1942: Social Service, Public

The pressures of war and the new and intensified human needs stemming from those pressures naturally dominated the public social services of the Federal, state, and local governments during the year. In general, the war-related social problems which arose, unevenly and with varying intensity, throughout the nation, included rising living costs, housing shortages, day care of children of working mothers, juvenile delinquency, dwindling medical-care facilities and personnel, assistance to persons affected by enemy action, evacuation, over-burdened community facilities in war production, and military centers, farm labor, food supply, and similar conditions.

These problems and others were dealt with through a wide variety of methods — changing, emphasizing, or creating new public welfare services and programs in direct relation to the nature and extent of wartime pressures in the nation, the states, and the localities. Two basic methods of approach were employed, one through the existing public welfare structure, and the other through wartime organization.

New Public-Aid Programs.

The wartime trends in new public-aid programs operated through the basic public welfare organizations of the country are best characterized, perhaps, by the President's designation on February 6 of Federal Security Administrator Paul V. McNutt to provide civilian war assistance, pending the development of adequate Federal legislation for this purpose. Through allocation of $5,000,000 by the President, the Federal Security Agency's Social Security Board set up, in its Bureau of Public Assistance, programs of assistance and services to the following: (a) Persons who may be injured or deprived of their livelihood or homes or otherwise affected by enemy action; (b) persons who may be evacuated because of enemy action or the threat of enemy action; (c) persons repatriated from enemy lands to the United States, and evacuees from Hawaii, Alaska and other United States territory; (d) officially-appointed volunteer workers engaged in civilian protection activities who are injured while on official duty; (e) seamen injured and the dependents of seamen injured, missing, or killed as result of enemy action.

This assistance is administered through state and local welfare agencies, and the Federal Government reimburses 100 per cent on all expenditures made in accordance with its rules.

Aid was given to needy persons repatriated to this country on the diplomatic exchange ships Drottningholm and Gripsholm.

An allocation of $500,000 was also made from the President's fund to the U. S. Public Health Service for temporary provision for hospitalization and medical care of civilians affected by enemy action.

Through direct administration of the Social Security Board's Bureau of Old Age and Survivors' Insurance, persons disabled or the dependents of persons killed, detained, or missing as a result of enemy action, are covered by a program of civilian war-relief benefits. This program also includes benefits to officially-functioning volunteer civilians who are injured as a result of enemy action or as a result of preparing against such possible action and the dependents of such beneficiaries who are killed or injured. Initial civilian war benefits were paid in March. Payments are related to the monthly earnings of the person affected by enemy action. Benefits vary from $20 a month for one child to a maximum of $85 for a family unit, and are available to wives, widows, children, and parents who were mainly dependent on the individual affected by enemy action.

Thus the Federal Government has assumed responsibility for necessary assistance and services to persons and their dependents who are killed, disabled, injured, deprived of livelihood or home, or otherwise in need because of enemy attack.

In addition, a program of public services and financial assistance was provided for enemy aliens and other persons (American-born Japanese) and their dependents who had been removed from prohibited West Coast areas designated by the Department of Justice and the Army, and for the dependents of enemy aliens interned or otherwise affected by restrictive action of the Federal Government.

War-Welfare Organization.

The second basic method of approaching social problems stemming from the war is through such war-welfare organization as is represented by the Federal Office of Defense Health and Welfare, of which the FSA Administrator is Coordinator. The ODHW serves as the center of coordination of all health and welfare services available through Federal and other agencies, both public and private, to meet the needs of localities arising from the war and for the coordination of such services for the nation as a whole. It coordinates and directs national activities for defense in fields of health, welfare, education, nutrition, recreation, family security, social protection, and community organization. In developing the substantive programs for community action in these fields, the ODHW calls upon the Federal Office of Civilian Defense for necessary volunteer participants, deals with the state and local war councils through the OCD and cooperates in fitting its health and welfare services into a general plan of civilian defense. The OCD, in turn, works through the ODHW — rather than with individual Federal or national private agencies — in carrying on its relationships in the fields of health and welfare services, and it recommends representation on state and local war councils of official state and local agencies responsible for operating health and welfare programs. Through this organization and coordination, all Federal, state, and local health and welfare agencies can be integrated for the war effort.

Some illustrations of how this pattern was translated into performance during the year follow. The OCD groups all of the broad social welfare operations under a division of civilian war services. Public health and welfare agencies on all levels of government with their facilities and personnel are used to implement the community's efforts to recognize, evaluate, and alleviate the social pressures of war. Included in such representation in civilian war services divisions are public welfare, health, child welfare, mental hygiene, nutrition, housing, education, labor, agriculture and other agencies.

The problem of providing for the day care of children whose mothers are engaged in war industries is met through the OCD Office of Civilian Mobilization's civilian war services and the ODHW. By Presidential allocation, $400,000 was made available through ODHW for the employment of supplementary Federal and state supervisory personnel to assist local communities with day care programs. The State Departments of Education and Social Welfare may apply for these funds to hire one or more additional persons whom they may allocate to the localities for aid in developing a day-care program.

The responsibility for planning, operating, and financing pre-school and school-age day care programs for children of working mothers, however, is primarily a local problem. Through the Federal Works Agency, local communities may make applications for Community Facilities Act funds, and WPA funds. The Act funds for day-care facilities may be available to communities only when acute shortage of such facilities, due to war, exists or impends, and the community proves that it cannot pay for such programs nor obtain necessary operating funds from other sources. Applications for such Federal funds by child care committees must be first approved by the local War Council, then by the State Committee on Child Care, Development, and Protection, and finally by the State War Council. WPA funds are also available for nursery schools and school age child protection programs.

The housing-shortage problem facing war workers is similarly being alleviated through funds made available by the Community Facilities Act, as are other conditions which arise in over-burdened war production areas. Hospitals and other places for the care of sick, sanitation and other community facilities are made possible through Federal funds where the communities are unable to provide needed facilities themselves. The same pattern of local, state and Federal cooperative action is followed, local and state agencies evaluating such needs and passing on their recommendations to the proper national authorities.

Other War-Related Programs.

