Rescuing the City's 'Children of Larger Growth'
Superintendent E.T. Dooley proposes a Children's Aid Society to stop Seattle from churning out a criminal class.
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At the First M.E. church last night, Mr. E. T. Dooley, superintendent of the Bureau of Associated Charities, spoke on the need for a Children's Aid Society for the state of Washington. Dooley argued that society must focus on the environment of the youth, noting that of children who fall into the hands of the law, not one in twenty came from a 'good home.' He cited statistics showing 40 percent of convicts were illiterate and 53 percent lacked a trade. 'Formation, not reformation was the thing,' Dooley declared, highlighting the success of similar agencies in New York and California. With only 4,300 of Seattle’s 14,000 school-aged children enrolled in public schools, he argued the city was failing to prevent the creation of a future criminal class.
“Why should we foster and develop a criminal class when such as children had never had a chance to be anything else?”
Dooley’s focus on the 'social environment' and trade education for at-risk youth echoes modern Seattle initiatives centered on youth development and intervention programs as alternatives to incarceration.
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