able to manage their own affairs with average common sense, to keep pace economically with their neighbors, and to earn *See Appendix, Note 3. 26 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT the respect and good will of their communities. In other words, these subjects have "made good." This statement is made without allowance for the disadvantages of bad influences and neglect in early impressionable years, nor were the exceptional advantages given in some of the foster homes considered. This is perhaps a hard test for those subjects who lived under bad influences until they were more than five years old, and yet this was the only fair course to follow. All judgments were based solely on the individual's accomplishment as measured by that of his neighbors and by the better standards of his own community. One hundred and eighty-two or 22.8o, are rated "incapable". For one reason or another they did not get on. Some of them have mental or physical handicaps which interfered with their ability to get along without help and protection. Others have qualities of resourcefulness, energy and foresight to so slight a degree that they could not keep their footing if thrown on their own. Still others have demonstrated their inability or their unwillingness to conform to accepted standards of morality or order. According to our particular classifications, 77.2% of the 797 subjects are considered capable and 22.8% incapable. It is difficult to tell how the level of accomplishment of this group compares with that of the average community, because no useful statistics could be found concerning an unselected group of people and including in its range a study of personality, habits, social adjustment, education, etc. Nor were we able to find any group of dependent children who had received care other than foster home care during most of their minority, who had been sufficiently carefully studied to be compared with our group. There are, however, certain impressions which should be recorded. One must beware of using as a standard of comparison, on the one hand, a group of one's professional or personal acquaintances, or, on the other hand, the type of family dependent upon relief organizations. The study group includes all types of individuals and all classes in the community, all social levels and degrees of HOW THE CHILDREN HAVE DEVELOPED 27 opportunity. The only group with which it is useful to compare it is an equally varied one. The study visitors had the distinct impression that the study subjects are very much like other people. The group boasts no railroad or bank president-no startlingly successful careers such as one reads of in popular magazines. But-a far more important point-it reaches a good general level, so that although few individuals have achieved anything out of the ordinary, a large proportion of the subjects are decent individuals and good citizens. They have taken in the main a respected place in their communities, have shown common sense and a due regard for other people's rights, and have met their personal and social obligations honestly and adequately. Their inconspicuous lives and everyday characteristics make it difficult to do justice to this very definite achievement, for it is hard to make average people and uneventful hard-working lives sound interesting. Yet this is perhaps true only superficially; scrutinized more closely they may appear interesting and romantic-as modern novelists are at pains to prove. At close view personalities and facts emerge, which to an attentive observer make these people interesting and significant, not only sociologically but in their own right. 9 Chapter IV CHILDREN WHO MADE GOOD The "Capable" Subjects A closer view of the subjects' lives and apparently commonplace personalities, reveals material rich in human interest; lives apparently uneventful are found to be full of significance, and personalities apparently of an everyday sort become important and interesting. The careers of many of the subjects are real achievements, although a public used to sensational successes would perhaps hardly consider them such. To acquire an education by one's own effort, to work one's way through difficulties of temperament and adaptation to a stable and productive life, to maintain one's personality and ideals through changes of environment, misunderstanding and failure-all these conquests over circumstances and character may be as impressive as the making of a fortune or a place in politics. Some of the subjects have achieved their present satisfactory situation without having to struggle for it; everything has been done to help them to an education and a start. Others struggled through innumerable difficulties, sometimes with help and understanding, sometimes without; still others won out in spite of having, as it seemed, all odds against them. As we have said in the preceding chapter, there are 615 subjects who were considered "capable" subjects. It is of first importance to obtain some accurate impression of this group; but, as has been explained, every consideration was against any tabulated grading of their achievements. Only by presenting the stories of individual lives can we show the kinds of persons these subjects have become. In choosing these stories we have recognized that different types of experiences exist and an attempt has been made to include examples of those which recur. 28 CHILDREN WHO MADE GOOD 29 One subject, now twenty, is one of the most prominent men in his college-the head of several organizations in grammar school, he was an honor student in high school, and president of a very large class. Twenty years ago that boy, an unknown waif, was picked up in a bundle of hay on the outskirts of the city. He was less than three years old when he was placed with his present foster parents -plain people of little education, but sympathetic and aware of his talents and generous in giving him the chance to make the most of his ability. They say of him, "He was a very easy boy to bring up and never caused us a moment's pain. We are indeed wonderfully blessed in having such a boy." The visitor said of him, "He is studious, fond of reading, writing and debating. At the age of five he announced that he was going to be a lawyer. At the age of twenty he can scarcely wait to get into politics, where he feels he can be of the greatest service. He began to take an interest in public affairs as a boy and has been a special reporter for two newspapers. He is now taking special courses in preparation for a political career. His whole life has been governed by his indomitable spirit." Another young man, now twenty-five, was placed at five with a well-to-do family, the foster father being a prominent doctor. He was an abandoned boy who had spent several years in an orphan asylum. His foster father says that "he has extraordinary endurance, physical and mental, is resourceful, independent, has indomitable courage and energy and plenty of good common sense." That he is made of "stern stuff," as his foster father said, is clear from his career in the Great War. A splendid student, particularly in science which he had studied in two of the best colleges in the country, leader of his class, he dropped everything to enlist before the United States entered the war. He served with distinction in the Ambulance and Aviation Corps and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre. After a business training abroad he is successfully launched on a journalistic career. His present ambition is "to marry a sensible wife and have ten children." Christine is twenty-one, a young woman with very real personal 30 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT charm and ability and maturity of point of view. When she was less than a month old she was taken from her own mother after the mother's repeated attempts to kill her baby. At eighteen months she found a foster home with simple country people who have since that time cared for, encouraged and protected her. Christine in turn is a devoted daughter. As she has grown older, she has increasingly taken over responsibility for the foster family, often giving up her own pleasures for the sake of her foster parents and home. Since her foster father's death it has been Christine who has looked after the family affairs and managed the estate. At that time her plans for continuing her education had to be temporarily abandoned. She is doing office work now, but expects to take courses at a secretarial school to improve her position. Had Christine been an own child, the feeling of loyalty and devotion could not have been stronger, nor could the foster parents have done more than they did to train and provide for her. These subjects have grown up from childhood in households where they were wisely trained and where their natural ambitions and talents were generously fostered; their development from childhood to maturity was that of normal children in good homes. Children who are handicapped in early years also avail themselves equally of opportunities for development, as is shown by the story of a girl now twenty, who for ten years lived with her own extremely bad family. Her family was the gypsy type, notoriously shiftless, horse traders, leading a nomad life. There were ten children in this family, the subject being the seventh child. The family never stayed more than three months in the same place, moving around from one abandoned house to another, living now in tents and now in shacks. At the time the subject was taken away from her parents, the family was discovered living in a box car, the mother desperately ill with typhoid, and the whole familynumbering eight at that time-destitute of food and clothing. This child, Mary, had had very little schooling and practically no training. Upon coming into the care of the Association, she was placed in an unusually good home with people of intelligence, culture and means. Their only child, a son, had graduated from college and CHILDREN WHO MADE GOOD 31 CHILDREN WHO MADE GOOD 31 was married and they were quite ready to take Mary in as a daughter. She did splendid work in school; her teachers said that there would be no school problems if all their pupils were like her. She had completed the third year high school when her foster father died and she left school to stay at home with her foster mother, who says of her that she could not have found a better child. She is athletic, drives the family car, plays tennis and golf and is active and wholesome. She has a great deal of initiative, has managed her mother's business affairs for years, takes charge of all arrangements when they travel and manages the household when they are at home. Although she is only twenty, she has remarkable poise and good sense. She has also some literary ability, was on the staff of the high school magazine and occasionally writes poetry. In appearance she is attractive, charming and well-mannered. She has adopted many of her foster mother's aristocratic ways and has apparently assimilated as much of the foster background, and has made as good use of her advantages, as if she had been born into the home. Another subject is a young man now twenty-five, who came from a notoriously bad family; the father an ignorant laborer, unable to support his family without help, the mother intemperate, incapable and promiscuously immoral, had ten children, several of uncertain paternity. In such a home Robert lived for six years, then, after four years of dull, routine life in an orphan asylum, he was placed in i-iiiam home with kindIy, warm-hearted, sensible people. They found him everything that they could have wished their own son to be and he in turn was as devoted to them. The death of his foster father, when Robert was sixteen, made it necessary for the boy to work for his education, doing errands before and after school and in the noon hour. At twenty-two he graduated from a first-rate professional school. He has now a responsible executive position, is president of the alumni of his graduate school, and is prominent in several clubs and lodges; he has the respect and liking of his townsmen and a well established place in a good community. An even more striking illustration of the possibility of a suc 32 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT cessful outcome from a bad start, is the story of an eighteen-yearold girl whose family background was thoroughly bad. Both her parents were considered, on fairly good authority, to be of low grade mentality; her mother was promiscuously immoral, indifferent, unstable, slovenly and inefficient. Her father, who died about six months before the child was placed, had been unsteady and intemperate. The paternal grandfather had a speech defect, drank, and was considered "not all there." His wife, who was generally considered feeble-minded, was a beggar. The maternal grandfather was a person of much the same caliber; his wife was the only decent person in the family. Some of the aunts and uncles were of the worst group in the community. In such a background Ethel lived for ten years, then after seven months in a boarding home she was placed with simple, kindly people, who displayed unusual sympathy and understanding in training her. Her foster father helped her with her school work. Her foster mother taught her to sew and do housework. She finished the eighth grade at fifteen years in spite of her very irregular attendance before she was placed. A year later she went to work, continuing, however, to live at home. She is now earning $22 a week as a telephone operator, has held her job for more than two years, has been advanced, spends her money well and is responsible. She impressed the visitor as an ambitious, self-reliant, wholesome girl, honest, truthful, affectionate, very popular with friends, well-mannered and fair-minded. Her conduct has given the foster mother no anxiety and she has adapted herself readily to standards of living and behavior far above anything that ever came within her experience up to the time she was ten and a half years old. These and similar stories show that a normal and satisfactory development, at least up to this time, is possible even in children who have lived for years before placement under bad influences. If the foster parents prove sympathetic and wise in their training and if the children have the ability to profit by this training, many earlier influences can be offset. However, some children respond slowly to better training; some foster families lack wisdom and patience. In such cases, the evolu CHILDREN WHO MADE GOOD 33 CHILDREN WHO MADE GOOD 3 tion of the child's better qualities of mind and character may be slow and painful; it may take years and repeated trials in one foster home after another. Some children instinctively resent the encouragement of new standards and influences and some foster families expect a child to forget his own modes of thinking and acting and assume theirs overnight. One child may find his place in his first foster home, another child may require six homes before he finally finds himself. Some of the subjects of the study never responded. Examples of these will be given in the next chapter. As an example of a slower adaptation of both child and foster parents, take Joseph, a half orphan, abandoned by his unstable, indifferent mother, and placed at five with a family of good standing in the community. The man ran his own lumber business and was well-to-do. Both parents were decidedly intelligent, but unused to children, inclined to be nervous, and perhaps over-conscientious. For years they and Joseph worried along altogether. Sometimes they felt that they could not stand his obstinate, nervous temperament. He was as different as possible from his foster parents, and although they sympathized with him they did not always understand him. They hoped that he might be of a studious type. Later on they resigned themselves to his interest in mechanics and gave him a vocational course. At eighteen he left home to go to work for himself and though he has changed jobs frequently he has always found suitable work, makes good wages, and is well started on the career for which he is best suited. His foster parents are still devoted to him, and he to them, although he is seldom at home. They are proud now of the way he has worked out, even though his way is not theirs. One of the most self-reliant and vigorous young men among the study subjects, now twenty-six years old, went through a period of adjustment so difficult that for a time it was touch-and-go whether or not he should be sent to a correctional institution. This boy, whose family background is unknown, was placed when he was nearly six, and remained with his first foster parents for four years, at which time he became utterly beyond their control. He developed a violent temper, and from being merely mischievous became almost 34 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT dangerously cruel and intractable. So extreme were his temper and disobedience and his tendency to cruelty that the alienist who examined him considered him a case of moral disability, and feared that he might kill himself or some one else. He recommended that the boy be placed in a reformatory. After further consideration and four months of training and observation in a boarding home, it was decided to give him a chance in another foster home. This was a farmer's family, well-to-do, intelligent and sympathetic; people who apparently had an unusual understanding of a boy's mind. They encouraged him in his intellectual interests, which were keen, and made an effort to influence him to give up his determination to leave school and earn his living. He now has a responsible position and is making his way ahead steadily. He has planned his life and is working with unusual deliberation, is taking special courses in law, is wholly honest, reliable and responsible. He belongs to an important lodge in which he has a recognized position, is much respected in his neighborhood and by his associates, and is devoted to his foster parents. Olive, now twenty-five, was in six homes before she was settled. Her paternity is uncertain; her mother was considered feebleminded, was epileptic, promiscuously immoral, an inmate of the almshouse, cruel and indifferent to her children and slovenly in her home. Throughout the fraternity of Olive there is feeblemindedness and epilepsy. Olive herself was backward and stupid in school as a young girl, boisterous, stubborn and hard to control. From four of her six foster homes she was returned because she was unsatisfactory. The sixth home, in which she remained from the time that she was twelve until her marriage at the age of twenty-one, was a farm home. The foster father of the family had died and the household consisted of an elderly woman, her son who ran the farm, and her daughter, who taught school. Curiously though, it was apparently the necessity for taking responsibility that stabilized this difficult and quick-tempered girl. At fifteen she took over the entire responsibility of running the house and caring for her foster mother, by this time an invalid. Under the teaching of her foster sister, in whose grade she was, her former dislike for CHILDREN WHO MADE GOOD 35 study changed to a real interest in making progress. From that time on she had good reports, was able to skip grades and graduated from the eighth grade at sixteen, having been in school only six years. The family gave her music lessons, encouraged her to study at home and would probably have sent her to high school had it been feasible. Olive regrets now not having had more education, but undoubtedly she profited tremendously by her training in home-making. Apparently she has the kind of temperament which is at its best when it is of service to other people. Today, even though she now has a child of her own to take care of and the work of her farmhouse to keep up, she is well known for her generosity and kindness to the sick people in her neighborhood. She belongs to the local grange, goes regularly to church and has for years been secretary or superintendent of the Sunday School. She is completely satisfied with the farm life, is hospitable, warmhearted, affectionate and loyal. She has a healthy boy of three to whom she is devoted and whom she is training well. Fifteen years ago one would certainly not have predicted so successful an outcome for a child from her type of background, especially in view of her difficulty in getting used to ordinary, decent living. It is almost certain that the part played by the foster parents in these developments is great and that without the patience, sympathy and understanding which they displayed, the subjects would not have turned out as well as they have. Several of the foster families which we have mentioned have been people with understanding and standards rather above the average. Yet we find that simple people of little education may give their children) as good a chance as homes of a higher level of society, and that some of the boys and girls who have been brought up in the plainest way, have proved as competent and as worth-while as if they had had greater advantages. Take for instance, the story of Michael, placed when he was two witi kindly, uneducated Irish people. He was a child of unknown parentage, who soon showed traits of personality and intelligence much above his simple and rather ignorant foster parents. With unusual discrimination they recognized his possibilities and devoted themselves to developing them. They were poor 36 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT people when they took Michael into their four small rooms to share their income of less than $900, but they have prospered since and Michael's education has been their chief outlay. It was clear at a glance that Michael was better adapted to mental work than to manual. A rather pale, slender, fine-featured boy, his appearance suggested the intellectual type. He was always particularly interested in reading. He was sent to a good academy for boys. His foster mother, uneducated herself, planned his education with remarkable foresight. She got him interested in reading history and biography at a local library and insisted that he take up gymnasium work to balance his school work. At seventeen he determined on going to work, feeling that he should contribute to the family income. He got himself a job in a bank and now at twenty, having kept steadily and intelligently at work, is assistant cashier in charge of the work of six clerks. Gordon, now nineteen, who grew up also in a plain home, managed in spite of this to get an excellent education. His first foster home was with a family who were perhaps rather exacting and quick-tempered. At the age of six Gordon came to them directly from a year in an institution and was a rather frail and quiet child. This family kept him only a month. They felt that there was something wrong with him because he would sit for hours on a chair doing nothing, and because they could not interest him in anything, they thought he was sullen and "queer." He was then placed, with no interval for observation, in a simple country home with people of little education or means, but with considerable understanding of children. On account of his frail health it seemed advisable to have him brought up in the country. His very real mental ability was not recognized until he got into this foster home where his parents soon saw that he was far better fitted for a professional life than for farming and saw to it that he was educated accordingly. In spite of his rather frail physique he managed to travel four miles back and forth from school with fair regularity, graduated from high school with honors, took a summer course in teaching at a good normal school and now for four years has been teaching near home. He is established in a profession for which he is well CHILDREN WHO MADE GOOD 37 suited, instead of becoming a farm hand, which might easily have happened, had not his own ambitions and the understanding of his foster parents kept him going, in spite of the difficulties of getting an education under disadvantages. His physical condition has improved so that he is now a healthy young man. He has many friends among the better families in his community, has an excellent reputation and is a regular and active member of the church and a well balanced and capable young man. Besides these subjects who have stood out perhaps a little more conspicuously than some of the others, are the children whose abilities have not yet been tested and whose individualities have not been clearly determined. For instance, Shirley, eighteen years old. She has been with her foster parents since she was eight months old. Her foster father is a successful business man, and.the mother a warm-hearted, friendly person who mothered all the children in the neighborhood. The foster parents think Shirley almost perfect; she satisfies them completely. She stays at home; there is no need that she should work. She is a slender, well formed, well groomed girl, immaculate, never untidy, never wears out anything. She is dignified and reserved in manner, friendly and sweet. Her mother says she is "the quietest girl she ever knew." Her father thinks she is "very deep." Shirley's health has to be watched. She is inclined to worry, tires easily and is made nervous by continued application. Another subject, Richard, twenty-one, came from a wretched family. In so far as is known, there is only one member, an aunt, who was decent. At thirteen, after several years of institution life, Richard was placed on a farm. He went to the district school until he was sixteen; did not get beyond the sixth grade. He did not like "studies" but enjoyed sports and liked the farm. He is a handsome, well built boy, with nice manners. Through his friendly, easy-going ways, he 'has won a place for himself in his community, is contented with the simple life of the farm, works steadily and well. He is not lazy but rather is ready to stand aside to let people with greater assurance take the initiative. Janet is twenty-one. Her parents died when she was a baby, 38 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT and she was placed with well educated, prosperous foster parents. They were devoted to her and indulged every whim and spoiled her. She developed into a wilful, bad-tempered, selfish girl, whose chief interests were clothes, dances, and her own popularity. Since her foster mother's death she has taken over more serious responsibilities. She is considered efficient at her office and is interested in her work there. She has many friends and is active in several social clubs. Stephen, twenty-six, has worked for more than six years on a river boat and soon expects to be a licensed engineer. He likes his boat, is proud of it, and contented with his simple life. The boat and the river are his world. He is not a ready talker nor a quick thinker. Men with whom he works are his friends, and his foster parents on the farm his "folks." We have presented here fifteen stories of the subjects who have made good. No two of these subjects are alike, no two of the 615 are alike. They come from different sorts of families, they have grown up in different kinds of foster homes. There are the differences in early background, the differences in mental, emotional and temperamental traits, differences in education and training, differences in adaptations and ideals and accomplishments. The only likeness about these 615 is that they are reasonably at peace with themselves and with their fellow men. They manage themselves and their affairs with ordinary prudence. Chapter V CHILDREN WHO DID NOT MAKE GOOD The "Incapable" Subjects It was a comparatively simple matter to decide about most of the subjects whether they should be considered "capable" or "incapable"; nevertheless, in certain cases it was difficult to determine to which of the two groups the subject belonged. There are subjects who seemed capable at one time and not so at another. There are a few general comments which might be made about the 182 incapable subjects.* Their capacity for taking formal education was less than that of the capable. In fact, it was often a subject's limited ability as shown in his school accomplishment, as well as in other ways, that determined the placing of him in the incapable group. Our analysis of the group shows that 66 had "A" ability to take formal education, that is had at least ordinary ability to learn; 51 had "B" ability-those considered dull-and 44 "C" ability, that is were subnormal. For 21 the ability for getting on in school was unknown. Of the total number of incapable subjects, 58 had some conflict with the law;t 124 did not. It will be recalled from the previous chapter that 182 were generally considered below the level of the "capable" and were definitely termed "incapable". This group was divided into four classes for the purpose of distinguishing the different types. The four classes were the harmless subjects, those on trial, those in custodial or correctional institutions, and the harmful. Illustrations will best serve to show the kind of subjects who were included in these groups. Harmless: There are 89 subjects in this group which includes those who are irresponsible or shiftless individuals of inferior *See Appendix, Table 45. tSee Appendix, Note 4. 39 40 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT capacity or inferior character, or those who are incapacitated but who are not anti-social. Take, for example, William,* a subject of twenty-two who has been diagnosed as mentally inferior, but who is maintaining himself, with careful supervision, outside an institution. The visitor says of him: "Subject is subnormal mentally but under close supervision and with the help of his foster family has managed to maintain himself in the community. He shows no anti-social traits but is not capable of managing his affairs without assistance. At seventeen years of age he was in the fifth grade, beyond which he could not progress. He is a farm hand and has done fair work ever since he began work at eighteen. Most of the time he has been working for his foster family. He is now practically self-supporting, but as he spends his money very unwisely it is necessary for his foster parents to keep track of his expenditures. He is very fond of farm work, but has to be kept at it. He is easily led by 'jollying' and gets along without any difficulty with his neighbors, who make allowances for him and feel rather kindly towards him. He goes regularly to church and Sunday School and attends various social gatherings in his neighborhood, but seldom takes any part in them, remaining a spectator. He is devoted to his foster parents and considers himself a real member of the family. He is particularly fond of the little grandson of the family; shows always more interest in younger people than older. His present ability to maintain himself is due largely to the wisdom of his foster parents in understanding his limitations and in training him to make the most of his abilities." Another subject, Theresa, was placed at four with very intelligent, capable, generous-hearted foster parents. They worked hard to train Theresa well and enjoyed her as a little girl, found her companionable and responsive. The family lived in an isolated community, but the foster mother did everything in her power to give her a good education and to make life interesting for her. The foster father died when she was eight. At eighteen Theresa married against her foster mother's wishes. She is now twenty-four. *This subject is a brother of "Gordon" ---see page 36. CHILDREN WHO DID NOT MAKE GOOD 41 Her husband is an improvident sort of person doing odd jobs. The family with its three children moves about from place to place. Theresa is still devoted to her foster mother and accepts help from her, but is defiant of advice and hard to get along with and stubborn. The foster mother thinks her worn out and depressed. She is still loyal to Theresa and helps her, but is disappointed in her marriage. Chester at twenty-two is an indifferent, shiftless person who goes about from one job to another, indulges in self-pity, and has a grudge against society. He married a year ago. At the time of the study visit, he and his wife were both working under good conditions and had an adequate income. The visitor had no great confidence, though, that this would last for long. Chester looked pale and anemic; was round-shouldered, and gave the appearance of general slovenliness. He came from a bad background; in his foster home where he lived from nine to eleven he got along pretty well, but for complicated reasons was returned to an institution after only two years of foster home life. Chester now spends much of his time seeing baseball games, reading tales of adventure, seeing exciting movies, and picking up and passing along neighborhood scandal and gossip. Another subject is Caroline, now twenty-seven, who is somewhat incapacitated because of her mental illness. At twenty-one she was placed in a State hospital for the insane, stayed about a year, then was discharged as "recovered" and returned to the foster parents with whom she had lived from the time she was six years old. She is a tall, slender, pale young woman with refined manners. She has always been skillful with her needle, and is quite musical. Since her foster mother's death she has kept house very adequately for her foster father and brother. Her foster family are understanding and sympathetic toward her and she is loyal to them. She mingles very little with her neighbors, is reticent and inclined to keep too much to herself; is sometimes depressed but otherwise pretty well. "On Trial": Twenty-six subjects were included in this group. What was meant was that these subjects had committed some of 42 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT fense against accepted standards of law or morality and that their future development is not clearly indicated. Some of the subjects were still quite definitely under someone's guidance. Some of them had not been long enough on their own to tell which way they were likely to develop. Some were not intimately or recently enough known to group with the "Capable" subjects or with the "Harmfully Incapable" subjects, and were, therefore, put in this classification. Take for example, Berton, twenty-two, who went to live with his foster parents at twelve, stayed with them nearly six years, then enlisted in the Navy. He had been an amenable boy; liked his home and his school. Farm work appealed to him for he enjoyed out-of-door life. In the Navy his worst qualities seem to have come to the foreground. He developed an unstable nature, disregarded authority and became pugnacious and sought change of scene and work. While in the service he was court-martialed for drunkenness and for being absent without leave. His foster father visited him in the Naval prison and on his discharge brought him home on liberal terms. He changes jobs frequently and is generally irresponsible. His foster parents continue to be loyal to him and their steadiness may help him to find himself. Three of this group of 26 had had illegitimate children; 13 of them had spent some time in a State correctional school or a private institution. The others were included in this group because of a variety of reasons. In Institutions: There are 20 subjects in this group. These are the subjects who are incapable of managing their own affairs to the extent of needing institutional training or protection. There are 7 of them now in reformatories, 2 in Navy or Army prisons, 8 in institutions for the feeble-minded, 2 in State hospitals, and 1 in a county home. Harmful: There are 47 subjects in this group. They range from those who have kept technically out of the hands of the law but have used methods of earning a living which are crooked or who have very low standards of morality, to those who are definitely anti-social, defiant of and in conflict with the law. Nineteen of CHILDREN WHO DID NOT MAKE GOOD 43 this group have been openly in conflict with the law. Fourteen of of the 47 have had illegitimate children. The rest are considered "harmful" because of their general misbehavior and inferior traits of character. As an example of one of this group, take Anna, twenty-one, who is defiant of public opinion and continues with determination along the immoral ways that she has selected for herself. She loves excitement, goes off on trips with men, and grows more sensuous and coarse. Anna was placed when she was a baby and developed into an intelligent, attractive girl. She was pretty and well mannered. As a little girl she seemed quite unusually mature and reasonable. When she was thirteen her foster mother died. Friends of the family then took Anna, as the foster father had all that he could manage with the younger children in the family. For a time Anna progressed nicely. At about fourteen she began to be unruly and resentful of authority. She was very wilful and boy-crazy. In spite of every effort she became more and more wayward. At eighteen a baby was born. She had no affection for this child and gave it away. Anna is a competent girl and not lazy. She has ambition to succeed in her work at the factory, but at present no real desire to change her mode of living. Another instance is Oliver, a colored boy of eighteen who has low standards of living and is proud of it. He has boasted that he drove a car for two years without a license; that he now earns his living at gambling in pool rooms and at public dance halls. Oliver is a bright boy. He is physically robust and has had several good jobs. He can perfectly well earn good wages, but prefers to loaf most of the time. Oliver had three foster homes. The foster father in the first home, where he stayed from the time he was seven until he was nine and a half, and where he was happy and well behaved, died. In his other foster homes he has been disobedient and troublesome. From the last one he had to be removed because he had forged a check. Linda lived with her good-for-nothing mother and grandmother under the lowest possible conditions until she was thirteen. She was an attractive-looking girl with plenty of native ability and with 44 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT good health. After Linda came under the care of the Association she was tried in boarding homes, foster homes, agricultural camps and an institution. Each failed. Linda remained deceitful, untruthful, frivolous. She was bold with men and became increasingly untrustworthy. At intervals she appeared to be improving, but whether this was true is unknown. The people who took an interest in her for a time later gave up in despair. At eighteen Linda ran away and returned to her immoral mother. The next that was heard of her was through the chief of police of the city where her mother lived. He said that she had "raised the devil." Later we heard that she had gone off with a man to the X Hotel in Atlantic City. Cora is twenty-two. After nearly eight years in an orphan asylum, Cora was placed at twelve in a farm home where she spent five years. This home proved to be unsatisfactory. The foster father was lazy, sometimes bad-tempered, and occasionally he drank. The mother was hard-headed, unreasonable and sharp. The housekeeping was slack. Cora has always been a dull, sullen girl who was hard to get at. She was overworked in this home, and no effort whatever was made by the foster parents to understand her, and visitors tried in vain to get on friendly terms with her. After her removal from the home she was boarded. Later she stayed for a time with relatives, then had several housework jobs; still later worked in a factory. Nowhere has she been able to get along. She is untruthful, careless, self-pitying, and has a grudge against the world. At twenty she became pregnant, married the father of her child, but lived with him only a few months. She has been fond of her baby and, on the whole, given it good care. She has been "keeping house" for a widower. She does not have the respect of the community. We have presented stories of the lives of 9 of the 182 subjects who in one way or another have failed in the difficult ordeal of adjusting to life. To what extent, if at all, their failures were inevitable it is difficult to tell. Chapter VI FAMILY BACKGROUNDS We have seen in a general way how the subjects have turned out: 615 subjects are known to be law-abiding, self-supporting, competent individuals; 182 have failed in some way to measure up to the above standard. We shall now turn to a consideration of their backgrounds and of the families from which they came. In its study of the family backgrounds of the children, the staff used principally the information already contained in the records. No re-investigation was made to bring it up to date, since to do so would have involved looking up more than 770 families, an investigation quite beyond the primary objective of our present study which was to find out how the foster children have turned out. The information in the records varied in accordance with the time at which it was assembled, the person assembling it, and the circumstances under which the child came to the Association. All but 110 of the children had been placed in their foster homes by 1914, considerably more than half before 1907. In other words, their records were made when the investigation of family backgrounds was less thorough and when even facts which were known were not always fully recorded. Some of the early records contain little besides names, dates and addresses, whereas records made up ten years later almost always contain some characterization of the relatives, some statement as to their reasoning ability, their standards of living and their local reputation. The variations according to the person making the inquiry and recording it are equally striking, and may be found in two records received in the same month; one sent in by the field worker of a state institution whose record covers ten or fifteen pages and includes the reports of doctors and psychiatrists, the other by the public official of a remote village, who, as he once remarked, carried his records "under his hat." 45 46 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Since there was no possibility of supplementing these investigations made years ago by the very different investigators, it was necessary to use the unstandardized material recorded in the original records. On one point there was fair agreement: almost all records gave data about the parents, with much less information about the other relatives. It is probable that there was in certain cases known information which was not set down in the record. This may have been on either side of the balance. On the one hand, damaging facts about the family history may have been withheld by the person referring the child-local official or head of the institution-because of fear that a fuller knowledge might make the Association hesitate to place the child and that such information might prejudice it against the child. On the other hand, bad traits may have been stressed and good ones slighted in the investigations which had been made by special investigators interested in tracing certain special traits, such as feeble-mindedness or epilepsy. The Association had access to some of these investigations and made use of any complete investigations of the family background which had been made by some of the state institutions. Our own experience has shown that when a more thorough investigation was subsequently made of the histories of the children referred to the Association, bad traits were generally prevalent and to a greater degree than stated in the original records. These sources of error, which are inseparable from the character of the data it was necessary to use may, however, be offset by a positive advantage in this material. It is unbiased by any presupposition in favor of any theory or outcome of research. It was recorded by social workers, doctors and public officials for no purpose other than that of having full information on the record of each child, to help in the intelligent placing of the children. The important facts about the child's family were recorded because of their practical value. There was no seeking to prove any hypothesis nor to find prevalence of any special type of condition, nor was there any thought of later research. There were, as we pointed out earlier, in the group of 910 FAMILY BACKGROUNDS 47 subjects, 217 foundlings of whose family history nothing is known, and 693 whose record contained some information about the family background. In this chapter we shall limit ourselves to the discussion of the children whose background was more or less known, that is, the group of 693 subjects. We shall consider first the information which deals with the more or less definite facts v hich can be tabulated, and then with the classifications and interpretations of the more individual and personal characteristics, traits and modes of living of the families. The first portion is concerned with such topics as nationality, legitimacy, the places from which the children came, etc. Nationality is understood here not in a legal sense, but in a popular one; for instance, no effort was made to verify the statemrents about nationality made in the original record; they were accepted because evidently the parents had been generally considered Irish, or Swedish, or German, either on their own statements, on hearsay, or because of their appearance and characteristics. Table 4 NATIONALITY OF PARENTS Distribution of 693 Subjects of Known Family Background. Number of Per Cent Nationality of Parents Subjects Distribution' Both parents known Both parents American................... 242 34.9 One parent American..................... 43 6.2 Father American, mother foreign (20) Mother American, father foreign (23) Both parents foreign...................... 70 10.1 One parent only known One parent American..................... 68 9.8 Father American, mother unknown (23) Mother American, father unknown (45) One parent foreign....................... 17 2.5 Father foreign, mother unknown (11) Mother foreign, father unknown (6) Both parents unknown nationality........... 253 36.5 Total group................................ 693 100.0 48 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT It is interesting to note that in addition to the 242 subjects whose parents were both American, there are 43 subjects whose fathers were known to be American and 68 subjects whose mothers were known to be American, giving a total of 285 subjects, or 41.1% ot the total group, having known American fathers, and 310 subjects, or 44.7% with known American mothers. The largest group of foreign-born parents was German, numbering 53; next the Irish, 31, and the persons from other parts of Great Britain, 29; Canadian, 17; Scandinavian, 16; Italians, 14; Poles, 15; Austro-Hungarian, 12; Dutch and French, 3 each; Russian 2, Australian, 1, and 4 from the West Indies. As the table shows, the nationality of the parents of 253 subjects was not recorded. A consideration of these records indicated that in all probability the largest number was American, the next German, then Irish, and so on. Birth-Place and Residence: The place of birth of 598 children was known; unknown for 95; 581 were born in the United States and 17 abroad; of these 17 foreign-born children, 3 were of full American parentage and 1 of half; 1 was of Canadian parentage, 1 of English, 3 of Swedish, 1 of German and 2 of Italian parentage, and 5 were of mixed nationalities. In listing the size of the community from which the children came, any settlement having a population above 2,500 is classed as urban; a settlement having less, as rural. Of the 446 children of whom this fact was known 241 came from rural communities, 205 from urban. Legitimacy: The only possible standard by which legitimacy could be judged in this study was local opinion, as recorded at the time the children were taken from their homes. If the children had been known by their father's name, had lived with both parents and been generally considered legitimate they were so listed in the study. If by the same standards they were probably illegitimate, they were so recorded. There were recorded as legitimate 529, or 76.3%; illegitimate 101, or 14.6%, and unknown 63, or 9.1%. These figures, although accurately made up from our own origi FAMILY BACKGROUNDS 49 nal records, were not verified, as no attempt was made to look up the registration of marriages and births. Marital Status: The parents of 422 children were recorded as married and of 98 as unmarried. The parents of 98 were separated, probably not legally, but merely living apart. There were only 9 children whose parents were divorced, which means probably that there were few people who went to the trouble of legal proceedings. Three children were born of common law marriages; in 63 cases the relationship of the parents was unknown. Few of these children, however, came from well established households. One reason for this was that 290 children were half orphans and 77 full orphans. Some unsatisfactory home conditions were caused by the desertion of one parent, who would be recorded as "unknown whether alive or dead." There were 108 fathers who had deserted as over against 19 mothers. Table 5 ORPHANAGE Distribution of Subjects of Known History, Showing Whether Parents Were Living or Dead at Time of Subjects' First Placement. Number of Per Cent Parents Living or Dead Subjects Distribution Both parents known Both parents living....................... 207 29.9 Both parents dead........................ 77 11.1 One parent dead, one living 249 35.9 Father dead (95) Mother dead (154) One parent only known One parent living, other unknown........ 86 12.4 Father living (12) Mother living (74) One parent dead, other unknown.......... 41 5.9 Father dead (7) Mother dead (34) Both parents unknown...................... 33 4.8 Total group............................... 