The Agricultural Marketing Administration programs for school lunches, food-stamp distribution, and milk for children were used and extended to meet the problems of rising food prices which threatened millions of families in the low-income brackets. The food-stamp plan, for instance, was extended from 398 areas at the end of 1941 to over 1,500 by July of last year. Commodities distributed free through food stamps and through direct distribution are no longer designated 'surplus' foods. The AMA sees its program as a necessary provision of more food and better nutrition for low-income groups 'who are more poorly fed in wartime than ever before because of the higher cost of living.'

Through the War Manpower Commission, the U. S. Employment Services operates a farm labor recruitment program in cooperation with Federal and state welfare and other agencies, sets up farm labor camps in labor-scarce areas of the country, and arranges for transportation, maintenance, and mobility of the harvesting squads, and their return to their home localities.

Public Assistance During War.

Employment has tended to reduce need both among families receiving public aid and among families potentially eligible for such aid. Statistics for the fiscal year 1941-42 are used; they indicate a trend that continued through the end of 1942.

Expenditures for public assistance and for earnings under the Federal WPA programs in the continental United States totaled $135,000,000 last June; in June 1941 they were $188,000,000. For the entire fiscal year 1941-42, total expenditures were $1,885,000,000, 25 per cent less than the amount expended for the preceding fiscal year. The number of persons estimated to have benefited from all types of public aid decreased from 12,400,000 in 4,700,000 households in June 1941 to 8,800,000 persons in 3,700,000 households in June 1942.

Earnings of persons employed on projects operated by the WPA declined from $1,143,000 in 1940-41 to $714,000,000 in 1941-42, a decline of nearly 38 per cent. General relief payments declined by 35 per cent, from $339,000,000 in 1940-41 to $219,000,000 in the following year. The decreases in the number of persons receiving earnings under WPA and general relief payments reflect the favorable employment opportunities created by the war. Rates of pay on the WPA program were increased during 1941-42 to meet increased cost of living; in most states increases in individual payments of general relief occurred for the same reason. The decrease in the number of persons receiving WPA earnings and general relief was therefore relatively greater than the decrease in earnings and payments.

Total payments for the three special types of public assistance, on the other hand, rose from a total of $674,000,000 in 1940-41 to $751,000,000 in 1941-42. The 11 per cent increase resulted from the continuing growth of these programs and from increases in payments to compensate in some measure for increased living costs. During the fiscal year, total payments to recipients of the three special types of public assistance amounted to $570,000,000 for old age assistance, $157,000,000 for aid to dependent children, and $23,800,000 for aid to the blind.

In June there were 2,253,309 old age assistance recipients, against 2,170,489 in June 1941; there were 392,182 aid to dependent children families with 943,080 children, against 379,605 families and 916,789 children in June 1941; there were 54,378 blind assistance recipients, against 49,817 in June 1941. Beginning with the last half of 1942 decline in the number of old age recipients and aid to dependent children recipients began to occur.

It is possible to discern definite, if less obvious, effects of war on the special types of public assistance in spite of the fact that together they accounted for 48 per cent of the total payments in June 1942 as contrasted with 32 per cent in June 1941. A marked slowing down in the rate of increase in the number of recipients occurred. Aid to dependent children showed greater decrease in the number of applications and greater increase in the number of closings than did old age assistance or aid to the blind, but even aged and blind persons have not remained entirely outside the main current. Subletting of war contracts to sheltered workshops for the blind, and increased contributions from employed relatives, caused an actual decrease in recipients and in the amount of payments of aid to the blind in some states.

Social Insurance in War.

The old-age and survivors insurance program during 1941-42 continued to reflect both the increased volume of employment covered by the program and the increased employment opportunities open to older workers. Benefits certified during the fiscal year totaled $116,000,000, of which $102,000,000 represented monthly payments to retired wage earners, their dependents, and survivors; and the balance constituted lump-sum payments under the 1939 amendments and the 1935 act. The monthly amount of benefits in current-payment status in June 1941 was $6,100,000, payable to 336,000 individuals; and in June 1942 the monthly amount of benefits was over $9,500,000, payable to almost 530,000 individuals.

Federal insurance contributions totaled $896,000,000 in 1941-42, $205,000,000 or 30 per cent above the $691,000,000 collected in the previous fiscal year. Collections of $3,700,000 in June brought the cumulative total to $3,430,000,000. Total assets of the trust fund at the end of June were $3,227,000,000, 35 per cent above assets at the end of June 1941.

Other Welfare Trends.

The Servicemen's Dependents Allowance Act of 1942 is administered by the War and Navy Departments. Military induction for the most part now brings to the public-welfare rolls only those cases in which families require supplementary assistance or temporary assistance pending receipt of allowances.

On July 2, the Civilian Conservation Corps was abolished, with the requirement that the 'liquidation shall be completed as quickly as possible but in no event later than June 30, 1943.'

By Presidential order the WPA was to be dissolved as of February 1, 1943, in most states, as soon as possible thereafter in other states.

1942: Social Service, Private

This term used in this article, comprises all privately-operated, non-profitmaking institutions and agencies specifically concerned with the prevention, amelioration, care or treatment of poverty, dependency, delinquency and disease, as well as the positive promotion of socially desirable conditions.

Impact of the First Year of War.

The year after Pearl Harbor brought many changes in the field of private social work. One pleasant surprise to social agencies was the record public response to appeals for funds, upsetting gloomy predictions that steep declines in contributions would result from the considerable rises in taxes and in living costs. The increase in private giving is indicated by the fact that 619 community chests raised a record total of $103,411,123 in 1942 as compared with $90,379,099 raised for 1941.

Community chests are central fund-raising agencies that conduct a single periodical campaign, the receipts of which are divided among member private agencies in the community according to a pre-arranged budget. The trend toward combining such chests with 'war chests' (united drives for war services) continued at an accelerated pace during 1942.

Foreign War Relief.

Numerous private agencies for foreign war relief sprang up during the first two years of World War II, most of them concerned with the victims of Axis aggression. In the absence of adequate supervision and coordination, there was a great deal of duplication, waste, inefficiency arising from the mushrooming of such agencies, together with some evidences of fraudulent practice. There also developed much rivalry and friction among these agencies, and between them and home front organizations.

The complicated and confused situation caused President Roosevelt early in 1941 to appoint a Committee on War Relief Agencies, headed by Joseph E. Davies, to study and report on war-relief conditions.

