Orphanages: An Historical Overview

1 950265 Orphanages: AnHistoricalOverviewTheRoleof OrphanagesinChildWelfarePolicyMJ\F(16199 5 STATEOFFiCEBUILD! !'j,UL,m~55155 Orphanages: ANHISTORICALOVERVIEWAD iscussionoftheRoleofOrphanagesinChildWel farePolicyFamilyandChildren'sServicesDiv isionMinnesotaDepartmentofHumanServicesM arch1995 ..10\fll.!)lJl11l11C1ry 11 gradualabandonmentoftraditionalorphanage sandtherelianceona widercontinuumofservices; ,fostercare,grouphomes, ,thecontemporarynotionsof"orphanages"are discussed, ,America' , ,thediscussionoftheroleoforphanagestooko nnewlifeasproponentsofwelfarereformintro ducedthePersonalResponsibilityBill,a welfarere' (AFDC) ~emotherswerethenunabletocarefortheirchi ldren, ' ,theterm"orphanage"remindedthemofFatherF lanagan' ,formanychildren,lifeina moderndayorphanagecouldbea ,orphanedbyaconflictbetweenIndiansandWhi tesatNatchez, ,privatecharitablegroupsestablished56chi ldren'sinstitutionsintheUnitedStates(Bre mner,1970).

2 Sometheorizetheseorphanageswereestablish edinresponsetohealthepidemics(cholera,tu berculosisandinfluenza),wars,influxofimm igrantsintoa particulargeographicalarea,growingurbani zation, varietyofotherreasons:- institutionswereviewedasanadvanceoverthe colonialconditionsofreliefprovidedforchi ldrenwhichallowedthemtobehousedwithadult criminalsanddeviants(Downs,1983).- " 'sinstitutionsweretotrainandrehabilitate youngpeopleandalsoprovidea modelforthemoralreformofsociety"(Downs,1 983).- labormarketconditionsplayeda "(Downs,1983).Atthetime, , ' ' ,from1847to1869, ,Missouri,revealedthatonly" , "(Downs,1983).Theseorphanagesappearedtos ervea ,"thirty-twopercentwereplacedoutasindent uredservants"(Downs).Oftenchildrenwerepl acedawayfromhomeevenwhentheyhadparentsan dtheparentshadobjectedtothechild' singleinstitution, ,itappearsthatorphanagesdidprovidea ,childrenwerenotalwaysreturnedhomeandcou ldbe"indentured" 'sbytheChildren' shouldbenotedthata ,arisingfromthedonors' ,whendecisionsaboutchildren'splacementsh adtobemade, ,innumeroussituationschildrenwereplaceda sindenturedservantsinremoteareasofthecou ntrydespiteparents' 's, ,therewaslargescaleremovalofthousandsofA mericanIndianchildrenfromtheircommunitie stoboardingschools,missionschools,andorp hanagesaspartofapolicytoassimilateAmeric anIndian ,manyyouthweresentawaytoboardingschools.

3 Indianchildrenwereremovedfromtheirfamili esandadoptedbyWhitefamiliesata "thoseengagedintheworkofcaringfordepende ntanddestitutechildrencouldexchangeideas andexperiences"(Cole,1990).Conferencepar ticipantsconcludedthat,whereverpossible, "homelifeis "(Jones,1993).Aftertheconference"financi allegislationauthorizingmother' substantialnumberofchildren"(Cole,1990). However, ,theconference' , (Jones,1993).Theincreaseinchildrenplaced ininstitutionsduringthattimemaybeattribu tedtoa varietyofreasons, "themother'spensionwasbasedonthesimplist icnotionthatthemajorityofchildrenwerepla cedbecausetheirparentsdidn' "(Jones,1993).SocialSecurityActof1935 PassageoftheSocialSecurityActin1935resul ted,inpart,fromthefederalgovernment' , ; ;. ; 'sand1950's,childrenofcolorwereremovedfr omtheirfamiliesata ,"wheretheproportionofminoritypopulation is threetimesashighastheirproportioninthege neralpopulation.

