Commission Takes Steps 



To Enforce Pension Act 



LAST November the Illinois Public 

 Aid Commission announced that it 

 would take positive steps in enforcing 

 those provisions of the Illinois Old Age 

 Pension Act which make children re- 

 sponsible for the support of their par- 

 ents. In other words, the Commission 

 took the position that it would not con- 

 tinue to furnish allowances to old per- 

 sons whose children were able to care 

 for them. 



The need for such a positive action 

 by the Commission becomes evident in 

 a comparison of Old Age Pension rolls 

 in Illinois with those of other states. 

 The Commission became responsible 

 for the administration of this program 

 last July. During that month, 146,563 

 persons received old age pension allow- 

 ances. During that same month only 

 113,259 persons received such allow- 

 ances in New York, where the chil- 

 dren's responsibility provision of the 

 state law is enforced. 



In Pennsylvania, another state where 

 children's responsibility was required, 89,- 

 786 persons received old age pension al- 

 lowances last July. In Texas, on the 

 other hand, where the law forbids in- 



quiries concerning children's ability or 

 willingness to assist parents, there were 

 181,898 persons on the old age pension 

 rolls. 



The Commission started this pro- 

 gram the latter part of November on a 

 test basis in six downstate counties and 

 a district in Chicago. On the basis of 

 its experiences ifl these areas, it intro- 

 duced the program on a statewide basis 

 on January 1, of this year. As the 

 program involves the review of the 

 needs of each recipient who has a child, 

 it is not possible to state what its final 

 results will be at this time. 



Nevertheless, there are a number of 

 indications that it is having a substan- 

 tial effect on the state's Old Age Pension 

 rolls. Of 2,553 cases on which reinvesti- 

 gation is completed, allowances were 

 discontinued for 1,205, or 47 per cent, 

 because children were able to assume the 

 full support of their parents. In addi- 

 tion, among those who were continued on 

 the rolls, increased contributions toward 

 their support were received in many 

 cases. 



In considering these figures, it 

 must, however, be borne in mind that 



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they represent the findings from the 

 first cases covered in the review, which, 

 generally speaking, were those in which 

 there was most likelihood that the chil- 

 dren were able to assume all or part of 

 the cost of caring for their parents. 



On the other hand the Commission 

 reports there is evidence to indicate that 

 this program has made many people 

 aware of their responsibilities toward 

 their parents with the result that they 

 are assuming this obligation in advance 

 of any action of the Commission. Thus, 

 the Old Age Pension rolls in Illinois 

 decreased by 1,022 in December, the 

 first time in the history of the program 

 that there was a decrease of more than 

 1,000 cases in a single month. Accord- 

 ing to the Commission, during January 

 the number of persons on these rolls 

 decreased by 1,789, and in February by 

 2,376. 



There has also been a complementary 

 drop in the number of applications for 

 Old Age Pension allowances since this 

 program was announced. Last October, 

 1,430 persons applied for these allow- 

 ances. In November, the month in which 

 the program was announced, the applica- 

 tions totalled 1,064. By December, when 

 the program was being operated on a 

 test basis, the number of applications had 

 decreased to 974. Applications during 

 January totalled 980, and by February 

 they had dropped to 793. 



The Commission states that their ex- 

 perience indicates children are ready to 

 accept this responsibility. With indi- 

 vidual and family incomes at an all time 

 peak there should be fewer applications 

 and certainly in many cases children 

 who previously were not financially able 

 to take care of their parents are now in 

 a position to do so. 



In a Commission study of 840 Old 

 Age Pension cases cancelled because 

 children of recipients were able to sup- 

 port their parents, it was found that in 

 sixty per cent of the cases children 

 willingly assumed this responsibility. 



In twenty-six per cent of the cases 

 cancelled, recipients failed to supply 

 County Departments of Public Assist- 

 ance with any information, indicating 

 that they were not in need of help 

 from the state. In only nine per cent 

 of the cases cancelled did children re- 

 fuse to accept their obligation for sup- 

 port of their parents. 



Vote for Home Bazean 



At a dinner meeting Feb. 3, a group 

 of 21 representative women of Bond 

 county voted unanimously in favor of 

 establishing a Home Bureau in their 

 county. A request has been sent to the 

 U. of I. home economics department 

 for the services of Mrs. Madge Little, 

 home adviser at large, to help organize 

 a unit. 



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L A. A. RECORD 



