CHILDREN'S BUREAU TRAINING PROGRAM

With the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935, Federal funds became available to assist State maternal and child health and crippled children's agencies in extending and improving their health services for mothers and children. Most States have used a portion of their Federal funds from the Children's Bureau for establishing and supporting training courses and projects in the specialized fields related to the care of mothers and children. Courses and projects are developed by the State agencies responsible for this service area with educational institutions in the States.

Funds are paid to participating universities by the State agencies on the basis of written agreements which are submitted to the Children's Bureau as a part of the States' plans. Grants for training, totaling more than $1.5 million, were made by 26 States in 1959–60 and provided for the support of postgraduate training programs for physicians, dentists, nurses, medical social workers, nutritionists, therapists, audiologists, psychologists, and administrative personnel. The funds provide support of formal academic training, field training, and short-term institutes and workshops. Grants totaling more than $1.5 million were made for this program in 1958-59.

There were 55 training projects in 1960 in such fields as: maternal and child health in schools of public health; obstetrics; pediatrics; maternity nursing; pediatric nursing; the care of premature infants; the care of children with rheumatic fever and heart disease; mental retardation, dentofacial conditions including cleft palate; speech and hearing disorders in children; epilepsy, rehabilitation of handicapped children; nutrition; adolescence; psychological aspects of child health; and amputees. All training activities and special training projects are an integral part of the States' maternal and child health and crippled children's programs.

In addition, the majority of State public welfare agencies use a portion of their Federal funds for the professional education of their child welfare staff. Funds are allotted on the basis of plans developed jointly by the State agencies and the Children's Bureau. This program is the occasion for the use of Federal funds for the first time by the public welfare agencies for professional training of the child welfare staff.

All of the States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands received grants for welfare services in 1958-59. Out of a total of $11,940,334 granted during 1958-59 for these services, $1,133,327 was spent for educational leave. Federal funds expended for the educational leave during the past 10 years are shown in table 56.

Table. 56.-FEDERAL FUNDS EXPENDED FOR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE CHILDREN'S BUREAU FOR STATE CHILD WELFARE SERVICE EMPLOYEES: 1949-50 TO 1958-59

To assist the States in training their staff to provide services needed for the administration of the public assistance programs, the Bureau of Public Assistance provides consultation to State departments of public welfare, graduate schools of social work, and undergraduate departments of education. This consultation on training includes: (1) Regional meetings for selected members of the State staff, (2) State institutes for employees of the State and given under the auspices of the State, and (3) national training meetings conducted by the Federal agency. The following national meetings with an educational focus have been held: Clinic on Group Teaching Methods in 1950; Orientation Sessions for Newly Appointed State Staff Development Supervisors in 1952, 1953, and 1954; Clinic on Use of Group Methods in Training in 1957; and Seminars for State Field Representatives in 1960. An estimated $10,000 was expended in 1959-60 for the preparation of papers and for outside experts to attend the seminars held in February and March 1960 for approximately 120 participants. Federal funds are provided to match the State funds expended for training and educational leave purposes and are estimated at $668,945 for 1958-59.

SURPLUS PROPERTY UTILIZATION DIVISION

Real and personal property are purchased and used in the operation of regular and emergency functions of the Federal Government. As national interests demand the development of new locations and also the use of improved equipment, occasions arise for disposing of both real and personal property that have served their purposes. In this disposition, the Federal Government has adopted the policy of making such property available to public institutions through the Surplus Property Utilization Division.

The value of making surplus property available to educational institutions was first recognized by Congress following World War I through the enactment of a law in 1919. This law authorized the Secretary of War "under such regulation as he may prescribe, to sell at 15 per centum of their cost to trade, technical, and public schools and universities, and other recognized educational institutions, upon application in writing, such machine tools as are suitable for their use which are now owned by the United States of America and are under the control of the War Department and are not needed for Government purposes.

Other public laws pertaining to surplus property utilization were approved in 1927 and 1928, but it was not until 1944, when World War II was drawing to a close, that the Surplus Property Act was approved for the purpose of setting up a more orderly procedure to dispose of the huge stockpoles of property no longer necessary for defense and to make them available for donation to education.