4 "(Bremner,1974)Thepracticeofplacingminor itychildrenata "placementwastheinitialserviceratherthan a planneddecisionafterattemptstoprovidecom munity-basedtherapy"(Bremner,1974).Thisp racticeappearedtobeindirectcontrasttowha tmayhavebeenneededbythesechildrenbeingpl aced." ,ratherthandisruptivefamilyrelationships orperceivedhazardstothechild"(Bremner,19 74). , , ,"from1961to1977thenumberofchildreninfos ter-familycarerosefrom165,000to364,000"( Jones).In1962, , 's,professionalsbegantoquestiontheeffect ivenessoforphanages, teen'sstrugglewithdeviancy,butinsomecase s,increasedthejuvenile' ,afeworphanageswhichwerealsoconsideredto beresidentialtreatmentcentersremainedinb usiness; ,theVillages,BoysTown,Maryville, , varietyofdisciplinesbegantobelievethatth everynatureofinstitutionswasindirectcont rasttohumannature.

5 "Characteristicswhichallinstitutionshave incommonareorder,precision,form,and:) ,ontheotherhand,aremobilecreatures-indiv iduals;and'essentialtotheirinnatesenseof freedomtobeindividualsisa certainlackofconformityinallmattersoflif e"(Bremner,1970).Infactnumerousstudiesbe gantoshowthatchildrenraisedinaninstituti onalsettingsufferedfrom"theinabilitytobo nd,inabilitytoeffectivelyproblemsolve,in abilitytoturntoothersforhelp,poorpeerrel ations,disciplinaryproblems,disruptivebe havior"(Ford,1990).Anotherstudyinterview edchildrenlivingininstitutionsand" ,loved,lookedafter,trusted,caredabout,an dwantedthanchildreninanyotherformofsurro gatecareorthanchildrenwhohadbeenreturned totheiroriginalfamilies"(Bush,1980). ,duringthisperiod, stateofcrisisbythelate1970' ,thedwindlingnumberoffosterparents, , , , 'sextendedfamily,thentoothermembersofthe child'stribe, , programofadoptionassistance,tostrengthen theprogramoffostercareassistanceforneedy anddependentchildren,toimprovethechildwe lfare,socialservices, , 'srelativesasresponsiblepartnersinmeetin ga child' ~J!

6 Y, ~r1j:1ndFamih, ~g~ ()f--natiC>rlalp()lic=x,t~efactth(itprey efltingout-of-homeplacement "Attheendofthefederalfiscalyear1993,anes timated464,000childrenwereinfostercarein theUnitedStates,anincreaseofabout66perce ntfromFY1986"(Zimmerman,1994).Atthesamet ime,thenumberoffostercarehomes7continued todecrease."In1992therewere101,000family fosterhomesintheUnitedStates,a29percentd ecreasefrom1972whentherewere142,000"(Zim merman,1994).Thus,thefc:> "40percentWhite,40percentAfricanAmerican , ,a littlemorethanhalfofchildreninfostercare werebetween1 and12yearsold;15percentwerelessthana "(Zimmerman).LocallyinMinnesota, ,thenumbergrewfrom11,725to18,096, ,096childrenplacedinoutofhomecarein1992, fiftypercentwerefostercareplacementsandt heother50percentwereinemergencyshelters, grouphomes, $9, ,therewasa percentofMinnesota'schildpopulation, percentofMinnesota'schildpopulation, ,therestillremainsa groupofchildrenwhomightbeconsidered"orph aned" ,orchildrenwhocannotliveathomebecauseoft heseverity'oftheirproblems, ,thesechildrenhavehadnumerousplacementfa iluresandenduplivingina grouphomeortreatmentcenterfora , ,000youtheachyear.)

7 "Thechildrenare65percentBlack,25percentW hite,and10percentHispa,nic"(Laskas,1994) .Thesechildrenliveinsame-sexgroupsoften, $53millionandthemajorityofthemoneyis ,NewYork,Florida,Texas,Nevada, , ,clothing,a homewitha familythatlovesandcaresforthem,medicalan dpsychiatriccare,specialeducationandtuto ring,careertraining,on-the-jobexperience ,jobplacement,athleticcompetition,travel toandfromnaturalfamilieswhenpossible, , (s) $40, ,programservicerevenues,andinterest/ "ContractwithAmerica."Ithasraisedonceaga inthequestionoftheroleoforphanages, ,becausetheylosttheirwelfarebenefits, proposalforwelfarereformthatcutswelfareb enefitstoyoungunwedmothersandrollsthesav ingsbacktothestatessothattheycanbuildorp hanagestocareforthesemothers' , ,psychological,orphysicalneedsofchildren andadolescents.

