28 may require such child to be delivered into the custody of said 29 board, or such other custody as the court or judge may deem 30 proper, to care for such child until a hearing can be had upon 31 such petition; and reasonable notice of the time and place of 32 such hearing shall be given to the local district agent of such 33 board and served upon the person from whose custody said 34 child was taken, or who is sought to be deprived of the custody 35 of said child; and such agent or any parent or other persons 36 legally entitled to stand in loco parentis or other relative of 37 such child may appear and be heard at such hearing. 38 If the facts set forth in said petition, constituting depend39 ency or neglect, shall, on the hearing, be maintained, and it 40 shall appear to the judge or court that the interest and wel41 fare of such child require the custody thereof to be changed, 42 the judge or court shall order the custody thereof changed, 43 and may by order commit the child to the care of said board. 44-45 All children committed to the board shall first receive 46 a physical and mental examination based upon blank 47 forms to be provided by said board. All pertinent information 48 adduced or developed at such hearing regarding the history 49 and situation of the child, its parents and forebears shall be 50 supplied by the court or judge to the board at the time of its 51 commitment, on blank forms to be provided by the said board, 52 to enable the board to deal intelligently with the child and 53 eventually to provide the child with such information as is 54 deemed advisable by the said board. All such information 55 shall be kept by the board in permanent form and shall be in 56 the custody of its secretary. Such record shall be open to in57 spection only by permission granted by said board. 58 (d) The costs and expenses necessary for proper work in 59 connection with family case work investigation and a hearing 60 or commitment under this act shall be a proper charge against 61 the county in which the hearing is held, and shall be paid by 62 the county court thereof upon submission to it of any itemized 63 statement thereof verified by affidavit of an agent of the board. 64 The fees allowed for such hearings shall be the same as are 65 allowed in proceedings for the commitment of boys to the West 66 Virginia Industrial School for Boys.

67 (e) Whenever application is made to the board to accept 68 the care and custody of children hereunder, said board shall 69 make a careful and thorough investigation, and, if it is found 70 that it is a case of a poor but otherwise worthy parent or guar

71 dian, the board may upon application to said court or judge 72 secure an order for the maintenance of said parent and chil 73 dren, which maintenance, when so fixed, shall be a proper 74 charge against the county in which such parent and children 75 reside and shall be paid by the county court thereof, and fur76 nished under the mother's pension act or otherwise according 77 to law.

78

(f) This act shall be liberally construed to the end that 79 proper guardianship may be provided for such children as are 80 hereinbefore described, and that said children may be edu81 cated, and cared for, as far as practicable, in such manner as 82 best subserves their moral, intellectual and physical welfare. 83 and as far as practicable in proper cases that the parent or 84 persons having such children in their care, custody or control 85 may be enabled and compelled to perform their moral and 86 legal duty in the interests of such children.

87 (g) All children declared public wards under the pro88 visions of this act shall remain public wards until they reach 89 the age of twenty-one years, unless they shall upon a proper 90 showing made be returned by order of the board to their par91 ents, or other guardian, or shall be appointed in the manner pre92 scribed by law.

93 (h) All children declared public wards under provisions 94 of this act who afterward become delinquent, shall be returned 95 to the committing officer of the county from which the child. 96 was received, and all such children who are found to be men97 tally defective, shall be returned to the county from which re98 ceived to be examined by the county mental hygiene committee.

Sec. 9. Said board may, when in its discretion it shall ap2 pear proper, place any of said children in suitable private 3 homes, and in such cases the said board and the person or per4 sons with whom said child or children are placed, shall ob5 serve and be governed by all of the provisions of the laws of 6 this state concerning the placing of children in private homes, 7 and the rules and regulations of said boards, and when neces8 sary said board may place such children as need special care 9 or supervision in private boarding homes temporarily.

Sec. 10. The said board shall, upon the request of the state 2 board of control, make investigation, visitation and reports to 3 the state board of control, as to all youths paroled from the 4 state industrial home for girls, the state industrial school for 5 boys or the state colored orphans' home or the home to or in

6 which youths from said institutions are about to be or have 7 been paroled or placed. Said board shall also, upon the re8 quest of the state board of control, make family case work in9 vestigation of youths who are mentally defective.

10

Said board may upon the request of the principal of the 11 schools for the deaf, dumb and blind, also investigate applica12 tions for admission to such schools and, upon request of the 13 state board of control, investigate applications for admission 14 to the state hospitals for orthopedic treatment, and in all such 15 cases covered by this paragraph said board shall have authority 16 to procure proper medical and surgical examinations; and all 17 expenses of such examinations and of transportations of the 18 applicant to the hospital and therefrom to the home of the 19 applicant shall be a proper charge against the county from 20 which the applicant comes, and shall be allowed by the county 21 court thereof, upon the submission to it of an itemized state22 ment of such expenses, verified by the affidavit of an agent of 23 said board.