On July 16, 1942, this Committee reported that nearly $100,000,000 had been raised for foreign relief, excluding Red Cross activities, since the onset of war in 1939. It further reported that the number of agencies collecting funds for foreign relief had been reduced to 300, as compared with 700 during the peak period in early 1941. It recommended further coordination and mergers among these agencies and the establishment of a central control board to accomplish these and other purposes.

Mr. Roosevelt thereupon reorganized his committee as the President's War Relief Control Board. This agency was empowered to control all fund-raising and disbursements in cash or in kind of 'charities for foreign and domestic relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and welfare arising from war-created needs in the United States or in foreign countries.' Local charitable activities of a normal and usual character, and intra-state activities other than those immediately affecting the war effort, were expressly exempted from this control, as was the American Red Cross.

In August 1942, ten major war relief agencies — including the British War Relief Society, Russian War Relief, China War Relief, the USO, Greek War Relief — jointly announced that they would seek a total budget of $75,659,000 for the ensuing year.

Developments on the Home Front.

The rapid expansion of war production and a corresponding drop in unemployment resulted in a marked decline in relief rolls among private family agencies as well as public welfare agencies. Attention was increasingly focused on war-boom areas — centers of industrial production and army cantonment sites — where acute housing, health and welfare problems resulted from the sudden influx of large numbers of workers.

Private and public agencies were beset with the question of increasing juvenile delinquency, lack of adequate day-care facilities for children of working mothers and other social problems of wartime. The division of responsibility between private and public groups for checking these conditions was much discussed, with the question of financing a paramount issue. The President's announcement toward the end of 1942 that the Work Projects Administration would be completely liquidated in the next few months aggravated the situation, since that agency had assumed responsibility for many social services, such as operation of day nurseries, that now must be taken over in part by private organizations.

Personnel.

Many private social agencies were hard hit by the loss of experienced, professional staff members to the armed forces or to war services such as the USO and the Red Cross. Increasing dependence had to be placed on the recruiting of volunteer aides to assist regular employes in conducting social services on the home front. Many agencies had to curtail their activities because of staff reduction; several had to suspend activity completely.

In addition the operation of the Selective Service Act, and particularly of the 'teen-age amendment passed by Congress in the fall of 1942, caused a sharp decline in students of social work schools.

United Service Organization.

Next to the American Red Cross, this is the largest private war service agency in the United States. Formed in February 1941, as a government-sponsored but privately operated group, the USO provides recreational and other services for men in the armed forces, and, to a lesser extent, for war workers. It consists of six member agencies — the Young Men's Christian Associations, Young Women's Christian Associations, National Catholic Community Service, Jewish Welfare Board, Salvation Army, and the National Travelers Aid Association.

The USO expanded its program rapidly after Pearl Harbor. On Jan. 1, 1942, it was operating 250 USO units — recreation centers, clubs, lounges, etc. By the end of the year it had 1,200 units going in 558 American cities and towns, and also in offshore and hemisphere bases such as Alaska, Hawaii, Newfoundland, the Caribbean and Brazil. USO Camp Shows had 70 professional companies touring bases and camps in this country, giving performances for service men. It also sent professional troupes to the European Theatre of Operations, and USO units are entertaining American soldiers in North Africa and Australia.

United Seamen's Service.

The year was marked by the establishment of a new national welfare agency of large proportions. The United Seamen's Service was launched in the fall of 1942 as a private organization with official government sponsorship, to provide for men of the American merchant marine the same types of service the USO affords to men in the armed forces. The USS is a war-inspired agency, resulting from a wide public recognition of the heroism of merchant seamen and their crucial work in the war effort. Unlike the USO, however, the USS is a permanent organization that will continue to serve merchant seamen after the war. Based on an initial fund of $5,000,000 raised by private contributions, the USS is establishing recreation and rest centers for merchant seamen in key American and Allied ports, together with convalescent homes for survivors of torpedoed ships, and other sea catastrophes.

Sources of Funds.

Private social agencies generally have profited from private and corporate income tax deductions for charitable gifts and contributions. One of the year's most significant developments in fund-raising was the considerable increase of direct labor union participation in community chest and war-service campaigns. This increased activity has brought hundreds of thousands of new contributors among working people into the fund-raising pool of private social agencies. It accelerates a trend already discernible some years ago.

Community chest funds were distributed mainly among family welfare agencies, homes for the aged, children's aid societies, day nurseries, children's institutions, hospital and health services, recreation and other leisure-time activities.

1941: Social Service, Public

Social Problems in National Defense.

The major tendency in public welfare in 1941 has been a progressive gearing of machinery and program to the total defense effort of the nation. Some 400 areas throughout the United States, its territories, and island possessions are considered critical defense areas—places where concentration of military or naval personnel or workers in defense industries creates difficult social and economic problems.

The calling of men from home and civilian pursuits into the armed service places them in a highly abnormal social environment where the problem of leisure-time activities is especially important. Family ties may become strained through long absence and loss of income to the home. The large-scale migration of industrial workers involves somewhat similar problems related to recreation, juvenile delinquency and vice. Individuals and families must adjust to new jobs in a new community, often under very crowded and unsatisfactory housing conditions.

For workers in defense industries, the sudden stepping up of income to unaccustomed levels sometimes makes for the deterioration of the individual and the disintegration of the family unit. For workers whose income has not increased in the present boom, the rapidly rising cost of living—especially food and rent—impairs the financial status of the family, in some cases to the point of public dependency. The high living costs are especially serious for social insurance annuitants and for recipients of relief.

While the total volume of unemployment is much smaller than a year ago—estimated November 1941 at 3,900,000 as against 7,600,000 in November 1940—the curtailment of non-defense production creates pockets of so-called 'priority unemployment' in many industries. This type of unemployment has thus far proved to be localized and, in most instances, of small enough proportions that the jobless workers could be absorbed with little delay by expanding defense industries. Now that the United States has become a belligerent power, however, much more drastic cutting of civilian production is expected, with more serious dislocation in employment and a probable rise in short-term dependency.

Relief rolls in the aggregate have declined greatly during 1941 and the general trend is still downward. As the rolls shrink, the proportion of unemployable and near-unemployable persons remaining on relief continues to rise. This calls for increased provision for medical care and increased emphasis on programs of rehabilitation. Unemployability is a relative concept, and many who would have been considered unemployable two years ago are now finding jobs. This process is being accelerated by physical rehabilitation and retraining of skills.

