Annual report / Province of Manitoba, Department of Health and Welfare.

  • Manitoba. Department of Health and Public Welfare.
Date:
[1935]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report / Province of Manitoba, Department of Health and Welfare. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/156
    Annual Report of the Department of Health and Public Welfare for 1934-35 To Honourable I. B. Griffiths, Minister of Health and Public Welfare, Legislative Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, February 20th, 1936. Sir: I have the honour to submit herewith the report of the Department of Health and Public Welfare for the fiscal year ending April 30th, 1935. Each Division was asked to send «in, in detail, a report of the year’s activities and these are appended hereto. It is, however, the desire of your Executive Officer to briefly and specifically bring to your attention some of the outstanding points in the various Divisional Reports. In view of the continued depression the work of the Department as a whole has increased out of all proportion to the increase in the amount of the appropriations allowed for the Department’s activities. This extra work has been done by the staff putting in more time at their respective jobs, and has also been considerably aided by certain re-organizations in the Divisions. Division of Child Welfare: After a year of operation of the re-organized Child Welfare Division, we find that this Division has been able to get through a consider¬ ably greater amount of work with apparently less effort and reduplication. The Child Welfare Board have performed their functions exceedingly well and the payment of Mothers’ Allowance has been kept within reasonable limits. One must issue a warning, however, that if greater restrictions are not put on those eligible for an allowance, the Government will have to allot more money for this particular service. However, we feel that the present year’s allotment will carry us through until the end of April, 1936. During the year 1934-35 a supplementary estimate had to be obtained to carry us through the year. The “total disability” cases are the greatest difficulty. There is a steady increase in the percentage of these to the total allowances granted in 1928. This percent in the year 1927-28 was 8.7, while for the year just closed it was 17.0. We are pleased to be able to announce that it is the hope of the Department the new revised Child Welfare Act will be brought into operation following this Session of the Legislature. We feel convinced this will simplify our administrative problems and certainly will make for an easier understanding of the proper method of carrying on Child Welfare work. Division of Psychiatry: The Reports of the Provincial Psychiatrist, and the Superintendents of the Brandon Hospital for Mental Diseases, the Selkirk Hospital for Mental Diseases, and the Manitoba School for Mental Defectives at Portage la Prairie, should indicate to everyone that this particular social service is becoming, if it is not already, one of the most important pieces of work which the Government is trying to carry out. Despite an increase in accommodation at our Mental Institu-