POOR LAW.

The Boarding-out Order, 1905.

Boarding-out in Homes of Children by Guardians beyond the limits of the Poor Law Union.

Order, 4th Dec., 1905

GENERAL ORder.

4th December, 1905.

47,406.

To the Guardians of the Poor of the several POOR LAW
UNIONS for the time being in ENGLAND and WALES ;----

And to all others whom it may concern.

WHEREAS by the Boarding-out Order, 1889, We, the Local Government Board, prescribed, in relation to each poor law union for the time being in England and Wales, Regulations with reference to the boarding-out of pauper children in homes beyond the limits of the poor law union;

And whereas it is expedient that the Boarding-out Order, 1889, should be rescinded, and that Regulations should be made as hereinafter contained;

NOW THEREFORE, in pursuance of the powers given to Us by the Statutes in that behalf, We hereby rescind the Boarding-out Order, 1889, except so far as that Order is hereinafter expressly declared to remain in force for any purposes of this Order;

And We do hereby Order that the following Regulations shall, except so far as We may assent to any departure therefrom in any particular case, have effect with regard to the several poor law unions for the time being in England and Wales; that is to say,

ARTICLE I.-Notwithstanding anything in any Order issued by the Poor Law Commissioners or the Poor Law Board, or by Us, with reference to the administration of relief to paupers not residing within the poor law union to which they are chargeable, the guardians of a. poor law union may, subject to the provisions of this Order, board-out pauper children chargeable to the poor law union in homes beyond the limits thereof, in accordance with arrangements made with a boarding-out committee, having authority in that behalf and constituted as herein-after mentioned.

ARTICLE II. With respect to the constitution of a boarding-out committee, and with respect to changes of membership of the committee and of the area for which the committee acts, the following provisions shall apply and have effect; that is to say :

Order,

4th Dec., 1905 *

(i) The committee shall consist of persons who are approved by Us, who have signed an engagement in the Form No. 1 in the Schedule to this Order and who have obtained Our written authority to make arrangements with boards of guardians for the purpose of finding and superintending homes for pauper children within an area comprising the parish or parishes specified in the said authority.

(ii) The committee shall comprise not less than three members, and one at least of the members shall be a woman.

(iii) A person deriving any pecuniary or other personal profit from the boarding-out of a child shall be thereby disqualified from becoming or continuing to be a member of a committee.

(iv) The number of members of the committee may, with Our approval, be altered, and, with Our approval, any person may be substituted as a member of the committee for any existing member, who shall thereupon cease to act as a member of the committee.

A person shall not act as an additional or substituted member of the committee until he has signed an engagement which shall be in the Form No. 2 in the Schedule to this Order.

(v) The area within which the committee is authorised to find and superintend homes for pauper children may, with Our approval, be extended or diminished.

ARTICLE III. (1) A boarding-out committee shall from time to time appoint one of their members to act as secretary; and the committee may appoint another member to be presiding chairman for such period as is specified by the committee in the resolution for the appointment.

(2) The secretary shall punctually inform Us of any vacancy occurring in the committee by reason of the death, resignation, or disqualification of a member, or from any other cause.

The secretary shall also report to Us as soon as practicable after the first day of January and the first day of July in every year the name and addresses of the members of the committee in the Form No. 3 in the Schedule to this Order.

ARTICLE IV. (1) Before a child chargeable to a poor law union is boarded-out in pursuance of arrangements with a boarding-out committee, those arrangements shall be defined and embodied in an agreement made, with Our approval, between the guardians of the poor law union and the committee.

(2) The agreement shall be in the Form No. 4 in the Schedule to this Order

Order,

(3) The agreement, if the guardians so determine, shall set forth the conditions to be observed by the committee in relation to the 4th Dec., 1905 production to the guardians of vouchers for all disbursements by the committee who shall, unless the guardians otherwise allow, comply in every particular with the said conditions.

- ARTICLE V.--(1) The guardians of a poor law union from which a child is boarded-out in a home found by a boarding-out committee may at any time withdraw the child from the home, but, except in cases of urgent necessity, the guardians shall give to the committee not less than one week's notice of the intended withdrawal.

(2) Every foster-parent shall, upon the demand of a person duly authorised in writing by the committee or by the guardians, deliver up to that person any pauper child boarded-out with the foster-parent.

ARTICLE VI.-The following Rules and Conditions shall be observed by the guardians with respect to the boarding-out of pauper children under this Order, that is to say :

No. 1. A child shall not be so boarded-out unless he is an orphan
child or a deserted child as defined by this Order, or a
child in respect of whom the powers and rights of a parent
or parents are, in pursuance of Section 1 of the Poor Law
Act, 1889, or of the Poor Law Act, 1899,' vested in the
guardians.

No. 2. A child shall not be first boarded-out at an earlier age
than two years, and a child shall not be first boarded-out at
a later age than ten years except where the child is above
the age of ten years and is placed in the same home with a
brother or sister under that age.

