CENTRAL STORAGE WAREHOUSE

Senator STENNIS. We need not go into that. How about your central storage warehouse?

Mr. SHEA. We have a very detailed statement I would like to submit for the record with respect to the warehouse.

Senator STENNIS. We will put that in the record. (The statement referred to follows:)

CHILDREN'S CENTER

Warehouse

Due to the size of the Children's Center, which serves approximately 1,743 children in three separate institutions, it is necessary to purchase materials, supplies, equipment, etc., in large quantities. At the present time, warehouse facilities are not adequate to permit ordering in large quantities nor storage of items which are essential to efficient operation. An attempt is presently being made to operate the 3 institutions with a population of 1,743 with the same facilities which were originaly furnished for the District Training School with a population of 750.

Basements of cottages, lofts of staff houses, barns, etc., and any other area which can be freed are used for storage space, which not only removes the possibility of accurate inventories but also consumes many man-hours in delivering items to and from these decentralized areas. Space badly needed by the cottages for recreational areas, and play space, are presently being utilized as storage space. Because of the limited amount of storage space, purchases must be made in small quantities which results in higher cost. A considerable savings could be realized each year if it were possible to purchase in carload lots. Due to the lack of refrigeration space, food items, too, must be purchased in limited quantities and frequent food losses occur when there is a breakdown in the present limited refrigeration space.

Warehouse and storage space was not provided in the two institutions for delinquent children which were recently opened because a central warehouse area was anticipated. Because the central warehouse has not been realized there is inadequate space for storage of seasonal clothing, especially winter clothing which must be cleaned and protected against moths during the hot summer months. This has not only provided a major problem for the institutions but has resulted in loss of clothing due to moths, mildew, etc.

Because of the expansion of the Children's Center and no provision for office space, the business functions have needed to be located in basements of many of the cottages. As a result, the central business office (which takes care of payroll, bookkeeping, etc.) is operating separate from the central procurement office where purchasing, property records, inventories, etc. are maintained. The planning for the warehouse calls for centralizing all purchasing, property, and accounting records and operations under one roof in order to realize more efficient operation. This will require approximately 3,000 square feet of usable office space. In addition, it is anticipated that 4,169 square feet of refrigerated space will be needed to adequately store meats, vegetables, cereals, and dairy products. It must be remembered that the Children's Center is located approximately 16 miles out of the city, and during inclement weather it is not always possible to depend upon daily deliveries. For safe and efficient operation, an inventory of perishable food for approximately 1 week is desirable. In addition, 12,000 square feet of general storage space is needed for staples, maintenance and engineering supplies, plus 6,133 square feet for clothing storage.

COTTAGES FOR CHILDREN

Senator STENNIS. Now, you are increasing some of your cottages out there for your children?

Mr. SHEA. These two junior units are actually for the child of approximately 6 to 12 years of age, 1 for boys, and 1 for girls, each of which will have a capacity of 72. These are the children who are

ambulatory and who will for the most part spend all day in school. So they will be trained up to the maximum of their capacity, so that, hopefully, they might be paroled.

Senator STENNIS. That includes vocational training?

Mr. SHEA. Yes, sir; vocational training, the habit of work, as well as academic training. We have at the present time 34 boys on the reservation and 30 girls who are in this age bracket, and on a waiting list we have 35 boys and 22 girls. On the total waiting list at the present time we have 213 children awaiting to be admitted to the institution.

Senator STENNIS. All right. You have something here for Junior Village. That is just for roadways, sewers, et cetera?

Mr. SHEA. You recall last year we were given $450,000 for the renovation of the old Industrial Home School at Blue Plains. This will enable us to add to the roadways, construct the retention walls behind the buildings, and complete the construction and renovation of the grounds.

RECEIVING HOME FOR CHILDREN

Senator STENNIS. $27,000 for a receiving home for children? What is that?

Mr. SHEA. That is a detention home in which children are held awaiting juvenile court action. At the present time the institution is being expanded from a capacity of 43 to 90. This is to enable us to purchase the necessary equipment, such as beds, chairs, and tables, and recreation equipment and schoolroom furniture, food carts and auditorium chairs, so that we can use the multiple-use room.