The problem of effectively mobilizing America's man power for production is receiving much attention, as crucial shortages of skilled labor have developed in many areas, and further shortages are anticipated. The state employment services which, under Federal leadership, have been taking a major part in this mobilization, became an organic part of the Federal Security Agency in December. State and local public welfare agencies cooperate in this mobilization process by making certain that all employables on relief register with the employment service and are put in touch with appropriate retraining programs.

Coordination of Public Social Services.

The need for coordination of social service machinery has been of pressing importance. The administrator of the Federal Security Agency is also serving as director of the Office of Defense, Health and Welfare Services, in the Office for Emergency Management, the latter being the section of the Executive Office of the President that directs most of the important defense activities of the Federal Government. The Office of Defense, Health and Welfare Services is assisted by committees in family security, nutrition, and other fields where liaison with other Federal agencies is necessary. This office utilizes the regional set up of the Federal Social Security Board with its extensive field force as a medium for coordinating Federal activities in welfare fields at a point close to the local communities.

The twelve regional directors of the Social Security Board have established regional advisory councils composed of representatives of Federal programs related to health and welfare in each region. The functions of these councils include gathering and analyzing information on special problems in major defense localities, the appraisal of available Federal, state and local resources, and the initiation of programs in cooperation with state and local authorities to meet the problems presented. It is the responsibility of the regional councils through their directors to cooperate with state defense councils and other agencies coordinating defense activities of the states and localities.

Besides the Office of Defense, Health and Welfare Services, the Office of Civilian Defense, also within the Office for Emergency Management, has functions closely related to the public social services. The OCD is responsible for organizing civilian volunteer participation under the general direction of a committee of 45 members, five from each of the Army Corps Areas. Each community is expected to set up a civilian defense volunteer office, which will coordinate locally the recruiting, placing and training of volunteers in services essential to civilian morale and well-being, including numerous social services.

The problem of community coordination and planning is one in which the public welfare administrator is qualified to take an active part. Not only has be intimate knowledge of the needs of the community, but his staff is expert in community organization. Community programs have been slow in developing, many localities failing to see the need for defense councils and other social machinery. The attack on Pearl Harbor, however, served to blast away public apathy, and to give tremendous impetus to volunteer efforts in the localities.

Post-War Planning.

The Federal Government and, to some extent states and localities, are active in planning measures to prevent an economic collapse after the war's end. The National Resources Planning Board has recommended that a six-year program of public works be developed to be put in effect when needed. A new Federal agency, the Public Work Reserve, has been created to develop an inventory of proposed construction and community service activities projected by states and localities. This agency will deal directly with all states and all political subdivisions, and will encourage fiscal planning on the part of governmental units now deficient in this respect.

Volume and Cost of Relief.

Public dependency remains the chief problem of social welfare though the extent of need is considerably reduced. The average number of persons receiving aid of all types, directly or through work relief, is estimated at 12,837,000 during the first nine months of 1941, a drop of more than 19 per cent as compared with the corresponding period of 1940. The greatest declines occurred in general relief and WPA. General relief cases—families and individuals—averaged 1,042,000 during January-September 1941, or 29.2 per cent below 1940, a drop of some 430,000 cases. Persons employed on WPA, the major Federal work program, averaged 1,431,000 in 1941—525,000 fewer than the previous year. Farm Security Administration cases dropped from 74,000 to 40,000. As to the youth programs—Civilian Conservation Corps and National Youth Administration—average CCC enrollment dropped 21.3 per cent to 214,000 as a result of increased employment opportunities and military service, while NYA with expanded industrial training facilities for defense industries, showed a gain of 19 per cent to 689,000.

There were substantial increases in old age assistance, aid to dependent children and aid to the blind—whose beneficiaries are very largely unemployables. OAA recipients increased 9.3 per cent to a monthly average of 2,143,000 in 1941. Blind persons receiving aid rose 4.2 per cent to 74,000. Families receiving aid to dependent children averaged 387,000, and the children involved averaged 932,000, a gain of 13.5 per cent in both factors. Average monthly expenditures for the various relief programs appear in the following table. The value of Federal surplus commodities distributed to families on and near the relief level is not included.

Legislation.

The process of extension and liberalization of public welfare programs on state and local levels has been furthered by the state legislatures during the past year, but the broad changes anticipated in the Federal Social Security Act have not yet materialized. The movement in Congress for Federal grants-in-aid for general relief has gathered momentum because of problems involved in the greatly increased migration of industrial workers. The outbreak of war has also served to focus new attention on expansion of health insurance programs. Wide expansion of coverage and increase in the amount of Federal aid, probably related to the varying economic capacity of the different states, are prominent features of the proposals for new social security legislation. See also WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION.

1941: Social Service, Private

The 'defense emergency' which turned into full-fledged war toward the end of the year dominated the private welfare field in 1941.

One of the outstanding events was the creation of the United Service Organizations for National Defense (USO) to provide recreational and cultural facilities for Army and Navy men in areas outside of military establishments. The USO consists of six member agencies — the Young Men's Christian Association, the Young Women's Christian Association, the National Catholic Community Service, the Jewish Welfare Board, the Salvation Army and the Travelers Aid Society. A total of $15,000,000 was raised for the USO during the national fund-raising drive conducted in 1941. The chief job of the USO is to staff recreation buildings in civilian areas for men in armed services; these buildings are usually erected with Government funds.

War Relief.

The Red Cross greatly expanded its work during 1941, first because of the desperate material needs of war-torn Europe, later because of the entrance of the United States into the war. On Dec. 10, 1941, Norman Davis, chairman of the Red Cross, reported that the organization had administered foreign war relief aggregating $56,555,000 in the 27 months of the war up to Nov. 30, 1941. Of this total, $30,250,000 represented the value of relief supplies purchased by the Government and distributed by the Red Cross abroad under a special Act of Congress.

Soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Red Cross launched a $50,000,000 drive for war relief. Half of this sum was to be raised for services to the armed forces, $10,000,000 for disaster and civilian emergency relief, $5,000,000 for civilian defense services, and the rest for assistance to local chapters and administrative purposes. Enrollment in the Red Cross was estimated in December 1941, at about 14,545,000 members, representing an increase in membership of 58.3 per cent over the previous year.

