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Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Chapter 6 — The Children’s Bureau

§ 192. Chief of bureau; investigations and reports

Statutory text

The Children’s Bureau shall be under the direction of a chief, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The said bureau shall investigate and report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people, and shall especially investigate the questions of infant mortality, the birth rate, orphanage, juvenile courts, desertion, dangerous occupations, accidents and diseases of children, employment, legislation affecting children in the several States and Territories. But no official, or agent, or representative of said bureau shall, over the objection of the head of the family, enter any house used exclusively as a family residence. The chief of said bureau may from time to time publish the results of these investigations in such manner and to such extent as may be prescribed by the Secretary.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Pub. L. 62–73 § 2 · 37 Stat. 79

    Enacted · 42 U.S.C. § 192

    Apr. 9, 1912, ch. 73, § 2, 37 Stat. 79

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Apr. 9, 1912, ch. 73, § 2, 37 Stat. 79

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    Sec. 2. That the said bureau shall be under the direction of a chief, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall receive an annual compensation of five thousand dollars. The said bureau shall investigate and Investigations. report to said department upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people, and shall especially investigate the questions of infant mortality, the birth rate, orphanage, juvenile courts, desertion, dangerous occupations, accidents and diseases of children, employment, legislation affecting Restrictions. children in the several States and Territories. But no official, or agent, or representative of said bureau shall, over the objection of the head of the family, enter any house used exclusively as a family Publishing. residence. The chief of said bureau may from time to time publish the results of these investigations in such manner and to such extent as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Editorial Notes

Codification

In the first sentence of this section, provisions which specified an annual compensation of $5,000 for the chief of the Childrens Bureau have been omitted superseded. Following enactment of the Classification Act of 1923, the compensation was fixed in accordance with that Act. See act , title IV, 43 Stat. 1050. Sections 1202 and 1204 of the Classification Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 972, 973, repealed the Classification Act of 1923 and all other laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the 1949 Act. The Classification Act of 1949 was repealed by Pub. L. 89–554, , § 8(a), 80 Stat. 632, and reenacted as chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Section 5102 of Title 5 now contains the applicability provisions of the 1949 Act, and section 5103 of Title 5 authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to determine the applicability to specific positions and employees.

Section was formerly classified to section 18a of Title 29, Labor.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

“Secretary of Health and Human Services” substituted in text for “Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare” pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88, which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.

“Secretary of Labor” substituted for “Secretary of Commerce and Labor” pursuant to act . See note set out under section 191 of this title.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

Functions of Federal Security Administrator transferred to Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and all agencies of Federal Security Agency transferred to Department of Health, Education, and Welfare by section 5 of Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1953, set out as a note under section 3501 of this title. Federal Security Agency and office of Administrator abolished by section 8 of Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1953.

“Federal Security Administrator” substituted for “said department” and for “Secretary of Labor” pursuant to Reorg. Plan No. 2 of 1946. See note set out under section 191 of this title.

Credits

1912–1979 · 5 acts
  1. 1912Apr. 9, 1912, ch. 73, § 2, 37 Stat. 79
  2. 1913Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 141, §§ 3, 6, 37 Stat. 737, 738
  3. 19461946 Reorg. Plan No. 2, § 1, eff. , 11 F.R. 7873, 60 Stat. 1095
  4. 19531953 Reorg. Plan No. 1, §§ 5, 8, eff. , 18 F.R. 2053, 67 Stat. 631
  5. 1979Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), , 93 Stat. 695.
Show as published

(Apr. 9, 1912, ch. 73, § 2, 37 Stat. 79; Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 141, §§ 3, 6, 37 Stat. 737, 738; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 2, § 1, eff. , 11 F.R. 7873, 60 Stat. 1095; 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 1, §§ 5, 8, eff. , 18 F.R. 2053, 67 Stat. 631; Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), , 93 Stat. 695.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc42.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-09-09

USLM identifier /us/usc/t42/s192