Psychiatric Social Work among Children in New York and Neighbouring States

The first thing that strikes the English visitor, examining post-war social work in the U.S.A., is the " psychiatric invasion " of all fields. In work among children this has led to a de-centralizing of the functions of the Child Guidance Clinic and to the establishment of a psychiatric case-work section within each agency or department concerned with child welfare. This is true of schools, the Juvenile Courts, Family Agencies, Child Placement Agencies and Institutions serving children (both Residential Schools and Homes). More details 'of the functioning of these schemes will be given later. Child Guidance Clinics proper may function in their own right like the Judge Baker Clinic at Boston and the Philadelphia Clinic, or may be part of the Mental Hygiene Clinic of a Psychiatric Hospital, like Bellevue, New York, or attached to a Children's Hospital like the " Harriet Lane " at Baltimore.