jan 16, 1909 - Progressive Era began: 1909 White
House Conference on the Care
of Dependent Children
(Kahan, 2006)
Description:
The Era began with an unprecedented national gathering: the 1909 White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children. In response to a 1904 Congressional report about the number and circumstances of institutionalized and dependent children in Washington, D.C., as well as publicity around the country's high infant-mortality rate, James West, a lawyer and secretary of the National Child-Rescue League, urged President Theodore Roosevelt to convene a forum to discuss the problems of orphans. Raised in an orphanage himself, West was a powerful advocate; he succeeded in enlisting Roosevelt's attention to the issue. At the time, there were some 93,000 children living in institutions, and another 50,000 in foster care. More than 200 child-welfare advocates attended the conference.
While the conference invitation and proceedings utilized Nineteenth Century language around child saving, the discussions and recommendations demonstrated a shift to Twentieth Century policies of family preservation. Attendees declared that children must be kept with their natural families whenever possible
The conference recognized government responsibility for child welfare, and stipulated that child-welfare work must focus on the family as a whole, rather than rescuing the needy child
Added to timeline:
Foster Care History
Date:
