Page 5 - The Privilege of Caring

In Rhode Island as as well as as in in in other states children came into institutional care by by referral from from the the Overseers of the the Poor by by complaints from from neighbors about children in in in need upon petitions filed in in the Probate Court and and by requests from parents and and guardians who could not afford to to care ffor for children due to to poverty death illness or or or other reason In a a a special study of benevolent institutions in in in in 1904 the Census Bureau found over 111 000 living in in in in orphanages and children’s homes In some communities one in in in in in ten children was residing in in in in orphanages asylums reformatories and other institutions Reformers mounted campaigns to to remove children children from institutions which they believed left children children unprepared for life in in in mainstream society Charles Loring Brace a a a a a a a controversial child welfare reformer and others were instrumental in in in in developing programs of placing out which meant removing children from urban institutions and relocating them to to rural homes Better known today as the the the “orphan train” movement these reforms set off great debates about what was the the best course o of action for for needy children In Rhode Island this census found over 1 000 children children in in care with the great majority in in orphanages asylums and children’s homes operated by private agencies the the Roman Catholic Diocese Diocese of of Providence and the the the Episcopal Diocese Diocese Fewer than 200 of of the the the children in in care were housed in in the the the publicly run State Home
and and School the the the orphanage founded in in in 1884 and and closed in in in 1979 the the the remnants of of which remain on the the East Campus of of Rhode Island College Edgar and Loretta: two attractive children that the agency has in its care Children And And Child Child Welfare: Private And And Public Agencies
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