A plan for the care and rehabilitation of children served by Jewish child care agencies in New York City was advanced by the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies here today on the basis of a study it just completed in collaboration with twelve such agencies and the New York City Jewish Child Care Council.
The changes in services recommended in the report are dictated by the fact that the vast majority of children requiring help today are no longer those whose families cannot provide for them but those who either present serious personality problems or who come from home environments which prevent their normal development.
In marked contrast to the child care needs of 1940, when emphasis was on assistance to dependent children, the report establishes that only twelve percent of the children in placement today are half orphans, while fewer than two percent are full orphans. Two-thirds of the children in care today, the report points out, come from homes broken up by death, divorce, separation or mental illness; while 93 percent of the living parents of children in placement suffer from some form of mental or physical illness.
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