No. 3.-(i) Not more than two children shall be boarded-out by
the guardians in the same home at the same time, unless all
the children are brothers and sisters and do not exceed
four in number;

(ii) Not more than one child shall be boarded-out by
the guardians in a home in which any child is boarded-out,
either permanently or temporarily, by persons other than
the guardians, nor shall any child be boarded-out in a home
in which there is more than one child boarded out by
persons other than the guardians either permanently or
temporarily ;

(iii) A child shall not be boarded-out in a home in which, at the time when the child would first be placed in it, there would be, including the said child, more than five children resident; and

1 See Law and Legislation, 1899, p. 59.

Order. 4th Dec., 1905

(iv) If a child be subsequently boarded out by persons other than the guardians in a home in which a child is boarded-out by the guardians, and, including that child, there are already five children resident, the child boardedout by the guardians shall forthwith be withdrawn. No. 4. A child shall not be boarded-out with any person who is at the time, or who has been within twelve months preceding, in receipt of relief; and if the foster-parent at any time become in receipt of relief, every child boarded-out with him shall forthwith be withdrawn from him.

No. 5. In no case shall a child be boarded-out with a foster
parent of a religious creed different from that to which the
child belongs. The child's creed shall be ascertained from
the creed register, if it be entered therein,

No. 6. A child shall not be boarded-out with a person who has
at any
time been convicted of an offence which renders him
unfit to be a foster parent, and if a foster-parent be at any
time convicted of any such offence, every child boarded-
out with him shall forthwith be withdrawn from him.
No. 7. A child shall not be boarded-out with a person occupying
or residing in a house or premises which are licensed for
the sale of intoxicating liquors, and if a foster-parent at
any time remove into a house or premises so licensed, or
obtain any such license, every child boarded-out with him
shall forthwith be withdrawn from him.

No. 8. A child shall not be boarded-out without a certificate,
which shall be in the Form No. 5 in the Schedule to this
Order, shall be signed by one of the medical officers of
the poor law union from which the child is sent, shall
state the particulars of the child's health, and shall be
forwarded by the guardians to the boarding-out committee.
No. 9. Before receiving a child to be boarded-out with him, the
foster-parent shall sign, in the Form No. 6 in the Schedule
to this Order, an undertaking in duplicate, one copy of which
shall be kept by the foster-parent and the other copy by the
guardians, and which shall, in addition to any other matter
agreed upon, contain an engagement on the part of the
foster-parent that, in consideration of a certain sum per
week, he will bring up the child as one of his own children,
and provide the child with proper food, lodging, and
washing, and endeavour to train the child in habits of
truthfulness, obedience, personal cleanliness, and industry;
he will take care that the child shall attend duly at church
or chapel according to the religious creed to which the child
belongs, and shall duly attend school; he will provide for
the proper repair and renewal of the child's clothing; in

case of the child's illness, he will forthwith report the illness Order,
to the boarding-out committee; he will at all times permit 4th Dec., 1905
the child to be visited and the home to be inspected by any
member of the committee, and by any person specially
appointed for that purpose by the guardians or by Us; and
he will, upon the demand of a person duly authorised in
writing by the boarding-out committee or by the guardians,
give up possession of the child.

No. 10. On the delivery of the child to the foster-parent, he
shall give an acknowledgment in the Form No. 7 in the
said Schedule.

No. II. In no case shall the sum to be paid to the foster-parent for the maintenance of a child, inclusive of lodging, but exclusive of clothing, school-fees, fees for medical attendance, medicines, medical or surgical appliances, and extras ordered by a medical attendant, exceed five shillings per week.

No. 12.—(i) A foster-parent shall not enter into a contract with a company or society or other body of persons, or with any person, or pay any money to a company, or society, or other body of persons, or to any person, for the purpose of insuring the payment to the foster-parent of a sum of money upon the illness or death of a child boarded-out with him from a poor law union.

(ii) Where the guardians or the committee have reason to believe that the foregoing prohibition has been infringed by a foster-parent in respect of a child boarded-out with him from a poor law union, the guardians, or the committee, as the case may be, shall forthwith withdraw the child from the foster-parent.

No. 13. A child shall not be boarded-out in a home distant more

than two miles from a public elementary school, the school-
master of which, in consideration of a weekly payment by
the guardians to him after a rate not exceeding one penny
per week, undertakes to draw up and send to the guardians,
at least once a quarter, a written report upon the child, in
the Form No. 8 in the Schedule to this Order.

No. 14. A child shall not be boarded-out, except with Our
consent, in a home which, although within the parish or
parishes specified in the written authority, is distant more
than three miles by the nearest road of access from the
residence of some member of the boarding-out committee.

ARTICLE VII. (1) Every boarded-out child and its home shall be visited not less often than once in every six weeks by a member of the boarding-out committee, and the visitor shall after the visit to the home make a report in writing to the committee, in the Form No. 9