Several of these earlier laws were repealed by the enactment of Public Law 152 on June 30, 1949, Eighty-first Congress, known as the "Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949." Federal legislation pertaining to the disposal of domestic Federal surplus property is found under title II, section 203, entitled "Disposal of Surplus Property." This section has been amended by three later enactments, identified below, which affect the donation program.

Following the Korean conflict, Congress emphasized housecleaning activities designed to clear the Government inventories of stockpiles of obsolete equipment, supplies, and property surplus to the needs of the existing Federal establishments. Accordingly, this program greatly increased the amount of surplus personal property available for donation to public health and educational institutions.

Congress enacted Public Law 61 in 1955, which amended the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, to provide for the donation of certain classifications of property in the Defense Department which had recently been made nondonable by virtue of their being placed in "stock-fund" accounts. Then in 1956, Congress enacted Public Law 655, which amended Public Law 152, of the Eighty-first Congress, to provide for donations of Federal surplus personal property for civil defense purposes.

Before it can be offered for sale to the general public, Federal personal property must be made available for allocation and donation to non-profit tax-exempt school systems, colleges, universities, hospitals, clinics, medical institutions, health centers, and to tax-supported school systems. Surplus personal property may also be donated to eligible State civil defense units established pursuant to State law. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, under authority of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, is responsible for allocating Federal surplus property for health and educational purposes. Also, pursuant to delegation from the Administrator of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare allocates surplus personal property to the various States for civil defense purposes.

Items for donation are classified as surplus personal property when they become surplus to the needs of the Federal Government because of oversupply, obsolescence, and the ever-changing requirements of the military, political, and international situations. There is hardly an item that would normally be procured by public health and educational institutions or civil defense units which has not been available, in some measure, for donation to these eligible institutions through the surplus property donation program.

Approximately 90 percent of the supplies made available as surplus property have originated in the military agencies within the Department of Defense. Items declared surplus may be new and appropriate in every way for use in a school or hospital, but surplus to the needs of the military. Used equipment may fall below the performance standards required by the military, but still retain utilization value in whole or in part for use within a school, medical institution, or civil defense unit.

Property determined by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to be usable and necessary for educational, public health, or civil defense purposes is allocated to the established State agencies for surplus property for donation to eligible institutions within the respective States. At present, there is a duly recognized State agency for surplus property in each State and Territory.

During the years immediately following World War II, tremendous quantities of surpluses were transferred by donation to schools. The outbreak of Korean hostilities, however, caused the Government to reevaluate properties normally determined to be surplus and to utilize Federal property to a maximum. The Korean situation caused both the quantity and the quality of surplus property suitable for donation to be reduced markedly.

Later, from 1952 to 1957, increased amounts of donable property

were transferred. However, as a result of a Department of Defense regulation early in 1954, some classifications of property were transferred to special stock fund accounts in which the items were required to be sold. Consequently, much property was not available for donation for public health and educational purposes. Then in 1955, Congress enacted Public Law 61 which specifically included these special account items as donable property. Under this law, increased quantities of donable property became available for donation. More than $300 million of Federal surplus personal property per year has been donated during the past 2 fiscal years.

Because of new technical developments, obsolescence, and replacement requirements, large amounts of Federal property continue to become surplus to Government needs. There is currently a substantial backlog of excess property awaiting processing. As a result of intensive efforts on the part of the Federal Government to reduce this backlog, it is anticipated that the volume of property becoming available for donation will continue to increase at a rate comparable to that shown in table 57.

Table 57.-ACQUISITION COST OF FEDERAL SURPLUS DONABLE PERSONAL PROPERTY ALLOCATED TO CIVIL DEFENSE, AND EDUCATIONAL AND HEALTH INSTITUTIONS: 1949-50 TO 1958-59

Table 57 reports the acquisition cost of surplus personal property donated to civil defense, educational, and health institutions for each school year from 1949-50 to 1958-59. As indicated in column 4, the first allocation to civil defense organizations was not made until 1956. Columns 4, 5, and 6 in table 57 indicate the estimated percents of donable property allotted to civil defense units and to educational and health institutions. Table 58 gives the detailed figures showing the acquisition cost of surplus donable personal property allocated to the