8 "Themajorityofresearchonlong-termchildho odinstitutionalization,involvingmultiple caregivershasbeenshowntoleadtoimportants ocialdeficitsandproblemsininterpersonalr elationships"(Ford, ). $1,000,000yearlyandthenumbersofchildrenw holivetheremaybea motherwithonechildinMinnesotais$425or$5, ,theMinnesotacostsforachildinafosterhome foroneyearwas$9, ,the10costsfora childina grouphomewas$28, residentialtreatmentcenterwas$41, populationofchildreninsocietythatwouldbe nefitfromalongtermplacementina moderndayorphanage?Thispaperhasshownthat thereis a structured,stable, childrencouldbenefitfromlivingina ,whataretheneedsofchildrenthatarenotcurr entlybeingmetthroughthecurrentsubstitute caresystem?Onepopulationofchildrenwhosen eedsarenotbeingeffectivelymetarethosechi ldrenwhohavehadmultipleplacementsandarei nneedofstructurebutnottheemotionalintens ityofa ,itprovideda ,thispaperrevealedthat: Orphanagesonceserveda necessaryandworthwhilepurposeofproviding forchildren'sbasicneedsforfood,shelter, ,itaccepteda Withtheriseofenlightenedchildwelfarepoli cy,childwelfareadvocatesreplacedtheinsti tutionalmodelsforcaringforchildrenneedin goutofhomeplacementswitha broadercontinuumofmorefamily-likesetting s,includingfamilyfostercare,grouphomes, Long-termplacementofchildreninaninstitut ionalsettingmaynegativelyimpacta child'sabilityrelatetoothers.

9 Thenumberofchildreninoutofhomeplacements hasincreasedannually. Adisproportionatenumberofchildrenofcolor areplacedinoutofhomecare. Somecontemporaryformoforphanagesmaystill beusefulasa ,toomanyoftoday'schildrenstillleadterrib lelives,reflectingthefailureoftheirfamil iesandsociety' ,ifthedebateabouttheroleoforphanagesinto day'ssocietybecomesconfusedwiththecomple xissuesrelatedtoreformingwelfare,itis doubtfulthatthisdebatewillbea ,eds.,ChildrenandYouthinAmerica:A DocumentaryHistory(Cambridge,Mass.:Harva rdUniversityPress,1970).Bush,M.(1980,Apr il).InstitutionsforDependentandNeglected Children:TherapeuticOptionofChoiceorLast Resort? ,50(2).Cole, ,ChildWelfareLeagueofAmerica, , ,S."TheOrphanAsylumintheNineteenthCentur y." , ""TheAgeofSocialTransformation." ,M."ChallengestoChildWelfare:Counteringt heCallfora ReturntoOrphanages.

10 "NorthAmericanCouncilonAdoptableChildren , ,J."AreOrphanagesanAnswer?"StarTribune,D ecember19, , "DeclineoftheAmericanOrphanage." , (1994,November). , ,134, , 'sAllThisTalkAboutReturningtoOrphanages? Morganthau,T.,Springen,K.,Smith, ,Rosenberg,D.,Beals,G.,Bogert,C.,TrentGe gax,T.,andJoseph,N."TheOrphanage." ,B.(1990).SingleSolutiontoCrisisDoesNotE xist."Caring/Spring, , (1990).A ReturntotheOrphanageis a , , , (1990).ShouldWeListentotheCallfora ReturntotheOrphanage?Caring/Spring, ,M."WhenParentsAreNotintheBestInterestof theChild."TheAtlanticMonthlyJuly1994 (cont.)WhitelawDowns, "TheOrphanAsylumintheNineteenthCentury." ,D."TheStormOverOrphanages." ,F."QuickFactsAboutIFPS."IntensiveFamily PreservationServices,October1994.