More than $204,000,000 was received by 215 Jewish family service and child care institutions, home for aged and hospitals in the United States in 1959, it was reported here today by the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds.
Of that amount nearly $36,000,000 came from Jewish and non-sectarian philanthropic sources; $18,900,000 from Jewish federations and welfare funds and $6,900,000 from community chests and $10,177,000 from auxiliaries and individuals. The greatest source of income, $142,944,000 was payments for services by the persons receiving them. Public tax funds accounted for $17,276,400. The remaining income, about $8,000,000, came from interest on reserves, investments and miscellaneous sources.
Seventy of the 215 agencies covered by the report are family service agencies. These reported income of $9,466,000 of which over 51 percent came from Jewish federations. Only five percent, $470,000,000 came from payments for service by the persons served. Sixty-four homes for the aged derived the bulk of their income, 73.7 percent, or $16,400,000, from payments for service.
Sixty-five hospitals and clinics also reported that more than three-quarters of their income, $125,000,000, came from payments for service. Although federation support was small by percentage, 5.5 percent, the dollar figure reached almost $9,000,000.
Child care agencies received the largest share of their income, 42.6 percent ($4,200,000 reported by 16 agencies), from public tax funds; 29 percent, almost $3,000,000 cane from federations and only 7.5 percent or $740,000 from clients fees.
Only among the family agencies was income from community chests a sizeable factor, 30.8 percent or $2,900,000. The non-sectarian community funds accounted for 7.4. percent of income of child care agencies, $734,000; 3.5 percent for homes for the aged, or $780,000; and 1.5 percent of hospital income $2,451,000.
15,000 JEWS REPORTED RESIDING IN JEWISH HOMES FOR AGED
Seventy-six homes for the aged provided 4,200 days’ care for 15,000 residents; the year-end census was slightly under 12,000, an increase of about 200 over the year before. The number of beds available in the 76 homes was almost 12,500 and utilization averaged over 93 percent throughout the year.
A total of 74 Jewish hospitals reported more than 5,500,000 days’ care provided for over 540,000 patients during 1959. There were 16,396 beds available for adults and children and these had an average utilization rate of 85.4 percent. More than a quarter of the total days’ care were free.
Eighty-one family service agencies reported a total of 53,872 active cases during the year. Of these, 2,500, or less than five percent, received financial aid amounting to $2,243,000. The bulk of the service was counseling on family problems. New arrivals to this country accounted for slightly more than 1,800 of the total caseload. In addition to relocation and vocational aid, the immigrants received over $500,000 in financial aid. Financial aid to transients amounted to almost $24,000 during the same period.
Fifty-five Jewish child care agencies reported a total of more than 7,000 children under care during the year and a year-end caseload of 4,169. Of these, 1,669, or 40 percent, were living in foster homes; 1,105, or 27 percent, were under care in agency institutions; and 967, or 23 percent, were treated while residing in their own homes or in the homes of relatives.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