693 100.0 50 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT As Table 5 shows, in addition to the 77 full orphans there were 102 subjects whose fathers were known to be dead, and 188 subjects whose mothers were known to be dead, giving a total of 179 subjects, or 25.8% of the total group, whose fathers were dead, and 265 subjects, or 38.2%, whose mothers were dead. While death in the family or the desertion of one parent was the contributing cause of the break-up of the family, it was not necessarily the principal cause. It is ordinarily supposed that children who become dependent through the death of parents are from good homes. That this is not necessarily true is proved by the fact that 143 of the 367 orphans or half orphans were taken from their families because of bad home conditions. It is significant, perhaps, that 207 or 29.9% had both parents living at the time that the children were placed. In these cases there were many and complicated reasons for the removal of the children from their families. The Association has always stood for the principle that no children should be taken from their homes merely because of poverty. The more personal aspects of the family background, such as the degree of education which the parents had, their housekeeping ability, their habits of work, and the extent to which they felt responsibility and affection for the children-in brief, what sort of people they were and how they managed their lives-were considered. These things are hard to describe briefly and accurately, and are, therefore, less apt to be fully recorded. Certain important characteristics and significant traits of the parents tended to appear in many records. Certain sets of facts recurred-the outstanding reason, elements in the character or family life, which had caused the break-up of the home. Morality, temperance, reasoning and planning ability, responsibility toward the children, were most frequently commented upon in the records, and could be classified and analyzed topic by topic. Of 693 cases there was information about the reasoning and planning ability of the parents of 271 children; for 355 subjects there was information about the morality of the parents; in the records of 233 there was information telling whether the parent or parents had ever been dependent upon public or private relief. State institu FAMILY BACKGROUNDS 51 tions were excluded. Of 310 we knew whether they did or did not drink. For 228 subjects there was a record telling whether or not the parents were guilty of crimes or misdemeanors, and for 446 there was some record about character and behavior traits. In every topic studied the inferior quality outweighed the good in the proportion of about 75% inferior against 25% good, the proportion varying only slightly.* Are these proportions really a measure of the proportion of good families as against the bad, or is it only that the multiple inferior traits of a relatively few bad families are counted over and over again, and so cause this preponderance of inferior traits over good? If this were the case, it would certainly not be safe to suppose that the distribution of the total 693 would be in the same proportion as that of the 250 or 450 cases who were known under the different individual topics mentioned. Partly to solve this problem, and partly to get a clearer picture of the family background as a whole, the types of family background have been classified. Instead of considering merely a topicby-topic analysis which told us how many children had moral or intemperate parents, how many had insane or normal ones, and how many had ever been dependent, and how many had committed crimes, the general level of the family condition was estimated; in other words, one could tell how many children had good general family background, how many moderately good, and how many bad. Our object in studying the information about the families of the subjects was to make, in so far as possible, a social diagnosis, to get a picture of the kinds of people the parents and relatives of these subjects were, how they lived and were able to manage their lives. All the available information in the original records was used, but unless a record definitely stated that a certain quality existed or did not exist in the parents that topic was listed as unknown on the "study schedule." All the available opinions of specialists were, of course, included, and whenever an expert diagnosis had been made this information became part of the study. The main approach, however, to the study was human and social. In*See Appendix, Table 46. 52 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT formation about the kind of people and the homes from which the subjects came was interpreted not from any one specialist's angle, but from a purely human and pragmatic point of view. This had to be so of necessity. It seemed to us that there are tiot the necessary data in the records for accurate biological or psychological studies. We did not, for instance, deal with the problem of inheritability of traits even in cases where there is general agreement among authorities as to the degree of probability. There were no fair precedents, that we know of, to follow. Consequently we concentrated on the analysis of the more general aspects of family background. Take for illustration the subject who had an insane parent. Such a subject fell into the bad background group. The question of the nature of the insanity, whether of functional or organic origin, etc., with its probable degree of inheritability, was not considered. We are here concerned merely with the generally accepted fact that insanity constitutes a form of mental inferiority, the important consideration being its existence as a deleterious element in the family background. Six groups were used in classifying family background: Background predominantly bad; background bad-unknown; background bad-good; background predominantly good; background good-unknown; background unknown. Background predominantly bad: existence in both parents, or in the parents and relatives, of inferior mental ability, health; character or conduct. Example 1-Father, carpenter; elementary education, unstable, dishonest; three terms in State prison. Mother, abandoned children; immoral. Example 2-Father, goitre; lazy, selfish, abusive, alcoholic; irregular worker, did not support family; deserted, divorced by wife. Mother, health, education and reasoning ability, fair; indifferent to children, did not support them. Example 3-Father, ignorant and illiterate, considered by community feeble-minded; irresponsible, indifferent to welfare of family; had chronic Bright's disease; earned $18 a month irregularly as farm laborer, unable to support family, died in almshouse. Mother, shiftless, slovenly, very immoral, unstable, unsteady worker; cruel to her children; according to her own statement epileptic, generally considered feeble-minded; was three times in almshouse. Paternal grandfather considered by neighbors feebleminded; paternal grandmother was immoral; maternal grandmother tubercular and generally considered epileptic. FAMILY BACKGROUNDS 53 Background bad-unknown: existence in one parent of inferiority such as listed above; no significant facts recorded for the otherthat is, for the unknown parent the identity, age and nationality may have been known, but there was no significant information about the person's intelligence, health, habits or occupation. Example-Father, unknown (was seventy when subject was born.) Mother, eighteen at time of subject's birth; illiterate; low order of intelligence; immoral. Maternal aunt had three illegitimate children before marriage; maternal uncle of no account; another maternal aunt, poor reputation; maternal grandmother, illegitimate child after husband's death. Background bad-good: existence in one parent of predominantly inferior traits; in other parent predominantly good traits. Example-Father, alcoholic; lazy; never supported family; intermittently dependent upon charity; unstable; at thirty-five developed tuberculosis. Mother, died when twenty-nine of tuberculosis; was considered a decent woman, "good Christian." Grandmother and two aunts respectable. Background predominantly good: Example-Father, dead; was industrious, steady worker; harness maker; supported family; intemperate; honest, decent, law-abiding; good morals. Mother, dead; was kind, decent, clean, steady, honest. Background good-unknown: Example-Father, dead, had ordinary intelligence, steady, good worker; industrious and plodding; stable and kind. Mother, dead. Background unknown: no information on which to base a judgment of intelligence, health or habits of either parent. Example 1-Mother, unmarried; abandoned child. Father, nothing recorded. Example 2-Father, dead. Mother, abandoned child in orphan asylum. The results of the grouping of the 693 subjects within the six classifications are shown in the following table: Table 6 FAMILY BACKGROUND Number of Per Cent Quality of Family Background Subiects Distribution Predominantly bad.......................... 300 55.2 Bad-unknown............................. 135 24.8 Bad-good................................. 65 12.0 Predominantly good........................ 22 4.0 Good-unknown............................ 22 4.0 Total known........................... 544 100.0 Background unknown (Information inadequate)........... 149 Total known family background............. 693 54 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT The striking feature of Table 6 is the contrast between the number of children who had good family background and those who had bad. Nearly fourteen times as many children came from bad homes as from good. In 300 homes there were serious inferior traits in both parents. Only 22 had parents who could be classified as providing good backgrounds. It is natural to wonder how the 149 subjects "Background unknown" would have been distributed had we known about their background. The question which arises is-why were these unknown? A study of the group shows that they were referred to the Association in the same way as the other subjects-through public officials, institutions and our own county agents. A very large proportion-87, or 58.4% —of them were placed before 1905, that is, in the earlier days of the work when there was less interest and a smaller staff to make complete family history investigations. Only 9 subjects of this group have been placed since 1915. As we stated before, a parent who had abandoned a child and about whom no other facts were known, even though abandonment is considered a criminal act, was included in the unknown group. Of the 149, "Background unknown," 75 were taken because of abandonment, 18 because of improper guardianship and 56 because of destitution. Forty-five of these 56 were orphans or half-orphans. Parents who had one illegitimate child but of whom nothing else of significance was known, were included in this group. It is known from general experience that usually there is something quite radically wrong with families whose children have to be brought up outside their own family circle. In a responsible family, if there is a catastrophe in the household, other members of the family group usually come forward to assist in working out a solution for the children. There is an occasional exception, but we have no reason to suppose that the 149 "unknown" would vary in proportion of good and bad from that of the 544 "known" families. In any case, it would probably not be marked enough seriously to alter the proportions. In our study of the different traits in the parents of the 544 "known" subjects, we found that inferior traits existed almost always in combination. In only five cases was the state of health FAMILY BACKGROUNDS 55 the only inferiority which determined the group to which the subject belonged, and in only two instances was intelligence alone the factor which was the determining condition in the classification. In all others it was a combination of traits; for instance, in 105 health, intelligence, and some character and behavior traits were known. Even with these classifications and figures, it is difficult to get a picture of what the background is like for many of these subjects. We shall, therefore, quote more fully from the records of a few. The family lived a life of great poverty and misery, being evicted often for non-payment of rent. The father drank heavily and worked irregularly, as a blacksmith, and as laborer in the brickyards and ice fields. He was abusive to his family, a tramp, a beggar, and served time for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. He had delirium tremens and once asked the Justice of the Peace to lock him up so 'the spooks wouldn't get him.' He was extremely forgetful, lost his tools and could not do the simplest tasks without being watched, although he was bright enough to make excuses when his work was not done. He had a great deal of physical strength and in two and a half months he broke three axes. He had an enormous appetite and would eat three or four platefuls of food and a loaf of bread at one meal. He was immoral and was not to be trusted even with his own daughters. The mother, herself an illegitimate child, had had two children before marriage and had been in jail for stealing. She was shiftless, extravagant and entirely incapable of caring for her house and her children. She was terrified by her husband, nervous, weak and emotional and considered below normal mentally. She had a reputation for petty thieving. The condition of the house was beyond description. There was not a whole window in it and the cold was intense. The five or six pieces of furniture were useless. The father was trying to get a fire to boil some potatoes by burning the end of a bed slat, pushing it a little further in as it burned off. The five children wore everything they possessed and were clothed in rags; they had on no underwear and wore several pairs of shoes each, without soles. Everything was covered with dirt and the floor was wet with refuse and with dampness from beneath. There was one household, in which the father had died leaving a widow with two little children. This woman supported the family by going out to work, leaving her children in the care of a neighbor. She was a good laundress, a steady, reliable worker and a self-respecting woman, but she drank somewhat, as did the family with whom she boarded. Hoping to provide a better home for her children she married a widower with a child, a longshoreman. He proved unkind to her, was employed only occasionally, and the family soon had to apply to a family welfare organization for help. The visitor found the household dispossessed, the woman with a new baby, the man out of work and the children dirty and neglected. It soon became clear that the mother had an advanced case of tuberculosis and she was sent to the hospital. Meantime the stepfather had been drinking constantly and the family had been living on some insurance left from the first husband. The stepfather was abusive and unreliable, and the mother was in 56 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT terror of him up to the time of her death. Three weeks before she died she surrendered the children to an organization to get them out of his reach, and they were later placed by the Association. The father deserted his wife and five children, claiming he was unable to live with his wife because of fier defective mentality and what he considered periodical insanity which showed itself chiefly in extreme jealousy of him. He was a man of fair intelligence, sober and industrious, but lacking in determination. Shortly after deserting his wife and children, making no provision for them, he began living with a slovenly and immoral woman of a bad family. The mother, who was defective as a child and whose parents were illiterate and immoral, was fond of her children but unable to train them or manage her household. When deserted by her husband she took in washing and did day's work. In this way, with help from the poor-law officials she managed to keep the family together until she was compelled to go to a hospital for treatment for tuberculosis. The children were sent to a children's home. Shortly after this the mother died and the children were referred to this Association for placement. The general reputation of some families is vividly described by their local nicknames. For instance, a notorious tenement was significantly called "Black-Eye House." There was the family of "Six-Toed Joneses" and there were individual epithets like "Steamboat Mary," who lived on a barge, "Grapevine Bill," nicknamed for his crooked legs, "Cockeyed Mose," "Calamity Annie," "Sassafras Jim" and "Cyclone Pete." The results of our study as summed up in three main classes of family background —good family background, that is, predominantly good traits in one or both parents; mixed family background, good in one and bad in the other; and bad family background, predominantly bad traits in one or both-are shown in Table 7. Table 7 FAMILY BACKGROUND Distribution of Subjects of Known Parentage Number of Per Cent Parentage Subjects Distribution Good....................................... 44 8.0 Mixed...................................... 65 12.0 Bad........................................ 435 80.0 Total known parentage..................... 544 100.0 FAMILY BACKGROUND 57 As Table 7 shows, 435 or 80% of the 544 subjects whose background is known, came from bad background. In every one of these 435 families there existed serious inferior traits, sometimes in one parent, sometimes in both, sometimes in the whole family, for in this group are included a fairly large proportion of children who belonged to families whose very name was a byword in their community. Only 8%o had predominantly good traits in their background. These figures become even more important when thought of in connection with the number of years that the children were exposed to such environments. The following chart shows this. Chart II LENGTH OF TIME WITH PARENTS Distribution of 630 Subjects of Known Family Background Number and 0 20 40 60 80 100 Time with Per Cent Parents of Subjects Less Than 2 Yearst 90 14.3 Two to Five Years 120 19.0 Five Years and Over......... 420 66.7 As Chart II shows, 66.7% of the children were with their parents five years or more. Here, then, is a picture of the family background of a large majority of the subjects of this study. Two-thirds of the children of known family background stayed not less than five years with their own families. Of the remaining third, the majority were with their families more than two years but less than five years, and as was shown in Table 7, 80% of these families provided bad family background. tIf the 217 foundlings had been included in the discussion of this Chapter, they would have been in the "Less than two years with parents" classification. 58 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT We have presented as accurately as possible all the facts which are at present available about the parents, relatives and homes of these children, thus giving a general description of the kind of background from which most of the subjects have come. No attempt has been made to determine the extent to which the children may have been affected by the inheritance of certain traits or tendencies, or to what extent they may have been influenced by living so long in the environment created by these parents. This is too complicated a problem and not within the scope of this particular study. The outstanding fact which emerges from our analysis is that a large proportion of the children came from families in which there existed serious inferiorities and they stayed in the environment created by these families for a considerable length of time. Chapter VII THE FOSTER HOMES I For most children the foster parents appeared to be an important and in many instances probably the dominant influence upon their lives. It was the foster parents who created their environment, gave them their character training, and decided upon their opportunities for education. The age at which the child was placed and the length of his stay in the foster home determined very largely the degree to which this was true. The foster home was for nearly all of them, whether for a short or long time, the nearest approximation to a normal home. The child's relationship to his foster parents in many cases seemed a complete substitution for his relationship to his own parents. The foster family was the medium through which the influence of the Association reached most children, particularly the younger ones. The Association's contact with the children after placement was infrequent, compared with the twenty-four-hour-a-day influence of the foster parents. It is important, therefore, to analyze the character and qualities of the families with whom these children grew up and the environment in which the children spent so many important years of their lives, and to study in so far as possible the effect of these influences upon the children's development. The homes in which the subjects were placed were, with few exceptions, in New York state or nearby states such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania or southern New England. The Association's policy has always been to place its children in homes within visiting distance of the central office so that adequate inquiries could be made in person about the families before the children were placed and so that the children could be visited as frequently as might be necessary by the Association's workers. 59 60 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Most of the foster families chosen were American, as most of the subjects, as we halve stated, were American-born and of American parents. Foreign children were placed whenever possible in foster families of the same nationality. With the exception of a very few, all colored children were placed with colored families. Protestant, Catholic and Jewish homes were used, since it is a practice of the Association to place children with families of their own religious faith. There was considerable variation among the foster households with respect to the child's place in the family. Almost invariably families who took young children accepted them as their own; some took children for companionship because they had none of their own or were lonely without their own sons and daughters who had grown up and were away from home; some families had a kindly feeling for children and wished to give a child a chance; still others needed the help of boys and girls of fourteen or fifteen; and a few families wished to give a home and special care to handicapped children-such as crippled or backward children. In spite of all these variations the child in every case was expected to be treated as a member of the family and not as a servant or as "help." The variation among homes was perhaps greatest in the social background and financial status of the households, which ranged from the home of the farm laborer in the tenant house or longshoreman in the tenement, to the "brownstone front" of the prosperous physician or the luxurious suburban home of the well-to-do business man. Some of the foster parents, brought up decades ago in isolated villages, had not completed the grammar school. Most of them had had elementary schooling, a few had had high school or normal school training, and a small group were college graduates. The incomes varied from the meager sum of $400 a year of the country clergyman in 1900 to the $25,000 of the city business man, with all the consequent variations in kind of material comforts. Many of the plainest homes were used for the first children placed, for in those days the Agency had to take what it could get in the way of foster homes even for young children. It is difficult nowadays, when the supply of foster homes from all walks of life far THE FOSTER HOMES 61 outruns the number of young children eligible, to realize the small number of homes available, particularly among people of any but the plainest sort, fifteen or twenty years ago. Yet, diverse as the foster families were, they were all subjected to the same kind of examination before the children were entrusted to them. This investigation is worth describing, for even in the early days it was unique in its quality and thoroughness. After the usual written recommendations had been received, a visitor called upon the family and spent time enough to make thl acquaintance of the various members of the household and to be shown through the house. In the course of this call she learned the family income and the background and education of the applicants; she formed an opinion of the general standards of housekeeping and living, the material surroundings, sanitary conditions, and the neighborhood of the home. She also sized up the intelligence, ability and character of the would-be foster parents. These impressions were checked up by a visit to at least three responsible persons who knew the family well and who could give confidential information about their standing and reputation. It was this personal consultation of references which distinguished the investigations made by the Association at the outset of its work; at a time when even the minute and thorough inquiry at the home was somewhat unusual and when the technique of child placing was still tentative and unformed. Although some of the rejected homes might seem superficially better than some of the homes in which children were put, there were valid reasons for rejecting them. For instance, one home was disapproved in spite of excellent references, the investigator having found the neighborhood undesirable and the applicant too busy with her shop to keep an eye on a child; another because the family were living in a too haphazard way, had saved no money and were "slack." The application of a good New England family, the man of which was a prominent lawyer, was refused because his wife had an ungovernable temper; another home was rejected because the woman was thought to be too old to care for a child. Another home highly recommended by an influential person was rejected because of quarrels between husband and wife and because the 62 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT woman was flighty and unreliable. Although some of these painstaking investigations were made long ago, they reveal a thoroughness in interviewing references and following up clues which are still creditable to a modern child-caring organization. There are certain minimum standards for all approved homes. They must all have an income adequate to maintain the family with an additional member, the house must be clean and sanitary, living conditions healthful. The family's moral character must be above reproach and their reputation good; their motive in taking a child must be acceptable. A study of the occupations of 100 foster parents in the first 100 homes approved by the Association and the same number of homes approved within the last two years-both taken chronologically=affords an interesting illustration of the difference between homes available then and now, and shows also something of the type of household in which many of the study subjects got their start in life. It was felt that an analysis of 100 cases was sufficiently representative, since it included practically all types of occupations to be found among the 1,621 foster families; therefore, no complete analysis of occupations was made. Table 8 OCCUPATIONS OF FOSTER FATHERS Comparison of Two Periods Occupation 1898-1900 1920-1921 Professional............................... 6 14 Business.................................. 18 52 Owners............................... 11 12 Member of firm....................... 0 2 Important executive.................... 1 21 Agents................................ 1 2 Salesmen.............................. 4 5 Advertising men....................... 0 1 Clerks................................ 1 9 Skilled workers........................... 23 7 Semi-skilled workers...................... 11 5 Unskilled workers........................ 7 5 Farmers.................................. 30 14 Retired.................................... 2 3 Unknown................................. 3 0 Total..................................... 100 100 THE FOSTER HOMES 63 Nearly three-quarters of the foster fathers in the group of the early days were occupied in skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled labor, or farming. A few of them were in business. The occupations in 1920-1921 show a much evener distribution throughout all types, with the preponderance, however, in business and in office work. Children sometimes have to be tried in several foster homes before the right one is found. This is discussed more fully later. It is sufficient perhaps here to say that 1,621 homes were used for 910 children. Of these children, 538 had one home only; 187 had two homes; 185 had three homes or more. There were 53% of these homes in rural and 47% in urban communities, an almost equal division.* Of the homes used for children under five at placement 75% were urban and 25% rural; of those used for children over five, 37% were urban and 63% rural. A study of the ages of the foster mothers is interesting. Table 9 AGES OF FOSTER MOTHERS OF FIRST HOMES IN WHICH SUBJECTS WERE PLACED Number of Per Cent Age of Foster Mother Subjects Distribution Under 25 years............................. 48 6.7 25-35....................................... 210 29.2 35-45.................................... 217 30.1 45-55....................................... 161 22.3 55 years and over........................... 84 11.7 Total known........................... 720 100.0 Unknown............................... 190 Total group................................ 910 As Table 9 shows, most of the foster mothers were of about the same age as mothers bringing up their own children, that is, between twenty-five and forty-five, and at an age when they are naturally best qualified for this care and most interested in it. There are facts about these parents which it is difficult to render in statistical terms, for instance, as to the financial status of the *See Appendix, Table 50. 64 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT foster families. One would expect that this would be among facts most easily classified, and that it would be possible from material available to give a statement of the income of the foster parents. Such figures, however, would be meaningless unless accompanied by a statement of the number of persons depending upon that income, the prevalent standard of expenditure in the community and especially the year in which the placement was made. Moreover, it is impossible to reckon a farmer's income as one can a clerk's or to compare an Italian household with an American. There are elements in the foster homes even harder to classify in terms of statistics or even to state as facts; those are the human factors-the personality and character of the foster parents, the atmosphere of the home, the cultural standards of the family, and their ideals and expectancies regarding their foster children. It is possible to present only general impressions of these subtle and intangible qualities. It was, however, desirable to attempt some classification of foster families to show the proportion of superior, good and mediocre homes in this group of 1,621 households. Superior home-Foster parents possessing unusual traits of character or intelligence; a comfortable income and home; graduate of high school, technical school or college. Good home-Foster parents possessing reasonable intelligence; good character; moderate income and home of average comfort; graduates of elementary school. Mediocre home-Foster parents of limited intelligence and moderate ability, living in crowded or scantily furnished homes on small incomes. Table 10 KIND OF FOSTER HOME Distribution of Homes Used Number of Per Cent Kind of Home Homes Used Distribution Superior................................... 242 15.3 Good....................................... 1139 71.8 Mediocre................................... 204 12.9 Total known............................ 1585 100.0 Unknown.............................. 36 Total homes............................... 1621 THE FOSTER HOMES 65 As might be expected, the great majority of foster homes, 71.8%, were in the middle group, as is doubtless true in the average community. They were the self-respecting, self-supporting, kindly families who make up a large part of every social group. It is probable, however, they are somewhat above the average because of the careful choice of homes made by the Association. They were not, as fiction leads us to believe, homes of millionaires nor yet of exploiters of youth; they were average people, somewhat distinguished, however, from the average by their wish to share their advantages with a homeless child. The second largest group, 15.3%, is that of the superior homes. Here again the homes were not necessarily wealthy. Intelligence and education above the average and cultural advantages were the chief determining qualifications for "superiority." The smallest group was that of mediocre homes, 12.9%. This is to be expected when one remembers that many border-line homes were rejected by the original investigation. The 1,621 households in which the 910 children were placed or replaced were under the supervision of the Association only during the time that the children remained in them, periods varying from 1 week to 21 years. During this time there were comparatively few fundamental changes in the homes. In general the foster families proved to be what the investigation had indicated they were-stable and living up to their obligations. The analysis of the 1621 homes used showed that in 81.2% the moral, economic and social situation of the family did not change in any radical way while the children were with the families. In 18.8% important changes occurred. The conditions and situations which brought about the changes in the households were as follows: Death of one or both foster parents............ 198 Physical ill health........................... 14 Mental ill health............................ 8 Separation or uncongenial relations of foster parents................................... 50 Immorality................................. 18 66 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Drink...................................... 33 Home broken up............................ 4 Cruelty or abuse of child..................... 13 Crime..................................... 2 As the above list shows the changes which did occur were due in a very large measure to death or illness in the family. Not all the changes which occurred were grave enough, however, to necessitate the removal of the children, nor did they invariably influence the children's development unfavorably. One hundred and ninety-five of the subjects were not removed, 154 of them having been in a home where a death occurred but where the surviving parent took the responsibility. The next largest number who were not removed were the 22 who were in homes where there were uncongenial relations between the foster parents but in which one parent continued to assume responsibility. Children in foster homes, just as those in their own homes in any community, are occasionally subjected to hardships because of catastrophes and misunderstandings that occur in the family, and as members of the family they share the misfortunes as well as the advantages. In 13 out of the 1,621 homes used there was serious ill-treatment of the children. The subjects were neglected, clothed in thin and ragged garments, or harshly or unwisely disciplined; one woman, for instance, going suddenly insane cruelly ill-treated her foster daughteri before the agent could remove the child. Aside from these 13 there were undoubtedly other subtle forms of ill-treatment; there were foster parents who were unsympathetic, cold, selfish or mercenary; they made little effort to understand the child or to help him to develop his potentialities; they were perhaps too set and inflexible to do either. Some families lacked the wisdom and patience necessary to train children and some in their zeal overdid the training; yet these are faults which are by no means peculiar to foster parents. Usually the care and training given by a foster family to a child was of the kind which would be expected from our preliminary investigation of the family. However, this was not always the case. Sometimes the kind of training and care which a foster family THE FOSTER HOMES 67 actually gave to a foster child proved to be quite different from what would have been expected from that type of foster parent and foster home. It is desirable, therefore, to inquire not only as to the type of homes in which the children were placed, as we have done above, but also into the kinds of care which the children actually received in the homes in which they were placed. Some mediocre families showed an unexpected degree of intelligence, understanding and sympathy in the treatment of their foster children, and some superior homes bungled completely the delicate problem of child training. It was not always possible to predict from a knowledge of their income, morals, character and intelligence how the foster parents would train their children. There were instances of the plainest families with little money or education, living a meager and narrow life, who brought up their children admirably; on the other hand one of the wealthiest and best educated foster families in the study has made a complete failure of the training of their adopted son, displaying an intolerance and lack of understanding remarkable in people of their type. Because the foster parents were well educated, cultured and had social and financial advantages to give a child, it did not follow that their feeling for the child was necessarily sympathetic nor their training wise; nor on the other hand did a plain mode of living necessarily restrict the full development of the child's possibilities. In evaluating the kind of care, it was necessary to consider not only physical care but the degree to which the family understood the child and allowed him to follow his own bent, rather than' forcing him into their own mould. Their patience, and their, methods of discipline and training had to be studied. It was also necessary to consider the type of child, for obviously there are children who are amenable to one kind of training but not to another. Care and training are difficult to evaluate. It is hard to tell how much of the child's development is due to the home in which he grew up, to the type of care, to his innate characteristics or to the age at which he came under foster home influences, or to his previous experience in his own home, or a combination of all. The kind of care was classified in three grades-excellent, aver 68 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT age and poor. Excellent care meant a sympathetic understanding of the child's nature and encouraging to the utmost the development of his aptitudes and possibilities. Average care meant an ordinary degree of good sense and sympathy in training. Poor care meant a failure to understand the child's character and needs, the setting of a bad example to him, unreasonable demands upon him, or harsh treatment. For 853 of the 910 subjects there was sufficient information to classify the kind of care in this way. It was found that 754 children had one kind of care only-excellent, average or poor-irrespective of the number of homes in which they were placed; 99 children had one kind of care in one home and another kind of care in the second or third homes to which they went, and for 57 children there was too little information to classify "kind of care." Because of the peculiar difficulty of establishing convincing standards for the measuring of care and training per se, our figures can be merely suggestive. We present them because they are as nearly accurate as it was possible to make them from the material available. Considering the 754 who had one kind of care only, we find that approximately 12% had excellent care, approximately 68% average care, and approximately 20% poor care. As a result of the kind of home in which the child was placed and the kind of care which he actually received, there developed some type of relationship between the foster parents and the child. This relationship appears to have been more significant in determining the future of the child than the type of home. The degree to which this relationship is satisfactory is in many cases difficult to analyze. The children who were adopted as babies and fell naturally into a familiar place in the household are so much like the family's own children that the relationship speaks for itself. There are, however, older children who resent foster home control and are restless in an alien environment, and there are foster parents who have little patience in dealing with children. In these cases the relationship may be anything from indifference to open antagonism. We may discuss the relationships between foster families and their children in three groups: Satisfactory, the term is self-explana THE FOSTER HOMES 69 tory; temporarily satisfactory, that is, those subjects who were reasonably contented while they were in their foster home and whose foster parents were for the time being satisfied with them; and unsatisfactory relationships. In some cases the attitude of a child toward his foster parents may alter so markedly in the course of a few years that he may at one time belong to one group and at another time to another. It is impossible to render human relationships in terms of statistics, yet a study of this question brought to light some figures which, though they should not be taken too literally, or finally, form a basis for discussion.* We are giving these in approximate percentages. Each case was classified as carefully as possible, but numbers would give an impression of greater exactness than is possible in such classifications. Satisfactory Relationships: About 60% of the children had a satisfactory relationship with their foster parents and formed a tie that was firm and lasting and in many cases hardly to be distinguished from the natural relationship of parent and child. This group includes most of the children placed young, with no memories of their own families, also children placed older who became so thoroughly adapted to their foster homes that they have a sense of having always belonged there. Examples of the type of relationship which usually develops when young children are placed are so numerous that only one illustration need be given here. Helen, an abandoned baby, was placed in a foster home when she was sixteen months old. She is now twenty-three-a devoted and companionable wife, an attractive, refined and well poised young woman, active in the civic life of her community. Her foster mother's letter will tell best of the relationship: As you know we came to X --- for the benefit of my husband's health, but with all we could do he passed away on the third of October, 1917. So that left Helen and myself all alone. Helen graduated from high school in June, 1917, and about that time all the young girls thought they ought to take some position, so the boys could go to war. Helen felt the same way, and as there was nothing I would care to have her do around here after her father's death, thought it best to move back to the city, so rented my home here and moved back. Helen and I were very much broken *see Appendix, Table 57. 70 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT up over Mr. A's death, and really thought the change to another city would do us both good. Helen secured a very fine position in the office of X - & X -, at - Street and 4th Avenue. Helen grows up to be a very sweet, pretty girl, and am so thankful to say she grows up as sweet and good in character as she is pretty in looks. Needless to add that a dear girl like that would have many admirers and she sure did and am so glad to say she made a wise choice in picking out one fine, good, clean man for her husband. She was quietly married on June sixth, 1920. They have a sweet little home over in B, N. J. Both Helen and her husband wanted me to live with them, but I knew'it is best for young people starting out in life to be alone. I told them I would rather have my own home, so I moved back here. Helen has been and is one of the dearest daughters a mother could have, and since my husband's death she is really all I have to live for. I go down to B — about once a month, and they come up here very often. She is a very happy little wife and her husband is more than proud of her. He is six years older than she, so you see he is really a man and has a very fine position and gives her everything she could want. Cannot tell you how much I miss her, but that is a mother's life, and when I see how very happy they are, it makes me think of my own married life and I try to be contented. Only one of the last letters I received from Helen she wrote, Dear Mother, do try and be happy for Daddy always wanted you and me to be so, and I am so happy for Walt (that is her husband's name) is so much like Daddy, how could I help but be? Hope I have not tired you in writing such a long letter, but when I get started about Helen I guess I never know when to stop, so trust you will pardon me. As an instance of a child placed over ten whose adaptation was complete, let us take Laura, placed at the age of eleven in a farmer's family. She was slightly lame, repressed and thoroughly unattractive, yet she became in a short time as dear to them as their own children. Perhaps it was those unattractive characteristics which appealed to their sympathy and warm-heartedness. As the child grew older she became more devoted to her foster parents and better contented with their simple and isolated life. She shared in their few neighborhood functions, went to church with them and played the organ for the service. On their side her foster parents were delighted to have found a girl who did not long for the amusements of the city and who was satisfied with her lonely farm life. She was married from their home and is now living with her husband, the son of a well-to-do farmer, on a farm near her foster parents, whom she sees constantly. Temporarily Satisfactory Relationships: Another 25% found the foster relationship temporarily satisfactory —that is, they were reasonably contented while they were in their foster homes THE FOSTER HOMES 71 and their foster parents were reasonably satisfied with them. Sometimes there were changes in the situation of the foster families and the child had to be removed because of these unforeseen circumstances. In such cases the child was not sufficiently closely associated with the family to be included in any rearrangement of plans, regardless of circumstances. Then again, difficulties which arose were such as happen to the boy or girl who becomes restless under discipline and wants more independence than his parents are willing to allow him, and often resulted in the child's leaving home more or less under a cloud. In spite of this fact, many of these children whose departure had taken place in a mood of discontent or even antagonism on both sides, came home again. It was apparently affection and the longing for a familiar environment which drew them back. Sometimes the child's loyalty to his own family was so strong that no permanent attachment could be formed to the foster family. The foster families in many cases were understanding and sympathetic with the children and were good friends to them, but did not take the place of an own family. As an instance of these temporarily satisfactory relationships, let us take Bertha who was nearly fourteen when she was taken from her shiftless, immoral mother and relatives. After a few months in an orphan asylum she was placed in a good country home with a farm superintendent and his wife and children. Bertha was a phlegmatic girl. She hated school but was quite practical and proved to be very capable in the care of children. She liked her foster parents, appreciated their kindness, but her real feeling of affection and loyalty was toward her own family. After leaving her foster home she worked at housework for wages for a time, and later took training as a baby nurse. She was a competent nurse, but gave up her work to return to her mother, feeling that it was her duty to take care of her. She has since made a respectable marriage, but is not particularly happy. Although not strong physically, she manages to keep a reasonably clean and neat home and takes excellent care of her child. She still has a friendly feeling for the foster parents with whom she lived three years, and has made good use of the training she received while with them. 72 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Another example is Harold, who at eight started out life with his foster parents and their two sons on a farm. He was then a timid, unresponsive little boy. He got along reasonably well in this home until he was about sixteen.