Welfare program history

The main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. During this period, new major spending programs were launched that addressed education , medical care, urban problems, rural poverty and transportation. Social welfare history describes the changes in helping activities and services initiated in the United States to combat a variety of social ills of complex origins.

While poverty and public assistance play large roles in this narrative, they are not the entire story. Social welfare history reflects the lives of people living, being educated, working and voting in the nation. The efforts of individuals, religious groups, non-profit organizations and governments recounted in this history have strengthened the fabric of American society and improved the quality of life for many who live within our borders.

What is social welfare history? Social Welfare History Project. Some changes tried to help the poor move to work rather than continuing to need assistance. Social casework, consisting of caseworkers visiting the poor and training them in morals and a work ethic was advocated by reformers in the s and s. Prior to the Great Depression, the United States Congress supported various programs to assist the poor.

When the Great Depression hit, many families suffered. It is estimated that one-fourth of the labor force was unemployed during the worst part of the depression. With many families suffering financial difficulties, the government stepped in to solve the problem and that is where the history of welfare as we know it really began.

Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Social Security Act was enacted in The act, which was amended in , established a number of programs designed to provide aid to various segments of the population. A number of government agencies were created to oversee the welfare programs.

The Head Start State Collaboration Offices were first funded in as a pilot project much like the Head Start program that started as an experiment in The basic shape of the state-federal public welfare system formed by the Social Security Act remained largely intact until when the Congress federalized the cash assistance programs serving adults Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled into the Supplemental Security Income SSI program.

In , Title XX of the Act was enacted, consolidating most of the social service provisions of the various cash assistance titles into a single program of social services for needy citizens, with a cap on the amount of money the states could claim as federal financial participation for the provision of social services. For more information, visit the U. Origins of the state and federal public welfare programs Social Welfare History Project.

Thank you for allowing many to utilize your expanded work and knowledge in this area. Thank you for the comment.

You have my permission to cite whatever will help you in your studies. You may want to carefully review some of the Public Welfare titles of the the Social Security Act of Best wishes, Jack Hansan. I am unable to do this without knowing more about your document. Regards, Jack Hansan. Thank you for the comment; however, before I can answer the question, you will have to name the article in your next comment.

Who wrote this article and when was this published? I am a student from California State University Northridge. She quit her job to enter a career-training program, hoping to get off welfare.

Her story is not uncommon among welfare recipients, who have come into the spotlight as states try to regain control of how welfare money can be spent. Often, the resources available to people on welfare are not adequate, with few training programs or jobs available to help them gain a steady income. In , President Bill Clinton signed a law aimed at bringing welfare recipients into the workforce.