Brace, Charles Loring (1826-1890), an American social reformer, worked to improve the living conditions of poor children. In 1853, he helped organize the Children’s Aid Society in New York City and became its head. Brace believed that a family could meet the needs of a homeless child better than any institution could. As a result of this belief, the Children’s Aid Society sent more than 150,000 homeless children from New York City to live with families in rural areas. Largely because of the success of this program, the placement of children in family homes has become an important feature of modern foster care.
Under Brace’s leadership, the Children’s Aid Society also established lodging houses to provide poor children with a decent place to sleep and industrial schools to teach trades and academic subjects. These facilities influenced the growth of modern settlement houses and boys’ and girls’ clubs. Today, the Children’s Aid Society operates camps and community centers that serve tens of thousands of New York City children each year.
Brace was born on June 19, 1826, in Litchfield, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University in 1846. He died on Aug. 11, 1890.
