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employment and forced idleness, was having a hard time of it and more often than not

its morale was not of sufficient resilience to withstand the pressureo In a growing

wave it was ceasing to exist as an harmonious and homogenious whole and was either

breaking down into a group of warring units or disolving completelyo With the in-

fluence of. the home weakened or gone, juvenile delinquency followed.

This was the dire predicament in which Los Angeles county found itself in Janu-

ary of 19330 Many minds were struggling with the problem and seeking the solution.

In the Probation Department, Coordinating Councils were formed to muster all commun-

ity organizations and agencies into a united effort to cope with the causes of juve-

nile delinquency. Under this sponsorship as well as that of the County Employees

Association, surveys and spot maps were hastily made to reveal the geographical areas

of delinquency, the basic causes, the extent and the increaseo The Los Angeles County

Department of Recreation was throwing all of its resources into the effort exerted by

the Probation Department. The National Recreation Association was giving aid through

its western office and all of the organized recreation departments were cooperating.

No doubt many other public and private agencies were grappling with the situation,

but as their work was not directly a part of the beginning of the projects, it is not

covered in this record.

During the first six months of 1933, a small group of workers carefully chosen

for their special qualifications, functioned in en experimental way in the field under

the Los Angeles County Probation and Recreation Departments. The plan of action ten-

tatively applied was that organized and directed playground activities for the youth

of the delinquency infested areas would draw the youtbfUl offenders away from the

ranks of mischievous gangs and anti-social groups by furnishing them an outlet in

healthful and char acter-building pl ay.

The exper imen t was closely watched and the results obtained through this recrea-

tional approach to the delinquency and maladjustment problem were so immediately and

convincingly successful that the heads of the two county departments vitally concerned,

James K. Reid of the Recreation Department and Kenyon Scudder of the Probation Depert-

ment. made plans during the month of June, 1933, for the development of the work during