port the
Mazengarb Committee recommended that certain specific changes be
made as soon as possible in the legislation relating to proceedings in
the Children's Court. It was our duty to examine and report upon
each of these suggestions. Our comments are as follow:

_Paragraph (a), page 61_ (creation of a new offence) and _paragraph
(b), page 61_ (the compulsory attendance of parents at a Children's
Court)

Both of these recommendations have been given effect to, and they
are provided for in the legislation enacted late in the session of 1954.

_Paragraph (c). page 61_ (power of Court to make orders against the
parents of offending or delinquent children)

We agree with this recommendation, and we understand that the necessary
provision has already been written into a new Child Welfare Bill which
is in course of preparation.

_Paragraph (d), page 62_ (notification of fact of expulsion of a
child from school)

This proposal has already been given effect to by administrative
direction. We feel that legislation on this point will not be
necessary.

_Paragraph (e), page 63_ (notification to be given to principal of
a school where child found to be delinquent)

In normal practice the Child Welfare Officer does take a head teacher
into his confidence when placing a child in his school district and
actively seeks his co-operation. There are odd cases, however, where it
may be thought that an individual head teacher should not be given, in
the words of the report, all "the circumstances which led to the
delinquency". This would be a very rare occurrence, but the statutory
obligation to tell everything he knew on every occasion might prevent
the Child Welfare Officer's taking steps he believed to be in the best
interests of all concerned. The best results, we feel, will come from
wise administrative action and from a general improvement in the mutual
understanding between teachers and Child Welfare Officers.

The Committee felt that when information of this nature was passed on
to a Headmaster it should be treated as confidential. We feel strongly
that any child should always have a full opportunity of repentance and
of re-establishing his character, and where a child showed that
definite improvement had been made by him his chances of rehabilitation
should not be prejudiced by the fact of his earlier breach.

_Paragraph (f), page 63_ (recommendation that Child Welfare A