- At eighteen he is a discontented, quarrelsome boy, dissatisfied with the farm. He prefers town to country life. He is an excellent worker on the farm but wants te live in the city. When left to himself, he drinks, goes about witi tough boys, and is slack about getting a job. Harold resented his foster parents' strictness and says they were stingy and showed partiality to their own sons. He has a complaining attitude toward them and at the same time a feeling of indifference. He has also quarreled with his own sister whom le had visited and seems generally restless and grouchy. The relationship between him and his foster parents for about eight years was reasonably satisfactory. Whether a better understanding will develop later it is difficult to foresee. Unsatisfactory Relationships: Another 15% found in the foster-home relationship nothing permanent or satisfactory. Worse than that, they may have lost something of their confidence in people and of their self-reliance. The child who fails to get on in several homes comes to regard himself as a failure in everything, or else heJ becomes defiant and hardened. Both of these results have happened to a small number of children. Yet the foster home sheItered and protected them and gave them training and adequate physical care. Whether they would have gotten more out of some other type of relationship or environment is an open question. For instance, Stella came under the care of the Association at thirteen, just after she had had four years of rigid institutional life. She was an aggressive, bright, self-assertive girl, with considerable ingenuity and a strong sense of her own importance. After less than a month her first foster parents gave up in despair, claiming that Stella was dishonest and that they could not "stand her." Stella's attitude toward the people with whom she lived grew from bad to worse, In no home was she understood. She was disciplined unwisely and it seemed in each home Stella grew more defiant, more egotistical and quarrelsome. She gloried in being a trouble maker THE FOSTER HOMES 73 and became more variable in her moods and had more frequent outbursts of bad temper. She was quick to feel slights. Foster parents thought her bold and unruly. Stella says their attitude made her defiant and rebellious. Certainly no feeling of mutual respect or affection ever developed tn either foster parents or Stella. Since then Stella has had a series of failures in her relationships. Whether another kind of care for Stella would have been better for her is difficult to tell. Another instance is Louise, who went to her first foster home at six. After six weeks she was returned because her foster father thought her lacking in affection. In the next she stayed three and a half years, then the foster mother gave up, completely worn out trying to cope with Louise's untruthfulness and disobedience. Louise was affectionate with little children, but demanding and resentful with adults. She was dull and troublesome at school, emotionally immature but in practical ways quite quick and industrious. Louise was in eight homes, counting both free and boarding homes, and in two children's institutions. She is eighteen now, married and proud of her husband and baby. She manages her affairs very well. She has no affection for any of her foster parents; feels that none of them understood her; thinks that she must have been a hard child to manage and holds no resentment against them. The foster home relationship offered little in this case either to the foster parents or to the child. The outstanding fact in this survey of foster relationships is that more than half the children found in this relationship the affection, confidence and permanence which they had been denied in their own families. A smaller group found, if not so permanent a relationship, at least a temporarily satisfactory one. They 'had, even though for a short time, the sense of having a home, good surroundings and often a feeling of friendship. A very small group received only material care, and developed little of the feeling toward their foster parents which more fortunate children had. Human relationships are uncertain affairs and even the best of them can be disturbed. It is almost impossible to foresee what will happen between the child with his limited self-knowledge and un 74 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT happy memories, and the foster family understanding little perhaps of the child's life. To what extent will this adaptation be successful? To what extent is the average relationship between own parent and child satisfactory and permanent? There are no figures to tell us whether the degree of successful adaptation which we have found in our study is below average, above average, or what might be expected. Certainly foster home care provided for a substantial majority of the children the shelter and the human relationship which otherwise they would probably have missed. Chapter VIII EDUCATION The education of the children was carefully considered. Our analysis included the lengths of time children stayed in school, the grades they reached, the quality of the work done, their capacity for taking formal education, special training received in addition to regular schooling, and a comparison, so far as this was possible, of the education given this group and of the education given to the average child. Most children have in their own homes some continuity of training, and in their school life a sense of adjustment.frl, se and of equality with their school-mates. Many of the study children, while they were in their own homes, were untrained and often illtreated and went to school irregularly. Sometimes they had no decent clothing in which to appear at school, sometimes they were excluded because they were so dirty, often they moved so frequently that they never had a chance to get settled in school. Few parents felt much responsibility about getting their children to school regularly or in decent condition. When they did go, the children undoubtedly got less than the average child for the time spent, because they were, so untrained that they failed to fit into the school pattern or because they were so underfed that they had inferior mental and physical vitality. These conditions were naturally less serious for the children removed from their own homes before they reached school age than for those who stayed until they were ten or twelve. Since 59%o of the study group were over seven when they were placed in their foster homes, it is almost certain that during the early plastic years, when normal children are getting the rudiments of schooling, that of many df the study children was neglected. 75 76 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT There were some parents, of course, who made genuine efforts to send their children to school, who managed against odds of poverty and illness to clothe them decently enough for school and who were ambitious for their education, but as may be judged from our knowledge of family backgrounds, such parents were decidedly in the minority. Another cause of possible school retardation was the system of teaching children in orphan asylums. Fifteen or twenty years ago instruction was commonly given within' the institutions, instead of in public schools. The almost universal change of policy in this respect today indicates a general belief in the advantages of the public school over the institution school. Of those children over five at placement, nine stayed more than ten years in institutions; 102 from five to ten years; 149 from two to five years; 212 for less than two years; 472 children, then, received instruction in institutional schools for varying lengths of time. Inadequate formal mental training and information were only part of their handicap. Physical and mental starvation had dulled the keen edge of normal intellectual curiosity. The emotional attitude was often one of fear and suspicion, a natural outgrowth of frequent and unexpected changes from one environment to another, and of frequent contact with strangers. In so unsettled and suspicious a state, a child is not receptive to formal education, for his mind cannot function freely and naturally. It may take a child months to pass through this stage, even after he is supposedly adjusted to his new home, and meantime his school work necessarily suffers. Information about the education which the children received after they came under the care of the Association, was secured from various sources. For many years the Association has received school reports for most children, sent to the office more or less regularly by teachers or foster parents. The supervision records usually contained information about school progress, and often the children were visited at school. It has been the policy of the Association to keep in touch with teachers, whenever circumstances permit, and to consult them occasionally as independent references. EDUCATION 77 There was a fair number of children who were unaware of the fact that they were foster children, and in such cases reports were generally obtained from the foster family. Special note was made of the kind of school attended, whether city or country, of the length of attendance, the age at entering and leaving school, and the grade which the subject had completed at leaving, of the quality of the work done, and of any special training. There was considerable variation in the educational opportunities given to the children. This is easily explained when one considers the differences in the educational and cultural interests of the foster parents, and the differences in the backgrounds of the children. Moreover, the schools themselves offered a wide range of opportunities. Some of the information secured did not lend itself to classifications, but was useful in the study of individual cases, in giving a more complete picture of the subject's background and training. For example, it was impossible to rank the schools but there were interesting instances showing the effect of a particular kind of education on an individual child. The information secured by visit and written inquiry was not verified by reference to original records in schools attended by study children. It would have been an impossible undertaking to visit all the schools attended by 910 children, even if the records had been generally available. One of the difficulties encountered in evaluating the education of this group was the absence of any comparable studies. The staff consulted federal, state and municipal educational boards without finding comparable information; apparently data did not exist which covered any considerable period of the school life of a given group of pupils, carrying its records consecutively through a number of grades and preserving the identity of the group. Therefore, no accurate estimate was possible of the amount and quality of schooling received by the subjects of the study, in comparison with the average. Table 11 summarizes the amount of education given the 746 children whose school records were known. 78 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 11 EDUCATION Distribution of Total Group and of Subjects under Seven and over Seven at Placement Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Amount of Education Age at Placement Age at Placement Total Ud 7 and Under 7 and 7 over 7 over College................ 17 15 2 2.3 4.8.5 High School Completed 4th year.... 47 39 8 6.3 12.5 1.8 Less than 4th year..... 149 83 66 20.0 [26.6 15.2 Elementary School Completed 8th grade... 209 98 111 28.0 31.4 25.6 Less than 8th grade.... 324 77 247 43.4 24.7 56.9 Total known.......... 746 312 434 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown as to amount of education......... 164 63 101 Total group............. 910 375 535 __ Of the 324 subjects who did not complete the eighth grade, 225 completed the sixth and 99 had less than sixth grade. Among the 17 who are listed as "college," 13 were still in college, 1 had completed college, 2 had had two years and for 1 the number of years attended was unknown. Chart III shows the percentages completing each grade. Six children whose exact grades were not on record, are not included; two of these were in high school and four had completed less than the eighth grade. EDUCATION 79 Chart III EDUCATION Per Cent Distribution of 740 Subjects Showing Grade Completed in School. Per Cent 30 -25 20 15 - Un- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 Colgraded Elementary School High School lege GRADE COMPLETED Discussion of figures may be left to a letter from Mrs. Helen T. Woolley, Assistant Director of the Merrill-Palmer School of Detroit, to whom the staff wrote for assistance in obtaining comparable figures of education. Mrs. Woolley wrote: As I look over your figures, my judgment is that your group contains fewer bad failures and fewer brilliant successes than the unselected group. According to the general statistics of the Bureau of Education, more than half of the children entering the elementary school leave before its completion. The average grade completed is only about the sixth. In your group you have 56% completing elementary school. The general statistics are that about 30% enter high school; that corresponds closely with your group. You have 28 and a fraction per cent entering high school. From 8 to 10% complete high school. That again corresponds fairly well with your statistics. At the lower end you have only about 25% who have completed the sixth grade or less. That, I am sure, is much better than the general record of the community since the sixth grade is about the 80 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT average completed. Taking both your age and grade tables into consideration, the chances are that most of your children who had completed not more than the third grade on leaving school were subnormal and some of those completing only the fourth grade may have been. Of those completing only the third grade you have a little over 2%. That again compares very favorably with the general statistics.... The difficulty with any close interpretation of your figures is that they cover years during which changes in the law occurred, they cover several different states where the laws are slightly different, and they cover both rural and urban communities where the enforcement of the law differs greatly. In school grades completed your figures correspond closely to those of the country at large except that you have fewer children completing grades below the eighth. In other words, you have fewer bad failures in education than the country at large. In years in school, your table compares very favorably with general statistics. You have more children remaining after the age of fourteen than the country at large can show. Many of the foster families were simple uneducated people, but they understood and appreciated the worth of education and the special aptitudes of their foster children. There are many instances of sacrificing and scrimping on the part of the foster parents so that promising foster children may be sent to high school or given some specialized training; instances not only of generosity but of perception of the quality of mind of the children, of foresight and insight. It illustrates one of the finest qualities of foster home care -the ambition of foster parents to give the children a better chance than they themselves had and to start them on their careers with a better equipment of knowledge and training. The plainest homes sometimes displayed the most farsighted planning for the education of their children, and the utmost determination and courage in carrying out those plans. But this was not always true, of course. Some children left school at the earliest possible age to help with the family support, getting little if any encouragement from foster parents to remain. In country districts, fifteen or even ten years ago, there was little incentive to big boys and girls to stay in the upper, grades; it was not customary for the sons and daughters of the other farmers to stay. Moreover, many older children were retarded in school and were in grades with children much younger and smaller, which discouraged them and made them anxious to go to work.* Some *See Appendix, Table 47. EDUCATION 81 farmers' households were remarkable for their encouragement of further schooling, but in rural neighborhoods this was often difficult to achieve. There were very few instances of children unjustifiably taken out of school for selfish motives and put to work too young for the sake of their wages. Some foster parents, honestly believing that the older boy or girl would learn more at home, took them out of school as soon as they legally could. This was more apt to happen when the boy or girl was retarded and overgrown, getting little out of school and obviously better fitted for practical than for mental work. Undeniably some of the children profited by the change and were the better equipped for later work and self-support. Some children were clearly too subnormal for further schooling and had reached the limit of their learning capacity. Then, too, many children were frankly bored. They found little to interest them in the unvaried mental diet furnished alike to all children and they wanted the independence and adventure of earning a living. There are numerous instances of foster parents who offered inducements to children to go through high school-offers that were unavailing against boredom and the desire for independence. Those were the days when there was practically no provision for children who failed to fit readily into the pattern of the school curriculum. There were in the country schools no ungraded classes nor vocational training, and almostnone in, the city schools; and children whose interest was not engaged by the routine subjects usually dropped out. The grade at leaving school was unknown for 170 subjects. The reason for this was analyzed. There was no information about the school grade of 41 subjects, as these had passed from the care of the Association as young children and at this time neither they nor their foster parents could be located. For 84 there was available considerable information about the subject's present standing in the community and his character, but little about his schooling. There was information about the schooling of 45, but no exact information about the grade at leaving school. Careful consideration of each situation showed that the school accomplishment of the 82 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT 45 and the 41 would in all probability be very like the known group; the accomplishment of the 84 probably somewhat less good. As Table 11 shows special comparison was made of the school progress of children who were placed when less than seven and were well established in foster homes at the time that they began school and whose education was supervised by foster parents, with the progress of children placed in foster homes after the age of seven, whose early schooling had been neglected. There were 535 children who were placed in foster homes after they were seven, and information was available about the school records of 434. Of these, 326 were more than ten years old when they went first to foster homes. This fact becomes highly significant when we consider that practically all the children in this special group came from bad family backgrounds and inferior homes. More than half had spent from two to ten years in orphan asylums, which in those days meant inferior schooling. It was this group of children who found adjustment to new homes most difficult, and failing to settle down in the first homes had to be changed to others, thereby breaking the continuity of school life still more. Moreover, these children were placed chiefly in country homes, and went to country schools which offered fewer opportunities and little incentive to push on through the upper grades. There were 70 in the group over seven at placement who failed to complete the 6th grade; 37 of them finished the 5th grade. Careful study of the individual cases indicates that most of the 70 children left because they were incapable of going further in school, cwing to subnormality or extreme dullness. Of the children who were less than seven years of age when they went into foster homes, we have a smaller group, numbering 375, 312 of whose school records were known and 63 unknown. There were 25 in this group who failed to complete the 6th grade; 15 of the 25 finished the 5th. EDUCATION 83 Chart IV EDUCATION Percentage Comparison between Amount of Education of 312 Subjects Placed Under 7 Years and of 434 Subjects Placed at 7 or Over. Amount of Pel Education Dist: College............ High School 4 years........... High School Less than 4 years Elementary School 8th grade........ Elementary School Less than 8th grade r Cent ribution 4.8.5 12.5 1.8 26.6 15.2 31.4 25.6 24.7 56.9 0 20 40 60 80 100 p R I l l00 — I I _I * mim I I -- I I I * -I Placed under seven years _ Placed at seven years and over Comparison of the two groups of children placed under and over seven shows clearly the difference in educational accomplishment corresponding to the age at placement. Not only does the younger group far exceed the older, but it exceeds the average accomplishment as reference to Mrs. Woolley's figures indicates. The age at leaving school, as Table 12 shows, differs little in the two groups. The children who came into care when they were older were kept in school as long as possible in order to make up for their early neglect. 84 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 12 AGE AT LEAVING SCHOOL Distribution of Total Group and of Subjects under Seven and over Seven at Placement Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Age at Leaving School Age atPlacement Age atPlacement Total Under 7 and Total Under 7 and 7 over 7 over Under 14............... 30 13 17 3.9 4.2 3.6 14 to 16................ 310 117 193 39.9 38.1 41.1 16 to 18................ 341 130 211 43.9 42.4 45.0 18 to 20................ 79 36 43 10.2 11.8 9.2 20 and over............. 16 11 5 2.1 3.5 1.1 Total age at leaving known............ 776 307 469 100.0 100.0 100.0 Still in school or college 23 16 7 Unknown............. 111 52 59 Total group............. 910 375 535 Chart V AGE AT LEAVING SCHOOL Per Cent Distribution of 776 Subjects Per Cent 35 r 30 25 k 20 - _r 15. 10 5 0 ia r I I I! I I a. I - 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Age at Leaving School EDUCATION 85 An interesting fact brought out in Table 12 is that 459 stayed in school until over sixteen years of age. Some explanation should be made of the group who left school when they were less than fourteen years of age. Nine of them had already finished the grammar grades, two were given some form of special training as a substitute for formal schooling, one had already left school before coming into the care of the Association, four were too subnormal to profit by remaining in school, one was too ill to go, and two ran away from their foster homes. Eleven left because they received no encouragement from their foster parents to continue in school and the Association was unaware of the situation or not sufficiently insistent on making the children go. There were 111 children whose age at leaving school was unknown. Here again the probability of the distribution of this group was considered. The proportion of the 64, that is, of the 35 children whose foster families were not found and of the 29 for whom this particular information was not sufficiently exact, who remained in school until sixteen years of age would probably be the same as that of those in the known group. For 47 the proportion who left when less than sixteen years of age is probably larger. From its early days the Agency has made an agreement in writing with practically every foster family, and one of the important items was the requirement that the family send the child to school "for at least such length of time each year as shall be required by the compulsory educational laws of the State of New York.* The supervisory system maintained by the Association played an important part in the observance of this agreement, but it was willingly adhered to on the whole by the foster families. That the rule was not always to the liking of the children for whose sake it was made is clear from the fact that 244 left school at the age of sixteen. Many of these children could doubtless have remained, for the foster families in general showed a willingness to let them get as much schooling as they wanted. In the special training which they received, as well as in the routine education, the girls fared better than the boys; only 16.79 86 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT of the boys had special training as against 32.2% of the girls. The boys left school earlier to work; and possibly the fact that a much larger percentage of the homes in which boys were placed were country homes had something to do with it.* Table 13 KIND OF SPECIAL TRAINING Distribution of Subjects Receiving Special Training Number of Per Cent Special Training Subjects Distribution Business................................... 95 41.5 Trade..................................... 100 43.7 Professional................................ 34 14.8 Total....................................... 229t 100.0 Table 14 EDUCATION AND SPECIAL TRAINING Comparison between Education of Subjects Who Received Special Training and No Special Training. Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Amount ~of Special Training Special Training Education Total Speia No Total Special No Trainig Special T Special Tramnng Training Training College................. 17 2 15 2.3 1.0 ~2.8 High School 4 years.............. 47 29 18 6.4 15.1 3.3 High School Less than 4 years... 148 53 95 20.1 27.6 17.5 Elementary School 8th grade.......... 204 63 141 27.8 32.8 26.0 Elementary School Less than 8th grade. 319 45 274 43.4 23.5 50.4 Total known.......... 735 192 543 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown............. 175 24 151 Total group............. 910 216t 694 *See Appendix, Table 50. t13 subjects had special training in two fields, making a total of 216 different subjects who received special training. EDUCATION 87 Trade training included instruction in designing and decorating, dressmaking, millinery, nursery maid's work, sewing, weaving, hairdressing, and domestic science for the girls; for the boys, telegraphy, machinists' work of all sorts, mechanical drafting, manual training of various sorts, cabinet making and the like. The business training consisted of the commercial school training and of the business course given with regular high school work, in which boys and girls learned stenography, accountancy, bookkeeping, etc. Some students studied for a year or two in the business college of a university, some got their business course at night school and some in connection with regular high school work. The professional training given was usually for teaching or nursing. One boy studied at the school for pharmacists; 15 girls had some nursing training. Two girls took a course at the Conservatory of Music, and one studied art. The other girls had normal school training. Table 14 indicates that the children who received some form of special training were those who had also had the advantage of a better general educational background. The quality of the school work done by the 784 children about whom information is available is hard to appraise. There was variation between city and country schools, between one rural school and another. Our figures give nevertheless a fairly accurate idea of the child's work, compared with local standards and the general average of the school, and that is their real value and significance. Obviously, it is inaccurate to compare work done in a city school in 1916 with work done in a rural school in 1906. The only fair criteria are the standards of the school and community in which the pupil lives. There was wide variation between the standards and personal opinion of one teacher and another. Work was less standardized and ratings less uniform ten or fifteen years ago in the district school than they are today; teachers had less training and might be expected to vary more in their reports and gradings. The school report may represent then less the actual quality of the child's school work than the teacher's opinion of his intelligence. Slightly over a hundred did very good work, nearly 250 did good 88 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT work, about the same number did average work, a little over 150 (lid poor work, and 33 very poor. Because of the diversity of sources and the inevitable variety of standards, these figures are approximate only. Their chief value is that they represent the opinion of local persons, and they show how the child compared academically with the other children of his neighborhood. In attempting to gauge the children's capacity for formal education-to estimate their ability to learn-the records of the mental examinations on file were first consulted. In 181 records there were reports of one or more mental tests, that is only about a fifth of the 910 children, and obviously too few for generalized conclusions. It had been our custom in the early days of mental testing to examine only the dull or difficult children, and while in later years it became a matter of routine to test all new children, and re-test whenever necessary, few of the study group were placed during those years. The mental tests had been made by various kinds of examiners using widely different techniques and they covered the whole period of development of modern methods of testing. It was clear that they were too few and too dissimilar to set a standard, and it was equally clear that no general testing or re-testing of the group for study purposes was feasible. Therefore, we have relied on the only other possible standard of judging capacity for assimilating an education; that is, the school records themselves. They are the nearest approach to a standard; there were some available for most of the children and they were brought up to date in the course of the study visits. This does not mean, of course, that the mental tests were excluded; on the contrary, they were the preferred criteria, when they had been made by an accredited examiner using one of the standard tests. But in general, it was upon the school records of these children that the decision as to their capacity for education was based. The school system was the best worked out standard available and its findings generally were parallel with those of the mental tests. EDUCATION 89 Table 15 ABILITY TO TAKE FORMAL EDUCATION Number of Per Cent Ability to Take Formal Education Subjects Distribution "A" 594 73.4 "A"...................................... 594 3.4 "B"........................................ 156 19.3 Total known............. 809 100.0 Unknown.............................. 101 Total group................................ 910 Three classifications of ability to take formal education were decided upon and termed A, B and C. Group A: Children who were considered to have at least ordinary ability to learn; that is 1. Capable of progressing beyond the 8th grade; or 2. Having an intelligence quotient of 80 or more. Group B: Children considered dull; that is 1. Slow in school-capable of getting through the 8th grade with difficulty-children who have difficulty in keeping up with their classes; or 2. Having an intelligence quotient between 70 and 80. Group C: Children who were obviously subnormal, even though no mental examination had been made; or 1. Having an intelligence quotient of less than 70; or 2. Custodial cases. The foregoing classifications are strictly tests of ability to learn as evidenced in school work; they are not proof of general ability nor of capacity for getting on in the world. As we have said, the opinion of teachers usually paralleled that of mental examiners, but when there was divergence the two opinions were weighed and con 90 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT sidered. Usually it was the report on school and ability which was considered the safest basis of judgment, since it covered a long period of the child's life and often included the opinions of different people. The table figures are for the 809 known subjects. The significant feature of Table 15 is that 594 subjects, or 73.4%, were children who were considered to have at least ordinary ability to learn. One hundred and fifty-six, or 19.3%, were dull, and 59,* or 7.3%, were below normal. There were 101 subjects whose ability for taking formal education was unknown; of these there were 43 whose general capability was known. In so far as one can tell by a general consideration of these individual schedules there was only one subject who would be likely to come in the "C" group. In the group of 58 it was impossible to estimate about 25 subjects, as practically nothing was known of the school career of this particular group. Among the other 33 there were 2 who were considered backward and would probably come in Group B or Group C. There are several significant facts to be pointed out in connection with our general discussion of education. One is that 422 children completed at least eight grades of school, an important figure considering their early background, some of them having been so badly neglected when they came into our care that they were far behind their grades and many of them in their foster homes were going to school in days when less emphasis was put on schooling than is now customary. There are few cases of neglect of schooling by foster parents. The children as a whole stayed in school for a satisfactory length of time; for instance, 57.3% were sixteen or more when they left school. The percentage who finished the 8th grade was nearly the same-56.6o-and a good proportion of these went on with high school or some special training. The supervision maintained by the Association had undoubtedly much to do with the school record of the group. So far as it could, it kept every child in school as long as the child was interested and making progress, and it kept in school many children, who, left to *See Appendix, Note 5. EDUCATION 91 themselves, would have dropped out largely through inertia. The readiness of foster families to encourage children to continue in special training or high schools was responsible for a large part of the good showing. It is clear, however, that we have not been discussing an ideal situation in this chapter on education. Many people will consider that the mark reached was a low water and not a high water mark of achievement, emphasizing quite reasonably the fact that early neglect should have been made up very much more adequately than it was. However, we have to remember that the school days of most of the children of our group are not recent. This means that their educational opportunities, particularly in the country, were much less good than nowadays, that the curriculum was more rigid and limited, that laws governing attendance and length of stay were less developed, and that the study children, like the other children of the country, had fewer educational opportunities than do the children of today. We have discussed here, then, not an ideal but an actual situation. Chapter IX HEALTH The health of the subjects was considered from the point of view of their condition at present and their physical history from the earliest known date to the present. This study was not based to any great extent on medical diagnosis but only on observation, and is made necessarily from a lay rather than a medical standpoint. Its object was to discover, not the prevalence of certain diseases, but whether the group as a whole was able to work steadily, whether there were many serious physical defects, and whether the subjects in general were strong and well. It was impossible to obtain a medical diagnosis for each subject. It was impractical to send a doctor as well as a social worker to visit the subjects. Examinations made by local doctors, even if this had been feasible, would have varied in thoroughness and would not have resulted in uniform and comparable figures. The best that we could do was to use all available medical reports and to ascertain as accurately as possible, by observation and questioning, the individual's health and general development. In each case health was rated according to one of several grades. For instance, the general physical condition was classified as sturdy, fairly sturdy, or frail; and nutrition as very good, average, or undernourished. Since the figures were obtained not by accurate scientific classification but by lay standards, they can be used only as indications. Most of the subjects are in the first grade of each of the three classifications, and comparatively few fall in the two lower grades. The figures of Table 16 show the results of a comparison of the subjects' weights, in relation to their ages and heights, with the table of average weights used by American life insurance companies. 92 HEALTH 93 Table 16 PRESENT HEALTH Comparison of Weight with Standard Number of Per Cent Relation of Weight to Standard Subjects Distribution Within 20% of standard weight............. 484 87.7 Underweight 20% or more.................. 17 3.1 Overweight 20% or more.................... 51 9.2 Total known............................ 552 100.0 Unknown.............................. 358 Total group............................... 910 The proportion of 87.7% within the 20% of standard weight compares favorably with the condition of the general population. Since the proportion between height and weight is some indication of the condition of health, this is a significant figure. As might be expected from the way in which the information for the schedules was collected, the exact information as to height and weight was unknown for a fairly large proportion of the subjects. As we see from the table, 358 cases were thus unknown. It was difficult to judge of the probable distribution of these cases. For 107 the present condition of health is almost entirely unknown; 28 are dead. Among the rest, the 223 whose general ability, situation and physical condition is known, 201 had no outstanding physical defect which interfered markedly with their way of living or mode of working; 22 had some physical handicap. It would seem probable since any marked deviation from the normal in height and weight is noticeable that such a condition would have been noted by the visitor under "Remarks" even when the exact figures were unknown. There is nothing to indicate that the 552 subjects whose height and weight were known were a selected group. The more detailed reports concerned the condition of the eyes, teeth, skin, ears, nose and throat, etc. The reports were based on examination by family physicians, upon the visitor's judgment and 94 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT observation, and the subject's own statement. According to the best information obtainable, nearly half of the 910 subjects had no apparent physical defects. A considerable number had had defects which had been corrected by treatment. Many minor defects were reported, such as defective teeth, astigmatism, slight curvatures, speech defects and flat feet. An analysis of the previous physical condition and development of the subjects presented considerable difficulties. The average person, if he is healthy, rarely thinks about his health. He seldom remembers accurately what diseases he has had or when he had them. Efforts to get uniform figures on the health history of the subjects disclosed little material that was accurate or comparable. For instance, some families had kept a record of illnesses of their foster children and were able to give full and accurate reports. Others had never had a doctor for their children unless there had been serious illness. It is necessary to remember that many of these children were placed in simple country homes 15 or 20 years ago. At that time there was even less organization of rural health work than we have today, and there was little health work done in the schools. What would nowadays be diagnosed by a physician as a case of mastoiditis was probably called ear-ache by the family, A slight case of appendicitis was probably thought of as stomach-ache. Physicians were consulted only irregularly, and as their examinations were made with varying degrees of thoroughness the result was difficult to classify and compare. The study visitors had to depend largely upon the memory of the foster parents and of the subjects for health records, and memory was often an inexact guide. Although many of the children had had examinations before placement, there were not many adequate records of the diagnosis and treatment. Pneumonia was the disease most often reported, diphtheria the next, and far less frequently, typhoid. There had been a few cases of infantile paralysis, some of thyroid trouble and chorea. There had been over fifty operations for appendicitis, by far the most frequent of serious operations, and of course many minor operations, such as adenoids, tonsils, etc. HEALTH 95 There were relatively few cases of serious physical disability or complete invalidism. One girl has been blind since infancy, but she has found work excellently suited to her and is a successful teacher. There were cases of heart trouble and several cases of major hysteria. Twenty-five subjects have or have had tuberculosis.* We are told by the statistician of the National Tuberculosis Association that the incidence of tuberculosis is not markedly different from that of the general population. Of these, 10 developed the disease before they were fifteen years old; 12 between fifteen and twentyfive; 2 when over twenty-five, and for one the age was unknown. There have been 19 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, 4 of tuberculosis of the bone, and 2 of glands. The present condition of these subjects is as follows: Dead (2 of tuberculosis).............. 6 Cured or arrested.................... 13 Still ill with tuberculosis.............. 2 Arrested but deformed................- 3 Unknown............................ 1 It is interesting to note in connection with this that in our study of family background we found that there were 69 subjects one or both of whose parents are known to have had tuberculosis. Six of these 25 tuberculous subjects came from these 69 families. The health of the other 63 children who came from families in which tuberculosis occurred is as follows: 43 are generally considered to be in good health, 13 in fair health, 4 in bad health, 1 is unknown, and 2 are dead. There are 3 subjects who are known to have epilepsy; 1 of these is still in an institution; the other 2 are on parole. There are 2 other suspected cases, but no definite diagnosis has been made. It might also be noted that 15 children came from epileptic parentage. Two of these 15 subjects have epilepsy; 1 subject is very hysterical, has had St. Vitus's dance and shows many general traits of inferiority of mind and body; 3 have fair health but very limited mental capacity; 2 have good health but are mentally dull; 2 have good mental *See Appendix, Table 48. 96 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT ability but are generally nervous and inclined to hysteria; 5 seem well physically and capable of meeting the ordinary demands of life. Seven of the subjects have been in State hospitals for the insane. All of them were at first diagnosed as the manic-depressive type, but 2 have since been considered dementia praecox. Three are still in hospitals; the others have been discharged as cured or paroled. Here again it is of interest to state what we found on this point in our study of the family background. Fifty-seven of the children are known to have had insanity in their parentage. One of the subjects who has been in a State hospital is known to have had insanity in the parentage. The other 56 did not show any traits of nervous disability which distinguished them from the other subjects in the study. Of the 51 whose ability for taking formal education was known, there were 9 "C" children, 14 "B" children, and 28 "A" children. All but 2 of the subjects were over five when placed. We made note of all the subjects who drank to excess, considering this a symptom indicative of nervous instability. There were 5 subjects who have been intemperate, though not any of them to any serious extent. In this connection it is interesting to consider the fact that there were 230 children, one of whose parents was intemperate, and 42 children both of whose parents were intemperate. Of the 272 children who had intemperance in their parentage, there were only 41 whose only serious difficulty of habit or health or mind was drink. In the 272 families many complicated factors were known to exist. This would make it extremely difficult to form any opinion of the possible relation between intemperance of parents and the general development of their children. In so far as we know, there were only the 5 subjects who drank. All of these came from homes in which there was intemperance. No attempt was made to form any conclusions about the relationship between the health of the parents and the health of the child. For 295 subjects the health of one or both parents was known. In practically no case was disease the sole unfavorable factor in the family history. Any study of the health of two generations would have involved a study of many complex factors. It was felt, more HEALTH 97 over, that such a study should properly be left to medical or psychiatric experts since it would be a study by itself, outside the province of a sociological survey. The number of subjects who have died is 28: Tuberculosis......................... 2 Influenza or pneumonia............... 10 War deaths.......................... 4 Accidents.......................... 5 Other causes......................... 7 Eight deaths occurred in 1918, the year of the influenza epidemic and the last year of the war.* This list includes only the subjects who died after the age of eighteen. So far as it is possible to tell from lay judgments, the health of the group as a whole does not show any predominance of any special type of disease or physical disability. The fact that most of the subjects work steadily, that few of them are physically incapacitated, and that not many serious illnesses or defects have been reported is significant. *See Appendix, Table 49. Chapter X OCCUPATIONS An important part of a person's life is his work-what he does, when he began work, how regularly he works, and how he progresses in his work. All of these facts are vitally important. The following table gives the age at which the subjects began to work. Table 17 AGE SUBJECTS BEGAN WORK FOR WAGES Age Began Work Number of Per Cent for Wages Subjects Distribution 13.................................. 5.7 14.................................. 56 7.8 15.................................. 104 14.4 16.................................. 209 29.0 17.................................. 135 18.8 18.................................. 121 16.8 19.................................. 45 6.2 20............................... 17 2.4 21.................................. 13 1.8 22-25............................... 10 1.4 25 and over......................... 5.7 Total known....................... 720 100.0 Never worked for wages............ 90 Unknown age began to work........ 100 Total group................................ 910 As Table 17 shows, the largest single group is that of subjects who began work at sixteen-29%. The next largest, 18.8%, began at seventeen; the next, 16.8%o, at eighteen. Our study of the age at which the subjects left school and of their reasons for leaving school, in so far as it is related to the 98 OCCUPATIONS 99 age at which they began work, although it is not conclusive, indicates that the children did not leave school for the purpose of going to work, as considerable time elapsed in a number of cases between the time of leaving school and the time of starting on their first paid work. Table 18 CORRELATION OF AGE AT LEAVING SCHOOL AND AGE AT BEGINNING TO WORK Total Number of Subjects Whose Ages at Leaving School and Beginning to Work are Known, Not Including Those Who Are Still in School or College or Who Have Never Worked for Wages. Age at Age at Beginning to Work Leaving Total School Known 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Ove 21 12 3 1 1 1 13 20 5 5 2 5 2 1 14 101. 43 19 19 8 6 2 3 1 15 184 76 56 30 15 3 2 2 16 214 1 115 40 44 9 2 2 1 17 83 4 48 20 7 1 3 18 41 1 25 9 3 2 1 19 20 1 3 12 2 1 1 20 7 4 3 21 3 2 1 22 2 2 Total 678 5 48 99 200 130 115 42 14 13 12 known _____ As we have indicated in our chapter on education, few subjects had to go to work in order to help with the family income. If they started to work young it was usually because they were bored with school or preferred the independence of earning their own money. Our tabulation of first occupations resulted in little information which lent itself to interpretation. The Census Bureau's classifications which we used were too broad to show individual difference in the nature of the work or the degree of responsibility within the particular classification.* There was considerable variety in the *See Appendix, Table 51. - 100 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT type of work with which the subjects began their wage-earning careers. This variety is due partly to the fact that the children had lived in their foster homes in every type of social background, from the home of artist or doctor to the home of laborer, and also to the fact that some of them started work immediately after leaving school, others after leaving college or high school, and that some were brought up in the country and others in the city. The environment in which the subjects were brought up naturally determined to some extent the age at which they began to work and also the kind of work which they found to do. As most of the foster homes were middle-class homes the children went from them into the kind of work with which the greater part of the population is busy, that is, trade, industry, domestic service or agriculture. The children who started work at sixteen or seventeen years of age took the employment offered by their locality and work to which their foster family's circumstances and standards inclined them. At the time that many of these children began work there was less organized movement toward vocational direction than we have nowadays, both in the regular and the trade schools. Many of these first jobs were of short duration. The war, with its demand for labor followed by subsequent unemployment was one of the factors which caused quick changes in jobs. A few general observations may be noted. A large number of girls had as their first jobs work in factories, offices, restaurants, hotels or housework, the usual beginning occupations for girls. Like most girls who are relatively untrained and who start work rather young, they began at the bottom, learning their trade and earning small wages. The largest group among the first occupations of the boys is that of farmers or farm laborers. Undoubtedly this was because so many boys over ten were placed in foster homes in the country and began work on their foster father's farm or neighbor's farm. The next largest group is the industrial group. As far as we were able to find out only one child-a boy went into a "street trade"-selling newspapers for a time. A comparison of the first occupations with the present occupations indicates a decided tendency to improvement not only in the OCCUPATIONS 101 nature of the work but in the degree of responsibility with which the subjects were entrusted. The following table gives a very general idea of the distribution according to present occupations.