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE GRANTS

Senator STENNIS. Fine. Do you handle this item of the sun required to maintain public assistance grants?

Mr. SHEA. Yes, sir; that is the public assistance program, program, which you remember is a federally matched program, which consists of five categories. This request is to enable us to maintain the same percentage of grants as we presently have. This is in addition, in supplementation to, the present amount of money which we have. At the present time we have $2,852,443, of local money, and this $450,000 is a supplementation to that which we presently have.

Senator STENNIS. How much do you pay?

Mr. SHEA. Seventy-eight percent of February 1953 prices. And since we have 5 categories of assistance, the average grant of a person on old-age assistance is approximately $60 a month.

Senator STENNIS. That is the total amount received?

Mr. SHEA. Yes, sir; that is the total amount. The average grantin-aid to dependent children, which would be a mother and 3 children, is approximately $110 a month for all, rent, food, and auxiliary items.

This is not enabling us to increase the percentage or to reduce the percentage, but rather is enabling us to take care of the increased applications that are coming to the attention of the agency.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Senator STENNIS. What is the requirement to get on the eligibility list here?

Mr. SHEA. You have to be a resident of the District of Columbia for 1 year and be in need and without resources. In other words, you have to be virtually destitute in order to be eligible to assistance in the District of Columbia.

Senator STENNIS. You are getting a great increase in these rolls, and that is what is swelling your schools, I understand.

Mr. SHEA. We have a very considerable increase in the number of applications. Even though we have very rigid regulations and a very rigid system of investigation, and even though we only approve approximately 35 percent of the applications, we still have an increase in the number. And we have here evidence that the total number of people on assistance in the past 11 months, that is to say from July 1955 through May of 1956, has gone from 8,064 cases to 8,467 cases or from 14,705 persons to 15,808 persons.

SUFFICIENCY OF PROOF OF ELIGIBILITY

Senator STENNIS. What about your requirements there for birth certificates? Do you require any proof like that? Say a mother and three children show up here and they prove they have been here a year. They are entitled to $110. What proof do you require? How much do you look into that?

Mr. SHEA. We look into every possible aspect of it, to determine first that the child is eligible for assistance, namely, here for a year, and that the mother is here for a year. If there is any doubt in your mind the case is referred to the investigating unit, so that we can determine any other factors that might preclude them from being eligible for assistance. I think the fact that we only approve 35 percent of the applications is indicative that we are very rigid.

PERCENTAGE OF APPLICATIONS APPROVED

Senator STENNIS. That is the next question. You only approve 35 percent?

Mr. SHEA. Yes, sir.

Senator CHAVEZ. Why are the other 65 percent turned down?

Mr. SHEA. A lot of them in the first place are not eligible because they are not here a year. They may have resources. They may have responsible relatives that are in a position to take care of them. Actually, some of them that are applying are eligible for old-age and survivors insurance.

LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY OF RELATIVES

Senator CHAVEZ. Have we any law whereby we can make a responsible relative take care of his poor relation?

Mr. SHEA. We do not have a very strong law for responsible relatives in the District of Columbia.

Senator STENNIS. I asked someone about this situation. He said you had a world of people coming in here from North and South Carolina and all the rest of the country down there to get on these rolls. I am surprised you turn down as many as you do.

Mr. SHEA. That is because we have very rigid regulations. We probably have some of the most rigid regulations of any city, or, as it is considered, State.

Senator STENNIS. Is there anything else you want to say?
Thank you very much for being here.

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS

STATEMENTS OF A. G. HUTSON, DIRECTOR, AND V. T. GIVOTOVSKY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR

JUSTIFICATIONS

Mr. FOWLER. Department of Buildings and Grounds, Mr. Hutson. Senator STENNIS. Just put in your statement, if you have one, Mr. Hutson, and give us the highlight summary, please. Your justifications will be filed in the record.