Scores of private war relief agencies that sprung up after the outbreak of World War II continued their operations in behalf of the peoples of particular belligerent countries in the year 1941. According to a report issued by the U.S. State Department, a total of $46,344,900 had been collected by 327 foreign war relief agencies from the outbreak of the war in September 1939 till Nov. 30, 1941.

After Pearl Harbor, of course, those war relief organizations connected with the cause of the Axis powers ceased operation. By far the greatest amount of funds was raised by the agencies active in Britain's behalf, notably the British War Relief Society, which collected nearly $12,000,000. As the year ended, serious consideration was being given to the advisability of merging into one organization the three main drives in behalf of our principal allies — Britain, China and Soviet Russia.

The many millions of dollars poured into foreign war relief efforts did not, as many had feared, impede the flow of contributions to private agencies engaged in domestic social services. Five hundred and ninety-two community chests raised $90,426,589 for private social work for 1941, as compared with $86,297,068 for 1940 — an increase of 3.6 per cent. Reports on the progress of 343 community chest campaigns for 1942 showed that the amount raised up to Dec. 16, 1941, ran 6.4 per cent ahead of that raised for a corresponding period the previous year.

Community Chests.

A significant trend in chest giving was the steady increase in small contributions. According to figures compiled by Community Chests and Councils, Inc., on the basis of an analysis of 118 chests, gifts under $5 were 57.3 per cent greater for 1941 than for 1940. However, nearly 60 per cent of the total amount subscribed to these chests came from gifts of $100 and over. Nearly one-fifth of the population in these 118 cities subscribed to the community chest for 1941. Three out of every four givers contributed less than $5 each, their average gift being $1.62.

Undoubtedly a factor in stimulating contributions to charitable agencies is the Federal income tax deduction allowance for such gifts up to 15 per cent of net income. No estimate is available of the total amount of contributions to private social welfare agencies, but figures published by the U.S. Department of Commerce show that in 1939 a total of $485,103,000 was deducted from income tax returns for gifts to charitable, religious and educational causes. This sum represented 2.2 per cent of net income.

Nearly 25 per cent of the funds raised in chest campaigns for 1941 went for leisure time services, while 24 per cent was allocated for family service and general dependency. Child care came next, receiving 18.7 per cent of the total, while 10.2 per cent was appropriated for the central services of community chests and councils. Health and hospital services together accounted for 20.3 per cent of the total funds. Only 1.5 per cent went toward the care of the aged, reflecting the influence of expanding public old age security programs on private activities. Since the great expansion of Federal financing of relief activities, beginning in 1933, private social work has tended to recede from the field of material relief, with a correspondingly increased interest in services such as recreation.

Income Sources.

Member agencies of chests on the whole derived only 36.9 per cent of their total income for 1941 from community chests. The rest was obtained from other sources, mainly public tax funds and payments by beneficiaries. It is significant that in 1940 nearly 70 per cent of hospital income was derived from beneficiaries who made full or part payment for services rendered. Payments from beneficiaries made up 38.9 per cent of the total income of leisure time agencies, and 27.3 per cent of the income of agencies caring for the aged.

Family Welfare.

Greatly increased employment due to the boom in war industries was reflected in a considerable falling off in applications and intake of family welfare agencies in 1941. A memorandum dated Jan. 15, 1942, on family casework statistics, compiled by Ralph G. Hurlin, shows that applications for help declined substantially in the fall of 1941 as compared with the corresponding period in 1940. Of 56 family agencies in various parts of the country, ten reported that applications in the fall of 1941 had increased by at least 5 per cent; ten showed less than 5 per cent change either way; and 36 reported declines in applications ranging from 5 to 43 per cent.

After the fateful Dec. 7, the paramount problem of private social agencies in the United States was how to gear themselves with maximum effect to the all-out war effort. In most cities, especially along the seaboards, the permanent agencies were engrossed in the task of turning at least part of their facilities to civilian defense work, while many new social agencies sprang up as volunteer rallying grounds for the duration.

1940: Social Service, Public

Governmental welfare services during 1940 have been characterized by efforts to assimilate the legislation of the previous year rather than by enactment of much new legislation. The Federal Congress, especially, was reluctant to act on social measures until the whole pattern of national defense should become more clearly defined.

Introduction of the Wagner Social Security Extension Bill.

The introduction in the Senate of the Wagner bill to widen the application of the Social Security Act is important as constituting the basis for discussion of problems which await action at the 1941 session. In relation to eligibility for old age assistance, this bill would reduce the residence requirement to one year in a given state during the two years preceding application for aid. A highly controversial provision, designed to increase allowances to the aged in states with less financial capacity, would substitute for the present uniform percentage of Federal reimbursement a flexible scale whereby the grant-in-aid to any state would be based upon the relation of the per capita income in the state to the per capita income in the United States.

For old age and survivors' insurance, the bill would extend coverage to some 10,000,000 additional persons, including agricultural and domestic workers; state and municipal employees; non-civil service Federal employees; employees of non-profit, charitable, and educational institutions; and lay employees of religious organizations. Unemployment compensation coverage would be extended to about 5,000,000 more workers through the inclusion of enterprises employing less than eight persons, employees of non-profit institutions, and Federal employees not in civil service. Agricultural and domestic labor would remain excluded, however, because of the administrative difficulty of determining unemployment in these occupations.

Special Federal Aid for Child Refugees.

Public concern for the plight of children in war-stricken Europe found expression in a dramatic extension of the principles of foster care to the field of international relations. The Neutrality Act has been amended to enable unarmed American ships to enter combat zones to remove from any countries children under sixteen who are fleeing the war, but United States immigration laws remain unchanged, such children being allowed to enter the country for the duration of the war on visitors' permits to which quota restrictions do not apply. The Children's Bureau of the Department of Labor fixes general policies and standards of care, leaving arrangements for transportation and reception of children, and coordination of the work of participating agencies, to the United States Committee for the Care of European Children. This committee, a private organization, assumes legal responsibility for the children, acting as the instrumentality of both the Children's Bureau and the British Government. Placement in foster homes is made by agencies designated by state public welfare departments and registered with the Federal Children's Bureau. The British Government, however, has postponed further evacuation overseas because of the present danger of submarine warfare. (See also CHILD WELFARE.)