Sec. 23. No alleged dependent, neglected or abandoned child 2 shall be placed in a county or district infirmary in the state for 3 other than temporary care, and then only when a written noti4 fication is made to the state board of children's guardians not 5 later than three days after a child enters the home.

6 In like manner the state board of control must be notified 7 of the placement of any mental defective in the county or dis8 trict home.

9 If the superintendent of the county or district infirmary 10 fails to make such notification to the state board of children's 11 guardians or the state board of control, he or she shall be guilty 12 of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than ten dollars 13 nor more than twenty-five dollars for each offense.

14

All acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby 15 repealed.

CHAPTER 28

(Senate Bill No. 295-Mr. Hill)

AN ACT to amend and re-enact sections two, nine, ten and eleven of chapter forty-six-b of Barnes' code of one thousand nine hundred and eighteen, relating to mothers' pensions :

[Passed April 26, 1923. In effect ninety days from passage. Approved by the Governor May 1, 1923]

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That sections two, nine, ten and eleven of chapter forty-six-b of Barnes' code of one thousand nine hundred and eighteen be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 2. A woman whose husband is dead or whose 2 husband has been permanently incapacitated for work by reason 3 of mental or physical infirmity or a woman who has been 4 abandoned, a woman who is the mother of one or more children 5 under the age of fourteen years or is the mother of one or more 6 children under the age of sixteen years who are not eligible for 7 a working permit under the acts of one thousand nine hundred 8 and nineteen, chapter seventeen, may file application for relief 9 under this act, provided, such mother is a citizen of the United 10 States of America, has a bona fide residence in this state for a 11 period of two years, and in the county in which application 12 is made for a period of one year previous to the filing of such 13 application.

Sec. 9. Upon the hearing in court of an application under 2 this act the court, being advised in the premises, finding the 3 facts alleged in the application to be true, shall make an order 4 to pay the mother of said children in whose behalf the appli5 cation is filed, the amount of money necessary to enable the 6 mother to properly care for such children, such sum however 7 shall not exceed the amount hereinafter fixed and it shall be 8 the duty of the county court to provide for the payment there9 of to such mother, at such time as said order may designate. 10 the amount so specified in said order for the care of such chil11 dren until further order of the court. During the month pre12 ceding the end of each fiscal year the county court shall recon13 sider all cases that are then receiving mothers' pensions or 14 poor relief and shall enter orders fixing the aid to be given 15 during the ensuing fiscal year. Such payments shall be made 16 by order drawn by the court on the sheriff of said county pay17 able out of the county fund.

Sec. 10. The allowance made to such mother shall be such as 2 in the judgment of the court will provide such mother and

3 her children with the necessities of life, and to enable her to 4 keep her children at home, not to exceed a maximum of forty5 five dollars per month.

Sec. 11. Such relief shall be granted by said court upon the 2 following conditions only:

3 (a) The children for whose benefit the relief is granted 4 must be living with such mother.

5 (b) The court must find that it is for the welfare of the 6 children to remain at home with the mother.

7 (c) The relief shall be granted only when in the absencǝ 8 of such relief the mother would be required to work regularly 9 away from her home and children and when, by means of such 10 relief she will be able to remain at home except she may be 11 absent at work a definite number of days each week to be 12 specified in the court's orders when such work can be done 13 without the sacrifice of her health and the neglect of home 14 and children.

15 (d) Such mother must in the judgment of the court, be 16 a proper person physically, mentally and morally to bring up 17 her children.

18 (e) The relief granted shall be in the judgment of the court 19 necessary to save the children from neglect.

20 (f) A mother shall not receive such relief who is receiving 21 from the workmen's compensation fund, from property, rela22 tives or any other source an amount equal to the maximum 23 amount which may be allowed under this law.

24 (g) The mother shall not receive relief who has not re25 sided in the state of West Virginia at least two years next 26 preceding the filing of such application and who has not been 27 a bona fide resident of the county in which application is 28 made for a period of one year preceding the filing of such ap29 plication.

30 (h) A mother shall not receive such relief if she harbors 31 or permits to remain in her home any adult person not a 32 member of her family.

33 (i) Satisfactory reports must be given by the teacher of 34 the district school stating that the children of the recipient of 35 this fund are attending school provided they are of the proper 36 age and physically able to do so.

37 All acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.