* Table 19 PRESENT OCCUPATION Distribution of 882 Living Subjects Classified by Sex Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Field of Work - Total Male Female Total Male Female Professions............. 32 10 22 4.5 3.7 5.0 Manufacturing and Industry................ 76 50 26 10.7 18.5 5.9 Trade and Transportation 92 68 24 12.9 25.2 5.4 Subsidiary Service*...... 70 22 48 9.8 8.2 10.8 Agriculture.............. 50 50 - 7.0 18.5 Public Service........... 3 3 -.4 1.1 Army and Navy......... 23 23 - 3.2 8.5 Domestic Service........ 58 8 50 8.1 2.9 11.2 Not gainfully employed.. 310 36 274 43.4 13.4 61.7 Total known.......... 714 270 444 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown............. 168 103 65 Total living subjects..... 882 373 509 *Subsidiary service includes services common to many fields of work, such occupations as stenography, clerical and secretarial work, bookkeeping, etc. Ten women are teaching and 12 are either graduate or student nurses. About the same number are engaged in factory work as in professional work. The largest group is that of women in domestic service, which as an occupation for women in general ranks second in, the U. S. Census. Ten men are in the professions; 1 is an engineer and surveyor, 2 are teachers, 1 is a reporter, 1 is doing editorial magazine work, 2 are in banking, 1 is an accountant, 1 a chemist and 1 a draftsman. A very large number are in the skilled trades. Fifty are farmers, a few running their own farms, others working farms on shares, but the majority employed as farm *See Appendix, Tables 62 and 53. 102 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT laborers. Seven are in the Army and 16 in the Navy. Fivei men are managers or owners of business concerns, and 10 are salesmen. Of the 310 who are not gainfully employed, 274 are women and 36 men. One hundred and ninety-three are married women who are managing their households and bringing up their children. Of the remaining 81, 12 are still in school or college, 2 are doing volunteer work, 13 are helping at home with the housework, 37 are at home with their foster parents having no special occupation. The 17 in institutions are included in this group. Of the 36 men who are not gainfully employed, 12 are students, 8 temporarily out of work, 3 are not gainfully employed because of ill health, 5 are in institutions. Eight are idlers (2 colored, 6 white). Four of these might fairly be called loafers, the kind who spend much time standing on street corners or hanging about pool rooms, earning a precarious living by dubious means; of the other 4, 3 are still very young, under twenty, and have not yet settled down to any work, and the one other, on account of ill health and also because he has always been indulged, has never felt any obligation to support himself. The foster families of these last 4 young men are able to support them and are indulgent with their lack of interest in self-support. The present occupation of 168 is unknown. In this group were included 90 subjects of whose present situation very little is known in any way. Among these were the subjects whose foster parents left no address behind them after they had adopted their foster children. Some of the subjects had for years been on their own, and some ran away for the sake of larger freedom and were therefore unknown. For one reason or another it was impossible to locate these children, but it is reasonable to suppose that their occupations were not very different from the occupations of the known group. For 78 subjects the capability was known but the exact occupation was unknown. Twenty-six of the 78 were capable and although their exact jobs were not known at the time the study visit was made, it was evident they were of a kind that was reasonably satisfactory. Of those whose occupation was unknown, 52 were included in the incapable group. In looking over the individ OCCUPATIONS 103 ual records of these 52 subjects, one is impressed by the fact that there is available a considerable amount of information about the types of work done by the subjects, even though the present occupation was unknown. One gets distinctly the impression that it was not so much the jobs of these subjects that were inferior to those of the other members of the study group, but that the subjects' attitude toward them and the general character qualities of the subjects were at fault. In some instances the subjects probably had no very definite steady occupation; in others the visitors considered it relatively unimportant to get information about the exact nature of the present occupation, considering the general work record and attitude toward work more significant. A brief study was made of the present occupations of the subjects placed under five years old and of the occupations of their foster fathers. In a few cases the boys have gone into their foster father's business. One boy, for instance, went into his foster father's drug-store, another into his foster father's fruit and produce business, one into his foster father's printing business, and another whose foster father is an electrician, is a graduate of a technical school and a surveyor and engineer; one girl went into her foster mother's dressmaking establishment. There are some striking instances of subjects who are in jobs considerably better than those of their foster parents. For instance, one girl, whose foster father is a fisherman, is a teacher, and another whose foster father is a truckman, is an expert stenographer. One boy whose foster father is a cigar maker, is a bookkeeper. In as far as it is possible to make any general statements about this comparative study, we may say that the subjects' jobs are not inferior in type to those of their foster parents, unless the subjects are subnormal. A consideration of the wages earned in the first occupation and in the present occupation showed the impossibility of arriving at comparative or significant material. In many cases the subjects were unable to remember how muth they were paid in their first jobs. Others had received large wajes paid during the war and were now feeling the effects of the reaction in having to accept much less pay. Then too, the fact that some subjects were in highly 104 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT paid trades and others working on neighbors' farms, that some were just beginning to work and others had been settled in their jobs for some years, that some had special training and others had to take what work was at hand-all these factors made it impractical to do the comparative studies necessary to make figures on wages worth much. Nevertheless it may be said that practically all of those who are working are earning enough to support themselves and their dependents. There are 293 subjects who are married.* Of these, 72 are men who on the whole, are supporting their families adequately. The 221 women are most of them adequately supported by their husbands. Two hundred and twenty-one subjectst (40 men and 181 women) have had children, the number in the family ranging from one child each in 123 families to ten children in one family. The Association's oldest "grandchild" is now seventeen years old and is working on his father's farm. He has been ill a great deal and was not able to get very far in school in consequence, but is a capable boy. He helps his father, but also has some chickens which he cares for himself. His sister, who is fifteen, is going to high school in the nearest town. She is interested in music and has played at several concerts. The family hope to give her some college training. The mother of these two children, one of the study subjects, was placed when she was nine years old. She married a farmer and has four children besides the two just mentioned. *See Appendix, Table 54. tSee Appendix, Table 56. Chapter XI THE FAMILY BACKGROUND AND THE FOSTER HOME AS FACTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN Thus far we have presented for the most part observations and impressions about the present condition of the subjects, their general situation in life, their health, and their occupations. We have described the environments provided for them by their foster parents as shown by the types of homes in which the children grew up and by the kind of care given to them. We have also analyzed all the facts and impressions about the different kinds of homes and families from which the children came. The question which arises is in what respects can the subjects' present conditions and situations in life be related, first to the kinds of foster homes they have had, and, secondly, to the kinds of family background from which they came. To what extent can these two important factors be correlated with the way in which the subjects have developed? The results of correlations of data like these obviously should not be taken as conclusive evidence, but as suggestive and tentative information. Subtle human factors with their infinite number of variations are hard to group into classifications which are sufficiently individual to be significant and which are at the same time broad enough to include a number large enough to have some meaning. We recognize the inadequacy of our more or less arbitrary classifications as well as the limitations of our original data. As was explained in Chapter VI, no new investigation was made of the family backgrounds of the children, only the information contained in the original records was used. With regard to the present situation of the subjects, the records were relatively complete. Nevertheless, incomplete as parts of our data may have been and procedure 105 106 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT imperfect, it is undoubtedly the most complete and reliable material of its kind available. Because of the need of all kinds of carefully assembled data in the field of child welfare, we are presenting our figures and correlations. Relationship Between Different Kinds of Foster Families and the Development of the Subjects: As was described in Chapter VII, "The Foster Homes," each foster home was graded according to definite classifications as superior, good or mediocre. By this grouping it was found that the vast majority of homes fell into the mid-group, that is, about 72% of all the homes used were the plain, average good homes. Only about 15% were graded as superior, and 13% as mediocre. Since about 42% of the subjects had more than one home, and as those several successive homes in which the subjects lived would not necessarily fall into the same classification, there were relatively few subjects who had one kind of 'home only who did not fall into the mid-group. In other words, there were very few subjects who had superior homes only or mediocre homes only. By actual count we found that there were 75 subjects who had superior homes only; 59 who had mediocre homes only. There were 548 who had good homes only. Table 20 CORRELATION OF KINDS OF FOSTER HOMES AND CAPABILITY OF SUBJECTS Subjects Who Had One Type of Home Only Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Social Type of Home Type of Home Adjustment Total S - Total Super- G oMedi- Total Super- GoodMediior ocre ior ocre Capable....... 486 55 386 45 80.5 80.9 79.9 84.9 Incapable...... 118 13 97 8 19.5 19.1 20.1 15.1 Total known. 604 68 483 53 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown..... 78 7 65 6 Total group.... 682 75 548 59 THE FAMILY BACKGROUND AND THE FOSTER HOME AS FACTORS 107 Table 21 CORRELATION OF KINDS OF FOSTER HOMES AND ABILITY OF SUBJECTS TO TAKE FORMAL EDUCATION Subjects Who Had One Type of Home Only Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution irmay to Te Type of Home Type of Home Formal.. Education Total Total Education Tol Super- Good Medi- Total Super- Good Mediior ocre ior ocre "A"........... 456 56 356 44 75.8 82.3 74.0 83.0 "B"........... 109 7 96 6 18.1 10.3 20.0 11.3 "C"........... 37 5 29 3 6.1 7.4 6.0 5.7 Total known. 602 68 481 53 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown..... 80 7 67 6 Total group.... 682 75 548 59 In comparing the percentages in Table 20 and those in 21 by the statistical formula for testing the significance of the difference of two percentages* we find that the proportions of capable and incapable subjects among those who grew up in superior homes, in good homes and in mediocre homes are essentially the same. Nor do the children who live in superior, good or mediocre homes show any real difference in their ability to take formal education. It should, perhaps, be stated, however, that another factor should be taken into consideration, and that is the age at which the children were placed. Of the children who grew up in good or superior homes 38% were under five years of age when placed, over against 60% who grew up in mediocre homes. The relationship between the "kind of care" given in a foster home and the development of the subjects is also correlated. "Kind of care," as was shown in the chapter on Foster Homes, was classified in three groups: excellent, average and poor. The kind of care did not necessarily correspond with the "kind of home" in which the subject had been placed; that is, superior homes were not *See Appendix, Note 6. 108 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT necessarily the ones which gave excellent care, any more than mediocre homes gave poor care. There were 754 children who had one kind of care only, the others had one kind of care in one home and another kind of care in another home. According to the standards of measuring care and training which we followed, 12% had excellent care, 68% average care, and 20% poor care. These are, however, to be taken as suggestive only. Of the children who had excellent care, approximately 87% developed into "capable" subjects; of those who had average care 80% are "capable," and of those who had poor care 66% are "capable." In other words, when excellent care was given, more of the subjects developed into capable persons. These figures can be approximate only, for it is impossible to tell how much of the result was due to the child's innate character and how much to the training he received. The information was often not detailed and complete enough to make more than a rough estimate of probabilities. The development of a group of children placed when less than five years old and legally adopted in superior homes was compared with the development of a group less than five at placement and adopted in mediocre homes. The kind of care given in these two groups was not very different, approximately the same proportion in each group having been given poor care, the superior homes giving a slightly larger proportion of excellent care. There were 30 subjects in the superior home group and 25 in the mediocre. These two groups, while obviously too small in number to be useful in drawing conclusions, are nevertheless interesting enough to be reported. The proportion of capable and incapable subjects was the same in each group. The proportion of children who had at least average ability for taking formal education was also the same for the two groups. There was, however, a difference in the amount of education given to the subjects in the two groups. Of the children who grew up in superior homes 60.9% received at least high school training, as against 15% of the subjects in mediocre homes. Only 4.3% of the subjects in the superior homes had less than 8th grade grammar school training as against 25% of those in mediocre homes. Twenty-five per cent of the subjects in the superior homes left THE FAMILY BACKGROUND AND THE FOSTER HOME AS FACTORS 109 school at sixteen or younger, as against 80% in the mediocre homes. As we examine these two groups more carefully, we are impressed with the fact that the broad, general classifications of "capable" and "incapable" do not take into account subtle differences, that is, whether the subject has adapted to a simple and limited environment or to a complex and exacting one. The impression which one gets in examining these two groups-that is, the capable subjects who were brought up in superior homes and those brought up in mediocre homes-is that the children who were brought up in the superior homes responded to the demands of the complex environment, profiting by the advanced education and cultural training given them. The other group, those who grew up in mediocre homes, were successful within the narrow demands and opportunities of a simple environment. It is probable'that the children in the second group were capable of adapting themselves to an environment which would have demanded more of them and would have stimulated powers which remained undeveloped in the simpler homes. Summarizing our findings and the correlations between the types of foster homes and the outcome of the subjects, we may say that the different kinds of homes per se did not produce differences in the development of the subjects which are marked enough to be detected by our general classifications of "capable" and "incapable" and the ability to take formal education. On the other hand, there is an indication that there is a relationship between the kind otfi care given a child and the outcome. The foster homes which gave excellent care produced a better development than those which gave poor care. Relationship Between Family Background and the Development of the Subjects: Coming now to a consideration of the relationship between the kind of family background and the kind of development of the subjects, it will be remembered that in Chapter VII family backgrounds were divided into six classifications: Background bad, 300; background bad-unknown, 135; background bad-good, 65; background good, 22; background goodunknown, 22; background unknown, 149. 110 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Since so very small a proportion of the subjects fell in the good family background group, it is impossible to draw any very definite conclusions. Comparing the four main groups, that is, those whose family background in so far as known was predominantly bad, those whose background was mixed, and those whose background so far as known was predominantly good, and those whose background was unrecorded, we get the results shown in Tables 22 and 23. Table 22 CORRELATION OF FAMILY BACKGROUND AND SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF SUBJECTS Number of Subjects [Per Cent Distribution Social Kind of Background Kind of Background Adjustment Total Mix- Un- Total UnBad ed Good known /Bad Mixed Good known Capable.... 461 278 48 34 101 74.7 71.1 80.0 82.9 80.8 Incapable.. 156 113 12 7 24 25.3 28.9 20.0 17.1 19.2 Total Known.. 617 391 60 41 125 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown 76 44 5 3 24 Total group 693 435 65 44 149 In comparing these percentages by the statistical formula for testing the significance of the difference of two percentages, we find no real differences in the proportion of capable and incapable subjects coming from these various kinds of family background. In so far as the general broad question of capability or incapability is concerned, our study shows that children coming from good background are not capable in a significantly larger proportion than those coming from bad or mixed background. THE FAMILY BACKGROUND AND THE FOSTER HOME AS FACTORS 111 Table 23 CORRELATION OF FAMILY BACKGROUND AND ABILITY OF SUBJECTS TO TAKE FORMAL EDUCATION Ability Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Ability to take Kind of Background Kind of Background Formal - - _ _ _ _ _ _ Education Total M n BadTo Mixed Good k UnBad ed Good k known "A"....... 426 255 40 37 94 68.2 63.4 66.7 92.5 77.0 "B"....... 145 108 15 3 19 23.3 26.9 25.0 7.5 15.6 "C"....... 53 39 5 0 9 8.5 9.7 8.3.... 7.4 Total Known.. 624 402 60 40 122 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown 69 33 5 4 27 Total group 693 435 65 44 149 Comparing our percentages we find that there is a significant difference in the development of the two groups, the; subjects with good background showing better ability to take formal education than those of bad or mixed family background. The development of the foundlings whose background is completely unknown is described in a later chapter. Here it is sufficient to say that among these a larger proportion than among those of the known family background group were found capable, also that they showed a better capacity for taking formal education than the other group. This observation led to further analyses and comparisons. A group as nearly like the foundlings as possible was studied and its development compared with that of the foundlings. The children most nearly comparable were the 102 non-foundlings placed when less than five years of age. For comparison, then, there are the 213 foundlings who also were less than five years when placed, and the 102 non-foundlings who were less than five when placed.* The background of the foundlings was completely unknown; the background of the 102 non-foundlings was well enough known to be classified for 57t; for 45 the information was inadequate. Among the 57 it was found that the *See Appendix, Table 58. tSee Appendix, Table 56. 112 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT proportion who had bad background was practically the same as that of the other known background group. The proportion having mixed background was slightly less, and that of good slightly larger. Comparing now the present situation of the foundlings and the non-foundlings, we find the two groups show no difference in the proportion of capable and incapable, the distribution of those having "A" ability to take formal education, "B" ability, and "C" ability, the amount of education given, the age at which they began work, and the kinds of positions they have held. The foundlings had fewer superior homes, that is 7.7% of the total homes used were superior, as against 18.6% of those used for the non-foundlings. Briefly, then, our study showed that the development of the foundlings was like the development of a group which was comparable, that is, the other children of the study who were less than five years old at placement. Stating the problem of the relationship between family background and the foster home as possible factors in the subjects' development in another way, we put the question: Why did certain children develop into capable human beings and others into incapable? Why did 615 of the group studied make good and 182 fail to make good? Analyzing the failures is perhaps an easier approach to the problem than taking the successes. We tried to find out why these particular 182 subjects rather than any other subjects of the study developed unsatisfactorily. Was there any one, or was there a group of common elements running through this group of 182 distinguishing it from the 615 which would explain why they were less successful in accomplishment than the rest? Was the family background of these 182 worse than that of the others, or were the foster homes used less good? Our analysis* of the family backgrounds in so far as our classifications show differences, brought out no significant difference in the two groups. There is a significant difference, however, in the age at which the subjects were placed; 20.9%o of the incapable subjects were less than five when placed as contrasted with 37.9%5 capable subjects. *See Appendix, Table 45. Chapter XII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHILD'S AGE AT PLACEMENT Before we began the study we realized that the age at which the child was placed might be a significant element in his development. For this reason and also for the sake of convenience, the children were distributed in a number of groups, based on the age at which the child was placed in its first foster home. The distribution of the 910 children within these age groups, chosen more or less arbitrarily, is shown in the following table: Table 24 AGE AT FIRST PLACEMENT IN FOSTER HOME Number of Per Cent Age at Placement Subjects Distribution Under 2 years.............................. 224 24.6 2-S years................................... 91 10.0 5-10 years.................................. 188 20.7 10-14 years................................. 309 33.9 14 and over................................ 98 10.8 Total....................................... 910 100.0 It was thought that there might be significant differences in the development of the children corresponding to their age at placement. Careful study of the five age groups showed that significant differences appeared between those placed under five and those placed over five. Our choice of five years as a dividing line between the two groups was not based on exact study of the development of the children placed, at one year of age, at two, three or four or 113 114 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT seven, eight and ten years, etc. The results were studied according to age groups and not according to the precise age. The group placed when less than two years old and the group between two and five years of age were very nearly alike in their development, and the three groups that were placed when over five years of age showed no great dissimilarity.* As was shown in the preceding chapter, the development of the foundlings who were under five at placement and that of the other children who were placed when less than five years old, were very similar. It was the children who were over five and under five at placement who showed a marked difference in development. There were 315 children under five and 595 children over five at placement. The following chart shows the comparison of the two groups in their ability "to manage themselves and their affairs with ordinary prudence." Table 25 SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT Comparison Between Subjects Placed Under 5 Years and 5 Years or Over Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Social Adjustment Total Age at Placement Total Age at Placement Under 5 5 & over Under 5 5 & over Capable................ 615 233 382 77.2 86.0 72.6 Incapable............... 182 38 144 22.8 14.0 27.4 Harmless............ 89 22 67 11.1 8.1 12.8 Harmful............. 47 7 40 6.0 2.6 7.6 "On trial".......... 26 5 21 3.2 1.8 4.0 In institutions....... 20 4 16 2.5 1.5 3.0 Total known capability 797 271 526 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown 113 44 69 _ Total group 910 315 595 _ *See Appendix, Table 57. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHILD'S AGE AT PLACEMENT 115 Chart VI SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT Percentage Comparison Between 271 Subjects Placed Under 5 Years and 526 Subjects Placed at 5 or Over. Per Cent Social Per Cent Adjustment Distribution 0 20 40 60 80 100 Capable.................................. 72 6 Harmful 2.....-( 6 L 7.6 Incapable "On trial"....... 8 In institutions. { 15 * I Placed under five years _ Placed at five or over Clearly, the child younger at placement made a better social adjustment and showed better ability to get on without serious personal difficulty.* As we have seen in the chapter on Education, there was little difference among the various age-at-placement groups as to the age at which they left school, but there was a significant contrast between the children placed under and over five in the amount of education received. The children placed younger made markedly better progress in school and had a greater degree of special training in addition to the regular school course. *See Appendix, Note 7. 116 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 26 ABILITY TO TAKE FORMAL EDUCATION Distribution of Subjects Under 5 and Over 5 at First Placement. Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Ability to Take Education -.....-....... e E atio Total Age at Placement Total Age at Placement Under 5 5 & over Under 5 & over "A"............. 594 243 351 73.4 89.7 65.2 "B"............... 156 15 141 19.3 5.5 26.2 "C"............... 59 13 46 7.3 4.8 8.6 Total known...... 809 271 538 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.......... 101 44 57 Total group........... 910 315 595 The children who were placed in foster homes when they were less than five years old had the advantage of feeling settled and of a good early start in habit training. Moreover the majority of them had continuity in their school training. These facts, in all probability, explain partially why the younger group showed a better ability to take formal education. Of the children who were less than five at placement, 114 are supposedly unaware of the foster relationship, 107 knew before they were 16 years old.* The children who were placed when more than five years old must have known of the foster relationship. Turning now to the type of foster home in which the children under five and the children over five grew up, we see from the following table that there is no explanation of the difference in outcome to be found here. *See Appendix, Table 60. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHILD'S AGE AT PLACEMENT 117 Table 27 KIND OF FOSTER HOME Distribution of Homes Used for Subjects Under 5 and Over 5 at First Placement. Number of Homes Used Per Cent Distribution Kind of Hoat Placemen Age at Placement Total Total Under 5 5 & over Under 5 5 & over Superior............... 242 47 195 15.3 11.6 16.5 Good.................. 1139 291 848 71.8 71.9 71.9 Mediocre.............. 204 67 137 12.9 16.5 11.6 Total known........ 1585 405 1180 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown........... 36 7 29 Total homes used........ 1621 412 1209 It is interesting to find that approximately three-quarters of the homes used for the children placed under five and the children placed over five were much the same sort-the good average households which make up a large proportion of our foster homes. The older group had a slightly larger proportion of superior homes, but the difference in the proportion of superior and mediocre homes between the two groups is too small to be significant. An important factor in this connection is the number of children who had only one or two homes. 81.3% of those placed under five, as against 47.9% of those placed at five or older, had one home only; 11.7%, as against 25.3%, had two homes. In other words, the great majority of the younger children stayed in their first homes, and a large proportion of older children who failed to adjust to their first foster homes found a permanent relationship in their second. Perhaps the most striking difference between children placed under five and children placed over five is to be found in the nature of their foster relationship. As we have said, human relationships cannot be literally stated in statistics, but a general 118 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT idea may be given of the proportion of successful and unsuccessful relationships. Of the children placed under five, slightly more than 90% found the foster relationship satisfactory, of the older group only about 40%; that is, practically all the children who were placed in their foster homes while they were very young came to feel that their foster parents were their own and became to all intents the families' own children. A negligible proportion of the younger group, about 4%, had a wholly unsatisfactory relationship; of the older group about 25%. In this matter of foster relationships there is a significant element; foster parents who take children under five are apt to do more for them than foster parents who take the older children, bcause the young children seem more like their own. They are more tolerant of the faults of children who have grown up in their households than of children who come to them from a long stay in bad surroundings; they champion their children, encourage them, protect them and stand by them as parents stand by their own. In the sense that a closer and more sympathetic relationship creates a better environment, one may say that these younger children grew up in better homes; better because the families understood the children, made allowances for them and helped them whole-heartedly. Such foster parents grew up, as it were, with their children; they were at the start of the children's development, as parents are with their own children, and they gained thereby incalculable advantages. They had little to undo, and they could give the children the best possible chance to develop to their utmost capacity. We find then important differences in the development of the children placed under five and of the children placed over fivedifferences wholly in favor of the younger group. The best results were obtained with the child who was young enough at placement to absorb the tone and standard of his foster home, who remembered little of his earlier environment, and who became the foster family's own child. In their relationship to their foster families and to the communities in which they grew up, the younger children are clearly more successful. Chapter XIII CHILDREN LEGALLY ADOPTED Of all foster relationships the closest is usually that existing between foster parents and children who have been legally adopted. It most nearly resembles the natural tie between parents and children in understanding and affection; indeed it often seems a complete substitute for it. It is the foster relationship raised to the nth degree of closeness. It may exist with almost as complete an adaptation between parents and children over five at placement as with children placed younger. There are parents who say that they can feel no difference between their affection for their own children and for their adopted children. One woman who had a boy of her own and an adopted boy said, "If they were drowning and I could save only one of them, so help me God, I don't know which I would choose!" There are adopted children who are so thoroughly a part of their foster families that they think of themselves as having the same ancestry as their foster parents. Two hundred and sixty-nine of the 910 study children were legally adopted. Of these, 145 are foundlings; 45 more of them 'ome from families about whom very little was recorded. We have racts about the family background of 79. An analysis of these 79 disclosed little difference between the group of adopted children and those not adopted, with regard to the proportions of good, mixed and bad family background.* A very large proportion of the adopted children were very young when first placed in foster homes, 222, or 82.5%, having been less than five when they were taken by their foster parents. This is in striking contrast to the group not adopted, 14.5%o of *See Appendix, Table 61. 119 120 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT whom were less than five at placement. Undoubtedly this was a significant factor in the lives of these 269 children. It gave them the advantage of the longest possible time in their foster homes; in some cases their foster care began almost as soon as they were born. It gave the foster parents the chance to begin with the child almost at the start of his life, so that they had less to undo and could insure the proper physical care and environment and the right kind of training at the time when such care and training are most important. It gave a chance for the growth of intimacy, affection, loyalty and confidence such as normally develop between parents and children, and it thus laid the foundations for an enduring and satisfying relationship. Analysis of the educational opportunities of the 269 adopted children shows that a larger proportion of the adopted children went through high school and on to college than of the rest. Of the 17 children of the entire study group who are having or have had a college education, 15 were adopted children, and of the 47 subjects in the total group who completed four years' high school work, 32 were adopted. The following table shows the education of the adopted children: Table 28 EDUCATION Distribution of Adopted Children. Number of Per Cent Amount of Education Subjects Distribution College........................1............. 5 6.7 High School Completed 4th year.................... 32 14.2 Less than 4th year.................... 59 26.2 Elementary School Completed 8th grade.................... 70 31.1 Less than 8th grade.................... 49 21.8 Total known............................ 225 100.0 Unknown............................... 44 Total adopted.............................. 269 CHILDREN LEGALLY ADOPTED 121 Nearly half of the children had more than elementary schooling. The care with which the education of the group was planned by their foster parents is shown by the fact that 80 children had some kind of special training in addition to their regular schooling, chiefly business training such as bookkeeping or stenography, or for the girls, trade training such as millinery and dressmaking. In other words, the children were not left to drift from job to job, but were given some definite means of self-support. Foster parents who were ambitious for the education of their adopted children had the satisfaction of finding that most of them possessed the ability to progress in school. A very large number of the adopted children displayed average or more than average school ability. The ability to take formal education was known for 232 subjects: Table 29 ABILITY OF ADOPTED CHILDREN TO TAKE FORMAL EDUCATION Number of Per Cent Ability Subjects Distribution "A".................................... 213 91.8 "B"............................... 15 6.5 "C"............................... 4____4 1.7 Total known........................... 232 100.0 Ability unknown........................ 37 Total group................................ 269 That is, 213,!or 91.8% of the 232 were capable of going beyond the grammar grades. As far as the ability to learn in school is an indication of mental ability in general, thus far one may say that the adopted children were with few exceptions intelligent. The adopted children for the most part are still a young group. 122 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 30 PRESENT AGES OF ADOPTED CHILDREN Number of Per Cent Ages Subjects Distribution Under 21................................... 155 57.6 21-25...................................... 101 37.6 25 or over.................................. 13 4.8 Total group................................ 269 100.0 Forty of the adopted children are now doing some form of clerical work; 17 are in a trade; 11 are in professional work. There are 110 not gainfully employed. Of this number 15 are still in school or college, some are married and supported by their husbands, and others are living in their foster homes. The remainder of the adopted subjects whose occupation is known are doing mechanical or manufacturing work, farming, etc. The adopted subjects prove to be, for the most part, a capable group who manage their affairs sensibly and honorably., We know about the present situation and ability of 235. Table 31 SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF ADOPTED CHILDREN Number of Per Cent Subjects Distribution Capable.................................... 207 88.1 Incapable................................... 28 11.9 Total known........................... 235 100.0 Unknown............................... 34 Total group................................ 269 Two hundred and seven subjects are proving capable of looking after themselves, of supporting themselves and their families if they are married, and of maintaining decent standards of living and morality. CHILDREN LEGALLY ADOPTED 123 Fourteen of the 28 incapable subjects are harmless. They are fairly well adjusted and suited to their rather simple and unexacting environment. They may lack independence, resourcefulness, and the ability to plan wisely for themselves, but they are not at odds with society. In general they are not disappointing to their foster parents; indeed, some foster parents prefer the docile, quiet, unenterprising type of boy or girl to the more independent and self-reliant type. Some of them have professed themselves quite satisfied with the way that the children counted incapable have developed. For instance, one girl of nineteen, who was placed at eight and adopted at eighteen, has been in almost all ways a satisfaction to her foster parents. Her backwardness in school (she completed the 8th grade at eighteen) was the only disappointment. She is dependable and loyal, and devoted to her foster parents, but lacks self-reliance and resourcefulness, and has given no evidence of any ability to plan for herself. On the other hand, some of those considered harmless possess an excess of restlessness and are unstable, and for that reason were called incapable. Two are classed in this "harmless" group because they are incapable of self-support. Of the 14 remaining incapable subjects, 2 are in correctional institutions, 5 are on trial, having been in difficulties of one sort or another, and 7 are harmful. In general, they are weak rather than criminal. Most of this group of 269 children settled down in the foster homes in which they were first placed, thus establishing early in their lives a firm and permanent tie with their foster families. Two hundred and twenty-nine had one home only; 27 were replaced in other homes; 10 had three homes, and 3 subjects had four homes; thus all but 40 took root without serious difficulty in their new soil and had in consequence a continuity of living in an environment in which they became thoroughly at home. The homes in which they grew up were much like the homes in which the children of the study as a whole were placed. There was about the same proportion of superior, good and mediocre households. The type of training, however, was somewhat better. Average or excellent care was given 215 children. Only 23 had less 124 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT than average care. Six of these 23 had poor care for some portion but not all of their stay in foster homes; 16 received poor care and training for the whole period. There were 31 children about whose foster home care we have no adequate information. Inquiry of the foster parents brought out the information that 91 of the 269 adopted subjects had never learned that they were foster children. This figure is open to doubt since experience has repeatedly shown that children may know of their foster relationship and yet not confide their knowledge to their foster parents, either because it is a painful matter for them to discuss or because they believe that their foster parents would prefer to remain unaware of their realization. About half of those who know that they are adopted had learned it before they were twelve years of age, a few having had foster parents wise enough to tell them the truth while the subjects were still young. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the closeness of the relationship between foster parents and their adopted children and to show the type of men and women into which these adopted children have developed, is to quote a few cases. One of the adopted children is Elizabeth, now nineteen, placed when she was a year and five months old, and adopted when she was three. Practically nothing was known about her history. She has developed into a fine-looking, wholesome girl, with clear skin and unusually beautiful hair. She has a refinement which seems to be quite as much instinctive as it is a matter of training. She has always had many friends, among the nicest young people in her neighborhood. When Elizabeth was still a little girl she lost her foster father and she and her foster mother were left with very little money. The foster mother was an ambitious and intelligent woman, and although she had had little education herself, was determined to give Elizabeth the best training possible and to fit her for self-support in some profession. Together the two worked, Elizabeth working hard at her lessons and showing unusual concentration and ambition. She graduated from high school and was then anxious to go to work, but her mother realizing if she had some special training she would be CHILDREN LEGALLY ADOPTED 125 better fitted for self-support, insisted that she take a six months' business course, which fitted her for special library work. Meantime her mother had done everything she could turn her hand to. She kept boarders and lodgers, she had done sewing and she had started a small restaurant and had even gone out to do day's work. Elizabeth was unhappy because of the sacrifices which her mother had to make and would gladly have left school before she did in order to take her share in the family's support, but her mother's better judgment prevailed. The devotion between this mother and daughter is hardly to be distinguished from the natural tie. Elizabeth does not know that she is an adopted child. Another instance of unusual devotion on the part of foster parents is the case of a boy, now nineteen, placed when he was two and adopted when he was six. He was placed with a doctor's family, fortunately as it proved, since at five he developed a bad heart condition which affected his health for many years. In consequence he lost a great deal of time in school, but graduated from high school and is now beginning his university course. For years the foster family have arranged their lives to meet the needs of their adopted son. They lost their own daughter shortly after they took this boy; in fact, they took him knowing that their own child was fatally ill, and he has taken the place of a son. They are proud of his intelligence and personality, and feel that he is worth all the trouble which they have had because of his ill health. They consider themselves more than repaid for everything they have done for him. On his side the boy is devoted and appreciative. He is on particularly good terms with his foster father, whom he much resembles. He has many friends among the family's friends, is popular and meets people easily. He has known since he was six that he was adopted, and apparently the information has made little impression upon him. Another boy now in college was placed when five years of age and adopted when he was seven, and grew up in a family of culture and intelligence. His foster father was a clergyman and the boy himself is now in college. The family adopted another child and the two are as devoted as if they were real brother 126 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT and sister. They have shown unusual sympathy and understanding in training him, giving him every chance to develop his own tastes which were quite different from their own, sending him to private schools because he needed rather special training, and encouraging him in his choice of a profession. This is an adjustment so complete that it hardly seems an adjustment at all, but a natural outgrowth of mutual trust and of familiarity. The three cases which we have quoted have been those of children placed when they were young. It is possible to find an equally close relationship with children adopted when they were older. For instance, Robert, placed at ten and adopted at eleven, has been the mainstay of his family since he was fifteen or sixteen. He is a big, strong, capable boy, steady, responsible, unusually competent in business, a hard worker, mature and ambitious. He has unusual persistence and energy, manages men well and is the type whom employers trust. He was not interested in an education, very much to the disappointment of his foster parents. His decision to go to work was probably a wise one, inasmuch as the death of his foster father left the management of a large business to Robert. He managed this successfully when he was only seventeen or eighteen, but has now gone into railroad work. He is at present the youngest conductor on one of the largest railroads of the country. He is devoted to his foster mother and gets back to see her as often as his business permits. He calls himself his mother's boy, and writes her regularly. His mother is, of course, immensely proud of him, and although she is a reticent woman, her devotion to him is clear in every word that she says about him. An even more remarkable case of complete adjustment between child and foster parents is that of a girl placed when she was twelve and one-half. Her father was unknown, her mother was sent later to an institution for the feeble-minded; there was epilepsy, subnormality and immorality throughout her maternal relatives. In fact, her family name was an epithet of disgrace in the community in which she grew up. Margaret went to school from her own home so irregularly that at twelve she was only in the CHILDREN LEGALLY ADOPTED 127 third grade. After her placement in an excellent farm home, she was encouraged to go on with her school work, and at eighteen had completed her second year high school. Because of her selfconsciousness and shyness she found the public school very dilficult and was sent for two years to a special private school. It is interesting to find that in spite of the shockingly bad environment in which this subject lived for eleven years, she is discriminating in her choice of friends, fond of beautiful things, musical and instinctively refined. She is devoted to both her foster parents and at present is living at home with them. She is rather a dependent type and could probably not assume difficult responsibilities, but according to the rather old-fashioned standards of her foster parents she is a model daughter. She is domestic, quiet, and a girl of fine character. She completely satisfies her foster parents, who have shown unusual discrimination and sympathy in their treatment of her. Here the relationship is apparently as satisfactory as if the subject always lived in her foster home, and is a very close approximation of the natural bond between parent and child. As Chapter VII shows, nearly, 60% of the study children had a satisfactory relationship with their foster parents, yet only about 30% of the 910 subjects were legally adopted. If so many families felt that the children belonged to them in spirit and in fact, why did not more of them ratify that relationship by legal adoption? The chief reason is probably the effort required to get a lawyer, to go before a judge and to go through legal technicalities -an effort thoroughly formidable to families who have never in their lives had anything to do with "the law." They naturally shrink from it and from the possible publicity entailed. If they postpone it the process becomes even more formidable, because the older the children are at the time, the more they comprehend what is going on. Twenty-five of the foster parents who took children under five and who never told their foster children the facts about the relationship, dread the revelation which their appearance in court will make inevitable. Some families "just never got around to it"; others had accepted the children so completely as their own that 128 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT they had forgotten the fact that legal adoption might strengthen the connection. The Association has rarely urged adoption, feeling that the impulse to it should come from the foster parents. It has, however, especially of late years, assured itself that the families who did not adopt made proper provision for their foster children, either by setting aside money for them or by fitting them for adequate self-support. As has been shown, the adopted subjects had better opportunities in education and the advantage of more intelligent and sympathetic understanding with foster parents than those who were not adopted. More of them were eager to get on well in school, and a larger proportion developed into capable, self-supporting, competent people. One wonders whether this is true because they were adopted, or whether they were adopted because they seemed, for one reason or another, children with greater promise; or, perhaps, did they develop better because so many of them were young at placement? This query led to a comparison of the development of the adopted children who were less than five years old when placed and the children who were not adopted and were less than five when placed.