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31
in Bromley was 1.6; for 1933 the rate is 5 compared with
7.1 for the whole of England and Wales.
This increase in the death rate generally coincides with
a dry and hot summer, but it is not likely owing to the
greater knowledge of mothercraft possessed by mothers
to-day that this cause of death in young infants will
again become a prominent cause of death as in years
gone by.
Children and Young Persons Act, 1932.
The above-mentioned Act came into operation on 1st
January, 1933, and the administration of Part V. of the
Act which deals with Infant Life Protection devolves on
the Maternity and Child Welfare Authority.
The Act has rendered proper supervision of the child
boarded-out with a foster mother much more effective and
beneficial to the child. The policy of one foster child
per foster parent has been consistently pursued by this
Local Authority when granting sanction under the
provisions of the Act; exceptions only being granted in
the case of blood relationship between children. This
policy is regarded as a hardship by the foster-mother who
moves into the area with several foster-children in her
care. If the policy were more widely adopted it would
undoubtedly tend in my view to give the foster-child the
benefit of home life so essential in moulding the character.
Settled home life for these children is often nullified
through the child being boarded out for short intervals,
passing from one foster-mother to another. This is a
difficulty which I have discussed in my previous report
and would appear to be remediable by rendering frequent
removal less easy of accomplishment. Many of these
cases of frequent removal, on investigation, either prove
to be mere caprice on part of the parent or foster-mother,
and in other cases financial difficulties between the parties
are found to exist. The possibility of instituting a
minimum charge graduated according to age with grants
in necessity for the maintenance of boarded-out children
might prove worthy of further investigation. The
noarding-out of children into impecunious homes needs
careful watching in the interests of the children.