(The justifications referred to follow :)

Replacement of floor coverings in multiple-use buildings, $12,000.-This amount is to provide funds for the second year of a 6-year program to install floor coverings in certain buildings operated by this department. The present floors in these buildings have worn to such an extent that they can no longer be economically maintained or repaired satisfactorily. In many cases, they are becoming hazardous due to their deteriorated condition. It is proposed to install a durable, uniform type of resilient material such as asphalt tile which is easily repaired and maintained. The estimated cost of the entire program is approximately $120,000.

Installation of acoustic tile ceilings in multiple-use buildings, $5,000.-The amount requested is for the continuation of a 6-year program to install soundabsorbing materials to reduce the noise level in meeting places and areas having a high concentration of business machines and personnel. The purpose of the program is to improve the ease and accuracy of verbal communication and increase the productivity of the employee. It is estimated that the entire program will cost approximately $90,000.

Replacement of boiler instruments, National Guard Armory, $4,000.-The steam flow meters, smoke detector, and oil-tank gage are not functioning, and must be replaced so that operational requirements can be sustained and also that plant efficiency can be checked to prevent wasteful fuel consumption. The instruments were part of the original plant in 1941 and cannot be repaired since the parts are no longer available for these obsolete models.

NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY REPAIRS

Mr. HUTSON. We are asking for $21,000, and that is for asphalt tile flooring, acoustical tile ceilings, and repairs to a boiler.

Senator STENNIS. What is this? Replacement of boiler instruments in the National Guard Armory? That is $4,000? Oh, yes. I thought you had it at $44,000.

Senator ELLENDER. Why was not an item like this considered in the regular appropriations? Why did this spring up?

Senator STENNIS. You heard his question? Why did you not bring this in then?

Mr. HUTSON. We did, but the supplemental bill took the place of what would normally have been the regular appropriation.

Senator STENNIS. All right, Commissioner Lane. What do you wish to say on that?

DEFERMENT OF CAPITAL OUTLAY ITEMS

Mr. LANE. You will recall in the opening statement, Mr. Chairman, we prepared our annual budget, but because we did not have enough income we had to defer a part of that budget. It was largely the capital outlay items which we deferred. So that this so-called supplemental is in large measure a part of the original budget of the city.

Senator STENNIS. This was your new revenue act that you were getting this new money from?

Mr. HUTSON. Yes, sir. And now we are able to submit this.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD STRENGTH

Chairman HAYDEN. How many men are there in the National Guard of the District?

Mr. HUTSON. I think there is a complete regiment, sir. We do not have anything to do with the guard itself. We just maintain the building.

Senator CHAVEZ. This is kind of personal. Are you the Engineer Commissioner?

Mr. LANE. Yes, I am, Senator.

Senator CHAVEZ. Thank you.

Senator STENNIS. Thank you very much.

DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS

STATEMENTS OF S. R. HARRISON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF HIGHWAYS; AND WILLIAM LISSEK, CHIEF, OFFICE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

JUSTIFICATIONS

Mr. FOWLER. The next is "Department of Highways." Mr. Robertson, the Director, and Mr. Harrison, his assistant, are here. The justifications will be placed in the record.

(The justifications referred to follow :)

Project No. 11, $140,000, improvements to 11th Street Bridge.—The District of Columbia Appropriation Act, 1956, approved July 5, 1955, included in the operating expenses of the Department of Highways an item of $65,000 for repairs to the 11th Street Bridge. However, following receipt of a report from an engineering consultant firm, whose fee was $11,500, it was determined that major improvement was required rather than repairs. The improvements which were recommended and not previously anticipated included the replacement of the draw mechanism and structural work; the construction of new operators houses inasmuch as the present ones are not large enough to accommodate the proposed new mechanism; the replacement of the subterranean cable and the rebalancing of the bridge. The Director, Department of Highways and the District of Columbia Board of Commissioners have reviewed and approved the recommendation of the consultant firm.

It is proposed that the available balance of $53,500 in the highway fund (operating expenses) be permitted to lapse and revert to the Treasury of the United States.