* There were 222 in the first group, and 93 in the second group. Analysis showed that among the 222 children, that is, those who were placed when less than five and adopted, there is a slightly larger proportion of capable subjects than among the 93 who were placed when less than five but not adopted. Comparing the development of the 47 who were over five when placed and adopted with the 548 who were over five when placed but not adopted, we find no real difference in the proportion of capable and incapable subjects. In generalizing about the adopted children it might be said that they had better advantages and show better development than the rest. The fact of the adoption and the early age at which they were placed both undoubtedly contributed toward this good result. *See Appendix, Table 62. Chapter XIV WHAT THE ASSOCIATION DID Although the Association's part in the accomplishment of the results which we are studying was unobtrusive, it was a highly important one since the Association found the foster home for each child and started every one of these 910 children in a foster home, and maintained through supervision some connection with these children until they were legally adopted or able to look out for themselves. It was therefore the instrument by which practically all the results were achieved. From the beginning of its work the Association has emphasized the personal rather than the official nature of its relationship to the children under its care, with the idea of making the relation one of friendly interest rather than of mechanical supervision. In dealing with foster families it has left the management of the children in their hands, reserving the right to intervene when necessary, so that its influence upon the children was indirect and transmitted through the foster families. Nevertheless, in spite of the unobtrusive nature of its control, the Association has considered itself fundamentally responsible for the welfare of every one of the children whom it placed. In analyzing the results of child placing, one of the first questions to ask is concerned with the children taken for placement. Has experience proved that the right children were placed —children who should have been brought up in foster homes rather than in their own homes? We are speaking here in sociological terms, not in terms of health, psychology or eugenics. The Association had relatively little to do with the children's original removal from their homes. Ordinarily the homes had been 129 130 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT broken up long before the Association had any knowledge of the children. The local officials had provided for the children who had been left uncared-for because of the death of one or both of the parents, because the parents had deserted and shaken off all responsibility for their children, leaving them entirely unprotected or possibly in the care of an orphan asylum which had temporarily given them shelter. Other homes had to be forcibly broken up by public officials because the conditions in the home were not fit for any child. The Association sometimes re-investigated, for the purpose of fuller information about the children offered for placement, the health and circumstances of the parents and the conditions in the home which led to the breaking up of the family, and as a result rejected some children who in its opinion were not legally eligible for placement. In some instances it worked out with the local officials a plan' giving the own parent another chance to provide a suitable home for his child. Only to this extent did the Association have a part in the selecting of the children for whom foster homes had to be found. Considering the causes of the break-up of the family, we made three general classifications, that is, the children who were abandoned, the children who were without proper guardianship, and the children who were destitute. Classifying the 910 children according to these three groups, we found the following distribution: Table 32 CAUSE OF DEPENDENCY Number of Per Cent Cause Subjects Distribution Improper guardianship..................... 329 36.2 Destitution................................. 165 18.1 Abandonment.............................. 416 45.7 Total....................................... 910 100.0 WHAT THE ASSOCIATION DID 131 The abandoned children make up the largest group, 416, or 45.77% of the 910. This includes 217 foundlings, babies deserted in boarding homes or hospitals, children left destitute when their mother eloped or their father deserted, and the children placed in orphan asylums by the parents and left there, unvisited and unclaimed. As one would be likely to predict, these children were for the most part young at the time they were turned over to the Association, 272 of them being under five. The improper guardianship group includes 329, or 36.2% of the total group. These children were removed from their homes because of conditions injurious to their health, morals or safety. Analysis showed that all but 21 of these improper guardianship cases were older children. This leads one to think that probably action leading to their removal was delayed, partly because young children are less apt to be injured by bad morals than older ones, and partly because of the fact that in remote villages little was known of some of the notoriously bad families from which the children came until it was time for the children to go to school. The chief reason, however, is probably that there was no agency to interest itself in such families, rural social work being comparatively new. Destitution caused 165, or 18.1% of the 910 to need foster homes. Sixty-five of the 165 are full orphans, 68 half-orphans. The remaining 32 are children whose parents were unable, because of illness, to provide for them. These children either had no relatives or no fit relatives to care for them. It is interesting to find that all the different age groups show practically the same proportion of children taken because of destitution. Our analysis of these causes of dependency led us to think that the 910 children for the most part came from homes in which there was relatively little to build on and that they were a group who clearly needed foster home care. The Association pursued much the same principles as it does now in the acceptance of children for foster home care, though probably nowadays fewer children are abandoned and parents cannot quite as easily as heretofore shirk responsibility. 132 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT 132 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Perhaps the best test as to whether the children placed were the right children for foster care is whether or not they have been reclaimed by their parents. No child who was less than five years of age at placement has returned to live with his own parents. In only a few instances have relatives of the children of unknown parentage appeared after the children were placed, and in no case has the Association found it necessary or advisable, for legal or humane reasons, to return one of these children placed young to his own people. The next step in the Association's work was the finding and investigating of foster homes. The careful inquiries made by the Association regarding applicants for children are described in Chapter VII, "The Foster Homes." The minimum qualifications were not only a good reputation, an adequate income and a reasonably comfortable home; the family must have also a sympathetic interest in children and the ability to train them wisely. After the homes had been investigated and approved it was necessary to decide which home would be best for each child. This selective process is one of the most difficult parts of child placing, and in the case of older children is the crucial part. An essential factor in the choice is knowledge of the child's personality and mental ability, his history and his physical condition, and such information was often lacking in records of children placed during the first years of the work. In the early days it was not customary to make the thorough physical examinations which we make nowadays, nor had the mental test become generally used. There were no facilities for observing the children in surroundings where they felt at ease, as for instance the present boarding homes. In general, placements in the early days were made with considerably less information known or recorded about the children than is the case nowadays. Particularly was this true of the personality of the children which, as far as our records show, was frequently an unknown factor to the Association. The following table shows the percentage of children placed during certain year periods: WHAT THE ASSOCIATION DID 133 Table 33 DATE OF PLACEMENT Number of Per Cent Date of Placement Subjects Distribution Before 1900........................................ 64 7.0 1900-1905........................................ 337 37.0 1905-1910.......................................... 156 17.2 1910-1915.......................................... 289 31.8 1915 and after..................................... 64 7.0 Total group........................................ 910 100.0 The significance of this table lies in the fact that slightly more than 60% of the children were placed during a period when preplacement information about the children was much less complete than it is nowadays. However, we know that the workers who placed the children had much more information about them than the records indicate and that even if little information was recorded the selection of a home was made with real attention to the child's needs and aptitudes. Years of experience in child placing give workers a sort of sixth sense for the combination of child and home which is or is not likely to work out. If the home or the child is unsatisfactory, other plans have to be made for the child. This process of trial and error is bound to teach greater wisdom to the worker who places children, and greater ability in a wise selection of the right home. The relationship between the age of the child and of the foster parents was carefully considered so that a child might grow up with parents mature enough to control him but not too old to have forgotten the ways of children. 134 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 34 AGES OF FOSTER MOTHERS IN FIRST HOMES Distribution of Subjects Classified by Age at First Placement in Foster Homes Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Age of Age at First Placement Age at First Placement Foster Mother.. Total Io 1 & Total 10 & Under 5 5-10 over Under 5 5-10 over 20-30.......... 150 95 7 48 20.8 39.3 5.0 14.2 30-40.......... 230 100 37 93 32.0 41.3 26.4 27.5 40-50.......... 175 41 52 82 24.3 16.9 37.1 24.3 50 and over.... 165 6 44 115 22.9 2.5 31.5 34.0 Total known 720 242 140 338 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.... 190 73 48 69 Total group.... 910 315 188 407__ Our analysis showed that the selection of the foster home with relation to the age of the foster mother held true in practice as well as in theory. The extent to which our selection of foster homes resulted satisfactorily is indicated by the following table: Table 35 NUMBER OF HOMES USED Number of Per Cent Number of Homes Subjects Distribution One home only..................................... 541 59.3 Two homes........................................ 187 20.6 Three homes....................................... 94 10.4 More than three homes............................. 88 9.7 Total group....................................... 910 100.0 WHAT THE ASSOCIATION DID 135 Seven hundred and twenty-eight of the children, or 79.9%, did not have more than two homes. The number of homes used per child decreased as the work progressed, due partly to better facilities for observation, treatment and temporary care of children who did not easily adjust to family life, which gave fuller preplacement knowledge of the child's make-up. The reduction in the number of transfers is partly due to the fact that a greater variety of foster homes is available. Replacements were planned to meet as nearly as possible the child's special needs, and were nof indefinitely continued. There were, for instance, necessarily a few children who failed to adjust to household life, sometimes because of mental inferiority, or temperamental difficulties, sometimes because they were more at ease in the congregate life of the institution than in a household. When after one or two trials in a foster home it became clear that such children were not likely to adapt themselves to foster home life, the Association made alternative plans. It did not blindly try the child in one home after another, a process almost sure to harden or discourage a child. Instead, some other plan was tried. Some children were cared for in institutions; 48 had correctional care, 29 custodial care, and 11 had both correctional and custodial care. Fifty-four went back to orphan asylums, some merely temporarily until other plans could be made, some because the community from which they had originally come, and which again assumed responsibility for them, had no other provision for them, and some because they seemed better suited to that mode of life. As time went on the Association made a special point of finding boarding homes in which children who were restless and desirous of more independence than they could have under free foster home care, were especially supervised by agents and by the boarding mothers. This alternative to free foster home care has been particularly successful for older children who were restless and difficult to manage, but in no sense subjects for correctional institutional care. The Association solved still other problems by planning with foster families for the training and education of ambitious children; 136 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT it secured scholarships and in some cases provided allowances Some children too difficult at a particular period for foster home control, and yet not the type for correctional care, were sent, through the efforts of the Association, to special training schools. Here they were able to keep in touch with their foster families and received special training in housework, the care of children, or in some trade. The following table shows the length of time during which the Association supervised the subjects of the study: Table 36 SUPERVISION BY THE ASSOCIATION Number of Per Cent Time under supervision Subjects Distribution Under 2 years.............................. 115 15.1 2-5 years.................................... 238 31.2 5-10 years.................................. 276 36.2 10-15 years................................. 89 11.6 15 years and over.......................... 45 5.9 Total passed from care.................. 763 100.0 Still under supervision.................. 147 Total group................................ 910 Figures were compiled on the number of visitors to each child and the number of visits per year. It was found that the average was seven years supervision and three visits a year for each child and that each child in the course of supervision had seven visitors. The annual number of visits per child was greater for the children placed over fourteen than for those under fourteen, Various methods of analyzing and tabulating the process and results of supervision were considered, with the resulting conclusion that no statistics nor classifications were possible, so intangible was the personal quality of this relationship. The technique of supervision or the visiting of children after placement in their foster homes is one of the most complicated processes of foster home care. Even today, after years of experience, it is still WHAT THE ASSOCIATION DID 137 tentative and changing. What method produces the best results, what kind of relationship is most fruitful of friendliness and good will, when the visitor should work directly with the child and when through the foster parents, to what extent supervision can be deliberately planned, and to what extent it must depend upon the visitor's judgment when she calls at the home, all of these questions are still unsolved. It is the most personal and instinctive part of child placing work, so much so that even with a well developed technique of case work, analysis of processes is difficult. It is even more difficult to analyze supervision which has been maintained for twenty years with changing conditions and with a varied group of children. The subjects under supervision have ranged from older children who have found adaptation to decent family life difficult and consequently needed to be visited frequently, to children under five whose foster parents had almost forgotten that they were foster children. Some children were visited weekly, some yearly, some were under the special care of one visitor and others were seen by a different visitor at every call. For all these reasons, because of the changing nature of the work, the still tentative technique and the varied types of visits, statistical analysis of our supervision was out of the question. The relationship between the children under care and the staff continued to be friendly and in many cases confidential even after the subjects had become more or less self-sustaining. In general the Association has stood by and given help to the subjects even after they were old enough to look after themselves and has been able, from its records, to give many children information about their family backgrounds, a question which has arisen with a number of the boys and girls. The value of friendly and personal relationship with the subjects was strikingly shown when the Association reopened communications for the purpose of getting up-to-date news of the subjects. Many of the persons addressed had been out of touch with the Association for years. Subjects adopted as children, now grown men and women, who had been independent of the Association for a long period, foster families who had moved to other 1 1ft HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT 21 IQ V parts of the country, responded almost without exception to the Association's request for information. Few subjects were antagonistic and only seven foster families refused to give information. In general they were cordial and glad to give up-to-date news. Foster parents welcomed the chance to tell how their boys and girls had turned out. Some of the "boys and girls" came in bringing their wives or husbands and their babies. Some subjects came for advice about a proposed job or a place to live, others came in for confidential talks about difficulties which they felt they could best discuss with some member of the staff whom they knew. Supervision was not discontinued until the Association had satisfied itself that the children were able to maintain themselves adequately without help or until it felt that there was nothing more that it could do for them. To many children, particularly those placed when they were older, and therefore ill adjusted to foster homes, this relationship with the Association has been a real stay and comfort. For many it has been the only steady and certain human relationship. It has meant advice, practical help and the use of the various resources of the Association. To many it has meant more than that —a sense of human and friendly contact which has been of permanent value.* *For a more 'detailed'report of the Association's policies and methods in child placing see Monograph on "The Child in the Foster Home" by Sophie van Senden Theis and Constance Goodrich published by the New York School of Social Work. Chapter XV STUDIES OF SPECIAL GROUPS Children of Mentally Inferior Parents: The character of the parents has been described in the Chapter on "Family Backgrounds." We found that there were 271 schedules in which there was some information concerning the mental ability of the parents; 155 of them showed serious mental limitations. This does not take account of the insane parents who were arbitrarily excluded from the group now considered. In the original records there was a variety of ways and terms in which these mental lacks were recorded. They varied in reliability and in range of detail. There were relatively few expert diagnoses in the original records unless the parent had been in a custodial institution. Most of the information had been furnished in the first place by neighbors, poor-law officials, social workers or teachers. Although at first glance the use of lay opinions as a substitute for expert opinions may appear hazardous, there is, however, much to be said for its value and dependability. The observation of neighbors is apt to be based on long and close scrutiny of the person under consideration. Although the farmer and the general store-keeper may never have heard of psychological tests, they know perfectly well the difference between the ordinary human being and the one who is "lacking," "not all there," or "simple minded." They can tell from personal observation how a man behaves, what his local reputation is, and their estimate is apt to be shrewd and accurate. In this group of 155* which makes up the total number of subjects who are known to have had mental inferiority in their parentage, were included, first, all those who in the original records *See Appendix, Table 63. 139 140 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT were considered "feeble minded," "defective," "weak witted," "half witted," "simple minded," "deficient," "low grade," and "low order of mentality"; secondly, "poor or inferior mental ability," "stupid," "ignorant," "irresponsible," "below normal," "below average," "not bright," and "not up to standard." Both parents of 35 subjects were considered mentally inferior; 120 had one parent who was considered inferior, the other parent of 88 being unknown, and of 32 having average mental ability. It must be remembered, however, that here, as is also the case in any similar analysis, there will be uncertainty in some instances as to the child's paternity. Of these 155 subjects whose parents showed serious mental limitations, 9 stayed with their parents less than two years; 27 were with their parents more than two years but less than five, and 112 were with their parents for five years or more. For 7 the length of stay with parents was unknown. In other words, most of these children were with their parents for at least five years. Of these subjects, how many have made good, and how did these children develop as compared with other children? Comparing these 155 subjects with 82 subjects all those who were known to have had good mental ability in their parentage, we find the relations shown in Tables 37 and 38. Table 37 CORRELATION OF MENTAL CONDITION OF PARENTS AND SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF SUBJECTS Social Adjustment Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Mentality of Parents Mentality of Parents Inferior Good Inferior Good Capable.............. 97 59 67.8 79.7 Incapable........... 46 15 32.2 20.3 Total known..... 143 74 100.0 100.0 Unknown........ 12 8 _ Total group.......... 155 82 STUDIES OF SPECIAL GROUPS 141 Table 38 CORRELATION OF MENTAL CONDITION OF PARENTS AND SUBJECTS' CAPACITY FOR TAKING FORMAL EDUCATION Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Ability to take Formal Education Mentality of Parents Mentality of Parents Inferior Good Inferior Good "A".................. 75 55 52.8 72:4 "B"................... 46 18 32.4 23.7 "C".................... 21 3 14.8 3.9 Total known....... 142 76 100.0 100.0 Unknown......... 13 6 _ Total group........... 155 82 The difference in proportion of capable and incapable of these groups is not very marked. The children of mentally inferior parents show a lower proportion of capable. In their ability to take formal education the difference between the two groups is striking. The amount of education given to the 155 subjects who had mental inferiority in the parents was studied: Table 39 EDUCATION Distribution of Subjects of Mentally Inferior Parents Number of Per Cent Amount of Education Subjects Distribution High School 4 years................................. 2 1.6 Less than 4 years....................... 18 14.8 Elementary School 8th grade.............................. 24 19.7 6th to 8th grade......................... 52 42.6 Less than 6th grade.................... 26 21.3 Total known.......................... 122 100.0 Unknown.............................. 33 Total group................................ 155 142 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT As Table 39 shows, 20 or 14.6%, had some high school training, and 24, or 19.7%, more completed the 8th grade. The largest number, 52, or 42.6%, dropped out between the 6th and 8th grades. The school accomplishment of these subjects is obviously not as good as that of the other children of the study, 63.9% failing to complete the 8th grade, as compared with 39.4% of the other study subjects. There were 35 children both of whose parents were considered mentally inferior. It is worth stating that of the 28 whose school accomplishment was known, 2 had some high school training, 7 completed the 8th grade, 8 the 7th grade, and 4 the 6th grade. There were 7 subjects who completed less than six grades at school. The one subject who graduated from high school is now a successful teacher. One young man who is now farming was a good worker in school. As a boy he was encouraged by his foster mother, who had herself been a teacher, toward a taste for good reading and especially for music, so that after he had finished his farm work for the day he would often make a trip of ten miles to a nearby town where good concerts were given. Another young man, who was placed when he was ten, is now in the Army and his chaplain recently wrote us concerning him: This young man has a perfectly clear record since his enlistment and has been promoted four times. His marks are very high and in sobriety and obedience he has always received a perfect mark. The man under whom he works told me today that he was one of his most dependable men. Henry is in charge of part of the machinery and it is an important job. He likes his work because he is learning every day and when he leaves the Army he will have a trade with which he can earn good money. He is well liked by the men. He has less than a year to serve before his enlistment is up and I believe that he will be valuable to the service. Another young man, twenty-eight years old, married, industrious, ambitious and capable, has been a machinist with the same company for five years. His father, mother, aunt and uncle were all reported to be below par mentally; his father drank and was an inmate of the almshouse. This boy remained in such surroundings until a few months before he was placed, at the age of twelve. He never went to school till he was ten, and went irregularly the last year or two, but he liked school and finished in the 7th grade. STUDIES OF SPECIAL GROUPS 143 He is respected by his neighbors, interested in his work, devoted to his family. He is fond of music and of gardening. Summarizing our analysis and impressions of this group of children who had mental inferiority in their parents, we might say that the general level of development of this group is not so good as that of children with more promising background, but that more than two thirds of those who had what seemed to be a most unpromising of all possible starts are rated as "capable." Sex Morality of Parents and Subjects: We wished to find whether there was any relationship between the immorality of parents and that of the children. There was information in 355 schedules concerning the sex morality of the parents. One or both of the parents of 312 subjects were immoral. Both parents of illegitimate children were considered immoral in this discussion. Of these 312 children in whose homes immorality was known to exist, 207 had remained with their parents for five years or more. Our analysis showed that 244 of these 312 children, or nearly 80%, were in so far as we had been able to discover, of good moral character; 68, or 20%, of the subjects have at some time had an irregular sex experience. In our study of the development of 910 subjects, we found that there were 138 subjects, 30 boys and 108 girls, who are known to have had at one time or another, some serious, irregular sex experience with the opposite sex. Information of this kind is naturally difficult to get. It seems probable that our information about the boys of the study is not accurate. Some experiences happened before the children came into the care of the Association, some of them while they were under the supervision of the Association, and others long after the subjects were full grown and independent of any supervision. Of these 138, as we said earlier, 68 were known to have had immorality in their parentage; for the majority of the other 70 there was no information of the sex habits of the parents; that is, the subjects who were immoral did not come in a larger proportion from parents who were known to have been immoral than from those whose moral habits were unknown. In our analysis of the 138 subjects who were known to have 144 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT had an irregular sex experience, we found that there was considerable variation in the seriousness of the offense and in the age of the individual at the time of the occurrence. The nature of the offense varied from sexual relations in childhood to promiscuity in adult life. There were 10 subjects who were pregnant when they married; 37 with whom the affair was of brief duration; 39 were seduced; 45 have been or still are promiscuous, and in 7 cases the circumstances are unknown. Eighty of the 138 subjects had had sexual experience before the age of eighteen; 11 of the 80, before twelve. In considering the present habit of life with regard to the morality of these 138 subjects, we find that 63 of them have settled down and are now conventional, respectable people. There are 29 known to be living in one way or another contrary to the accepted standards of morality; 10 are in institutions where they are under protection and are receiving training; 5 are dead. For 31 there is no sufficiently definite information to determine with any degree of certainty their mode of life in this respect. Brothers and Sisters: An analysis was made of the development of brothers and sisters from 114 families (this did not include half brothers and sisters). There were 253 brothers and sisters from these families, and the aspects studied were their capability and their ability to take formal education.* In 55% of the families all the children were capable, in 7%o all were incapable, and in 38%o some were capable and some incapable. In 48% all had "A" ability to take formal education; in 6%o all had "B" ability and in 1% all had "C" ability and in 45% brothers and sisters fell in different groups. In brief, in more than 40%o of the families brothers and sisters from the same family developed differently. Wide differences in development were found between two children of the same family. For instance, two sisters, Margaret and Edith, were placed in the same foster home. Margaret was then thirteen and Edith eleven. Edith was adopted by the family within a year of her placement. She went through the first grade of high *See Appendix, Table 64. STUDIES OF SPECIAL GROUPS 145 school and left to nurse her foster mother, whom she is devoted to, and whom she cared for competently. Her school work had been good, and she showed the same qualities of conscientiousness and studiousness after she left. She is married now to a young farmer, is a good housekeeper, a regular and active church member, and in good standing in the neighborhood. Her character has always been excellent. Although she was very fond of a good time, parties and dances, she was self-respecting and careful in her behavior. Her sister's career has been as different as possible. The foster family with whom both children were placed returned her to the Association. Margaret was tried in two other homes, in neither of which could she make good. She has been arrested for vagrancy, disorderly conduct and prostitution, and is at present an inmate of a reformatory. She is utterly different in temperament from her sister, who is steady-going and quiet. Margaret lies, swears, has a violent temper, and is unstable and thoroughly unreliable. Here were two children with the same start in life. The only difference which our study showed was the fact that Margaret was two years older at placement and therefore had had two more years of bad care before placement. As sometimes happens with brothers and sisters brought up by their own parents, there is no one known cause to account for so marked a difference. The development of two other sisters showed a similar difference. One of them was a straightforward, sensible, dependable girl, very helpful in her foster home and competent in her work. This child was ten months old when she was placed. A sister four years older had been placed in the same home two months previously. This older sister disliked study, did poor work in school, was able to complete only the 5th grade in the ten years she attended, and has proven her inability to live according to decent standards of morality. She is married but has left her husband and two children and is living with another man by whom she has another child. Her friends are of an inferior type and she herself is deceitful, untidy, quarrelsome and apparently lacking in moral sense and general ability. Yet both these children were 146 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT adopted after they had been placed about a year in the same home and grew up exactly under the same conditions and with the same advantages. As an interesting contrast there are three brothers and sisters, all over eighteen and included in this study and their three younger brothers and sisters, who have also been under the supervision of the Association but are too young to be included in this report. These six children came from a notoriously bad family, yet every one of them is making good. Those over eighteen years of age have shown themselves entirely capable of living up to good standards. The three younger children are also developing satisfactorily. Our consideration of the development of placed-out brothers and sisters indicates that there are marked differences in development. What type of personal family traits persisted, if any, it is impossible to tell in this study which concerned itself only with broad, general classifications of development and personality. The Attitude of Children Towards Own Relatives: The feeling of foster children for their own relatives is a much-discussed question. It has apparently little importance for children who are happy and well adjusted to their foster homes, so complete is the substitution of foster parents for natural parents.* This is true, as we have seen, of children placed older as well as of those placed in infancy, though naturally the children who were older at placement are apt to remember their own homes and to keep an active interest in their own families. We found that the subjects fell into certain groups which are listed below: Subjects who presumably have no knowledge of the foster relationship.............................................. 117 Unknown whether the subject knew of foster relationship...... 36 Subjects who have had no direct personal contact with relatives 314 Subjects who have had contact with some own relative........ 270 Subjects who returned temporarily or permanently to a relative 97 Unknown whether subject had had any contact with relatives.. 76 There is little to say about the 117 children who presumably do not know that they are foster children, except that we are inclined to think, from general experience, that some of these chil*See Appendix, Table 59. STUDIES OF SPECIAL GROUPS 147 dren undoubtedly know more than their foster parents think. In the early days of the work no special effort was made to encourage foster parents to tell children of the foster relationship, though on the basis of experience and on general principle the Association favors frankness on this subject. The 36 subjects whose knowledge of the foster relationship and attitude toward own relatives is unknown were mostly those too young at placement to realize the foster relationship, and who could not now be located. There are 314 subjects who have had no direct personal contact with relatives. Of these, 105 were foundlings who knew of their foster relationship but who had no known relatives with whom they could get in touch, even if they had wished to do so. Some of these children have found it difficult to believe there is no information available about their people and no likelihood that there ever will be any information. In this group are also included subjects who are so well adjusted in their foster homes that they have no interest in their own families. There are other subjects who have unhappy memories connected with their own homes, and remembering the harsh treatment of their parents, have no desire ever to see them again. There are 270 subjects who have been in touch at one time or another with one relative or several, such as, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, or grandparents. Children are frequently placed, particularly the older ones, with the understanding that they are to keep in touch with some relative. Sometimes brothers and sisters are placed in the same community; sometimes there is direct correspondence among them, sometimes through the office. In so far as it is possible, there is an effort to preserve for the child what is good in any relationship in his own family. An example of the sort of family relationship which may work out satisfactorily is that of a family of seven brothers and sisters. The household was broken up because of improper conditions. The only member of the family who came into the care of the Association was a fourteen-year-old girl who was placed in a foster home where she established friendly and more or less lasting 148 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT ties. The foster parents provided a home for her, and elementary schooling. Later they arranged for a domestic science course for her, and one of her brothers helped her with a business college course. From the very beginning she kept in touch with her brothers and sisters who are doing well and have helped her, at the same time maintaining friendly relations with her foster parents even after she left them to go to work. For her own parents she has no affection, for her father was cruel and her mother neglectful and immoral. Another example is that of two sisters placed in homes where they could keep in touch with each other and were encouraged to do so by their foster parents. These children had been deserted by their father, and their mother was dead. They had a kindly grandmother whom they used to visit occasionally. Both of these girls regarded their foster family as their own, and their feeling for their adopted parents was not in the least affected by their affection for each other. The older girl, who is a trained nurse, served with the Army during the war, took care of her foster mother during a long illness, and nursed her own sister when the first baby was born. One of the most interesting illustrations of foster and natural relationship is that of a girl who was placed when she was four, her mother having abandoned her when the child was a few weeks old. She became devoted to her foster parents-does not believe she could have found better ones-and has shown her devotion to them in many ways. She was married from her foster home. However, in spite of this devotion she had a very real curiosity about her own mother. After her marriage she was put in touch with her own mother who by this time was respectably settled. The girl and her mother saw each other at intervals; she had a feeling of responsibility for her, but could never feel toward her as she did toward her "real true mother," as she called her foster mother. In a recent letter she wrote that her "mother in New England" had died, but the tone of her letter indicated that her real concern was for the foster mother who is failing in health. STUDIES OF SPECIAL GROUPS 149 There are 97 subjects who have gone back to live with their relatives, a few permanently, a larger number for a short time only. Some of these had been placed in foster homes with the understanding that after being tided over a few years they might go back to decent relatives; others after they were grown up joined brothers or sisters who had also been under the care of the Association. Some children returned with the consent of the Association and of the foster parents to homes which had improved sufficiently to make their return reasonably safe. Some have gone back out of loyalty to their own people and are still on terms of affection with their foster parents. Others have gone home hoping to improve conditions there and with the idea that they may help in bringing their families to a better mode of living-hopes which have come true in some instances. Still others have returned because their feeling for their own people was the dominant emotion, making adaptation to a new home out of the question. Of the 97 who returned, 25 are now living with their relatives; 28 are married and are in their own homes; 22 are at work and on their own-in some cases on friendly terms with both relatives and foster parents, in some cases having no connection at present with either. The whereabouts of 13 is unknown; 8 of the 97 are dead, and 1 is seriously ill in a hospital. For 76 subjects the attitude toward their own relatives was unknown. This group included for the most part children who were old enough to remember their own parents and to know of the foster relationship at the time of placement but who were either not located or whose general present situation was not sufficiently well known to have any information on this point. A study of the different degrees of knowledge and attitude toward own relatives made clear several interesting facts. Apparently it is possible for foster parents to be a complete substitute for own parents, in fact, so much so that there is entire satisfaction in the relationship, on the part of both the child and the parents. When this is true there is no problem of "attitude toward own relatives." The question for such children hardly arises. Some children are aware of a passing interest or curiosity which needs 150 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT to be satisfied. Still others who have memories and fears connected with their own homes wish never to see their relatives again. Sometimes children have a strong feeling for some particular member of their family and not for others. Then again, there are the children who have a strong sense of devotion for a parent or brother or sister, and one discovers later that the feeling was more a feeling for the idea of the person than for the reality of the individual. On the other hand, there are children whose attachment for their own is so strong that they never develop any deep feeling for anyone else. It was interesting to find that the subjects showed considerable interest in their brothers and sisters. They remembered incidents in their childhood and had considerable curiosity as to what had become of them. They were glad to have information and appreciated efforts which had been made to help brothers and sisters to keep in touch with one another or to reunite them after separation. There were surprisingly few instances of brothers and sisters who had been separated in childhood who made any persistent effort on their own initiative to get in touch with one another. The Effects of Orphan Asylum Care: We gave special consideration to a group of 97 children who were never in an orphan asylum before placement in a foster home, with the possible exception of a few weeks' temporary care, and another group of 111 who were in orphan asylums for five years or more. Both these groups were over five years of age at the time of placement. Our analysis showed that there was no difference in the family background of the two groups, for they showed an almost identical proportion of good and bad traits in the families. There was no marked difference in the age at placement. The kind of foster homes in which the subjects grew up was approximately the same for the two groups. Practically all of the children who had had no institutional care remained in their own homes, nearly 80% of which were predominantly "bad" until they came under the care of the Association. That is, these children who did not receive institutional care were actually with their own families until STUDIES OF SPECIAL GROUPS 151 a relatively short time before placement. We were interested to know how the results of the two groups compared. Table 40 SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT Comparison of Subjects Who Had Orphan Asylum Care and Subjects Who Had No Orphan Asylum Care Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Social Adjustment Orphan Asylum Care Orphan Asylum Care None 5 Years or More None 5 Years or More Capable.................... 69 63 82.1 65.6 Incapable................... 15 33 17.9 34.4 Harmless................ 9 18 10.7 18.8 Harmful................. 3 10 3.6 10.4 "On trial"............... 2 3 2.4 3.1 In institutions........... 1 2 1.2 2.1 Total known.............. 84 96 10. 100.0100 Unknown................. 13 15 Total group................. 97 111 _ Table 41 ABILITY TO TAKE FORMAL EDUCATION Comparison of Subjects Who Had Orphan Asylum Care and Subjects Who Had No Orphan Asylum Care. Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Ability to take Orphan Asylum Care Orphan Asylum Care Formal Education None 5 Years orMore None 5 Years or More "A"....................... 69 56 76.7 59.0 "B"....................... 15 29 16.7 30.5 "C"....................... 6 10 6.7 10.5 Total known.............. 90 95 100.0 100.0 Unknown................. 7 16 Total group................. 