State and Local Welfare Legislation.

Legislation regarding general relief was confined largely to details of state and local financing. In the other public assistance programs — the special categories of old age assistance, aid to dependent children, and aid to the blind, in which the Federal Government participates financially — legislation showed a tendency toward liberalization of eligibility requirements and provision of more adequate aid. Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Virginia have enacted laws making possible larger monthly payments of old age assistance: Illinois and Ohio raised the maximum to $40 to take full advantage of the 1939 amendment to the Federal Social Security Act, while Kentucky and Mississippi increased the maximum from $15 to $30. Virginia has eliminated a requirement that all income of the recipient be deducted from the $20 maximum grant. Besides paving the way for more aid to the aged, Ohio increased the limit for blind assistance from $400 annually to $40 monthly. California, Kentucky, Mississippi and Nebraska have abolished or eased the lien requirements as to property of old age assistance recipients.

In line with Federal legislation of the previous year, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia have extended the eligible age for aid to dependent children from sixteen to eighteen for children attending school. In Kentucky and Mississippi, aid to dependent children is a new program this year, and Kentucky has also initiated a program of aid to the blind.

As a result of the pressure of relief needs during recent years, states have attempted in many instances to raise barriers in the path of applicants by increasing the time required to gain legal settlement. It is encouraging, therefore, to find in the current legislation some evidence of a reversal of this trend. Mississippi, for example, lowered the residence requirement for old age assistance from five years within the nine preceding application to one year immediately preceding application, and Rhode Island reduced required residence to one year for old age assistance, blind assistance and unemployment compensation. State legislation regarding unemployment compensation was generally of a minor character, designed to adjust state provisions to the 1939 Federal amendments.

Significant changes in public welfare organization have been very few during 1940. Mississippi changed county welfare boards to departments and effected a separation of administrative and advisory powers. Rhode Island created in the Department of Social Welfare an advisory council to promote the interests of the blind, and transferred the Bureau for the Blind from the Department of Education to the Department of Social Welfare. New Jersey, the only other state to make an important change in administrative organization, appears to have moved in the direction of greater complexity and confusion rather than simplification. In that state, the Financial Assistance Commission was replaced by a Municipal Aid Administration under a single head appointed by the Legislature. Under the new setup, all municipalities able to provide up to thirty per cent of their relief costs will be free of state control. As most municipalities come within this classification, 'enforcement of uniform standards and procedures by the state becomes limited to a small minority of places,' according to the New Jersey Welfare Council.

Loss of Popularity of Old Age Pension Movements.

The movement for old age pensions unrelated to individual need lost considerable momentum during the year, with most Congressional and gubernatorial candidates refusing even lip-service to the Townsend or the General Welfare plans, the leading pension fantasies at the present time. In Massachusetts, Missouri, and Ohio moreover, where pensions were a prominent feature of campaigns for the governorship, the pension proponents were defeated, and many Congressional supporters of the pension schemes failed of re-election. Arkansas voters refused approval of a proposed amendment to the state constitution which promised Utopian pensions at the age of sixty and provided for separate administrative machinery not responsible to the state executive. In the State of Washington, however, an initiative measure was approved which raised pensions from $30 to $40 for persons over sixty-five and applied only a loose definition of need. Colorado voters failed to adopt an amendment reducing the monthly pension and designed to repair the damage done to state finances and other welfare services by the present $45 monthly allowance fixed in the state's constitution.

Importance of Social Services in National Defense.

National defense and public welfare impinge upon each other at many points. There is, on the one hand, increasing public realization of the place of adequate social services as an essential element in total defense. A country-wide checkup by the American Public Welfare Association reveals that the most imminent social problems confronting those who are giving direction to national defense concern housing, health, sanitation, control of social disease, facilities for education and recreation, and the matter of transiency. The whole concept of an impregnable national structure focuses attention upon the necessity of holding those social gains which have been won through the years and pressing forward toward a more complete program of social conservation. It is significant that the Council of National Defense has designated the Federal Security Administrator as coordinator of all health, medical, welfare, nutrition, recreation, and other related fields of activity. It is also noteworthy that the selective service regulations instruct local draft boards, when classifying registrants, to consult with local and state public welfare agencies for such information as may assist the boards in rendering sound social judgments.

There is danger, on the other hand, that the great cost of arming and equipping the military machine may be used as an argument for curtailing welfare services, and also that the public may expect national defense expenditures to cure unemployment and eliminate the need of relief. Examination of the composition of the entire group of public dependents makes it apparent, however, that many classes are unaffected by the ebb and flow of industrial activity. They are either too old or too young, too ill or too long unemployed, to be utilized by industry. Recipients of old age assistance, aid to dependent children and aid to the blind are for the most part unemployable, and a large proportion of general relief recipients is also unemployable in those states which have soundly administered programs. Although accurate figures are available for only a few states, it is found, for example, that more than two-fifths of the general relief cases in New York State contain no employable person, and that in Pennsylvania approximately thirty percent of general relief cases, as of March 1940, contained no employable. Even those persons who have been able to keep work habits alive through employment on work relief projects are often incapable of retraining in the particular skills needed by the defense industries. Such labor shortage as there is occurs only in the most highly skilled occupations.

Current Volume of Public Relief.

Although publicly supported social work includes many services beyond the scope of relief, the social, administrative and fiscal problems connected with relief have assumed paramount importance because of the great expansion of this phase of public welfare in the past decade. The total relief burden has been substantially reduced in 1940, however, as economic conditions have improved. The greatest reduction occurred in the Work Projects Administration, the major Federal work program, where a monthly average of 1,956,000 employees for the first nine months of 1940 compares with 2,552,000 in the corresponding period of 1939. The average of 272,000 boys in the Civilian Conservation Corps during January-September 1940 was 9,000 below the previous year's figure. Projects of the National Youth Administration were expanded, however, to employ an average of 578,000 boys and girls in 1940 as against 474,000 a year earlier. The four direct relief programs collectively known as public assistance, where the amount of aid is determined by individual need, showed a net decline of some 46,000 cases; general relief cases decreased by 213,000 to an average of 1,475,000 — families and single persons — in January-September 1940, but the three special categories registered increases. The largest, old age assistance, provided for an average of 1,961,000 persons aged 65 and over in 1940, or 126,000 more than in 1939; aid to dependent children was currently granted to 341,000 families, a rise of 38,000; and 71,000 persons received blind assistance, a gain of 3,000 over the preceding year. In addition, 74,000 rural families received subsistence grants through the Federal Farm Security Administration, some 16,000 less than in 1939. The decline in the number of cases needing public relief has naturally been reflected in lower costs.

