The Children of the State Branch replaced the Children of the State Department which, under the Infants Welfare Act 1935, had been absorbed into the Social Services Department. The Branch oversaw all the work associated with children’s welfare. In about 1953, it became the Child Welfare Division.
The Branch administered the Infants Welfare Act. Its work included managing the boarding out system which involved the recruitment of foster mothers, placement of wards of state, and the inspection of their homes by visiting nurses, overseeing children under five placed in foster homes by their single mothers, and supervising child migrants. The Branch ran the Cottage Home which was in the Glebe.