Texas Council of Statewide AgenciesAuthor(s): Elmer ScottSource: Journal of Social Forces, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Mar., 1923), pp. 264-265Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3005393 .

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264 The Journal of Social Forces

Mrs. Howard McCall, (member advisory sec?

tion); Burr Blackburn, (executive secretary). The work of the council will reach its climax

each year in an annual joint meeting of the

executive and advisory sections, when the com-

mittees will make their reports and the larger social problems of the state will be considered. It is hoped that the annual meeting will become the voice of Georgia in behalf of constructive social progress.

TEXAS COUNCIL OF STATEWIDE AGENCIES

Elmer Scott

THE

Texas Council of Statewide Agencies was organized on September 28, 1920

following a spontaneous action on the

part of some 40 or 50 representatives of various

agencies who had met in San Antonio on Septem? ber 11 to plan for the annual meeting of the

Texas Conference of Social Welfare. Mr. Fred Croxton, founder of the Ohio Coun?

cil of Social Agencies, was in Texas at the time

and, on invitation, so set out the functions of that organization that there was then and there created a committee on preliminary organization ?which latter was made permanent at the Sept? ember 28th meeting of official delegates of state? wide agencies.

The constitution in addition to setting out that the officers and executive committee should con- sist of a chairman, a secretary and one other

member, the time of meetings and the original membership, made the following provisions which

very closely follow the Ohio plan. "Each agency may be represented by not more

than two delegates, and each agency shall have one vote.

"At the November 19, 1920, meeting in San

Antonio, motion was passed that at least one dele-

gate from each member agency shall be contin- uous for a period of one year, except in case of the inability of the delegate to serve out his term.

"The purpose of the council is to enable each of the associating statewide organizations to dis- cuss its program and policies with other agencies of the council; to prevent overlapping and dupli- cation of social work; to enable the associating organizations to coordinate their state work and their work in local communities; and to enable them to act jointly in promoting social work in local communities.

"Action by the council shall not bind any agency participating in the council, should that action not conform to the principles or program of that

agency; nor shall any agency participating in the council be bound to assume any financial obliga- tions."

Membership admission is governed by the fol-

lowing rule:

Membership in the Texas Council of State- wide Social Agencies is open to the public and

private institutions and organizations that exist

essentially for social service and social welfare

purposes; that serve the state as a whole through a trained personnel either in a supervisory and administrative capacity or through local branches; and that are in sympathy with the purposes of the Texas Council of Statewide Social Agencies.

The present membership of the council is as f ollows:

The State Department of Education. The State Department of Health. The State Department of Labor. American Red Cross. Texas Federation of Women's Clubs. Texas Congress of Mothers. Y. M. C. A. Y. W. C. A. Salvation Army. Texas Public Health Association. Texas State Library. League of Women Voters. Texas Children's Home and Aid Society. Extension Department of Texas A. & M.

College. Extension Department of University of Texas. Texas W. C. T. U. Texas Association of Family Social Work. Texas Waterworks Association.

Meetings are held bi-monthly during the coun? cil year, in September, November, January, March and May?usually on the second or third

Mondays. At least two sessions are held and sometimes three and an additional luncheon con? ference.

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The Journal of Social Forces 265

The character of the meetings is indicated by the following subjects discussed at the eleven

meetings held from November 1920 to November 1922:

Mapping of activities of all agencies in all counties of the state.

The development of a School of Social Work in Texas.

Financing of a state secretary serving both the state council and the state conference.

The Mexican in Texas. Social work with families.

Joint sessions with Southwestern Political Science Association on the Mexican problem and

training for social work.

Juvenile delinquency laws. Standards in treatment of juvenile delinquency. The health programs of all statewide agencies. Annual meeting with state conference. Harris county and the functions and activities

of all statewide agencies with programs in that

county. Health programs of state agencies. School programs of state agencies. Committee report on county councils.

Adoption of committee report on recommend- ations for county councils.

The negro as a factor affecting social progress. Legislative program of state agencies.

The educational forces, opportunities and needs of the state.

All meetings are wholly informal. The first session includes an exposition by each delegate of any changes in personnel, policy or program that have taken effect since the last meeting. The set subject for the sessions is usually pre? sented briefly by a chosen delegate. The coun? cil then counsels in round table discussion.

The Texas Council is simply a delegate body representative of the various statewide organized social movements of the state and in no way conflicts with or takes the place of the Texas Conference of Social Welfare which is an open annual meeting of all social workers and socially minded folk.

There can be no definite evaluation of its

effectiveness. It may well be believed that this

regular bi-monthly contact of one agency with another?each setting out its functions and activi- ties has developed an "all for one and one for all" spirit which is of unmeasured value. There

has been no attempt made to "set the world afire,, or to solve by this one relatio-nship all the

problems of social disorder. The council does

give expression to the important idea of mass at-

tack and there is a comfortable feeling that a

spirit of unity of purpose is being warmed by this intimate contact and discussion.

THE NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE FOR SOCIAL SERVICE

Nell Battle Lewis

WITH

Thomas Mott Osborne, former warden of Sing Sing and famous pe- nologist as its most sensational attrac-

tion among a number of noted speakers, the eleventh annual session of the North Carolina Conference for Social Service which was held in Raleigh January 24, 25 and 26 was remark- able for its large attendance and for the concrete- ness of its program. The conference limited its discussions almost exclusively to problems of child welfare and prison reform.

New officers elected at this session were: Dr.

Joseph Hyde Pratt, of Chapel Hill, president; M. E. Newsome, of Durham, first vice-president; Mrs. C. C. Hook, of Charlotte, second vice-

president; Mrs. W. A. Newell, of Winson-Salem, third vice-president; and Gilbert Stephenson, of

Raleigh, treasurer. The conference went on

record as favoring the employment of a full-time

secretary, but the choice of this officer and the

method of financing his expenses were left to the

executive committee.

Resolutions were passed by the conference

commending the policies of Governor Cameron

Morrison in regard to social and educational pro-

gress in North Carolina and endorsing progres- sive social measures before the General Assembly of 1923, notably the Mother's Aid bill and prison reform legislation. The recommendations for

prison legislation in North Carolina as formulated

by the Committee on Policy and Program of the

Citizens Committee of One Hundred were

adopted by the conference with slight changes. Dr. J. F. Steiner, Professor of Social Technology

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