The Croatian community in the United States has been peculiarly
confronted with the problem of care of orphan children. The estimated
number of orphan children is large in proportion to the number of
Croatian families because a very large proportion of the Croatian men
work at low-grade labor in the steel industry, in which fatal
accidents are common.
At the last convention of several of the national societies, the
representatives agreed to form a new national council especially to
undertake the care of orphan children and to raise funds for this
cause. The plan was formed to buy a tract of land in the vicinity of
Chicago, on which an orphan home and training school were to be
erected. The sum of $10,000 was devoted to the site and $100,000 to
buildings. As free thinking has spread rapidly among Croatians in
America, it was intended to establish a nonsectarian institution and
to take children of free-thinking parents away from the Roman Catholic
schools as well as to provide for children who should be later
orphaned.
Through contacts established in the course of this study, the leaders
in this group have been led to inquire concerning American methods of
child care. Attention was directed to the latest standard discussions
on the subject.[52] After some consideration of the method of caring
for dependent children by placing them in family homes, the Chicago
Croatian committee decided to delay action on the erection of a costly
institution, to take time for further study and to hold a conference
with the national committee representing the other Croatian societies
interested. In the meantime action has been taken to change the name
of the new national organization from the "Society for the Erection of
a Croatian Orphanage" to the "Society for the Care of Croatian
Orphans," and the by-laws of the society are being rewritten so that
the movement need not be committed to institutional care at the
outset, but will be free to choose in the light of the best
information at hand.
Some of the leading members of the committee are convinced that
placing-out should be included in their plan, but feel that it may
take some time to convince the Croatian people of this wish to delay
operation until the question can be freely discussed throughout the
whole Croatian community in America. Plans are now being made for the
national committee, representing all the societies interested, to
confer with the representatives of public and private child-placing
agencies. The question arises as to how relations may be established
between such organizations in the separate national groups and those
in the American community who are concerned with improved methods in
the care of dependent children. Until provision is made that such
information will be shared with members of groups like these as a
matter of course, there is great loss and waste.