Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Saskatchewan. Dept. of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation. Child Welfare Branch, 1949-1951
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Child Welfare Branch of the Department of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation was established in 1949 to provide programs and services that assisted disadvantaged children and families. Its programs and services included: child protection; adoption; foster care; the education of blind children; and assistance for unmarried parents. Services and programs were administered under The Child Welfare Act and The Education of Blind and Deaf Children's Act, and were provided through a network of regional offices throughout the province. The Director of the Child Welfare Branch was V.M. Parr.
Child protection services addressed reports of child abuse or neglect in homes. Adoption services provided counselling and facilitated planning for the placement of children relinquished for adoption. Adoptions were administered through ward and non-ward agreements. Foster care was provided in situations of temporary or permanent removal of children from their families. Placements for these children included foster homes and children's institutions. Institutions operated by the branch included: a children's home at Green Lake; a babies' nursery in Regina; receiving homes in North Battleford and Regina; and a girls' hostel in Regina. The education of the province's blind children took place in Ontario at the Brantford School for the Blind. The branch coordinated the placement of students and assumed the cost of their education as no appropriate services were offered in Saskatchewan. Services to unmarried mothers included financial assistance, and support in establishing paternity of the children in order to secure financial assistance from the fathers.
In addition to services offered by department staff, Children's Aid Societies in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon provided child protection services and supervision of juvenile delinquents in those cities. As well, the Children's Aid Society of Saskatoon operated Kilburn Hall, a receiving home that offered temporary care for children of all ages.
As a result of departmental reorganization in 1951, the Child Welfare Branch was amalgamated with the department's Public Assistance Branch to form the Public Welfare Branch. All of the former branch's responsibilities were transferred to the new branch.