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Show Indian Children to Get New Experience by Living with Utah Families for Next School Year Some 360 Indian thildren from the reservations of Arizona and New Mexico are beginning a new experience in living this week as they become "regular members" of white families in Utah for the current school year. The youngsters .ranging in age from eight to 18, are participating participat-ing in the Indian Student Placement Place-ment program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now beginning its sixth year. Arriving by bus direct from their reservation homes, the children chil-dren were taken first to a reception recep-tion center set up at Brigham Young University in Provo where they were introduced to the white "foster families" with whom they will reside for the next" nine months. During the four days activity at the reception center, Aug. 25 to 28, a volunteer staff of 24 doctors doc-tors and dentists, 12 registered nurses and some 80 additional aids and workers assisted in inaugurating in-augurating the program. The children were given thorough examinations ex-aminations as well as various types of immunization treatments. treat-ments. They also engaged in a program of sports and social ac- tivities and received orientation and instruction before being introduced in-troduced to' their host families. The "foster parents" also attended attend-ed orientation and instruction sessions. In many cases it was a happy reunion of the Indian children with white families with whom they have spent one or more previous pre-vious school years. Although most homes in the program have .only one Indian child, several have two, and some as many as three. Similarly, it is frequently happening hap-pening that two or more of the children are from the same family. fam-ily. The program, in which a total of more than 1,000 Indian children child-ren have participated in previous years, is designed to extend the cultural, educational and social advantags of the Anglo society to the children of Indian Mormon families. The Indians themselves apply for participation in the program, and after interview with the child and the family on the reservation as well as with prospective "foster parents," the placements are arranged. Applications always exceed by a considerable margin the number of available homes. The children are in no sense "adopted," and the placements are arranged only on a one-year basis, although in many cases they are renewed from year to year. It is emphasized that the status stat-us of the visiting child is "not as guest nor as servant, but as a regular member of the family," sharing the work and responsibility responsibil-ity of home and school as well as the advantages and pleasures. . The "foster parents" receive no financial compensation for their part in the program. The program is operated by the department of Social Service and Child Welfare of ithte Relief Society, So-ciety, women's auxiliary organization organiza-tion of the church, with the approval ap-proval of federal, state and tribal agencies and officials. Five full-time full-time field workers assist in its administration. Most of the children are Nava-jos, Nava-jos, although theire are a few from the Hopi, Apache, Zuni and Hualapai tribes enrolled in the program. The foster homes are scattered the length and breadth of the state of Utah. |