97 111 152 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT As the tables show, this particular group of 97 children who stayed with their own parents has developed considerably better than the 111 children who had five years or more of institutional care before placement. The children who were in institutions came from 49 different institutions. One of the questions which arises is-Were the children who stayed in orphan asylums five years or more perhaps the left-overs-the unpromising children who had stayed on in the institution? In so far as it is possible to tell from our classification analysis and from the general impressions of our preplacement information, this was not the case. The groups are small; no conclusions could be drawn from so few cases. We can merely state that in comparing these 97 children who had no institutional experience with the 111 children who had five years or more of orphan asylum life, we found the development of the children who stayed in their own homes, in spite of the fact that the majority of these provided an extremely bad environment for the children, better than that of those who stayed for five years or more in an orphan asylum. Chapter XVI THE FOUNDLINGS Of all the special groups studied the foundlings, 217 in number, form the largest group and one of the most interesting. These are the infants found in bundles on park benches or in railway stations or tenement hallways; babies for whom there is no discoverable record of birth nor any information about the family background. In order to get a general view of this group, a few statistics are needed. The foundlings included in the study number 217, of whom 94 are males and 123 females. Eight of them are colored. The foundlings were placed young, as soon as their physical condition warranted their transfer from boarding homes to free homes. Nearly half of them, or 105, were less than a year old when they were taken by foster families, 86 were one year old, 22 were between two and five, and only 4 were over five. They are at present among the youngest of the subjects studied. Eighty-four of them are between eighteen and twenty, 61 are twenty, 33 are twenty-one, and 36 are more than twenty-one years of age. Yet as a! group they seem mature; most of them are selfsupporting, several are helping with the support of their foster families, they are responsible and well established on the whole and present definite personalities rather than uncertain outlines. Perhaps this is partly due to their placement in working-class homes for the most part; in households where children quickly outgrow childish ways, take on adult responsibility and become wage earners. A few of the foster homes in which the first foundlings were placed were the original boarding homes, for, as might be expected, the women who had mothered these babies grew devoted 153 1.54 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT to them and could not bear to let them go when they were in condition to be placed in permanent homes. Most of the foster homes in which the foundlings grew up were city and suburban homes, both because some of them were the former boarding homes and because while the work was still undeveloped it was naturally nearby families who knew of the agency and applied there for babies for adoption. Of these foster homes 73.4% were urban, and 26.6% rural. The homes were plain and limited in opportunities for the most part, the homes of simple people who were not afraid that their family pride would suffer from bringing up a "nameless" baby. Using the classifications which are explained in Chapter VII, it was found that 8.5% of the foster homes used for the foundlings were superior, 18.4% mediocre, and the great majority, 73.1%, were good-that is to say, offering reasonably good advantages. Most of the foster fathers worked at a trade, at factory work or some more or less subordinate job, and the foster mothers cooked and washed and took the baby out to the nearest park. They lived often in plain neighborhoods, they had no "social backgrounds" and little education. But they had two essential characteristics, human kindness and common sense, and almost all of them did better by their foster children than they themselves had been done by, in education and training and opportunities. As one goes through the records of the foundlings, one is struck by the unselfishness and devotion and pride of these "adopted parents." Over and over again foster parents have said, "He couldn't have suited us better if he had been our own." Most of the families who took foundlings kept them, as is shown by the fact that 82%, or 178, of the foundlings had one foster home only; 13.4%, or 29, had only two homes; 7 children had three homes, and only 3 children more than three. One hundred and forty-five of the 217 were legally adopted. We find that there are 25 subjects who are almost completely unknown; that is, no information could be secured about them or their foster parents since a year or so after they were taken into their foster homes. All of them were taken for adoption when THE FOUNDLINGS 155 less than two years old and in the early days of the Association. As there is nothing to report about this group, it seemed best to leave it out entirely from the discussion and consider only the 192 of whom something is known. The ability of the foundlings to "manage themselves and their affairs with ordinary prudence" was judged for 180 of the 192. Of these, 154 were capable of managing their personal and social lives without coming into conflict with accepted standards of ethics, were not a burden in any way upon society, but were for the most part sharing its work and its obligations. Twenty-six were incapable. The 154 in the capable group seem on the whole decidedly competent. There are many interesting stories of foundlings who have shown ability to overcome difficulties and a capacity for profiting by opportunities; stories which reveal incidentally the personality of the subjects. For instance, one boy, who was adopted at two, lost his foster father when he was seven. Of his own accord, he got a newspaper route and was soon earning enough to buy his shoes and stockings. At fourteen, realizing his foster mother's struggle to support him and keep him in school, he substituted night school for day school, got a clerical job in a business firm, and now at nineteen is office manager, earning nearly $40 a week and supporting his foster mother and himself. Meantime he has studied typewriting in his lunch hour and at night school is a high school senior. One girl, in spite of difficult foster home adjustment, took nurse's training and became in due time night superintendent of the hospital. Another girl skipped two grades in grammar school, and was an accredited teacher at eighteen. A twenty-one-year-old boy has charge of the work of six men in a large bank; a boy of twenty manages his foster parents' estate, runs the electric light plant, keeps all accounts, for which he has a special aptitude, and is considered the real head of the family. One girl is teaching art in a small college for girls; three or four subjects still in college are prominent in college activities as well as good students. Twenty-six foundlings are incapable. Of these, 13 are considered harmless, 2 of them being unable to meet the ordinary 156 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT 156 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT demands of life because of ill health. The other 11 have shown great dependence on their foster parents or a general weakness of character, or have indulged in shiftless habits. Five are considered harmful-2 of the 5 because of immorality, 2 largely because of their feeble mindedness, and 1 because she is married to a crook who has low standards which she is accepting without a protest. Four of the 26 are on trial. They have been in some trouble, and may develop well or badly; at present it is impossible to tell. Four more of the incapable subjects are in institutions-1 in a State hospital for the insane, 2 in institutions for the feeble minded, and 1 in a reform school. The characteristics of many of the subjects and their personal appearance have been fully described by the visitors who talked with them. For instance, one boy is thus described: "Unmistakably foreign-of one of the northern races. Has a strong face, high forehead, good chin, eyes blue and piercing. Expression frank and earnest. Well dressed... much interested in social problems.... Skates and dances well, but has little time for amusement. Exceedingly fond of music... quiet, uncommunicative and hard to get acquainted with. Has an attractive smile and a good sense of humor. Exceedingly philosophical. Well liked by everyone, but has few intimate friends. Not particularly attracted by the opposite sex.... Mature for his age. Has the student type of mind. Serious and thoughtful.... Independent and clear-headed. Splendid courage and is very conscientious. Is still quick-tempered but has good self-control. Broad-minded and generous. Thrifty by nature." A girl of nineteen is described as having "large blue eyes, reddish-brown hair, long, oval face, slight figure of medium height. She is very domestic, sociable, fond of outdoor life and sports; pleasing personality, ardent, buoyant, unassuming, has a sense of humor; industrious, thrifty but generous, kind, thoughtful, keen, stable, even-tempered and independent." Certainly, there seems to be little to distinguish the foundlings from any other set of young men and women, so far as behavior, personality and social adjustment are concerned. Some of them, THE FOUNDLINGS 157 like the boy just mentioned, look somewhat foreign. Few of them, however, look "different." Many of them have become so thoroughly imbued with the characteristics of their foster families that they grow to look like them, and naturally take on their mannerisms and'general appearance. One hundred and nineteen of the foundlings are still in their foster homes; 52 are married and living in their own homes. About a score of them have left home to take positions elsewhere. The present whereabouts of a few are unknown. It can be seen from this that the foster home relationship is a vital and permanent one for a large number of the foundlings; many of those who are married or working away from home are still in close touch with their foster parents. Eighty-four of the foundlings to this day apparently believe that they are their foster parents' own children. Sixty-five of the subjects who knew the truth of the foster relationship expressed no desire to know about their own relatives-gave no indication in some cases of what their attitude toward their own parents might be. Four of them felt bitterly toward the father or mother who had deserted them. Thirty-six were interested; would have liked information if any had been obtainable. Of the attitude of the remaining we have no knowledge. A study of the grades reached by the foundlings is shown in the following table: Table 42 EDUCATION OF FOUNDLINGS Number of Per Cent Amount of Education Subjects Distribution College.................................... 9 5.1 High School: Completed 4th year..................... 25 14.8 Less than 4th year..................... 47 26.1 Elementary School: Completed 8th grade.................... 62 35.2 Less than 8th grade..................... 32 18.8 Total known............................. 175 100.0 Amount of education unknown............ 42 Total foundlings............................ 217 158 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT The education given these children is almost uniformly good. The foster parents gave the foundlings more schooling than they had had themselves. The children were not exploited as wage earners; although there are instances of children who left school early, it was almost always a matter of regret to the parents, who would have kept a promising child in school if they could possibly have afforded it. It is true that a number of children who could have gone further in school had to leave because their foster families had not the means to send them through high school, but cases of deliberate exploitation of the children's earning ability seem practically non-existent. The impression that one gets from a study of the foundlings is that of a group of children for the most part interested and ambitious in school. They seem to have progressed well from grade to grade, to have stood well in their classes and to have covered at least as much ground as the average child. Naturally they had a good start in school, for practically all of them were established early in their foster homes and started school at the usual age. But even more important was the continuity of schooling ensured by their settled place in the homes and in the comnunity. Sixty-three, or 33.7%, of the known cases received special training which included instruction in telegraphy, nursing, law, stenography, various kinds of trade training, normal school training, etc. The ability to take formal education was known for 185 of the foundlings; 168 are "A" children, 11 "B," and 6 "C." (Three of the 6 "C" foundlings are colored.) In other words, all but a very few were able to go beyond the grammar grades without difficulty. The occupations in which most of the foundlings are engaged are of the type naturally resulting from city rather than country upbringing-trade or clerical positions, rather than farm work. Less than 10 of them are doing farm work or forestry or gardening. Two of them, however, are likely to remain farmers, for one is manager of a farm and the other works his own farm. More THE FOUNDLINGS 159 than 30 of the foundlings are in clerical work of varying kinds and degrees of responsibility; and about 25 are in manufacturing or mechanical industries. There are a number of skilled workers; an engraver, a chief of a naval radio station, an inspector of telephone switchboards, an automobile mechanic, a builder, an electrician, and a telegrapher, and so forth. Several are doing well in banking; one boy is assistant receiving teller in a bank in a large city. There are bookkeepers and insurance agents and office managers. One is an army aviator, one a recorder, one an engineer and surveyor, and one an instructor in gymnasium work in a boarding school for boys. There are also a number of typists, stenographers and secretaries. A number of girls have become trained nurses, and a few have taken the normal course and become teachers. In general, the group are working steadily and supporting themselves adequately at occupations for the most part skilled or semi-skilled; in other words, doing much as the average person does who has been brought up with the knowledge that he will have to support himself as soon as he has had a reasonable amount of schooling. Seventy-five of the foundlings are "not gainfully employed"35 of these are married women managing their homes, 12 are simply "staying at home," and 12 are still in school or college. Three are "loafing" when they should be working; one of these youths served in the American army abroad and has not been able to settle down to anything since; all three are in households with sufficient income to maintain them without the help which the boys might bring in. The dead, those in institutions and those temporarily out of work made up the other 13. As a whole the foundlings are living in conformity with good standards, seldom coming into conflict with the accepted canons of society, supporting themselves and meeting their obligations honorably. About 100 of those questioned were church members, and a fair number of these take an active part in church work. Growing up as most of them have in communities where they were accepted as the families' own children, they have shared whatever social con 160 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT nections their foster parents had. Most of them have a number of friends, usually of the better sort, belong to social clubs and have interests beyond the immediate circle of home and work. In general, the health and physical condition of the foundlings are good. Most of them are sound nervously and physically, strong and well-nourished. There were no exact reports of the health of the foundlings available, but the visitors did not detect any prevalence of physical inferiority or tendencies toward ill-health, and as a group they seem sound and fully able physically to meet the ordinary demands of working and living. The serious conditions were as follows: one invalid, a girl, crippled by an accident; one girl who has been blind since babyhood; one who is insane, and five who are known to have had venereal disease. Of the two who had tuberculosis, one has died. One young man was killed in an automobile accident, and one girl died of kidney trouble; inr all, three deaths after the age of eighteen. In summarizing our study of the foundlings, we are struck by the fact that they measure up not only to the children of known family background who were under five at placement but to standards of their foster parents and their friends. They received on the whole wise foster-home care, most of the homes in which they grew up being reasonably good ones. Those who failed to get on with ordinary success usually had experienced some domestic trouble, such as friction in the household or the death of a foster parent. They were better educated than might have been expected in view of the simple homes in which most of them lived. Their health is good; there are few among them who are not able to work. On the whole, they are a healthy, intelligent group of young men and women, well trained, well educated; displaying, it seemed to us, some qualities above the average, such as courage, loyalty, a sense of responsibility and ambition. Chapter XVII SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND IMPRESSIONS The question which we put to ourselves is-What have we learned about the 910 children whose situation we have studied that we did not know before we began our survey? We have considerable information which can be stated in figures or proportions, and there are certain quite clear impressions which emerge after working with this large mass of details concerning so many human beings. The outstanding result of the study is that we have now reasonably accurate figures showing the proportions of our grown-up, placed-out children who have "made good," as compared with those who have in some way failed in their adjustment to life. Of those whose present situation is known 77.2% are "capable" persons, that is, individuals able to manage their affairs with average good sense and who live in accordance with good standards in their communities. Because of the difficulty of measuring human beings in their adaptation to life, this figure can be taken as an approximate proportion only, but it is something to know that the proportion of those who are "capable" is somewhere around 75% and not 25% or 50% or nearly 100%. We have learned, moreover, that another 11o are so-called "harmless." These are the subjects who are not clearly a burden nor are they in any obvious way an asset to society. The other 12% are definitely at odds with society or are still needing protection or training such as is given by a State institution or other official body. The Association knew in a general way of the family background of the children for whom it was finding homes, but no one would have attempted to guess at the proportions of good, bad or mixed background. Our analysis has given us some figures. 161 162 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT The family background was studied mainly from the point of view of the ordinary person who is able in a general way to distinguish between good and bad character traits and health conditions. No attempt was made to deal with the problem of inheritability of certain traits and tendencies as compared with the possible environmental influences created by the people with particular traits of character and conditions of health. Considering the family background from the plain man's;attitude rather than that of any specialist, we found that approximately 80%o of the children for whom there was information available came from bad background; 12% came from a mixed background, and 8%o from a background that was good. Our study has given us more definite information than we had before about the kinds of foster homes in which these children have grown up, 72% of them being good average homes, 13% below average, and 15% above. In general there were very few radical changes in the foster homes used for the children while the children were in them. In only 7% were there serious changes which were not due to death or illness. A large proportion of the children developed a satisfactory and lasting personal relationship with their foster families, the degree to which this is true depending to a large extent upon the age at placement and ranging all the way from a complete substitution of the parent-child relationship to that of a casual friendliness. It is clear that placed-out children do not, as is sometimes supposed, "all go back to their good-for-nothing relatives anyway," for our study has shown that a large proportion of the subjects are leading independent, self-respecting lives, many of them having taken root in the environment in which they were placed and some of them are mature and settled enough to have married and established their own households. Although the majority of the subjects of the study are still under twenty-five, it can safely be said that there are no indications that any considerable proportion of them are likely to need institutional care again or any other assistance from the State or private charity. There was nothing, in so far as general observation could de SUMMARY AND FINDING AND IMPRESSIONS 163 tect, to indicate that the health of these subjects is markedly different from that of other people. The number, for instance, who have died, who have tuberculosis, or are insane, does not seem disproportionately large as compared with the number who are alive and reasonably well. The education given these children compares on the whole favorably with that received by the children of the general population of the same period. The occupations in which they are engaged are on the whole not very different from those of an unselected group. The significance of the age of the child at the time of his placement in a foster home was seen clearly throughout the whole study. The children less than five years of age when placed with foster families showed a good development in every way in a larger proportion than those who were placed when five years or more. For instance, 86% of the children who at placement were under five were rated as "capable" individuals. At the same time, however, it should be noted that a large majority of the children over five at placement (more than half of whom were over ten) also gave evidence of a good development. This is indicated in one way by the fact that 72.6%0 of these children over five at placement were rated as "capable." Our study of the group as a whole, in so far as the subjects have demonstrated their ability to develop and to adjust themselves to good standards of living, and perhaps even more strikingly, our study of individual members of it, leave us with a distinct impression that there exists in individuals an immense power of growth and adaptation. Our studies of these individuals and of the groups of individuals have shown that there were potentialities within these people which revealed themselves only under certain conditions. We would certainly not say that anything could be made of any child-that a favorable environment could produce any kind of development desired, but rather that our study leads us to believe that there are tremendous latent powers within an individual awaiting development, and that under favorable conditions these powers may be developed and directed toward accom 0 164 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT plishment. There are many kinds of minds and personalities, each with its own possibilities, and our observation of the children makes us believe that with help and opportunities these possibilities can be developed and that sometimes there occurs an amazing reconstruction. Furthermore, we are under the impression that the primary condition of successful development lies in the kind of relationship which grows up between the child and his foster parents. In so far as any statement is possible on so obscure a subject, it is that the human environment matters more than the material surroundings. Undoubtedly the child's adjustment to his foster family governs to a significant degree his adjustment to society, and his adjustment to his foster family has less to do with their standards of comfort and their place in the community than with their human qualities and their understanding. Chapter XVIII THE ASSOCIATION'S CHILDREN NOT YET EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD In considering the Association's foster children, we must reckon not only with the 910 subjects eighteen years or older on January 1, 1922, but with all the children placed by the Association up to that date; that is, the 2,453 who were then under eighteen and are therefore not included in the present study. It is interesting to speculate what the development of these younger children will be in the light of the study we have made of those over eighteen. What kind of people are they going to grow into? Will they attain a higher level generally than the subjects we have discussed, or in what ways will they differ? There are two important factors which differentiate the children not yet eighteen from the group of 910 subjects: the age at placement, and the proportion adopted. It will be recalled that 34.6% of the study group were under five when they were first placed in foster homes. In this group of 2,453 we find 67.9% under five at placement, a highly significant difference, indicating, as far as the present study is a guide, that the great majority of them will find in their foster homes a permanent and satisfactory relationship. The difference in age at placement between the two groups can probably be accounted for partly by better social work for children. Notorious families whose children are neglected nowadays come sooner to the attention of social agencies andwhat is more important-there are agencies to take action. For the same reason, because there are agents to do the work, the children are no longer left indefinitely in institutions. Another point of difference between the two groups, but one probably closely related to the first, is the percentage of children 165 166 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT adopted-29.62b in the study group and 48.4% in the group not yet eighteen years old. Judging again by the findings of our present study, this is a very important factor since the adopted children, of all children placed, form the closest tie with their foster families. We have in these two factors important indications that the children not yet eighteen have a better prospect than the children just studied. It is interesting, though perhaps not especially significant, that in the group of 910, considerably less than half, that is 42.3%, were boys, and in the group of 2,453, somewhat more than half, that is 58.1%, were boys. This probably is due to the fact that nowadays a more conscious effort is made to find homes for children not so easily placed. Requests from families for children for adoption indicate that at least twice as many families apply for girls as for boys. There are other facts which indicate a probable difference in the development of the group just studied and the group of 2,453. Thus far more children have stayed in the first homes in which they were placed, which probably means a better first selection. It is impossible, however, to be final about this, as undoubtedly there will be transfers in the future which are not yet indicated. The foster home of the present differs from the foster home of the past chiefly in the advantages which it can offer the children and in the greater education and intelligence of the foster parents. Nowadays there are more homes available for every type of child, especially for the child who has particular aptitudes or needs. There is more variety and a greater range, so that a child whose adaptation to a foster home may be difficult has a much better chance of finding the right home now than he would have had ten or fifteen years ago. Furthermore, we know more about the personality of the foster parents and their probable adaptation to the child than we did formerly. There is a larger number of homes which would be classed as superior homes. It is reasonable to expect that a larger proportion of this new group who are growing up in these superior homes in which they are given excellent care will develop proportionately better. THE ASSOCIATION'S CHILDREN NOT YET EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD 167 Facilities for preplacement diagnosis, treatment and observation are far better nowadays than they were. By the use of modern methods of mental testing and observation, it is possible to tell with a fair degree of accuracy about the learning ability of the child. Careful medical examinations and treatment are accepted as essential. The use of temporary boarding homes where the child can be trained and watched and prepared for placement, or can remain until the right home is found, has been of great help. By the use of these facilities the number of misfits can undoubtedly be reduced. For instance, if some of the 910 subjects had been given mental examinations at the time of placement they would undoubtedly have been found unsuitable for family life at the outset, and instead of being placed in foster homes they would have been given specialized care. The modern point of view on and treatment of juvenile delinquincy and mental inferiority might have saved some of the 182 of the 910 from becoming incapable, and we hope will save a larger proportion of the 2,453. One of the most difficult parts of child placing is to foresee the effect of the child and the foster parents upon one another, the interplay of character and temperament with its resulting harmony or discord. Incompatibility of temperament may exist between a child and an adult as intensely as between two grown-ups, and when it does the child's development suffers. It is difficult, even with a complete knowledge of the two elements to be adjusted, that is, the personality of the child and the character of the foster parents, to foresee results. However, with more information and better understanding of human factors, it is possible to reduce the probability of error. In our study of the 910 subjects we found that a comparison of the subjects who were placed young with those placed older shows a marked superiority of the younger group in personal development and general ability. We are inclined to think, however, that given a larger number of the right kind of homes, together with the better preplacement knowledge, we shall see less difference between the development of the children placed young 168 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT and those placed older. It takes rare qualities of patience and understanding, wisdom and resourcefulness to begin the training of a child when he is eight or ten, particularly when he has been handicapped by a bad early start. That such results can be accomplished with older children has been amply shown in the preceding chapters and by the fact that nearly three-fourths of the children placed over five were found to be capable. There are other elements which indicate that the more recently placed children have more favorable opportunities, for instance, in the matter of education. The children are in homes which are likely to keep them in school for a longer time. In addition there are the improved school attendance laws and far greater facilities for special training. The child who goes to a public school of today has better educational opportunities than the child who went to public school ten or twenty years ago. In the matter of health the situation has improved, too, particularly in rural communities where health organization is standardizing and improving general health service. Clinics are now accessible in neighborhoods which formerly were isolated from medical attention except in the case of an emergency. Moreover, the medical examinations in the schools are more general and more careful, a factor which affects a large number of children. In general, one may say that the outlook for these 2,453 children is decidedly hopeful and that they have advantages and opportunities which were not available for the 910 children whom we have just studied. Chapter XIX HOW THE STUDY WAS MADE Securing the information used in the study involved an enormous amount of field work which had to be carried on by a specially trained staff. Sixteen field workers were chosen with a special view to their ability to meet unforeseen situations with tact and resourcefulness and for their capacity to get beneath the surface in obtaining and evaluating information. It was important that they should be able to separate essential from unessential facts. All the field work staff had had experience in social work, and many of them had also done other work, such as teaching, business, etc. The few who were not college graduates had had a full equivalent in other training. The problem of obtaining the necessary information was an extremely complicated one, involving really two processes: first, to find the subjects or their foster parents or some one able to give up-to-date information about them, and second, to approach these persons in such a way that they would be willing to give this information. These were really two separate processes, because the mere fact of being in touch with the family did not mean that they would necessarily be able or willing to give us the information we desired. The task of finding 910 persons was in itself a serious undertaking, since 763 of these subjects had been discharged from the formal supervision of the Association, some of them fifteen or twenty years previously —as was true of the children adopted as babies. The families who had adopted young children fifteen or twenty years ago had naturally drifted out of touch with the Association many years ago. Tracing letters were first sent out. They were carefully worded 169 170 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT so that if they fell into the wrong hands they would betray no confidential information. They bore no office letterhead, merely a box number in a New York post office, and were signed by the member of the staff best known to the family to whom they were addressed. In some cases five or six letters to different persons who had known the foster family were necessary, before the family itself was finally found. In all between 2,500 and 3,000 were sent out. These preliminary letters were usually merely friendly notes asking how the family was getting on, where they were now living, and suggesting that it would be pleasant to renew our acquaintance with them. If the answer was encouraging a second letter suggesting that a visitor call on them was usually sent. By means of these preliminary letters considerable time and expense was saved in field work. Reopening connections after a lapse of fifteen or twenty years required tact and caution. For one thing, many families had grown so accustomed to thinking of their foster children as their own, that they had practically forgotten the existence of the Association. It was necessary to explain to such families our sudden reappearance on their horizon, an undertaking in some cases complicated and delicate, since there would certainly be some children unaware of the foster relationship. The foster parents themselves might be alarmed by our unexpected appearance and jump to the conclusion that we had bad news for them, as for instance that relatives were seeking to reclaim a child. It was necessary also to be prepared for an unfriendly reception by foster parents who preferred not to be reminded that their child was a foster child. The explanation of our purpose in making the study was likely to be difficult with people to whom a piece of social research was wholly unfamiliar. It should be said that we were prepared to relinquish any attempt to get information if it threatened the peace of mind of either foster family or child. No information was considered valuable enough to be secured at such a cost nor at the risk of disturbing a satisfactory foster relationship. This was a primary consideration, and the field workers were instructed to give such HOW THE STUDY WAS MADE 171 human considerations precedence over the search for information. Special emphasis was laid upon the need for caution in making inquiries possibly among the neighbors, in case the family's address was unknown, lest some one unaware of the foster relationship should thereby learn of it. The question of the form in which the information secured by visitors should be recorded was a difficult one. It was essential that the facts should be clear, comprehensive, individual and comparable. It was decided not to use as schedule forms the original records for the study subjects since these varied too widely in form and content to be usable as schedules. It was decided, therefore, to use a wholly new form which should include the material contained in the original records as well as the material gathered by the study visitors. A tentative schedule was made out and used for several weeks, about 100 forms being filled out. The purpose of this experiment was to secure a schedule which would make possible uniform and comparable statistics. During the time that these tentative schedules were in use, frequent conferences were held between the field workers and the supervisors to standardize methods of work. The final form of the schedule was made up in accordance with the judgment of the whole stafl after several weeks' trial use, and in consultation with statistical experts. The schedules were filled in by the workers who made the visits or who had secured the information by correspondence. As there was a large staff working on these schedules it was essential to insure uniform records. For this purpose a manual of directions for filling in the schedules was drawn up carefully. The workers were instructed to follow these directions literally so that the material thus recorded would be as nearly as possible ready for tabulation. The manual as well as the first schedule was an experimental form modified to meet the changing conditions of the work. The schedule as finally drawn up was as follows: ijl I Id z c o Q ~ I *i * I 6; HOW THE STUDY WAS MADE 173 COPY OF SCHEDULE (continued) I. FAMILY HISTORY 2 rTEM 18. FATHER 19. MOTHER 20. FRATERNITY a. tiing or dead b.f dead-date and caue c. Dae of birth 4. Colour____________ e. Religion ____________ f. Country of birth. AppeMarance h. HEALTH 1. General condition Z. Diseases D3. Operations __ _ _ _ __ _ 4, Phsic adefects.i DUCATION 1. Ageand deatleaving school i. INTELLIGINCS L Resionng and planng ability 2. Mental enampantion.: date S. Tent ned. 4. Fminer_. Chron. e ment. age-I. 0. k. CHARACTER__ 1. Industrious or lazy 2. Even tempered or excitable__ 3. 8table or unstable 4. Assertive or docile 5. Kind or cruel 6. Affectionate or indifferent 7. Honest or dishonest 8. Generous or elfish _ 9. Clean or slovenly _ 10. Decent or indecent 11. Sex irregularities_ 12. Misdemeanours 13. Crimes 14. Dependency 15. Alcoholism 16. Drug habit I. OCCUPATION 1. Kind of workl I. Quality _ 3. Steadiness__ 4. Degree of support 21 Additional data on family history HOME CONDITIONS & FAMILY LUF 3 Maital condition 23 oel 24. 126. No. brs. 27 of sisters d prents e.nl o half Marrktd uncounenal I quoarrelome. _.jn-je [28. Locality 29. Neighbourbood Type o dwelling SSSSof Iurbani oikrru 174 IIHOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT COPY OF SCHEDULE (continued) 63. Date 64 Test used 65. usmiaer 66 Chron. age 67 Mental age 68.. Q. 69. Remarks OPINIONS of INDIVIDUALS 70. lelatives 71. Teachers 72. Caretakers 73. Psychologists HOW THE STUDY WAS MADE 175 COPY OF SCHEDULE (continued) IIl. SUBJECTS HISTORY-CONTINUED: SUBJECTS PERSONAL DBVLOPM]ENT 4 Item a. B efore P. Aft Placement e.' Pt ' 74 -Appearance 75. Tastes 76. Personality 77 Habits 78. i Caacter 79. Sex Lperience 176 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT COPY OF SCHEDULE (continued) I11. SUMJECTS 1 ITORY-CONTiN UD DEVELOPMENT al POSTER CHILD_ 80. Age 81. Thr gh 82. Under what eircumstnces karnedhe.w whom I foater child '83. Subjects reaction to 8L82 84. Attitude toward foster parents 85. Attitude toward other members of foster family 86. Attitude toward atural parents and relatives 87 Attitude toward S. C. A A. RELATION TO COMMUNITY 88. How has subject shown himself capable of managing himself and his affairs with ordinary prudence isranble I I I I 90. Neighbours 91. Friends 92. Church 93. Clubs HOW THE STUDY WAS MADE 177 COPY OF SCHEDULE (continued) III. SUBJECTS HISTORY-CONTINUED 6 SUBJECTS OCCUPATION 94. Age 95. Kind of work 96. Wages 97. Length of 98. No. of subject lime b began work for wages 99. Present occupation 100. Wage 101. Degree of selsupport SUJBECTS MARITA CONDITION 102. 103. Date of 104. No. of 105. No. of 106. Date of birth of children married nariage children children a. legitimat b. illegithate unmarried born alve now living separated divorced widowed Verified 107. Occupation of husband 108. Income of 107 IV. SUPERVISION No. of VISITS SUBJECT SEEN a. TOTAL No. of VISITS. SUBJECT NOT SEEN b.TOTAL 109 To foster home 110. To boarding home 111. To school 112 To institution._ 113 To place of work 14. To own home 115. Office Visits 116 Conferences with other agencies. individuals. etc 117 Miscellaneous contacts with subject,.........~ Il& Supervisd by correspondence only 119. No of dilferent visiton I. 178 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT COPY OF SCHEDULE (continued) V. FOSTER HOMES USED FOR SUBJECT 7. 120 a. No. 121 a.free 122 a. Data 123 a. Datk 127 a. Neatness and 128 a. Mcombem of family group boarding placed removed comfort of home father Age I working mother 124 a. Locality 125 a. Occupation of 126 a. Anal incomechildren 129 a. Intelligence & Ednuditon 130 a. Character & Peraoaity. iFathe. bth other a.Father b. Mother 131a. Changes in foster home 132 a. Reasons for removal Rsemarkna. child dissatisfied b. f. fidstisAie c. S. C. A. A. dissatisfied d._changes in home 133 a.Yo what extent doms anhbjet satisfy footer parents 134 a. Difference between attitude of father and mother 135 a. Sympathy and undemrtnding in training aubjert 136 a. Wisdom in helping suhject develop natural aptitudes: 120 b. No. t21 b.frer 122 h. Date 123 h. Date 127 h. Neatness and 128 b. Members of family group hoarding removed comfort of home father Age working I I mother 124 b. Locality 125 b. Occupation of 126 h. Annual income cldren ura readwinner oral 129 h. Intelligence & Education 130h. Character & Pernonality a. Father b. aother S. Father b Mother 131 h. Changes in foster home 232 h. Reasons for emoval Ie ah a. child dissatisfied h. f. family dissatisfied c. S. C. A. A. dissatisfied d. chsngeu in home 133 h. To what extent does suject satisfy footer parents 134 h. Difference hetween attitude of father and mother 135 h. Sympatby and underetunding in training subject 136 h. Wisdom in helping subject develop natural aptitudes: HOW THE STUDY WAS MADE 179 COPY OF SCHEDULE (continued) VI. SUMMARY A. KIND of CHILD 137. Heredity known unknown Father Mother Fraternity Other Relatives Mental Capacity a. b. Health c. Character 138. Environment known 139. Potentialities kown unknwn unknown a. Home conditions b. Institution a. Mental b. Health c. Personality Time Time capacity robust mat. on sched. good superior frail destitute good defects improper doubtful unknown unknown unknown unknown B. 140. KIND of HOME superior superior suprior upeior superior uperior superior superior good good good good good good mediocre mediocre mediocre mediocre mediocre mediocre C. KIND of CARE 141. By foster family 142. By Association a. Education b. Character c. Phys. Care a. Selection b.Supervision c. Care excellent excellent excellent of homes other than average average average home poor poor poor D. 143. KIND of RESULT 180 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Needless to say, not every schedule could be completely filled in. The study visitors were not required to secure any minimum amount of information but to get as many facts as possible without passing the limit of courtesy or good feeling; therefore the amount secured was varied. Some facts were easier to obtain than others; special circumstances sometimes made it difficult to get from one household facts readily volunteered by another. Nevertheless, an astonishing amount of information was secured and people in general showed willingness to talk about the children and the subjects themselves were usually friendly and ready to give information. Among the most difficult facts to secure were school, health and wage records. It seemed ridiculous to ask the mother of four sturdy, active children whether she was ever "left back" in school, when that mother was preoccupied with her own children's schooling; or to find out from the foster mother of a stalwart young farmer at what age he cut his first teeth-particularly if the young farmer was in the room at the time. Any interview might be cut short if the baby cried or the cows got loose in the garden, and it was not an easy matter to return after such an interruption to the question of the age of the subject when she had measles or was promoted to the 5th grade. Besides, the memory of people for facts which seem to them trivial is often imperfect. This sort of difficulty was even more conspicuous in the less concrete and tangible matters of habits and character development. It was often hard for a foster mother to recall the various stages of her child's development. When did he begin to fib, when did he become interested in school, how old was he when he learned obedience? Some foster mother, completely satisfied with her grown-up son, had forgotten that he ever was naughty; another might have been so tried with her daughter's untidy and unreliable ways that looking back she felt that there never had been a time when Mary wasn't hard to train. The visitor could only use her tact and good sense, and get all the facts obtainable without causing the family to feel that they had been put through a meaningless ordeal of interrogation. HOW THE STUDY WAS MADE 181 Information which proved to be definite enough to enable the staff to determine whether the subject was capable or incapable was secured for 797 subjects, and in the following ways: (1) 537, or 67.4% of the total subjects were personally seen and interviewed; (2) for 140, or 17.6%, information was secured through interviews with foster parents or own relatives, or with some reliable person familiar with recent developments; (3) 27 or 3.4% gave information by letter since they were too far distant to be personally seen; (4) for 93, or 11.7%, information came in various ways, through other social agencies, through a superintendent of an institution to which the child had been transferred, through the Army or Navy, their former employers, or by a "general reputation" in the community. It was interesting to find that the proportion of those who proved to be "capable" and those "incapable" did not vary for the first three of the above groups*, showing probably that the information secured by all of the three methods was equally reliable, although, of course, the direct personal interview was most satisfactory and gave an opportunity for more discriminating information. That a large proportion of the 93 should have been incapable was to be expected, for this group included a large number of the subjects who had failed to adjust to normal family and community life and who had for that reason been sent to some other organization or institution giving specialized care, and it was on "general" information already known, together with additional information "picked up" wherever possible, that final judgments were formed. An evidence of the thoroughness with which the field work was done was the time spent upon each case. The visitors averaged only about eight complete cases a month. A complete case meant getting information from the child's original record on file in the office, often some tracing work, the visits to the subjects, including sometimes interviews with persons other than the foster household, and recording the information on the child's schedule. This includes also the time spent in traveling. *See Appendix, Table 65. 182 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT How sure are we that our information is reliable? All that we say in answer to this is that the field staff who collected the information was made up of intellectually honest individuals who had no definite preconceived ideas of what they expected to find. Frequently in retrospect people's ideas of a past situation are very different from what actually took place. The study visitors had the advantage in having available in varying degrees of detail and over varying periods of time, the original records of the case workers and letters from the children and their foster parents during the period in which history was in the making. All facts were carefully checked up and nothing was recorded unless definitely known; no guesses were permitted on a schedule. The visitors themselves were careful and discriminating in sifting the information they secured. Each schedule was reviewed as a whole by the study supervisor. It was felt that the size and type of personnel of the study staff reduced the personal equation to a minimum. It could not be wholly eliminated, but insistence on adherence to a common standard has, we feel, made the material as uniform and impersonal as possible. All the material so gathered was tabulated under the supervision of an experienced statistician. The definitions upon which the classifications were based were made up by the supervisors, in conference with the statistician. The classifications and ratings were made by experienced supervisors familiar with the child placing work as a whole, as well as the material contained in this particular study. These classifications were made in consultation with technical experts and with statisticians in order to insure accuracy and uniformity. The material was then arranged and tabulated according to the classifications thus decided upon. Each tabulation was made up on a basis of the total number of study subjects, the unknown factor necessarily varying from table to table. All the percentages were based on the known number of cases. An analysis of the unknown factor is given with each important table. All important percentage comparisons were tested by the coefficient for the standard deviation of the difference of two HOW THE STUDY WAS MADE 183 percentages.