Although much has been written in the field of family history
since Phillipe Aires' Centuries of Childhood (1962), the study of
foster care in its various forms has received less attention.
Themes concerning orphans and foster children do, however, appear
guite often in literature and dramatic works.
Two academic articles from Iceland and Brazil respectively
discuss historical material relating to foster children and orphans
in the 19th century. Themes from these articles, about the role of
kin and neighbours in foster care, and the use of orphans to meet
labour shortages, are discussed as background to the B.C. study.
The constitutional-legal framework and social welfare policies
adopted in British Columbia in the 1900-1930 period were under
Anglo-American influence, with influences from Ontario being most
direct. B.C. established some level of economic security for women
and children with the establishment of women's pensions in 1920 and
in 1927 the B.C. Survey of Child Welfare made recommendations for
supervised foster care, that is, foster care subsidized by
government and supervised by social workers.
Although the legislation mandated "approved foster homes" as
early as 1901, and envisaged temporary placement with children's
aid societies (CAS) until such homes could be found, the annual
reports and discharge summaries of the CASs, and the records of the
Superintendent of Neglected Children show that this option was
largely ignored. Not until overcrowding and medical crises forced
the issue did CASs turn to foster care as an option.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/4665 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | O’Donnell, Dorothy-Jean |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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