When I received my original birth certificate, it stated that my birth mother had been a resident at the Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers. I had never heard of such a thing and instantly felt sad for my birth mother being alone and pregnant in a “home”. I did an internet search on the place and found a registry website for prior residents. There were many women posting to look for other women they had spent their time with, many of them using aliases. It wasn’t until I found my birth mother years later that I learned more about this place and how it was for her. She said there were not that many other girls there at the same time she was and she didn’t develop any strong bonds toward any of them. She hardly remembers the ones that were there. I’ve always found it interesting that her mother would send her there because it was in the same city as where she lived so why not let her live at home? It was a different time then. Either my grandmother was trying to protect her from nasty stares and awful assumptions by hiding her or she was trying to help her by putting her in a place where there were others in that situation where she could maybe find some friendships and a healthy way to deal with what was going to happen. Maybe the Florence Crittenton Home was going to handle the adoption and insisted the birth mothers stay there. I have no idea and will likely never know the answer to that. I was just thinking of that time in my birth mother’s life and decided to do a little more research on the place. I’m glad I did. Since the last time I looked (in 2000), the Florence Crittenton Home has grown and become an active advocate for women to keep their babies. They provide them the resources and skills they need and more importantly – the confidence they need to be a mother. They do also support those women who decide on adoption but it is so nice that they provide a support structure for those women who can keep their children. I think it is a nice balance of support for both sides. In addition to ALL of that (as if that weren’t enough) it takes in girls and/or women who they refer to as “at the margin” of the American dream; meaning women who need a support system to be successful. It also helps young women in the foster system who are parenting also. They are also happy to have our help in the fight for rights and ask for advocates to help. They have several options in how you can help. Please go check out their website: www.nationalcrittenton.org There are also lots of testimonials on there that I enjoyed reading. It is so nice to see a place that was once considered shameful by an old culture blossom into something so positive for young women and building a better tomorrow for all of us.
Thank you Liz for your comments about The National Crittenton Foundation and the Crittenton family of agencies. You are so right, much has changed over the years but sadly there is still not enough support and respect for young mothers who work hard to overcome many obstacles to build a healthy, safe and thriving lives for their children. Today we are more dedicated than ever to supporting the needs and potential of young mothers and their children and you are doubly right – we need others to join us in this journey and we can us all the help we can get in spreading the word.
Again, thank you!
Jeannette Pai-Espinosa
Presidenti, The National Crittenton Foundation
In 2012 we were asked to comment on a show done by Dan Rather on the “baby scoop” era. Here I have included for your information the text of that statement.
April 29, 2012
The National Crittenton Foundation (TNCF) and the Crittenton family of agencies was founded in 1883 based on the social justice principle that women deserved the same opportunity as men to change the trajectory of their lives regardless of their present situation. Women wanting to leave prostitution, violent marriages, those trafficked for sex or forced labor and those immigrant women abandoned by their “husbands” were welcomed in the early “refuge” homes. However, most people who recognize the Crittenton name associate it with the national network of affiliated but independent maternity homes.
Dr. Kate Waller Barrett co-founder of the Crittenton social welfare movement articulated the guiding philosophy as that of “doing all possible to keep mother and child together in the best interest of the mother, child and society and ensuring the ability of the mother to care for herself and her child.” Mothers were required to stay in the home for 6-12 months with their baby after the birth to ensure a healthy start for all and mothers received education and job skills while at the home. This was the unbroken standard from 1883 through the early 1950’s.
Clearly, there is no doubt that the attitude of American society to single and young mothers and their children was and remains a complicated issue rooted in our views on race, gender and class. In the late 1940’s and fifties in response to: shifting social mores; a dramatic increase in middle class young women seeking admission to Crittenton homes; and changes in the field of social work the practices at homes began to change. Although adoption had not traditionally been part of the Crittenton care philosophy, homes began to turn more and more to adoption.
TNCF and the Crittenton agencies that are still in operation today are aware of, saddened by, and regret the experience of mothers “forced or coerced” into placing their children in adoptive homes and the impact on their children many of whom continue to search for their birth parents. These practices were not required, supported or endorsed by any National Crittenton directive and as independent agencies or homes each had the ability to determine its own priorities and operating policies.
This being said, not a week goes by that we don’t hear from someone searching for a family member and we are acutely aware of the pain and damage done by the past practices that we expect will be discussed in this Dan Rather Reports program. Today, at the national and local level we do everything possible to provide information and support to family members searching for each other.
Currently, there are 26 members of the Crittenton family of agencies serving girls, young women and their families in 31 states and the District of Columbia. The agencies of 2012 provide a comprehensive continuum of gender and culturally responsive, trauma informed and strength-based services in a variety of settings. While many still focus on providing services to young mothers, those that come through the doors of Crittenton agencies face a variety of challenges and most are survivors of violence and abuse. Young mothers in Crittenton agencies receive a broad range of services including but not limited to mental health, life skills, education and career development. Today, less than two percent choose adoption for their children and those that do often opt for an open adoption allowing them to stay involved in their child’s life.
Times have changed but the way in which society views young motherhood is still influenced by the same complex mix of factors: race, gender and class. Today, we add to those factors the impact and connection of childhood trauma on the incidence of young parenthood. We have a long way to go in ensuring young parents and their children have the support they need to flourish but we continue in our 129th year because Dr. Barrett’s words are as true today as in 1883 – “What hope lies in the potential of a child.” We look forward to watching the program and to offering our comments.
Jeannette Pai-Espinosa, President–The National Crittenton Foundation
Jeannette, Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond to this post. On top of that, I appreciate that the organization recognizes and takes responsibility for their part in mothers feeling coerced or forced to give up their children. The fact that the foundation strives to make up for that and create a positive future for your women/mothers makes me want to help even more. I will definitely be doing my part in helping mothers feel confident enough and giving them the resources they need to keep their babies. THANK YOU!
“TNCF and the Crittenton agencies that are still in operation today are aware of, saddened by, and regret the experience of mothers “forced or coerced” into placing their children in adoptive homes and the impact on their children many of whom continue to search for their birth parents. These practices were not required, supported or endorsed by any National Crittenton directive and as independent agencies or homes each had the ability to determine its own priorities and operating policies. ”
What a pathetic attempt to apologize. “Oh we didn’t know” – give me a break. I wasn’t in a Crittenton home, but one equally as vile in the state of Oklahoma. If a home had the Crittenton name on it, you knew what was happening. How nice that you are trying to help women NOW, but what about those of us you used and tossed out like yesterday’s trash? Yeah, let’s just gloss over that little fact. So, thanks so much to your little organization for causing countless women pain they will endure their entire lives and struggle to overcome with as much grace and self-esteem they can muster which, sadly for many, isn’t much.
Keep your little apology, please. Natural mothers abused by systems such as yours and by our own families don’t need anybody else to sweep what happened under the carpet. That broom broke years ago.
Could you please help us try to find a relative that was born at the Florence Criterion Home for Unwed Mothers in Indianapolis, IN. She would have been born to Viola Marion Starkweather when she was a teen ager. Viola was born in 1906 and passed away in 1980. We believe the baby was a girl, and that her name possibly when she grew up and got married was Betty Justo, who has also passed away. The baby would have been born possibly between 1919 and 1925. Thank you for any information you might be able to provide.