* Practically all general tabulations were made according to the sex of the subjectst, their history and whether known or unknown, and their age at placement, this last factor proving the most important. Many more tables were made out than are contained in this report. Many problems were considered and special studies were made that were not sufficiently significant to warrant publication. *See Appendix, Note 6. tSee Appendix, Table 66. Chapter XX FURTHER STUDIES In the study just completed we have seen the tendencies of development and growth of children placed for the most part in the early days of the Association's work. We have presented no final conclusions and have attempted to draw no very definite deductions, feeling that many of the people studied are still too young to have settled down to a permanent mode of life. We have, however, fairly clear indications of probable trends. In order to learn whether these indications are borne out by future events our findings should be checked up when the present study subjects are more mature. Only a later analysis can show whether the tendencies clearly indicated at present will prove the permanent trends of development. In such an analysis it would be interesting to emphasize as was done in the study just completed, accomplishment and outcome and to check over factors discussed in this study; for instance, occupation, the degree of self-support, health, personal and social conduct, marital status and standing in the community. It would also be interesting and valuable to make a study of the subjects' children, carrying our investigation into the second generation. If future studies are undertaken there will be available for consideration not only the individuals of the study just completed, that is the more mature group, but also the other of the Association's placed out children who will have reached the eighteen-year-old mark. While the study of individual developments is fundamental and instructive, and the analysis of problems presented in special groups valuable, it is only when one knows the extent to which conditions repeat themselves that definite conclusions can be drawn. By adding the new eighteen-year-old subjects to those already 184 FURTHER STUDIES 185 studied, the groups formed would be large enough to have more important significance. By January, 1929, for instance, 622 of the 822 living subjects of the study group will be twenty-five years old, and 260 over thirty, and by then approximately 1,200 more of the children who have been placed in foster homes by the Association will be eighteen years old or more. In other words, about 2,000 subjects over eighteen years of age might be studied. As a result of, and in connection with our present study-that is the human and sociological evaluation of how our 910 foster children have developed-many other studies have suggested themselves. A control group is needed if comparisons are to be made. An analysis of what has become of the brothers and sisters of the subjects of our study group, especially of those who did not receive foster home care, would be of great value. Biological and psychological analysis might be undertaken, using the material already assembled as a basis and supplementing this with further data collected through more continued observation and investigation. For example, it would be possible to get quite complete information about the family history of many of the study subjects, if field workers were engaged to supplement the information already available. Careful consideration of the family histories of these children from a biological aspect would provide material which might be of immense value. Furthermore, a searching inquiry into the problem of the effect of certain environmental conditions in early childhood might be made. In brief, this material offers unique opportunities for the scientific consideration of the heredity and environment problem. The development of children of different kinds of family histories might be observed in environments other than those created by their own families, that is, in more or less definitely selected environments. Comparative studies might be made of the effects of definite types of cultural, material and personal environments in their effect on children at different ages. Some information on these points could be secured from the existing records, but a procedure for making more exact and complete observations, and for keeping records of them in the course of the current work, would have to be evolved. Working out exact stan 186 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT dards for the scientific measurement of human life, or any aspect of human activity, is extremely difficult. It is admittedly a baffling problem. It is clear, however, that child adoption offers unusual opportunities for the study of human developments and reactions under partially controlled conditions and that considerable scientific use might be made of these unique data which are being assembled in connection, with this work. Chapter XXI TWENTY-FIVE CASES The purpose of this section is to present in a condensed form a series of individual cases representing a cross section of the 910 subjects included in the study. This will enable the reader to get a more graphic picture of the kind of people who made up the study group than it is possible to get in a statistical or topic-bytopic presentation of material or by the use of individual cases selected to illustrate special points. These twenty-five cases were chosen to include a proportionate representation of boys and girls, of known and unknown family backgrounds, of children of different ages at placement, and of those capable and incapable according to the judgments of the study staff. The selection of the case within each group was made by taking every third, seventh, or tenth schedule, depending on the size of the group from which the selection had to be made. In this way an absolutely mechanical selection of cases was assured and the danger of having the personal element enter into the choice of the cases for this cross section group was avoided. For the sake of clearness the stories were written in the following order: first, the present situation; second, the family background; third, developmental history. 1. W. N.: Twenty; girl helps foster mother with the housework. Practical, energetic, and sociable, has many friends, popular with both sexes. An attractive girl of athletic type, healthy clear complexion, full of life. Teaches Sunday School; member of Epworth League. Foundling. Placed at five months in pleasant suburban home. Foster parents quiet, refined people; had already adopted threeyear-old boy. W. N. a bright, healthy child; cheerful and easygoing. Foster parents anxious to give her a good education but 187 188 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT she was not studious, gave up school after one year H. S. At twelve was told by schoolmate she was adopted; was not greatly interested. Family relationship is normal and harmonious. 2. F. H.: Twenty-eight; farmer, making a home for his foster parents. Wholesome, good-looking, short but well built; pleasant; alert; keen sense of humor. Lighthearted; enthusiastic. Capable, tireless worker; considerable executive ability. Loyal and devoted to elderly foster parents; devoted to adopted sister two years younger. Self-reliant; sympathetic. Abandoned as a baby; no details known. For seven years in a boarding home. Placed at seven in farm home. Fine-looking boy; happy disposition; appreciative; dependable. Irregular in school attendance; finished 8th grade; brightest boy in the district school. Began work at sixteen. 3. B. L.: Nineteen; tall, slender, sleepy-looking boy. No interest beyond driving cars; lazy; no initiative; works irregularly. Weak-willed; influenced by rough companions. Irresponsible; phlegmatic; careless about person. Foundling; placed at eleven months. Foster father steam driller, killed in accident three years ago; foster mother too lenient to control B. L.; had five children born after B. L.'s placement. Boy always been lazy and unstable. No interest in school; frequent truancy. At nine arrested, put on probation. Had completed 6th grade on leaving school at fifteen. Some interest in mechanics. Ran away from foster home several times. At eighteen joined traveling show; recently was truck driver; sticks at nothing long. 4. C. T.: Nineteen; wholesome, pleasant girl, friendly, well mannered; rosy cheeks; bobbed hair; health good. Telephone operator; clean; industrious; honest, resourceful, self-reliant. Boards in a church home for girls; attends church regularly. Father laborer, fairly industrious; got into drunken brawls; disappeared; mother drunkard, immoral, jail record, neglected children. Aunt utterly immoral, in penitentiary for stealing. C. T. committed to orphanage; stayed one year. Placed thirteen years nine months with grocer's family. Helpful, obedient girl, always pleasant and likable. Clean, reserved, rather self-willed. Had always done good work in school; finished 8th grade at fourteen. At fifteen and sixteen erysipelas, rheumatism and bad heart. Health improved gradually. Began to work for wages at seventeen. Friction in foster home. C. T. wished entire freedom. Foster parents lacked understanding and sympathy. C. T. left home at eighteen. 5. S. A.: Eighteen; girl has been married little over a month. TWENTY-FIVE CASES 189 *She and her husband, who earns $10 a week, live in furnished room; running into debt. Is nervous, undernourished; has enlarged glands; teeth and eyes need attention. Weak, negative personality. Affectionate; not vicious, but helpless. Parents unmarried. Father drank; served term in state prison; tried for murder. Now dead. Mother fair mentality; promiscuous and extremely unstable. One uncle in jail, another drank. Sister died of t.b. S. A. twice raped by step-father. At twelve removed from own home; boarded out and lived with relatives. Placed at thirteen years four months in minister's family. Well liked here, but returned after five months when family moved. After short boarding period placed with educated family to help care for sixyear-old girl. Foster family found her disobedient and dishonest. Removed after five months. Left school at fourteen and one-half; finished 3d grade. I. Q. 58. Retardation due to lack of early training and to general mental inferiority. Had good disposition, was nice with children; fairly clean and neat, but irresponsible, "boy crazy". Was in four different boarding homes. Grew beyond control of caretakers. Arrested at fifteen for being in park with soldiers. Admitted earlier immorality; had contracted venereal disease. After treatment at hospital was committed to training and correctional institution. Two years later transferred to state school for feeble minded. Contracted t.b.; transferred to t.b. hospital. After six months ran away to get married. 6. R. E., colored: Twenty-one; girl works in a millinery shop. Foster mother a superior, intelligent colored woman, dressmaker by trade. She and R. E. are very congenial and are planning to open a shop of their own together. A steady, capable worker, particularly clever with her hands. Slender, neat girl; sweet tempered; makes friends easily; engaged to be married to a young man of good character. Foundling placed at one month. Home unusually attractive and well kept in a good neighborhood. R. E. had two years at technical H. S., finished at eighteen; for two years helped foster mother with dressmaking; has always made her own clothes. Well poised; robust; partial blindness in one eye. Legally adopted as baby; does not know she is foster child. Foster mother devoted to R. E. 7. S. N.: Twenty-four; living with own father; working in grocery store when last heard from. Big, strong, husky lad. Thoroughly clean minded and healthy. Gets along well with people; satisfactory worker. Both parents born in Poland. Father deserted; mother in State hospital for insane. Placed at twelve in farm home; re 190 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT mained 3 years. Foster parents Polish; very much attached to boy. S. N. full of vitality, bright and very winning. Worked hard and played hard. At fifteen returned to relatives. 8. A. D.: Nineteen; over 6 feet tall; a fine looking boy; nervous and emotional. Earns $18 a week and pays board to foster parents. Never sticks long at one job. Has been messenger, electrician's helper, clerk and truck driver. Keeps entirely to himself. Fond of sports but goes everywhere alone. Though demonstratively affectionate toward foster father, cares nothing for mother, and has no use for girls. Foundling; placed at eleven months in a very ordinary home; foster parents were ignorant. Father drove a coal wagon. Were fond of A. D. but mother nagged and father was in turn violent and over-indulgent. Child was intensely emotional, especially in relation to foster father, whom he idealized. Was wild, quarrelsome, in frequent trouble at school and on the street, because of high temper and lack of control. Rough, ill-mannered, bad personal habits. At twelve was temporarily removed from family for special physical care and for treatment by psychiatrist. Was returned to foster parents upon advice of psychiatrist because of deep rooted affection for father. Was bright, clever, well informed, but lacked concentration. Graduated from grammar school at fifteen. 9. P. K.: Twenty-eight; farmer, earns $60 a month; has house rent free, garden and other privileges. Married. He and wife manage fairly comfortable living for themselves and their 5 children. Big, well built man; ruddy; jovial. Steady habits; big hearted; honest. A good farmer, industrious, and level headed. Sociable; on good terms with his neighbors. Father blacksheep of good family, lazy, and very heavy drinker. Mother dead; was decent. P. K. placed at twelve. In first home 3/2 years; in second 9 months; then found work for himself at sixteen. Trustworthy, good worker. Fond of horses and outdoor work. Somewhat headstrong and self-willed. At sixteen showed inclination to be wild and break away from restraint; on the whole intelligent and reliable. Left school at fourteen after finishing 6th grade. 10. R. K.: Twenty; farmer's wife of superior type. Home and 2 children clean and well cared for. Fond of music and takes time to read. Even tempered, industrious, stolid. Heavy, square build; good features. Not a forceful character, but ambitious and capable manager. Member of grange. Sister of P. K.: Placed at four years, eight months with elderly TWENTY-FIVE CASES 191 farmer and his wife, who were devoted to her; adopted. When foster mother died R. K. was sixteen, in 8th grade; gave up school to take care of foster father's home. Kept up her music six years and gave lessons until her marriage. Taught Sunday School class. 11. A. E.: Eighteen; in last year high school; working part time as waitress in hotel to pay for board and room as foster parents live on farm outside of town. Delicate looking; small fine features; general health good, but high strung, nervous girl; happy, eager disposition, energetic and likes house work; keeps up with her classes but cares more for social life of town than for study. Foster parents entirely satisfied with A. E. and think her a nice, sensible girl. Foundling; placed at one year four months, adopted at fourteen when own daughter was born to foster parents. A. E. has known since childhood that she is foster child; it has made no difference in her affection for foster parents. An attractive, dainty child, with quaint, quiet ways, contented and easy to manage. At nine had St. Vitus dance, from which she had recovered by eleven. 12. E. E.: Twenty-four; married, left husband and 2 children; is associating with disreputable people; lived for a time with man to whom she was not married. Irresponsible. Own aunt trying to influence E. E. toward better standards. Orphan; respectable family. One year in Orphan Asylum. Placed at fifteen in good suburban home; foster family sympathetic and seemingly understanding; encouraged her in school work. Intelligent, affectionate, not much force. Left during 1st year High School at eighteen. Pregnant; forced marriage. 13. B. Y.: Thirty-eight; carpenter in small town. Married eight years; 1 son. Stable, industrious, reliable citizen; greatest interest in his home; very ambitious for his son. Slight, poor physique, limps as result of hip disease in early childhood. Large, plain features, frank, earnest expression. Quiet, simple tastes; reads a good deal. Assistant Sunday School Superintendent; choir leader. Active in lodge. Great faithfulness and perseverance in struggling against physical and educational handicaps. Very sensitive and serious. Mother dead; father deserted family. Three years in Orphan Asylum. Placed at fourteen years, ten months; 9 years in family of a builder. Quiet, responsive boy, with pleasant personality. Willing and trustworthy; lacked ambition and self-confidence. Left school at fourteen after finishing 8th grade. 14. C. E.: Twenty; girl helps foster mother with housework and the shop. Is paid wages. Tall, slender, delicate, refined features, 192 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT very attractive, wears smart clothes. Fond of music and dancing; also likes to read and sew. Dependable, loyal, willing worker. Has considerable reserve. Nothing known of father. Mother kind, industrious, supported herself and child at house work until her death. C. E. then ten; placed in farm home. Foster parents fond of her and still keep in touch with her. Happy, quiet, good natured child; conscientious and trustful. Very bright in school; stood second in graduating class in grammar school. Lost interest in second year High School; left at fourteen. Foster mother sympathetic. Had love affair at sixteen with hired man. Transferred to present wage home where she has been four years. 15. H. N.: Twenty-four; girl married at eighteen; 3 children Husband improvident, does odd jobs for a living; move from place to place. Tall, heavily built, strongly marked features; thin and pale, rundown by work and worry. Hard to get on with, resents advice or control; devoted to foster mother who helps her. Mother dead; father illiterate; surrendered H. N. and her brother for adoption. H. N. always devoted to brother with whom she has kept in touch. Placed at four in remote country home. Foster father an artist; died when H. N. was eight. Foster mother sympathetic. Tall, fine looking child, bright, affectionate, loyal. Fond of reading. Was taught at home; passed Regents for High School at seventeen. Promising, lovable girl. Married foolishly against foster mother's wishes. 16. W. E.: Nineteen; large, fine looking; athletic boy. Interested in sports. Pleasant easy manner; affectionate disposition; clean, neat; good habits; thoroughly dependable. Good executive ability; works in drug store with his foster father. Belongs to several athletic clubs; makes friends easily. Engaged to be married. Father unknown; abandoned by mother. Placed at one year nine months. A fat, blond little boy. Always liked outdoor sports. Little interest in school but kept up with his grades and graduated from grammar school at fifteen. Obedient, easy to get along with; bright and responsible. Adopted as baby and does not know he is foster child. Devoted to parents. Especially companionable with foster father, a chemist. 17. C. L.: Twenty-three; girl assists in the care of babies at County Institution. Returned from State School for epileptics; awaiting placement in working home. Rather pretty, round face, light hair, short, compact figure. Neat in dress. Domestic, fond of housework, likes children. Very talkative and conceited, lacks restraint; sullen, passionate temper; cannot work with others. Given TWENTY-FIVE CASES 193 to violent likes and dislikes; works well but intermittently. Honest and clean. Father illiterate, considered feebleminded; died in almshouse. Mother epileptic, feebleminded, immoral, lazy and slovenly; 3 times in almshouse. Paternal grandfather mentally deficient, married first cousin who was immoral; maternal grandfather very deaf; maternal grandmother epileptic, died of tuberculosis. At five C. L. committed to orphan asylum. At six she was placed; stayed in first home 2 months; in second home 4 years. Foster mother sympathetic and patient but not firm. C. L. rough, self-willed and disobedient; nervous and very restless; masturbation. Good work at school. Epileptic seizure at ten; committed immediately to state institution. While there worked as cook. 18. E. L.: Twenty-five; farmer's wife; 1 child. Pleasant, full of fun, very sweet expression. Industrious, active, likes everything about the farm; interested, hospitable, generous; easily satisfied with simple things. Superintendent of Sunday School; active in Grange; friendly with neighbors; has made her place in the active life of the community. Sister of C. L.; placed at eight; within 3!/ years in six foster homes besides boarding homes. At twelve made a successful adjustment and remained over 9 years in last foster home until her marriage. Did good work in school; finished 8th grade at sixteen and was anxious to go to High School, but when foster mother became an invalid E. L. took entire responsibility of caring for her and running the home. Capable, unselfish, big hearted. Sociable, eager for play and companionship. Learned easily. Happy disposition. At times quick tempered, optimistic, independent, very conscientious. 19. D. S.: Eighteen; tall boy, slenderly built, physical condition good. Quiet, serious and reserved; does not make friends easily; affectionate but not demonstrative. Thoughtful, deliberate, with a good deal of common sense and independence; thoroughly reliable and capable of assuming responsibilities; genuine and sincere. Leader of boy scouts. Earns $15 a week as stocktaker; trusted by his employer. Parents unmarried; father in penitentiary for stealing; mother sexually promiscuous, arrested for stealing. D. S. in orphan asylum 1 year. Placed at six with sister in grocer's family. Nice looking little boy; very serious. Did good school work. At sixteen had finished the second year High School; wanted to go to work: foster parents disappointed he would not continue school. Adopted at eight. 194 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT 20. C.A.: Eighteen; pleasing personality, short, slender girl, regular features. Fond of pretty clothes, sewing and embroidery. Stenographer; likes her work. Conscientious and straightforward; loyal to a few intimate friends. Refined; optimistic. Fond of foster parents; home life quiet and congenial. Mother and brother died of tuberculosis. Father extremely alcoholic, jail record for drunkenness. C. A. pretty, light haired child. After 2 unsuccessful placements, made excellent adjustment in home of storekeeper who adopted her. Appreciative, affectionate, truthful. Fair ability but did not care for school. After 1 year of High School took business course and began work at sixteen. 21. M. N.: Nineteen; slender boy, nearly 6 feet tall; weighs 140 lbs.; pale. Weak heart. Regular features, serious expression. With own mother. Supports himself; elevator man. Quiet, shy, does not make friends easily; earnest, conscientious; lacks stamina, has little ambition. Timid, sullen disposition. Belongs to Y.M.C.A. Parents divorced. Father, day laborer; disappeared. Mother nurse and dressmaker; industrious; extremely selfish; questionable reputation. Placed children in Orphan Asylum. M. N. remained there 4 years; at ten years nine months placed in farm home where he helped with chores. Foster parents treated him as one of family. M. N. had little initiative; dependable; rather quick tempered; obstinate; unselfish. Graduated from grammar school at fifteen. In foster home five years; good deal of affection for foster parents. Still keeps in touch with them. Loyal to mother but no deep affection. 22. H. N.: Twenty-one; married; one son, living apart from husband; supporting herself and child by nursing; likes country life. Health good; pretty, neatly dressed; comparatively stable; on good terms with people in community. Inclined to be quick tempered and dissatisfied with her lot. Father and mother separated; mother had bad reputation. Father and step-mother ill-treated H. N., beat her, raped at twelve. Placed at thirteen. Was in seven homes; happy in first, removed because of death of foster mother. H.N. extremely restless, made good first impression, no ability for sustained effort, morbid, extremely self-centered, sullen, fits of temper, lazy, untidy, indulged in frequent emotional tantrums. Treated for over-active thyroid condition. Left 8th grade at seventeen. Variety of efforts to interest H. N. in work-domestic science, baby nursing, regular nursing; did not stick to anything. At eighteen left hospital training course to return to own mother at time of sister's death. Had baby at nineteen; married to legitimize him. TWENTY-FIVE CASES 195 23. C. T.: Twenty-one; married, 1 child; husband factory worker, earns $30 a week. C. T. saves $5. A pleasant, wholesomethough rather ordinary looking girl; short heavy build, ruddy complexion. Devoted to baby; keeps home reasonably clean; looking forward to buying own home. Father, weak; drank; fairly decent. Left mother, an illiterate, immoral, degenerate woman; in penitentiary for thieving. One aunt mentally unbalanced, another immoral and a drunkard. Home conditions very bad. Family broken up when C. T. was fourteen. Found a home in the same town with a family who kept her over a year. Sullen and unappreciative; cared well for children. Placed at fifteen in a farm home. Was slovenly; hard to get along with. After a year was transferred to a wage home where she cared for a baby. Foster mother unusually sympathetic, but found her hard to manage. Unresponsive; immodest and not clean about her person. Fond of children and could do good work but resented supervision; untruthful and dishonest. Left school at sixteen in 8th grade; did excellent work and later took correspondence courses in high school subjects. Before marriage worked in machine shop, earning up to $30 a week. 24. C. M.: Twenty; salesman on commission basis has held variety of jobs, each for short time. Intent on making money; restless. Six feet tall; healthy; awkward; boorish. Egotistic; inconsiderate; careless habits; lacks persistence; nervous and impatient. Both parents had tuberculosis. Mother died. C. M. in Orphan Asylum 6 months. At ten placed with farmer's family. Did poor work in school. Finished seventh grade at seventeen. Interested in the farm. Conscientious and dependable, but selfish; never affectionate; jealous of brother placed in same home. Has been active in church club. 25. G. E.: Nineteen; salesman in a small-town music store. Clever, capable, easy going and apt to depend on his personality rather than on hard work. Slight, wiry in build, bright in appearance though not good looking. Makes friends easily, full of fun and initiative, a leader among his companions. Reads good books; fond of outdoor life. Independent; inclined to be somewhat reckless and vain. Loyal, completely honest and reliable. Member of Boy Scouts and National Guard. Foundling; placed at two years; adopted at four. Foster father a factory worker; foster mother a sensible, motherly woman, with a love for music. Family devoted to G. E. and ambitious for him; kept him in school through High School and developed his musical talent. Strong feeling of affection for foster parents. APPENDIX I APPENDIX Note 1 Definitions of Terms and Special Classifications Used in the Text Subject-A child now over eighteen who has lived in a foster home and had been under the care of the State Charities Aid Association for a minimum period of one year. Foster Home-A family which took a child into its home without payment of board. Capable-A subject who is law-abiding, who manages his affairs with good sense, and who is living in accordance with good moral standards of his community. Incapable-A subject who is unable or unwilling to support himself adequately, who is shiftless, or who has defied accepted standards of morality or order of his community. Unknown capability-A subject who is not sufficiently well and recently known to be classified. Harmless-An irresponsible or shiftless subject of limited capacity or inferior character, or one who is incapacitated but who is not anti-social. Harmful-A subject now in conflict with law or with accepted standards of morality. "On Trial"-A subject who because of some previous offense against social standards needs special supervision and whose future development is not clearly indicated. "A" ability to take formal education-A child considered to have at least ordinary ability to learn; capable of progressing beyond the 8th grade. "B" ability to take formal education-A child considered dull; capable of getting through the 8th grade with difficulty. "C" ability to take formal education-A child who was considered subnormal by test or was "obviously so." Bad Family Background-Existence in one or both parents of inferior mental ability, health, character or conduct. Mixed Family Background-Existence in one parent of predominantly bad traits; in other parent, predominantly good traits. 199 200 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Good Family Background-Existence in one or both parents of predominantly good traits. Unknown Family Background —No information on which to base a judgment of intelligence, health or habits of either parent. Foundling-A child for whom there is no discoverable record of birth, and no information whatever about his family background. Superior Home-Foster parents possessing unusual traits of character or intelligence, a comfortable income and home; graduate of high school, technical school or college. Good Home-Foster parents possessing reasonable intelligence; good character; moderate income and home of average comfort; graduates of elementary school. Mediocre Home-Foster parents of limited intelligence and moderate ability, living in crowded or scantily furnished homes on small incomes. Excellent Care-Foster parents who showed a sympathetic understanding of the child's nature and encouraged to the utmost the development of his aptitudes and possibilities. Average Care —Foster parents who showed an ordinary degree of good sense and sympathy in training. Poor Care-Foster parents who failed to understand the child's character and needs, who set a bad example to him, made unreasonable demands upon him, or gave harsh treatment. Urban-Settlement with population above 2,500. Rural-Settlement with population less than 2,500. Note 2 The Subjects Whose Capability Is Unknown In the study group there are subjects whose situation was not sufficiently well known at the time of the study to make it possible to grade them as "capable" or "incapable." This "unknown group" was 113 in number, 70 boys and 43 girls; 37 foundlings and 76 children whose family background was known; 44 were less than five years old when placed, 17 between five and ten, and 52 ten years or over. The problem that is presented by this group is whether the subjects included in it are more or less likely than the known group to be failures or successes, or whether they are distributed in much the same proportion as among the group whose present situation is known. In the matters of family background, ability to take formal APPENDIX 201 education, and the grade of foster home, we had some information. Comparison in each of these matters showed the "unknown" group was not unlike the "known." The only difference is that it includes a larger proportion of boys who were placed between ten and fourteen years of age. It is easy to see that this part of the group might be more difficult to locate. The reason for our not knowing about the present situation of these 113 subjects may be summarized as follows: Neither foster parents nor foster child located........... 28 Foster parents unwilling to be visited, gave inadequate information about subjects.......................... 6 Subjects too remote, information inadequate............. 7 Information contradictory.............................. 9 Subjects not located, neither foster parents nor relatives able to give definite information..................... 63 It is possible to state some general facts about the children who made up these groups, but perhaps illustrations of the types of children included will serve best to give a picture of them. Neither Foster Parent Nor Foster Child Located: The 28 in this group were children who were young when placed and all except 5 were legally adopted. The children were accepted as permanent members of the families, and there was no reason why the families should keep in touch with the Association. The occupation, the education and the character of the foster parents were not obviously different from those of other foster parents. The children were no more promising nor less so than the others. It is impossible to state any one reason why these particular 28 families were not located when others were. We can merely present a few type cases: Sue was placed as a baby, and is twenty now. Her foster father was a bookkeeper, the foster mother a nurse. They were people of good education and fine personal character. At seven the child was known to be "very attractive, beautifully trained, physically well." The foster parents had always been very fond of her and wanted her to be "their very own." It was this attitude of wishing not to be reminded of the child's previous connections with the Association which probably explains our loss of contact with them after legal adoption. Gilbert was adopted when he was three years old, after two and a half years with his foster parents. The foster father was a taxi driver. The foster home was a simple one, like many of the foster homes used. Nothing was heard of Gilbert after the adoption until a few years ago, when the step foster mother called at the office to discuss getting a birth 202 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT certificate. She said at the time that Gilbert was "well advanced in school, a good boy, easy. to handle." The family could not be located now; even the references had moved. Elsa was placed at ten months with a printer and his wife; good reliable people. Two years later the child was adopted. During the period of supervision the child received excellent care. The visitors of the Association tried to get the foster mother to improve her rather slack housekeeping. This or something else had evidently made the family jump to the conclusion that their increasingly attractive baby might be taken from them and given to a more favored family. They were glad when they were allowed to adopt. They have not been heard from since then, and could not be located now, 18 years later. Foster Parents Unwilling to Be Visited; Gave Inadequate Information: Six foster families who adopted children were unwilling to be visited. The information given by letter was not sufficiently convincing to classify the children as "capable" or "incapable." For instance, one wrote about her foster daughter of twentythree: "I will tell you all. There is no use of the visitor calling on me. Ruth is a woman now, is a stenographer, went through business school with honors, is a member of the Congregational Church, and a true blue girl. She knows nothing of her adoption." This includes every bit of information we have. Later letters were not answered. Subjects Too Remote; Information Inadequate: There were seven subjects who were too far away to be visited, and the information received by letter was not adequate to classify the subjects. In most of these instances the fact that the child had been under the care of a charitable society was a confidential matter and therefore it was thought unwise to ask a cooperating agency to make a visit in these particular instances. Information Contradictory: For nine subjects there was difference of opinion among people who gave information. The time available for getting information about the subjects was not sufficient to make an intensive enough investigation to get discriminating facts to determine on the classification to which the subject belonged. Subjects Not Located; Neither Foster Parents Nor Relatives Nor Any One Else Able to Give Definite Information: Sixty-three subjects were "unknown" because they could not be found. No one could be found who could give enough definite and recent APPENDIX 203 information to help in grading the subjects as "capable" or "incapable." This group is made up of 44 boys, 19 girls. Most of these children were over ten years of age when placed. There were many reasons for our failure to locate them-some had run away from their foster parents either because of unhappiness or restlessness, some are in the Army or Navy and their exact whereabouts unknown, some had had only a very temporary connection with the Association and had never found any close relationship with a foster family. Illustrations will perhaps explain best about them: Peter was thirteen when he went to live with a good farmer and his wife. He stayed for four years. At seventeen he struck out for himself, first working for nearby farmers; later he planned to go to New York to become a machinist. He joined the Army in 1912. When Peter was twenty-one, he wrote his foster parents he would visit them that summer. He never went and the foster parents have not heard from him. The Association found that soon after this letter he had had a dishonorable discharge from the Army. He is thirty-two now. What his development has been since 1912 it is impossible to guess. Jessie had always been a reliable, steady girl. At eighteen she brought her foster mother to a suburb of New York to keep house for her own younger brothers and sisters. About this time Jessie, who was a responsible girl, mature for her age, was passed from the care of the Association. She and her foster mother seemed well able to look after their own affairs. That was 10 years ago. Neither she nor any of her family could be found now. Paul is twenty-two. He was placed at twelve. After several trials in foster homes it was decided that he was too defective to be able to get along outside of an institution. Consequently at fourteen he was sent to a State institution for defectives. But Paul ran away, returning to the foster mother of whom he was very fond. There has been considerable difference of opinion about Paul's mental capacity and general ability. Paul has worked about at different farms and garages. His exact whereabouts are not known nor was any one found who had very definite knowledge about him recently. The foster mother who has always stood by Paul says, "He is honest, decent, fairly industrious and is perfectly capable of providing comfortably for himself," but she would not, or could not, give his present address. Joseph was placed at twelve. He was in three different foster homes during the time he was under the care of the Association. He was fond of change. The foster parents with whom he stayed longest left their farm. Joseph decided he would like to improve himself. He was an attractive boy in many ways but was thought to have a weak character. He grew more responsible, however, as he grew older. He was a chauffeur when he was last heard of, about 12 years ago. He is 30 now. Jim is twenty-one. He had five homes. He was eight when he was first placed. The longest he ever stayed in any foster home was two years. Foster parents liked him at first and then became impatient with 204 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT him. The men liked him better than the women. He was a good looking, bright, warm hearted, generous boy. Jim rather liked moving from foster home to foster home. At fifteen to escape continuing at school he ran away from his boarding home, lied about his age and took a job under an assumed name. Later he joined the Army. He was fond of one of his boarding mothers and wrote her occasionally. Since her death no one has heard from him. Jim was honorably discharged from the Army in 1917. It is possible that if there had been more time available some of the 113 "unknown" subjects could have been located and for others more definite information might have been secured. As a matter of fact, since the date of the closing of taking new material, delayed letters have been answered and a few of the subjects have "turned up" at the office. It was sometimes difficult to decide whether the information was sufficiently recent and discriminating to include the subjects in the "known" or "unknown" group. The 58 of the 113 for whom a fair amount of information was on file, were carefully studied and classified. The question considered by the staff in the case of each of the 58 was-What are the probabilities-is this subject now probably capable or probably incapable? The judgment was made as accurately as possible on the basis of the subject's apparent traits, on our knowledge of the foster home and on the situation when the subject was last known. It was found that the distribution of the "probably capable" and "probably incapable" was in about the same proportion as in the "known" group. Our impressions and our knowledge of the infinite number of reasons and explanations for the probable "unknownness" of this group, together with the analysis of the information available, make us feel safe in saying that the distribution among them of "capable" and "incapable" would not be sufficiently different, if different at all, to change in any important way our general percentages. Note 3 Subjects Classified on Relatively Incomplete Information Some of these subjects were not located at the time of the study, and others whose whereabouts were known were not visited because information had been secured through some reliable person, APPENDIX 205 APPENDIX 205 such as the superintendent of an institution or other official. Although the information about the present situation was not as detailed as that secured through visits, there was available the significant information needed to determine with a reasonable degree of accuracy the classification to which the subject belonged. Information from officials was usually quite definite; that received from "general sources" was considered discriminating and telling enough to grade the subject. There were 93 subjects in this group about whom information was secured in this more general way. Sixtyseven of them were considered incapable, 26 capable. Examples will best illustrate the types included. Jerry, now twenty-eight, has not been heard from six years and could not be located at the time of the study. At twenty-two he was considered decidedly unbalanced. He shifted from job to job and was inefficient at his work. He made a very undesirable marriage. His moral standards were low, and physically he was in poor condition. Jerry was bright in many ways, but had an extremely unstable temperament. He was blindly aggressive, had violent fits of temper, was unreasonable and irresponsible. The Association had known Jerry for eleven years, and until he was twenty-two. As it seemed unlikely that Jerry's personality and character traits could have changed markedly enough during the last six years to make him a self-reliant, steady person, he was classed as incapable. Ralph, now eighteen, came under the care of the Association at eight, after three years in an Orphan Asylum. The Association removed him from his first foster home as he was overworked and too harshly treated; the foster parents failing to understand the child's limitations, tried to train his stupidity out of him. In the second home Ralph made little progress; he was slow in school, unreliable, lazy, rough, foolishly reckless, and insensible to discipline. After a year's struggle the family gave him up, returning him to this Association. Psychologists considered him a boy "with a low order of intelligence, without good emotional equipment, and with a tendency toward sensationalism." Ralph was boarded, and later again cared for in a children's institution. He continued to be unmanageable and was considered a "queer" child and not safe to have at large in a community. He was sent to a correctional school; his record there was only fair. Two years later he was paroled to a farmer; he ran away from there, and has not been heard from since. As it seems highly improbable that his behavior improved in any marked way, he was classed as incapable. Pauline was placed when three and a half years old. She had always been troublesome, but at eleven she proved to be a serious problem. She was backward in school but was not considered feeble-minded. She was irresponsible, extremely unstable, and at intervals very immoral. She was tried in four foster homes and made relatively little progress. At fifteen she was sent to the State Training School for Girls, and after two and a half years there the School decided that she was incapable of profiting by the training given and transferred her to a State custodial asylum. In 1917 she ran away from the custodial asylum and nothing has been heard from 206 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT her since. It could hardly be imagined that Pauline has become a capable individual. Rather than classify her as unknown, she was graded as an incapable subject. Hilda is twenty-one. She is mature-has worked out her own plans to a large extent for several years, getting her own jobs and supporting herself. Hilda came under the care of the Association at ten. She was placed in three foster homes but never formed any close ties with any of the families with whom she lived. The Association helped her get training as a nursery maid. Hilda has always been friendly with the visitors of the Association and loyal toward them, but dislikes being dependent on anyone. Her work has taken her to different places. The exact nature of her present position and her whereabouts are not known, but her past and relatively recent record would indicate with reasonable certainty that she is doing well and she was therefore classed as capable. Emily is twenty-one. She came under the care of the Association when she was seven years old. She was rather attractive looking, but had no initiative and could not learn in school. She was tried in two foster homes, but was found to. be mentally subnormal. At the age of thirteen she was admitted to a State institution for defectives, a mental examination at that time showing her to have the mentality of a child of eight years. She was found to be teachable and became quite capable at housework. She was twice paroled by the institution but was returned. She has now been working for over two years and has "given satisfaction." Because of her limited mentality she has, however, been classed as incapable. Note 4 Subjects Who Have Been in Conflict with Law Besides the 58 referred to in the Chapter V on the "Incapable Subjects" there were 30 other subjects who were arrested. Of these 30, there are 15 now capable, the present situation of the other 15 is unknown. Of the total group, that is, the 88 who have at some time been in conflict with the law, 48 were under sixteen, and 40 over sixteen at the time of the arrest. The causes for which the arrests were made ranged from minor delinquencies to stealing, forgery, immorality or desertion from the Army or Navy. Fifty-four subjects were sent to reformatories, and four have been in Army or Navy prisons; the rest were temporary or probation cases, with the exception of one man who received a penitentiary sentence. Forty of these 88 subjects were rated as "A" children, 21 as "B," and 15 as "C," 12 unknown as to learning ability; 13 were negroes, 75 white. APPENDIX 207 APPENDIX 207 - Note 5 "The "C" Children; Those Considered Subnormal A special analysis was made of the 59 children who were rated as "C" children. Thirteen of these 59 were under five at placement, 14 were between five and ten years of age, and 32 were over ten. Five of those under five at placement were colored. The family backgrounds were known for 44 and unknown for 15. Of these 44, 30 came from bad background; 9 from background bad-unknown; 5 from background bad-good. In other words, the backgrounds of this group were almost wholly bad. We considered especially the preplacement information available on the records of the 32 "C" children who were more than ten years of age when they were first placed. We found that we had known at the time of placement that about half of these were of limited mental capacity. They were placed in order to give them an opportunity in a normal environment. In this group of 59 subnormal subjects, 44 proved to be incapable. This type is so generally known that no illustration need be given. Four are of unknown capability, and 11 are capable. These 11 persons are self-supporting and are in good standing in their communities. They are living in accordance with good stand-' ards-most of them in rather simple environments. One of these 11 capable subjects is a young man of twenty-one from a family of extremely low mental ability. His brother and a sister were placed in a custodial institution without ever being tried in a free home, and another brother is in a reformatory. The subject was 13 years old when he was placed and had been for eleven years in his own bad home. He did poor work in school and in his foster home developed many difficult traits of character such as cruelty to animals, a violent temper which made him dangerous, restlessness and sullenness. He became so difficult that he was sent for a brief period of observation to a custodial institution from which he returned to his free home, where he remained until he was eighteen. At eighteen he began work as a farm laborer and for four years earned $30 monthly, keeping steadily at work. He is now a reliable 208 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT worker, always manages to get a job, is saving, thrifty and absolutely honest and truthful. His habits are good and he is no longer subject to attacks of violent temper. He is fond of music, enjoys reading and loves farm life. He is unmarried. He continues to be friendly with his foster father but is not dependent upon him in any way. Another interesting case is that of a girl now twentythree, who has had three mental examinations in each one of which she was graded as subnormal. As a young girl she was nervous. subject to fits of temper, stupid in school, and slovenly. Now that she has grown up she has improved remarkably. She was married at twenty-one to a mechanic who is just learning his trade and for that reason she is helping with the family expenses by caring for the children of a family nearby for which she gets $10 a week. She is an excellent housekeeper and manager, is fond of her husband and happy in her married life. She can drive a car and takes good care of her neighbor's children. She seems to have developed an ability to plan and reason which one would never have expected of her in her earlier years. Sixteen of the 59 subnormal subjects are married. One has been separated from her husband, and 35 are unmarried. We do not know about 7 of them. Thirty-three of the 59 have been in custodial institutions. Eight are still there, 7 have run away, 1 is in a correctional institution, and the rest have been discharged or are on parole. Three others have been in correctional institutions. Twenty-three have never had institutional care since placement. Note 6* The Statistical Test of the Validity of Comparisons The tables and percentages presented in this report describe the facts and impressions recorded for the particular group of subjects included in the study group. In presenting these results, the question has arisen continually as to how generally the conditions found among this particular group of subjects would be found among all other placed-out children. If it had been possible to secure complete records of all chil*Prepared by Mary Augusta Clark. APPENDIX 209 dren ever placed in foster homes, the tabulation of those records would have furnished accurate statements of conditions existing among them. If a study could have been made of several thousands of such cases, the results would have been reliable evidence concerning the whole group. With fewer cases less generally applicable results would be obtained. In the present study, the number of subjects in the total study group was less than a thousand, and the sub-groups considered in the detailed analysis were considerably smaller. Caution had to be observed, therefore, throughout the study in interpreting the findings of these relatively small groups. Thus, we found that the percentage of children placed under five who developed into capable subjects was larger than the percentage of children placed at five or over. Before any conclusion was drawn as to the influence of the age of placement upon the subsequent history of the children, we enquired whether the difference observed might have been produced simply by the sampling process even though all the children had been placed at the same age. Common sense tells us that the larger the sample of any given group, the more reliable or valid will be its indications. The vague judgments of common sense are, however, not enough. The detailed analysis of factors which might influence the findings has been summarized in the text of the report. In addition a statistical test, designed to make allowance for variability due to the number of subjects included in the various groups, has been applied to all comparisons to determine their validity. In many instances this test showed that differences in percentages which appeared important because they were numerically large were no larger than might occur in a merely chance selection of the cases. Only findings indicated by the test as probably not due to chance selection have been discussed as of general significance. It should be noted that the test is based on the mathematical theory of probabilities and, therefore, never indicates absolute certainty. The standards followed in interpreting the test are an attempt to express in words the statistical reservations indicated by the various ratios obtained in applying the test. 210 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT I capacity, one is insane, one epileptic, and one crippled. Of the remaining 10 of the 38, there was nothing in the subjects themselves The test is applied by dividing the difference between the proportions or percentages to be compared by the standard deviation of that difference. The formula is: the standard deviation of the difference between two percentages equals p1 n + PN2 where p, and p2 are the two percentages, q, and q2 are the respective differences obtained by subtracting these percentages from one, and n. and n2 are the number of cases on which the percentages are based. In interpreting the meanings of the ratios thus obtained the following standards have been used: Rule 1. A difference which is greater than twice its standard deviation may be regarded as probably significant. Rule 2. A difference which is greater than three times its standard deviation may be regarded as almost certainly significant. Rule 3. A difference which is less than twice its standard deviation is of very doubtful significance. Note 7 Thirty-eight Subjects under Five at Placement Who Proved to Be Incapable A special analysis of this group of 38 disclosed the fact that in 14 instances there was trouble in the foster homes-such trouble as might occur in any household. In 11 of these 14 households one foster parent died and in a few cases a stepfather or stepmother came into the family. In two other families a number of children were born after the subject was placed, resulting in complications, financial and otherwise, which were more than the families could deal with adequately. In still another household the foster parents proved thoroughly bad and the subject grew up under their influences. Eleven of the 38 subjects are definitely of inferior mental APPENDIX 211 or in the homes in which they grew up to give even a partial or possible explanation of why they were incapable. Note 8 Why the Association Made Its Own Study After considerable deliberation it was decided that the study should be made by the Association itself, under the direction of an Advisory Committee of experts representing different fields. There were several reasons for this decision. Child placing work is of an extremely personal nature. It touches on people's deepest emotions and on intimate facts about their lives. Much of such information must of necessity be highly confidential and could not be made accessible to any one not on our own staff. Moreover, success in getting information depended in a very large measure on the whole-hearted and friendly cooperation of the individual children and their foster parents, since they were under no obligation to give information. It was clear that our previous intimate relations with them, and our knowledge of their situation, would be an asset toward getting accurate and personal information more quickly than would otherwise be possible. It was foreseen, furthermore, that the larger perspective gained by members of the staff from the experience of making a study such as this, might be of direct and immediate benefit to the practical work of the Association. For all these reasons it was felt that the advantages in making our own analysis offset whatever disadvantages there might be. Note 9 The Cost of the Study This study was made possible by a special grant from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation. We are presenting herewith an analysis of the cost of the various phases of the study, thinking that this may be of interest to others who are contemplating research in child welfare: 212 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Analysis of problem, deciding on methods of procedure, selection of staff, preparation of schedule............................... $ 1,728.00 Assembling data by field work and office interviews............................. 