1940: Social Service, Private

War Charities.

The outstanding development in the private welfare field during the past year was the rapid rise of 'war charities,' reflecting the course of the second world war in our generation. In December 1940, according to a survey conducted by the New York Herald-Tribune, there were 295 organizations engaged in war relief work in this country. About 1,500,000 men and women, it was estimated, were participating in the activities of these groups, mostly on a volunteer basis.

In May 1940, the American Red Cross launched a national campaign for a war relief fund, raising nearly $21,700,000 for this purpose by December. The United States Congress voted an appropriation of $50,000,000 for the purchase in this country and shipment abroad of agricultural, medical and other supplies 'for the relief of refugee men, women and children who have been driven from their homes or otherwise rendered destitute by hostilities or invasion.' The President was empowered to designate agencies to distribute these purchases. Many millions of dollars have been raised in cash, food, clothing and medical supplies by organizations specifically established for the relief of war victims in Europe and Asia. It has been estimated that more than fifty independent groups are soliciting contributions for Britain alone. One of the most active of the non-partisan war relief agencies is the American Friends' Service Committee. At the beginning of the year very elaborate arrangements were made for large-scale transportation and care of child refugees from war-torn countries, involving the cooperation of many private agencies in this country. Ensuing complications, however, resulted in a considerable curtailment of the original program.

Another outcome of the war situation has been the expansion of youth-serving activities in connection with the national defense program. The Selective Service Act of September 1940, contemplating the compulsory military training of millions of young men, brought in its wake the problem of providing recreational, health and welfare services for the trainees in camps throughout the United States. To coordinate this work, a Recreational and Welfare Section has been established in the War Department's Division of Morale. A number of private agencies are taking an active role in planning and putting into execution various social services at training camps and at Army and Navy bases. Another question that will undoubtedly require concentrated attention as the program gains momentum involves the welfare needs of families of draftees, but this problem had not reached noticeable proportions by the end of 1940.

Normal Social Services.

Trends in normal activities of private social agencies generally followed the lines observed during the preceding year. The development of the Federal social security program, greatly enlarging the scope and extent of public welfare, continues to exert a strong influence on the course of voluntary social service. Private organizations are giving greater attention to non-material services outside the public welfare domain, with increased use of those techniques of dealing with individuals and family situations that come under the generic term, social case work.

Social Service Through Community Chests.

The tendency toward centralization and coordination of the fund-raising and administrative functions of private social work continues. The chief medium for central financing is the community chest, a cooperative agency that carries on annual community-wide campaigns for its affiliated health and welfare organizations. All but four cities of over 100,000 population had community chests in 1940. But while the chest idea has achieved wide acceptance, especially in urban areas, many organizations, large and small, continue to depend on independent fund-raising campaigns.

A total of $86,186,466 for private social service was raised by 552 community chests for 1940,* as compared with $82,071,697 raised by 523 chests for 1939 and $101,377,537 by 397 chests for the peak year of 1932. One-third of the total for 1940 was accounted for by the ten largest chests in the country, which raised sums ranging from $1,806,510 to $4,674,724. An increase of 3.5 per cent over the 1939 total was registered in 1940 by the 523 chests which conducted campaigns for both years.

* Funds budgeted for 1940 were raised during the previous year.

According to statistics compiled by Community Chests and Councils, nineteen out of every hundred people in 124 cities subscribed to the community chest for 1940, an increase of 8.4 per cent over 1939. Fourteen of these nineteen givers contributed sums of less than $5 each. The proportion of those contributing less than $25 has increased steadily during the last decade, reflecting the widening circle of lower-income groups giving to chests. More than one-half of the increase for 1940 represented gifts under $25, while 28.5 per cent of the increase came from contributions under $5.

Sources and Disposition of Income of Private Social Agencies.

Contrary to a widespread impression, the major part of the income of private social agencies generally is derived not from voluntary gifts, but from public tax funds, fees paid by clients and other sources. An analysis covering member agencies of chests in 104 cities reveals that 35.7 per cent of their total income for 1940 came from the community chest, 7.9 per cent from public tax funds, 38.4 per cent from clients, and 18 per cent from other sources. Full or part payment by beneficiaries for services rendered accounted for nearly two-thirds of total hospital income, two-fifths of leisure-time agency income, over one-fourth of the income of agencies caring for the aged, and one-fifth of income for health services other than hospital care. Child-caring agencies affiliated with chests received 17 per cent of their total income from tax subsidies, while the same source accounted for 11.5 per cent of hospital income.

Nearly 25 per cent of the 1940 community chest funds was allocated for family service and general dependency, 24.2 per cent for leisure-time activities, 18.3 per cent for child care, 10.4 per cent for the Community Chest and Council, 20 per cent for hospital and health services, 1.5 per cent for care of the aged, and 1 per cent for miscellaneous services. A significant trend is reflected in the sharp decline in private expenditures for the care of the aged since the extensive federal and state programs for old age security went into effect. In contrast, there has been a steady rise in voluntary expenditures for leisure-time services.

Public and Private Social Work.

As previously indicated, the tremendous expansion of public relief in recent years has caused private social agencies to place increasing emphasis on non-material services. Estimates based on an analysis of trends in 116 urban areas of the United States show that in 1929 nearly 25 per cent of aggregate relief funds came from private sources, which accounted for 29 per cent in the peak year of 1931, and less than 1 per cent during the past three years. Of a total of $814,815,341 expended for public and private assistance (including earnings under the Work Projects Administration) in these 116 urban areas from January to September 1940, only $7,828,088 came from private funds; in 1939 private sources accounted for $10,741,088 of an aggregate total of $1,273,294,901. Other data indicate that the proportion of private funds in total relief expenditures is even lower in rural areas.

