The law authorizing the use of home teachers was enacted largely through the efforts of the State Commission of Immigration and Housing, and was from the first intended to be used for the benefit of foreign-born families. The first experiments were financed by the Commission of Immigration and Housing and by private organizations, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Council of Jewish Women, and the Young Women's Christian Association. According to the latest report[58] there are twenty official home teachers at work in eight cities of the state. The Commission says of the purpose of this plan: The interpretation of the need in California departs from that conceived elsewhere. There have been so-called home teachers in a dozen cities, of several Eastern states, for a number of years, but their purpose is to do follow-up work for absent, irregular, subnormal, or incorrigible children, and they are more properly visiting teachers. The home teacher, as we conceive her purpose, seeks not primarily the special child--though that will often open the door to her and afford her a quick opportunity for friendly help--but _the home_ as such, and especially the mother who makes it. This discrimination as to aim and purpose cannot be too much emphasized, or too consistently maintained, for the care of abnormal children, important as it is, can by no means take the place of the endeavor to Americanize the _families_ of the community.[59] SETTLEMENT CLASSES The social settlements are in many cases situated in congested city districts, and they have always dealt very directly with the family groups in their neighborhood. Settlements have, in fact, probably more than any other social agency, tried to become acquainted with the Old-World background of their neighbors in order to establish friendly relationships. The settlement ideal has included the preservation of the dignity and self-esteem of the immigrant, while attempting to modify his habits when necessary and giving him some preparation for citizenship. [Illustration: LITHUANIAN MOTHERS HAVE COME TO A SETTLEMENT CLASS] Classes in English and Civics, mothers' clubs, and housekeeping classes have been part of the contribution of the settlement to the adjustment of family life. Seventeen settlements in Chicago, for example, have conducted during the last year 36 clubs and classes of this kind for non-English-speaking women. Among these there are 9 English classes, 8 sewing classes, 10 cooking classes, and 9 mothers' clubs, with varied programs. These classes have been conducted with a flexibility that is often lacking in the public-school classes. They are usually held in the daytime at the hour most convenient for the group concerned, and by combining social features with instruction the interest of the women is maintained longer than would otherwise be possible.