17,052.00 Basic tabulations and preparation of preliminary analysis.......................... 7,289.00 Further analysis and preparation of final report................................. 3,599.00 Printing and distribution................. 2,761.00 Total cost........................... $32,429.00 Careful social research, especially in a field in which there are relatively few precedents of method, takes more time and is more expensive than is generally recognized. Research in child welfare is greatly needed but it has to be recognized that such work can nlot be done in spare time in connection with the current work of a busy office. A trained staff and special funds are essential. Table 43 AGE AT LAST BIRTHDAY BEFORE JANUARY 1, 1922. Age Number of Per Cent in Years Subjects Distribution 18............................. 19.................................... 20.................................... 21.................................... 22.................................... 23.................................... 24.................................... 25.................................... 26.................................... 27.................................... 28................................... 29.................................... 30 and over........................... Total living............................ Dead................................... Total group................................ 131 138 146 118 89 63 44 29 23 15 18 14 54 882 28 910 14.9 15.6 16.6 13.4 10.1 7.2 4.9 3.3 2.6 1.7 2.0 1.6 6.1 100.0 APPENDIX 213 Table 44 COMPARISON OF SUBJECTS UNDER 25 YEARS AND 25 YEARS AND OVER (Age at last birthday before January 1, 1922) Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Item and Classification Total Ae Total Age Under 25 and Under 25 and 25 over 25 over Social Adjustment Capable. - 615 516 99 77.2 77.2 76.7 Incapable.................. 182 152 30 22.8 22.8 23.3 Harmless...................... 89 77 12 11.1 11.5 9.3 Harmful....................... 47 39 8 6.0 5.8 6.2 "On trial"................... 26 19 7 3.2 2.8 5.4 In Institutions................. 20 17 3 2.5 2.5 2.3 Total known........... 797 668 129 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 113.89.24 Family Background Predominantly bad.......... 300 263 37 55.2 58.4 39.4 Bad-unknown............. 135 110 25 24.8 24.4 26.6 Bad-good.............. 65 46 19 12.0 10.2 20.2 Predominantly good......... 22 18 4 4.0 4.0 4.2 Good-unknown............ 22 13 9 4.0 2.9 9.6 Total known........... 544 450 94 10 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 149 92 57 Foundlings............. 217 215 2 Marital Condition Unmarried................. 462 426 36 58.2 63.6 29.0 Married................... 293 220 73 36.9 32.8 58.9 Separated.................. 27 21 6 3.4 3.1 4.8 Divorced.................. 6 6 6.8.... 4.8 Widowed.................. 6 3 3.8.4 2.4 Total known........... 794 670 124 100.0 100.0 99.9 Unknown.............. 116 87 29 _ Sex Irregularities Reported................. 138 110 1 28 | 15.2 14.5 18.3 Not reported.............. 772 647 125 84.8 85.5 81.7 Age at Placement Under 5................... 315 310 5 34.6 41.0 3.3 5 to 10.................... 188 131 57 20.7 17.3 37.3 10 to 14................... 309 241 68 34.0 31.8 44.4 14 and over................ 98 75 23 10.8 9.9 15.0 Total group............. 910 757 153 1 100.1 100.0 100.0 214 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 45 TOTAL GROUP Distribution of Subjects by Social Adjustment Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Item and Social Adjustment Social Adjustment Classification Total Cap In- Total In- Cap- cap- Un- Cap- cap- Un___able able kno able able known Sex Male.................. 385 247 68 70 42.3 40.2 37.4 61.9 Female................. 525 368 114 43 57.7 59.8 62.6 38.1 Family Background Predominantly bad..... 300 187 86 27 55.2 51.9 65.2 51.9 Bad-unknown....... ' 135 91 27 17 24.8 25.3 20.5 32.7 Bad-good............. 65 48 12 5 12.0 13.3 9.1 9.6 Predominantly good..... 22 18 4.... 4.0 5.0 3.0 Good-unknown........ 22 16 3 3 4.0 4.4 2.3 5.8 Total known.......... 544 360 132 52 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Information inadequate 149 101 24 24 Foundlings............ 217 154 26 37_ Amount of Education College.............. 17 17........ 2.3 3.0........ High School: Fourth year.......... 47 47... 6.3 8.3..... Less than4thyear.... 149 134 14 1 20.0 23.6 9.5 3.1 Grammar School: Eighth grade......... 209 165 34 10 28.0 29.1 23.1 31.3 Less than 8th grade... 324 204 99 21 43.4 36.0 67.4 65.6 Totalknown....... 746 567 147 32 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.......... 164 48 35 81___ Ability to Take Formal Education "A"................. 594 491 66 37 73.4 82.8 41.0 67.3 "B"................. 156 91 51 14 19.3 15.3 31.7 25.4 "C".................. 59 11 44 4 7.3 1.9 27.3 7.3 Total known....... 809 593 161 55 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 -Unknown.......... 101 22 21 58_ Age at Placement Under 2............... 224 1 9 26 39 4.6 25.9 14.3 34.5 2to 5........... 91 74 12 5 10.0 12.0 6.6 4.4 5 to 10................ 188 123 48 17 20.7 20.0 26.4 15.0 10 to 14............... 309 193 75 41 34.0 31.4 41.2 36.3 14 and over............ 98 66 21 11 10.8 10.7 11.5 9.7 APPENDIX 215 Disposition Adopted............ 269 207 28 34 29.6 33.7 15.4 30.1 Not adopted........... 641 408 154 79 U 70.4 66.3 84.6 69.9 Sex Irregularities Reported............ 138 50 80 8 15.2 8.1 44.0 7.1 Not reported........... 772 565 102 105 84.8 91.9 56.0 92.9 Number of Homes In l....... 535 385 85 65 58.8 62.6 46.7 57.5 In 2................. 187 125 34 28 20.5 20.3 18.7 24.8 In 3 or more.......... 188 105 63 20 20.7 17.1 34.6 17.7 Total group......... 910 615 182 113 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 KIND OF FOSTER HOMES USED Number of Placements Per Cent Distribution Social Adjustment Social Adjustment Kind of homes used InTotal Ca n-Total Un Cap- cap- Un- P- cap- n able able known able able known Superior............... 242 153 62 27 15.3 15.1 16.2 14.4 Good.................. 1139 732 269 138 71.8 72.1 70.4 73.4 Mediocre.............. 204 130 51 23 12.9 12.8 13.4 12.2 Total known....... 1585 1015 382 188 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.......... 36 17 12 7 Total homes used....... 1621 1032 394 195 K K 216 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 46 DATA REGARDING PARENTS Distribution of 693 Subjects of Known Family Background by Length of Time in Parents Home Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Item and Years with Parents Years with Parents Classification To- Un- 2 5 Un- TotalUnder 2 5 Un tal der to and oer t and known,__________ -2 5 overk1 5 over _ Reasoning and Planning Ability Both parents reported Superior*.. 1 1...7.... 2.1.5.. Goodt............29 1 4 21 3 10.7 8.3 8.5 10.5 25.0 Inferior.......... 85 2 15 67 1 31.4 16.7 31.9 33.5 8.3 One parent reported Superior*........ 11 3 8.. 4.1.... 6.4 4.0.... Goodt........... 40 1 4 33 2 14.8 8.3 8.5 16.5 16.7 Inferior:......... 104 8 20 70 6 38.3 66.7 42.6 35.0 50.0 Total known.... 271 12 47 200 12 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Neither parent reported...... 422 78 73 220 51_ Sex Irregularities Both parents reported Shown by both.... 144 32 23 80 9 40.6 74.4 44.2 33.9 37.5 Shown by one..... 12.. 3 9.. 3.4.... 5.8 3.8.... Shown by neither.. 7 3 2 2.. 2.0 7.0 3.8.9.... One parent reported Shown............ 156 7 21 118 10 43.9 16.3 40.4 50.0 41.7 Not shown........ 36 1 3 27 5 10.1 2.3 5.8 11.4 20.8 Total known.... 355 43 52 236 24 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Neither parent reported...... 338 47 68 184 39 Dependency Both parents reported Shown by both.... 46 2 13 30 1 19.7 8.3 33.3 20.0 5.0 Shown by one... 1.... 14.. 6.0... 9.3.... Shown by neither.. 11 2 1 7 1.2 4.7 5.0 One parent reported Shown........... 112 12 18 69 13 48.1 50.0 46.2 46.0 65.0 Notshown........ 50 8 7 30 5 21.5 33.4 17.9 20.0 25.0 Totalknown.... 233 24 39 150 20 100.0 1000 100.0 100.0 100.0 Neither parent reported.... 460 66 81 270 43 I *Both reported: both "bright." tBoth reported: One "bright," one average or both average.:Both reported: One "bright' one defective; or one average, one defective; or both defective. One reported: "bright." One reported: average. One reported: defective. APPENDIX 217 Alcoholism Both parents reported Shown by both.... 42.. 3 38 1 13.5.... 8.1 15.9 6.7 Shown by one..... 46. 8 33 5 14.9.... 21.6 13.8 33.3 Shown by neither.. 6 2 1 3.. 1.9 10.5 2.7 1.3.... One parent reported Shown............ 184 10 20 147 7 59.4 52.6 54.1 61.5 46.7 Not shown........ 32 7 5 18 2 10.3 36.9 13.5 7.5 13.3 Total known.... 310 19 37 239 15 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Neither parent reported...... 383 71 83 181 48 Misdemeanors and Crimes Both parents reported Shown by both.... 18.. 1 17.. 7.9.... 3.5 10.1. Shown by one..... 23 1 3 17 2 10.1 5.5 10.3 10.1 15.4 Shown by neither.. 16 3 3 9 1 7.0 16.7 10.3 5.4 7.7 One parent reported Shown............ 112 9 16 80 7 49.1 50.0 55.2 47.6 53.8 Not shown...... 59 5 6 45 3 25.9 27.8 20.7 26.8 23.1 Total known.... 228 18 29 168 13 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Neither parent reported......465 72 91 252 50 Total group..........693 90 120 420 63 Table 47 CORRELATION BETWEEN GRADE COMPLETED AND AGE AT LEAVING SCHOOL Total Number of Subjects Whose Grade and Age at Leaving Are Known, Not Including Those Who Are Still in School or College. I-A 00 Grade Completed Age at Leaving School Total Elementary School High School Ungraded I II III IV V VI VII VIII I IV College II I II 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 1 2 23 97 181 219 89 51 25 10 3 3 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 1 2 3 12 7 1 1 1 1 1 3 10 16 15 3 1 5 16 31 34 8 1 2 24 43 45 10 2 1 6 38 60 68 22 9 2 1 3 2 11 21 15 4 5 2 1 2 15 14 14 2 1 4 8 6 6 1 1 1 2 4 8 13 9 6 1 1 0 U4 0 0 o O 1 1 1 Total known 704 2 1 3 9 27 49 94 127 206 63 48 28 44 3 APPENDIX 219 Table 48 SUBJECTS WHO HAVE HAD TUBERCULOSIS Age at Age T. B. K marks No. SexPlacement Realized I I i ndIofT.B. Remarks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 F M F M M F M F F M M F F F F M F F F F M F F M F 4 4 5 7 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 years ct u c. u it gc cs cs uc uc uc uc 13 8 17 2 8 18 10 27 30 16 11 20 10 16 20 19 years a tt a it it tcc It a a at tt Pulmonary Glandular Pulmonary Bone Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Bone Bone Bone Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Glandular Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Pulmonary Maternal grandmother died of T. B. Died of Bronchial Pneumonia Mother T. B. Mother and brother died of T. B. Father died of T. B. Two sisters T. B. Mother T. B. Died of Influenza and Pneumonia Brother and sister T. B. Died of Pulmonary and Intestinal T.B. Still has T. B. Paternal grandfather died of T. B. Died of Appendicitis Died of T. B. Still has T. B. Mother & sister T. B. Died of Pneumonia Mother died of T. B. 11 " 11 12" 12 " 13 u 13 " 13 14 15 " 16 " Unknown 21 years 14 " 19 " 18 a 14 " 21 a 12-13 " 220 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 49 SUBJECTS WHO HAVE DIED Age at Age at Yr. of Cause of Death No. Sex Placement DeathC of Death No. Sex Placement Death Cause of Death ~~l ~Death 1 M 3 months 21 years 1920 Automobile accident 2 M 10 years 28 " 1918 Influenza 3 M 3 " 21 " 1918 Wound received in action in World War 4 M 10 31 " 1922 Pneumonia 5 M 9 26 " 1919 Influenza and Pneumonia 6 M 11 " 20 " 1917 Accidental Asphyxiation 7 M 8 " 18 " Killed in action in World War 8 M 14 " 23 " 1918 Killed in action in World War 9 M 14 " 21 " 1918 Pneumonia and Pulmonary Tuberculosis 10 M 14 " 20 " 1918 Killed in action in World War 11 M 12 " 21 " 1921 Drug idiosyncrasy* 12 M 10 " 18 " 1921 Drowning 13 F 12 " 21 " 1907 Influenza 14 F 7 " 23 " 1915 Diabetes 15 F 6 " 22 " 1915 Suicide 16 F 5 " 26 1922 Influenza 17 F 8 " 26 " 1918 Influenza 18 F 1 " 20 " 1921 Pyelitis and Peritonitis 19 F 12 " 31 " 1920 Influenza 20 F 9 months 18 " 1920 Pneumonia following Influenza 21 F 11 years 22 " 1914 Appendicitis 22 F 5 " 21 " 1920 Bronchial Pneumonia 23 F 11 " 22 " 1918 Influenza and Pneumonia 24 F 10 " 19 " 1917 Childbirth and Influenza 25 F 12 " 21 " 1918 Chronic Endocarditis, Malignant Inflammation of Liver and Spleen 26 F 10 " 21 " 1922 Pulmonary and Intestinal Tuberculosis 27 F 15 " 19 " 1915 Pleuro-Pneumonia 28 F 15 22 1921 Drowning *Following treatment for syphilis. APPENDIX 221 Table 50 LOCALITY OF FOSTER HOMES USED Distribution of Homes Used for Male and Female Subjects Number of Placements Per Cent Distribution Locality I Total Male Female Total Male Female Urban..................... 757 178 579 47.0 31.0 55.8 Rural..................... 855 397 458 53.0 69.0 44.2 Total known........... 1612 575 1037 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 9 3 6 Total homes used........... 1621 578 1043 Table 51 FIRST OCCUPATION Distribution of Subjects in Occupational Groups Classified According to Sex No. of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Occupations Total Male Fe- Total Male Female male Agriculture, Forestry & Animal Husbandry. 136 132 4 16.3 38.4.8 Extraction of Minerals.................. 2 2....2.6.... Manufacturing & Mechanical Industries... 162 86 76 19.5 25.0 15.5 Transportation......................... 33 18 15 4.0 5.2 3.0 Trade................................. 63 25 38 7.4 7.3 7.7 Public Service.......................... 14 14... 1.7 4.1 Professional Service..................... 23 5 18 2.7 1.4 3.6 Domestic and Personal Service........... 201 16 185 24.1 4.6 37.5 Clerical Occupations.................... 112 33 79 13.4 9.6 16.0 Not gainfully employed.................. 89 13 76 10.7 3.8 15.9 Total known....................... 835 344 491 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.......................... 75 41 34 Total group.............................. 910 385 525 222 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 52 DETAILED LIST OF PRESENT OCCUPATIONS Males Field of Work ' Number of Subjects Professions Teaching Rural graded school............................. 1 Physical instruction in boys' boarding school...... 1 Journalism, Literary and Editorial Work Reporter........................................ 1 Editorial work on a magazine.................... 1 Engineering Engineer and surveyor........................... 1 Pharmaceutical Chemistry Pharmaceutical chemist....................... 1 Accountancy Accountant (C.P.A.)............................ 1 Banking and Finance Assistant receiving teller in bank................ 1 Investigator for a bank.......................... 1 Draftsman.......................................... 1 Total............................................................. Manufacturing and Industry Manufacturers Manufacturer of Rubber Cement.................. 1 Executives Executive position Gas Company................ 1 Machinists and mechanics............................ 8 Machine operatives.................................. 5 Builders............................................. 2 Laborers............................................. 8 Apprentices......................................... 3 Printers.................................... 2 One each-worker in mattress factory, sorting ore in mine, assistant oven boss cracker bakery, tailor, making liquor for pulp in paper mill, fireman, making jewelry by hand.................................. 7 Type of job unknown................................ 13 Total............................................................. Trade and Transportation Truckmen and drivers................................ 12 Salesmen........................................ 9 Machinists and mechanics............................ 5 10 50 APPENDIX 223 Laborers............................................ 6 Electricians. 4 Painters............................................. 3 Taxi drivers......................................... 3 Managers and superintendents of business............ 3 Owners of business.................................. 2 Stokers.............................................. 2 Dish washers........................................ 2 One each-buyer, photo-engraver, steam fitter, inspector telephone switchboard, telegrapher, telegraph lineman, wireless operator, roofer and tinner, cook, serving food lunch counter, porter, railroad conductor, railroad signalman................................ 13 Total......................................................... 68 Subsidiary Service Clerical workers..................................... 12 Bookkeepers........................................ 5 Elevator operators................................... 3 Office manager...................................... 1 M essenger.......................................... 1 Total............................................................. 22 Agriculture Laborers employed on farms......................... 36 Working on foster father's farms..................... 7 Farming own farms............................. 4 Managers of farms.............................. 2 Farming rented farm............................. 1 Total......................................................... 50 Public Service One each-N. Y. State Constabulary, N. Y. City Fire Department, U. S. Government Post Office Department substitute carrier...................................... 3 U. S. Arm y............................................. 7 U. S. N avy............................................. 16 Domestic Service Porters, stablemen, etc.............................. 4 Chauffeurs for private families....................... 2 Attendant, hospital for insane........................ 1 Assistant manager Country Club..................... 1 Total............................................................. 8 Occupation Unknown.................................... 103 Not gainfully employed.................................. 36 Total males now living........................................ 373 224 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 53 DETAILED LIST OF PRESENT OCCUPATIONS Females Field of Work Number of Subjects Professions Teaching Rural graded school............................. 5 One each-music, piano and vocal, English in High School, 2nd grade in State Hospital for Crippled Children; Braille, music and singing in institution for blind children.............................. 5 Total....................................................... 10 Nursing In hospital training school for nurses............. 11 Graduate nurse.................................. 1 Total...................................................... 12 Manufacturing and Industry Machine operators in factories...................... 13 Handwork, one each-sorting and counting printed matter, paper mill; bundling stockings, hosiery factory; folder in lace mill; milliner.................... 4 Home work, knitting, crocheting, finishing........... 3 Packers in factory................................... 2 Type of job unknown................................ 4 Total.......................................................... 26 Trade and Transportation Waitresses in hotel or restaurant..................... 8 Saleswomen-retail stores........................... 6 Telephone operators................................. 4 Cook.............................................. 1 Telegrapher........................................ 1 One each-typesetter in printing office, milliner in retail millinery shop, folder in laundry................... 3 Type of job unknown................................ 1 Total.......................................................... 24 Subsidiary Service Stenographers....................................... 16 Clerical workers................................. 15 Secretaries....................................... 4 Bookkeepers................................... 4 APPENDIX 225 Typists............................................ 3 Cashiers............................................ 2 Office managers or assistants........................ 2 Accountant (not C.P.A.)............................. 1 Addressograph operator............................. 1 Total............................................................. 48 Domestic Service Housework in private families........................ 29 Nursemaid in private families........................ 7 In training for baby nurse........................... 6 Practical nurses..................................... 3 One each-janitress apartment house, laundry work in hospital, attendant in hospital, waitress in hospital.. 4 Type of job unknown................................ 1 Total........................................................ 50 Occupation Unknown.................................... 65 Not gainfully employed Housewives in own home............................ 193 Helping with housework at home.................... 13 Students....................................... 12 Volunteer churchworkers............................ 2 Inmates of institutions............................... 17 Not working due to ill health......................... 2 No occupation............................. 35 Total............................................. 274 Total females now living.......................................... 509 Table 54 MARITAL CONDITION OF SUBJECTS Number of Per Cent Marital Condition Subjects Distribution Unmarried.................................. 462 58.1 Married.................................... 293 36.9 Separated.................................. 27 3.4 Divorced................................... 6.8 Widowed................................... 6.8 Total known............................ 794 100.0 Unknown.............................. 16 Total group................................ 910 226 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 55 CHILDREN BORN ALIVE TO SUBJECTS Distribution of Subjects Known to Have Had Children Number of Per Cent Number of Children Born Alive Subjects Distribution 1........................................... 123 58.0 2.......................................... 49 23.1 3........................................... 25 11.8 4......................................... 9 4.2 5 or more.................................. 6 2.9 Total known........................... 212 100.0 Unknown............................. 9 Total who have had children................ 221 Table 56 FAMILY BACKGROUND Distribution of 57 Subjects Under Five When Placed Number of Per Cent Quality of Family Background Subjects Distribution Predominantly bad.......................... 22 38.6 Bad-unknown......................... 21 36.8 Bad-good................................. 3 5.3 Predominantly good........................ 9 15.8 Good-unknown............................ 2 3.5 Total known................................ 57 100.0 APPENDIX 227 Table 57 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AGE AT FIRST PLACEMENT Distribution of Subjects by Age at First Placement Number of Shbjects ' Per Cent Distribution Age at Placement Age at Placement Item and - -- - - Classification o | ~________ _- C^ 10:. _ 0Ln r4 r-4 LO Social Adjustment Capable............. 615159 74123 193 66 77.2 85.9 86.1 71.9 72.0 75.9 Incapable........... 182 26 12 48 75 2 22.8 14.1 13.9 28.1 28.0 24.1 Total known....... 797185 86 171 268 87100.0100.0100. 0100.00100.0100.0 Unknown.......... 113 39 5 17 41 11 l Js____ Ability to take Formal Education "A"...............594176 67125170 56 73.4 91.7 84.8 72.7 61.4 62.9 "B"............... 156 11 4 33 83 25 19.3 5.7 5.1 19.2 30.0 28.1 "C"............... 59 5 8 14 24 8 7.3 2.6 10.1 8.1 8.6 9.0 Total known....... 809192 79172 277 89100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0 Unknown.......... 101 32 12 16 32 Number of Homes 1..... 541190 66 82145 58 59.5 84.8 72.5 43.6 46.9 59.2 2.................. 187 26 11 40 87 23 20.5 11.6 12.1 21.3 28.2 23.5 3ormore............ 182 8 14 66 77 17 20.0 3.6 15.4 35.1 24.9 17.3 Family Background Predominantly bad... 300 3 19 82 155 41 55.2 23.1 43.1 56.6 59.4 50.6 Bad-unknown....... 135 7 14 35 57 22 24.8 53.8 31.8 24.1 21.8127.2 Bad-good....... 65... 3 17 3114 111.9......8 11. 11..9 17.3 Predominantlygood... 22 2 7 5 7 1 4.0 15.4 15.9 3.4 2.7. 1.2 Good-unknown...... 22 1 1 6 11 3 4.0 7.7 2.3 4.1 4.213.7 Totalknown....... 544 13 44145261 81100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0 Inform. inadequate 149 20 25 39 48 17 Foundlings......... 217191 22 4.... Total group......... 910224 91188309 98 ___ _ RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOSTER FAMILY AND FOSTER CHILD Approximate Per Cent Distribution Relationship Age at First Placement Total |Under 5 5 to 10 10 to 12 12 & over Satisfactory................ 60.0 90.0 60.0 40.0 30.0 Temporarily satisfactory..... 25.0 6.0 20.0 30.0 45.0 Unsatisfactory.............. 15.0 4.0 20.0 30.0 25.0 Total....... 100.0 100 100.0 100.0.100.0 228 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 58 COMPARISON OF FOUNDLINGS AND CHILDREN OF KNOWN FAMILY BACKGROUND Distribution of Subjects Under Five When Placed Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Item and Classification Total Fnn Family Total KnFai Total ings Family Total lings Family _____s __B'ckg'd __ngs B'ckg'd Social Adjustment Capable................... 233 152 81 86.0 85.9 86.2 Incapable.................. 38 25 13 14.0 14.1 13.8 Total known........... 271 177 94 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 44 36 8 Ability to take Formal Education "A"..................... 243 165 78 89.7 90.7 87.6 "B".................... 15 11 4 5.5 6.0 4.5 "C"................. 13 6 7 4.8 3.3 7.9 Total known........... 271 182 89 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 44 31 13 Special Training Special training............. 91 61 30 33.1 33.3 32.6 No special training.......... 184 122 62 66.9 66.7 67.4 Total known........... 275 183 92 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 40 30 10 Age at Beginning to Work for Wages Under 16 years............. 61 44 17 27.7 30.3 22.7 16 years and over........... 159 101 58 72.3 69.7 77.3 Total known........... 220 145 75 100.0 100.0 100.0 Never worked for wages. 39 26 13 Unknown.............. 56 42 14 _ Present Occupation Agri.,Forestry&AnimalHusb. 8 8... 3.0 4.5.... Extraction of minerals....... 1 1.4.6.... Mfg. & Mech. Industries.... 33 23 '10 12.3 13.0 10'.9 Transportation............. 10 9 1 3.7 5.1 1.1 Trade.................... 17 12 5 6.3 6.8 5.4 Public Service.............. 7 4 3 2.6 2.3 3.3 Professional Service......... 11 8 3 4.1 4.5 3.3 Domestic & Personal Service. 17 8 9 6.3 4.5 9.8 Clerical occupations......... 45 31 14 16.7 17.5 15.2 Not gainfully employed...... 120 73 47 44.6 41.2 51.1 Total known........... 269 177 92 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown............. 46 36 10 __., APPENDIX 229 Number of Foster Homes 1.................... 256 178 78 81.3 83.6 76.5 2......................... 37 26 11 11.7 12.2 10.8 3 or more................. 22 9 13 6.9 4.3 12.8 Age at First Placement Under 2 years............. 224 191 33 71.1 89.7 32.3 2 to 5 years................ 91 22 69 28.9 10.3 67.7 Total under 5 when placed 315 213 102 100.0 100.0 100.0 KIND OF FOSTER HOMES USED Number of Placements Per Cent Distribution Kind of Homes Used Known Found- Known nTotal Foundoe- Family Total Found- Family lings B'ckg'd lings B'ckg'd Superior................. 47 20 27 11.6 7.7 18.6 Good.................... 291 191 100 71.9 73.5 69.0 Mediocre.................. 67 49 18 16.5 18.8 12.4 Total known........... 405 260 145 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 7 4 3 Total homes used for children under 5.............. 412 264 148...__. 230 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 59 CONTACT OF SUBJECTS WITH OWN RELATIVES AFTER PLACEMENT IN FOSTER HOMES Distribution of Subjects Classified by Age at First Placement Number Nof Subjects Per Cent Distribution of Subjects Contact with Relatives Age at Age at Placement Placement Total Un- 5 Total Under and der and 5 over __5_______5 over No contact with relatives................ 314 154 160 41.5 93.3 27.0 In touch with parents or relatives......... 119 4 115 15.7 2.4 19.4 In touch with fraternity................. 151 5 146 20.0 3.0 24.7 Returned to live with parents or relatives............................... 83... 83 11.0.... 14.0 Returned to live with fraternity.......... 14 1 13 1.8.6 2.2 Contact with relatives unknown.......... 76 1 75 10.0.6 12.7 Total foster relationship known... 757 165 592 100.0 100.0 100.0 Foster relationship not known.... 117 114 3 Unknown if foster relationship is known.................... 36 36... Total group.............................. 910 315 595 APPENDIX 231 Table 60 AGE SUBJECTS LEARNED THEY WERE FOSTER CHILDREN Distribution of Subjects Under Five Years at Time of First Placement Age Learned They Were Number of Per Cent Foster Children Subjects Distribution Under 6.................................... 18 12.5 6-8......................................... 13 9.0 8-10........................................ 17 11.8 10-12...................................... 21 14.6 12-14....................................... 28 19.4 14-16...................................... 20 13.9 16-18...................................... 9 6.3 18 and over................................ 18 12.5 Total known........................... 144 100.0 Age unknown.......................... 57 Never learned......................... 114 Total group................................ 315 Table 61 FAMILY BACKGROUND Distribution of 79 Adopted Subjects of Known Parentage Number of Per Cent Quality of Family Background Subjects Distribution Predominantly bad......................... 37 46.9 Bad-unknown............................. 26 32.9 Bad-good................................ 6 7.6 Predominantly good...............8 10.1 Good-unknown............................ 2 2.5 Total known family background............ 79 100.0 232 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT Table 62 COMPARISON OF SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT BETWEEN ADOPTED SUBJECTS AND SUBJECTS NOT ADOPTED Distribution of Subjects by Age at First Placement Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Soial Adjustment Adopted t Adopted dopted To- te Adopted Adopted tal Un- 5 Un- 5 Total 5 5 der and der and Under and Under and 5 over 5 over over over Capable............615 171 36 62 346 77.2 89.5 81.8 77.5 71.8 Incapable........... 182 20 8 18 136 22.8 10.5 18.2 22.5 28.2 Total known.... 797 191 44 80 482 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown....... 113 31 3 13 66 Total group........ 910 222 47 93 548 Table 63 LENGTH OF TIME WITH PARENTS OF INFERIOR MENTAL CONDITION \i~~ ~Number of Per Cent Length of Time with Parents Subjects Distribution Under 2 years.................... 9 6.1 2 to 5 years................................ 27 182 5 years and over........................... 112 75.7 Total known........................... 148 100.0 Unknown............................ Total having parents of inferior mentality... 155 APPENDIX 233 Table 64 CHILDREN OF SAME FAMILIES* Distribution of Subjects by Number in Each Family Social Adjustment All children capable.. 49 41 8...... 55.1 All children incapable 6 6.... 6.7 Mixed.............. 34 28 4...... 38.2 Total known.... 89 75 12 2...... 100.0 Unknown....... 25 20 2 2 1 Capacity for Taking Formal Education "A"................ 49 45 3 1.......48.5 "B............... 6 5 1............ 5.9 "C............... 1 1.0 Mixed............... 45 32 10 2 1 44.6 Totalknown.... 101 83 14 3 1 100.0 Unknown....... 13 12...... 1...... Total families 114 95 14 4 1 *Only the immediate family-full brothers and sisters-are included in each family group. Table 65 MANNER OF SECURING INFORMATION TO DETERMINE SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Manner of Information Manner of Information Foster Foster Social Adjustment otal Sub- Par- Cor- Gen- Sub- Par- Cor- Gen ota ject ent res- ral Total ject ent res- eral Inter- or Rel- nd-nfor- nter- or Rel- nd- Inforviewed atives t enced atiewe ence mation Inter- Interviewed viewed Capable........... 615 447 118 24 26 77.2 83.2 84.3 88.9 28.0 Incapable.......... 182 90 22 3 67 22.8 16.8 15.7 11.1 72.0 Total known capability.......... 797 537 140 27 93 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 234 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT / Table 66 SEX COMPARISONS Number of Subjects Per Cent Distribution Item and Classification Total | Male I Female Total | Male Female Social Adjustment Capable................... 615 247 368 77.2 78.4 76.4 Incapable.................. 182 68 114 22.8 21.6 23.6 Harmless...................... 89 39 50 11.1 12.4 10.4 Harmful....................... 47 14 33 6.0 4.4 6.8 "On trial"...................... 26 10 16 3.2 3.2 3.3 In institutions................. 20 5 15 2.5 1.6 3.1 Total known........... 797 315 482 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 113 70 43............ Age at Last Birthday before January 1, 1922 18 to 21................... 415 190 225 47.1 50.9 44.2 21 to 25................... 314 118 196 35.6 31.6 38.5 25 to 30................... 99 42 57 11.2 11.3 11.2 30 and over................ 54 23 31 6.1 6.2 6.1 Total known............ 882 373 509 100.0 100.0 100.0 Dead.................. 28 12 16 _ Amount of Education College.................... 17 9 8 2.3 3.0 1.8 High School: Fourth year.............. 47 11 36 6.3 3.7 8.1 Less than 4th year......... 149 46 103 20.0 15.4 23.0 Elementary School: Eighth grade............. 209 87 122 28.0 29.1 27.3 Less than 8th grade....... 324 146 178 43.4 48.8 39.8 Total known........... 746 299 447 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 164 86 78 Ability to take Formal Education "A".................... 594 255 339 73.4 76.3 71.4 "B".................... 156 55 101 19.3 16.5 21.3 "C".................... 59 24 35 7.3 7.2 7.3 Total known........... 809 334 475 100.0 100.0 100.0 Unknown.............. 101 51 50 * ________ Age at First Placement Under 2................. 224 87 137 24.6 22.6 26.1 2 to 5................. 91 33 58 10.0 8.6 11.0 5 to 10.................... 188 69 119 20.7 17.9 22.7 10 to 14................ 309 155 154 33.9 40.3 29.3 14 and over................ 98 41 57 10.8 10.6 10.9 Disposition Adopted............ 269 102 167 29.6 26.5 31.8 Not adopted.......... 641 283 358 70.4 73.5 68.2 Total group.................. 910 385 j 525 1 100.0 I 100.0 100.0 APPENDIX 235 Table 67 COLORED SUBJECTS Distribution of Subjects by Age at First Placement Number of Subjects Per Cent Item and Age at Placement Distribution Classification Total Under 2to 5 5 to 10 to 14and Total 2 10 14 over Colored Social Adjustment Capable............. 27 2 9 5 9 2 61.4 Incapable............ 17 5 2 2 7 1 38.6 Total known....... 44 7 11 7 16 3 100.0 Unknown............ 5 1...... 3 1 Amount of Education High School.......... 7 2 2 2 1... 18.9 Grammar School 8th Grade.......... 6 1. 3 2... 16.2 Less than 8th Grade 24 4 7 1 9 3 64.9 Total known....... 37 7 9 6 12 3 100.0 Unknown.......... 12 1 2 1 7 1 Special Training Special training....... 6 2... 2 2... 13.6 No special training.... 38 4 11 5 14 4 86.4 Total known....... 44 6 11 7 16 4 100.0 Unknown.......... 5 2...... 3 __ Capacity for Taking Formal Education "A"................ 25 5 6 5 7 2 58.1 "B"................ 12 2... 1 8 1 27.9 "C"............... 6 1 4... 1... 14.0 Total known....... 43 8 10 6 16 3 100.0 Unknown......... 6... 1 1 3 1 Origin Known............. 41 3 8 7 19 4 83.7 Foundling........... 8 5 3........... 16.3 Sex Male................ 23 3 5 2 11 2 46.9 Female.............. 26 5 5 8 2 53.1 Total colored........ 49 8 11 7 19 4 l 100.0 INDEX A Adopted, subjects legally, 119-28, 154, 166, 215, 234. See also Case illustrations. Age, at first placement, 13-14, 113, 134, 165, 213, 214, 229, 234; significance of, 113-18, 165; at leaving school, 83 -85, 218; and age when first employed, correlation between, 99; and grade completed, correlation between, 218; present, 14, 15-16, 212, 234; percent distribution of, 14; twenty-five years of age, subjects over and under, comparison between, 213; upon learning of foster relationship, 231; when first employed, 98, 99. See also Foster parents. Appearance of subjects. See Social adjustment. Arrest. See Delinquency. B Birthplaces of subjects, 48. Boarding homes, 135, 153, 167. Brothers and sisters. See Siblings. C Capability, 19-22; unknown, 23, 24, 199, 200-04. See also Case illustrations; Social adjustment. "Capable" subjects, 22-24, 161, 163, 199, 207; definition of, 23, 199; illustrations of, 28-38. See also Social adjustment. Case illustrations, adopted, legally, 124 -27; capability unknown, 201, 202, 203, 204; "capable" subjects, 29-38; community activity of subjects, 22; crosssection of study group, 187-95; family background, 52, 53, 55, 56; foster re lationships, 69-70, 71-73; foundlings, 156-57; "incapable" subjects, 40-44; incomplete information, subjects classified on, 205-06; mentally inferior parents, subjects of, 142-43; personal characteristics, 20-21; relatives, subjects contact with, 147-48; siblings, 144-46; sub-normal subjects, 207-08. Character of subjects. See Social adjustment. Colored, 60, 153, 235. Comparisons, validity of, statistical test of, 182, 208-10. D Definitions of terms used, 199-200. Delinquency, 37, 51, 206, 217. See also Immorality; "Incapable" subjects, harmful; "on trial". Dependency, of parents, 216; of subjects, 50, 130-31. Destitution. See Dependency. E Education, formal, ability of subject to take, 89-90, 116, 121, 141, 151, 158, 214, 228, 234. See also Siblings; colored; and family background, correlation between, 111; and kinds of foster homes, correlation between, 107; after placement, 76-91, 115, 120, 141-42, 157, 163, 168, 214, 234; and special training, comparison between, 86; before placement, 75-76; grade completed and age at leaving school, correlation between, 219; reasons for terminating, 80-81; rulings of Association in regard to, 85. Environment, 5, 52, 58, 163-64. See also Education; Family backgrounds; Foster homes; Foster parents; Institutions. Epilepsy, 95. 237 238 HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT INDEX (continued) F Failure, 18, 19, 27. See also "Incapable". Family backgrounds, as causes of dependency, 130-31; as factors in development, 109-13; case illustrations, 56-57; classification of, 51-54, 56-58, 161-62, 213, 214, 216, 217, 226, 227, 231; investigation of, 45; statistics concerning, 47 -51; value of data concerning, 46, 105, 106. Feeble-minded. See Mental defect. Foster homes, as factors in development, 59-60, 105-09, 114; care of subjects in, 20, 35, 67-69, 107, 108; changes in, 65 -66, 162, 210; classification of, 64-65, 107-08, 117, 154, 162, 215, 229. See also Foster homes past and present, comparison between; investigation of, 61-62, 132; location of, 221; number used, 134-35, 154, 227, 229; past and present, comparison between, 166. Foster parents, age of, 63, 133-34; and subjects, relation between, 35, 69-73, 162, 164, 167, 227. See also Case illustrations; occupation of, 62-63; social background of, 35, 60-61. Foundlings, 119, 131, 147, 153-60, 228-29. See also Case illustrations; comparison, with children of known family background, 111-12, 228-29. H Habits of subjects. See Social adjustment. Harmful "Incapable" subjects. See "Incapable" subjects, harmful. Harmless. See "Incapable", harmless. Health, 92-97, 168, 219, 220. Heredity, 5, 52, 58, 96. See also Family backgrounds. I Illegitimacy, 42, 43, 48, 54. See Immorality. Immorality, 143-44, 213, 215, 216. See also Illegitimacy. "Incapable" subjects, 23, 199, 210. See also Case illustrations; social adjust ment of; harmful, 24, 25, 42-44, 156, 161; harmless, 24, 25, 39-41, 123, 155, 161; in institutions, 24, 25, 42, 156, 206, 208; "on trial", 24, 25, 41-42, 156. Insanity. See Mental disease. Institutions, children removed from, 12, 150-52; ability to take formal education, 151-52; education of, 76; social adjustment of, 151-52; subjects sent to, 135. See also Delinquency; "Incapable" subjects, in institutions; Mental defect; Mental disease. Intemperance, 96, 217. L Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, 4, 211. Legitimacy of subjects, 48-49. Location of subjects, present, 16-17. See also Foster homes, location of. M Marital status of parents, 49; of subjects, 213. Mental defect in parents, 50, 139-43, 216, 232. See Case illustrations, mentally inferior parents, subjects of; in subjects, 207, 208, 210. See also Education, formal, ability to take; "Incapable" subjects. Mental disease, 52, 96. Mental inferiority. See Mental defect; Mental disease. Mental tests, 88. Morality, 143-44, 213, 215, 216. Mortality statistics of subjects, 97, 219, 220. N Nationality, 47-48, 60. Negroes. See Colored. 0 Occupations of subjects, 98-104, 158-59; present, 101-03, 222-25, 228. See also Foster parents, occupations of. Offspring, born to subjects, 104, 226. HOW FOSTER CHILDREN TURN OUT 239 INDEX (continued) "On trial". See "Incapable" subjects on trial. Orphan Asylum. See Institutions. Orphans, 49, 50, 54. P Parents and relatives, attitude of subjects towards, 146-47, 230; length of time with, before placement, 57, 232. Personality. See also Foster parents; Social adjustment. Placement, children taken for, 12, 129 -32; dates of, 133. R Reasoning and planning ability. See Mental defect. Relationship, of subjects to Association, 129, 136-38; to foster parents, 68-74, 117-18, 119, 154. See also Case illustrations; Foster parents, and subjects, relation between; to own family, 132, 146-50, 230. See also Case illustrations, siblings. Religious activity of subjects, 21, 63. Replacements, 135, 166, 167. Social adjustment of subjects, 18-19, 22, 25-27, 111, 114-15, 122-23, 151, 181, 213-15, 227, 228, 232, 233, 234, 235. See also "Capable"; "Incapable". Special training of subjects, 85-87, 135-36. State Charities Aid Association, 3, 4, 12, 129-38. See also Study. Study, cost of making, 211-12; procedure in making, 169-83; reasons for Association making own, 211; reasons for making, 9-11; suggested further, 184-86. Subnormal subjects. See Case illustrations; Education, formal, ability of subject to take; Mental defect in subjects. Success, 18, 19, 27. See also "Capable". Supervision of subjects by 'Association, 136-38. T Traits of subjects. See Social adjustment. Tuberculous subjects, 95, 219. U Unknown factors, 182. See Tables. W Wages of subjects, first and present, 103 -04. Weight, comparison with standard, 93. Woolley, Helen T., 79. S Schedule used by Association in making study, 172-79. Sex comparisons, 166, 234. Siblings, ability to take formal education, 144, 233; "Capable", 144, 233; "Incapable", 144, 233. See also Case illustrations. Sisters and brothers. See Siblings. 'I THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN GRADUATE LIBRARY DATE DUE N.fifi ~,,. (X), OR f —,h- '' - *. ' *'s.,; < jANi24 DO NOT REMOVE