Maynard Makes
Public Welfare
Dept. Report
In issuing his regular monthly
report of activities, R. G. Maynard,
director of the department of pub
lic welfare, who arrived in Nome
Thursday, directed attention to
many of the problems created by
the current inflation, high cost of
living and disruption in employ
ment circles.
The department of public wel
fare, which administers old age
assistance, aid to dependent chil
dren, general relief, juvenile code
cases and child welfare, has been
faced with the almost insurmount
able task of attempting to meet
needs of eligible cases with funds
recognized to be considerably less
than the amount required to meet
assistance costs for approximately
2400 persons in the Territory.
Director Maynard also announc
ed that following a survey of food
costs conducted in September, that
grants of money made available to
needy individuals had to be in
creased with a resultant decrease
in the number of persons for
whom aid could be granted. The
result of the food cost study, he
said, revealed that the costs' of j
food in the Fairbanks’ district, al- j
lowable through the department of i
public welfare, were increased by
approximately 65^ over the
amounts allowed a year and a
half ago.
He explained that the depart
ment uses a nutritional guide
chart prepared by the U. S. de
partment of agriculture as to the j
food requirements for a moderate
ly active person. While supply and
demand ordinarily establish prices
such is not the case in the Terri
tory at the present time* he said.
There is no escaping the fact that |
inflationary prices have created a
tremendous problem in the public j
welfare field.
Commenting on the activities of j
his Department during the past six
months. Mr. Maynard announced
that approximately 500 cases in
volving more than 700 persons had I
been denied assistance payments
under the general relief program
because funds appropriated by the
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Legislature were insufficient to
meet the demand. Involved in this ,
number were approximately 500
requests for hospitalization and
medical care.
At the present time, he declared,
there are approximately 100 cases
involving 225 children who have
been placed on the waiting list un
der the aid to dependent children
program. These cases cannot re
ceive any assistance, he said, un
til cases now receiving assistance
come off of the rolls. At the pres
ent time, there are about 600 cnil
dren in 230 cases receiving assist
ance under this program. The
amount provided for these chil
dren is insufficient to meet the
actual costs due to the application
of a 25% discount applied to the
amount of need determined by the
department. The average grant per
month per child is only $13.00, at
the present time. It is a recogn.z
able fact that no person can raise
a child at a cost of $13.00 uer
month. The maximum set by law
which may be paid under this pro- •
gram is $25.00 per month per
child. Mr. Maynard also stated his
agency had recommended that this
legal maximum be increased by
the Legislature but such action j
had been denied.
Under the department’s juvenile
code program, Mr. Maynard stated
that there were 195 children un
der commitment to the depart
ment, of which approximately 100
were in foster homes and institu
tions, for which care the depart
ment was obligated. He stated that
with $75,000.00 available for the
biennial period ending March 31,
1949, it was impossible for the de
partment to arrange placement for
any other children committed to
the agency where cost of care was
involved. Most of the cases under
commitment, said Mr. Maynard,
were due to broken homes and ne
glect by parents, rather than ac
tual ‘child delinquency. In those
cases where children were pre
senting a* delinquency problem,
placement had been arranged in
a public institution outside of the
Territory. He said there were only
6 cases where such placement had
been arranged.
Commenting on the old age as
sistance program, Mr. Maynard
announced that during the past
mo^th, approximately 35 new
cases had been certified for pay
ment at an average grant of $43.00
per month. At the present time,
there are 1374 persons receiving
assistance under this program.
This involves an expenditure of
approximately $60,000 per month.
The indications are, he stated, that
there will be an increase during
the next five to six months. He
revealed that in the Second Divi
sion, there are approximately 275
cases receiving assistance. Funds
made available for the financing
of this program were not suffi
cient, he stated, to meet the in
creased costs of living, and in view
thereof, the board of public wel
fare had been compelled by such
problem to place in effect a policy
which provides for meeting only
the actual needs of food, clothing,
shelter and fuel.
In connection with the general
relief program, Mr. Maynard an
nounced that ending October 31,
the department had expended ap
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proximately $65,000.00, approxim
ately two-thirds of this amount
having been expended for hospi
talization and medical care. In
connection with hospitalization
and medical care, Mr. Maynard
said that the board had been com
pelled to restrict such services to
cover only immediate emergencies
to save life and permanently bed
fast cases. This policy was made
necessary, he said, because the ap
propriation for their program
made by the last Legislature, was
only about 50% of the depart
ment’s estimated figure to meet
the needs of the general public for
the next biennium. Many of the
services formerly available under
this program are, therefore, no
longer available due to the small
amount of funds made available
by the Legislature for the current
biennium, he said. There were ap
proximately 300 cases receiving
assistance and service under this
program as of October 31.
An additional problem involved
I in the administration of the vari
| ous public welfare program, said
Mr. Maynard, is the fact that cash
funds are not always available in
the Territorial treasury from
I which actual payments can be
made. It has been possible, he said,
for cash payments to be made
monthly for the old age assistance,
aid to dependent children and ju
| venile code cases through a spe
; cial provision of the Territorial.
I law which provides for participa
; tion by the federal government in
these type of programs. However,
he pointed out, there are thou
sands of dollars in unpaid bills for
meeting assistance needs which
must await the deposit of funds in
i the Territorial treasury. The de
partment has received the greatest
cooperation from the business peo
ple and the general public in the
extending of services with the un
derstanding that he bills would be
paid when Territorial funds are
available. One of the most import
; ant programs of he agency, said
| Mr. Maynard, is the child welfare
service made available through
cooperation with the U. S. chil
dren’s bureau. This program in
cludes service in the child’s home,
regardless of whether actual fi
nancial assistance is necessary. At
the present time, he revealed, there
are approximately 550 children
receiving service in 280 cases
throughout the Territory. Of this
amount only about 50 9r can actu
ally receive service during the
month because of insufficient staff
to render the required services.
In view of the increasing num
ber of cases which the department
is unable to provide assistance and
service for because of inadequate
appropriations, the board of pub
lic welfare is scheduled to meet
sometime in December to consider
possible steps toward enlisting
public support and cooperation in
an effort to do something for peo
ple of the Territory who cannot
be assisted through the regular
programs because of lack of funds.
Members of the board include
Governor Ernest Gruening, chair
man; Mrs. M. Clifford Smith, Jr.,
of Fairbanks, Howard Lyng of
Nome, Mrs. Clara McCutcheon of
Anchorage, and Rev. G. Edgar
Gallant of Skagway.
As director of the Territorial
department of public welfare, Mr.
Maynard annually contacts most
of the centers of population
throughout the Territory and from
Nome intends to visit Seward,
Cordova and Valdez before return
ing to his headquarters in Juneau.
“Mac,” often used before a pro
per name, is a Gaelic word mean
i rt "cm ”