While the extent of private relief is almost negligible when compared with public relief, the granting of material aid still plays an important though declining role in the private family welfare field. According to statistics compiled by Ralph G. Hurlin based on a sampling of sixty voluntary family welfare agencies, about 38 per cent of the active cases carried by these agencies in October 1940, were relief cases, as compared with a ratio of 40 per cent in 1939 and 48 per cent in 1937.

Mergers of Private Agencies.

Manifestations of a tendency toward consolidation of services on the part of certain voluntary organizations have been observed with increasing interest. The Family Welfare Association of America, with 209 member agencies, reports six mergers in 1940 affecting its members. Three private family organizations consolidated with children's agencies, two united with other family agencies, and one with a travelers' aid society. One of the most important mergers of the year took place in January when four Jewish child-caring agencies in New York City — the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society, the Jewish Children's Clearing House and Fellowship House — united under the new name, New York Association for Jewish Children, now the largest voluntary agency for dependent children in the United States. In view of the interest displayed in the question of the effect of mergers on the income of agencies, it may be noted that the Community Service Society of New York City, largest private family welfare organization in the country and the product of the consolidation of two prominent agencies in 1939, received a higher total of contributions during its first fiscal year than the combined total of the two agencies before the merger took place.

Child Welfare.

In the care of dependent, neglected and delinquent children outside their own homes, there has been a growing trend toward increased utilization of foster home services and a corresponding decline in institutional care. This tendency has been particularly pronounced in the Jewish welfare field, wherein the proportion of children in foster homes increased from 44.4 to 61.3 per cent between 1929 and 1939, inclusive, while that of children in institutions declined from 53.8 to 31.7 per cent in the same period.* Two Jewish child-caring institutions closed their doors in 1939, bringing to seven the number closed since 1929.

* A small percentage of the children under care were neither in institutions nor foster homes.

According to statistics compiled by the United States Children's Bureau, 594 agencies in 39 urban areas reported a total of 63,289 dependent and neglected children under care away from home in September 1940. Of this total, 72 public agencies were caring for 21,783 children, while 522 private agencies in the same communities had 41,506 children under care. Of the children under public care, 3,234 were in institutions and 18,549 were in foster homes; 22,427 of the children under private care were in institutions and 19,079 were in foster homes. (See also CHILD WELFARE.)

1939: Social Service, Public

Definition and Scope.

Public social service comprises all public tax-supported social work carried on by Federal, state and local governments. Defined functionally, it includes general assistance to the needy whether in the form of direct relief given in the home or work relief; assistance to the aged, to dependent children in their own homes, and to the blind; care of dependent, neglected, and delinquent children in institutions and foster homes; institutional care of dependent adults; special welfare services for the medically indigent, for underprivileged children, and for the mentally and physically handicapped.

Current Volume of Relief.

The major activities in the field of public social service during 1939 in point of cost and number of persons affected fall under two principal headings; direct assistance and work relief. The first includes public assistance (a collective term covering general relief, furnished by state and local public welfare agencies, and the three Social Security programs of categorical relief — old age assistance, aid to dependent children and aid to the blind — administered by state and local governments with Federal financial participation); direct relief to needy farm families through the Farm Security Administration; and the distribution through state and local relief agencies of surplus commodities bought by the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation. Under the second heading — work relief — are included the work programs of the Work Projects Administration (until July 1939, the Work Progress Administration), the National Youth Administration, and the Civilian Conservation Corps. Wages of work-relief programs are financed entirely by Federal funds. State and local agencies sponsoring WPA projects must bear a portion of costs other than wages, such share being termed the sponsor's contribution.

In June 1939 there were in the Continental United States approximately 1,568,000 cases receiving general relief; 1,843,000 persons receiving old age assistance; 311,000 cases (including 748,000 children) receiving aid to dependent children; and 68,000 recipients of aid to the blind. The Farm Security Administration assisted some 69,000 families during that month. About 2,569,000 persons were employed by WPA; 494,000 by NYA; and 266,000 by the CCC. These figures represent decreases from the corresponding month of 1938 for general relief cases, cases aided by the Farm Security Administration and persons employed by WPA. The figures for old age assistance, aid to dependent children, aid to the blind, and for CCC and NYA employment are on the other hand, considerably above the June 1938 level, with the net result that the total number of cases receiving public aid in June 1939 exceeds last year's figure by about 56,000.

While the later months of the year usually show a rise in relief with the approach of winter, this seasonal tendency was considerably lessened in 1939 because of improved economic conditions. (See also WORK RELIEF IN THE UNITED STATES.)

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1939, a total of approximately $3,283,006,000 was expended by Federal, state and local governments for direct assistance and work relief in the Continental United States, administrative costs excluded.

Surplus commodities, paid for out of Federal funds, had an estimated retail value of $145,000,000.

Financing.

The Federal Government and most of the states finance public social service through general appropriations rather than earmarking specific taxes. Some exceptions in financing old age assistance are found, for example, in Colorado, where constitutional provisions reserving certain revenues for this program have threatened the maintenance of other functions of government; in Oklahoma and Wyoming, where consumers' taxes are earmarked, and in Utah, which utilizes sales-tax revenues. Iowa will, in future, draw upon income, corporate, and sales-tax revenues to finance increased old age assistance and Nebraska has reserved a percentage of the gasoline tax for this purpose.

Categorical Assistance.

The first amendments to the Social Security Act since its enactment four years ago include provisions for more liberal Federal participation in aid to the aged, dependent children, and the blind. For old age assistance and aid to the blind, the maximum per individual on which the Federal Government will pay its 50 per cent share is raised from $30 to $40. Since the Federal share must be matched by the states, the practical effect of this provision will be limited to those states which have relatively high individual grants. It would seem that the increase in the Federal maximum resulted partly from heightened pressure for old age pension legislation, as adoption of the Townsend Plan itself had been defeated in Congress prior to enactment of the amendments to the Social Security Act.

Another change affecting old age assistance, and the other categories as well — designed to prevent use of these programs for general pension purposes — specifies that beginning July 1, 1941, the state agencies in determining need must consider 'any other income and resources' of applicants. The merit system of choosing personnel must be applied in state and county agencies after Jan. 1, 1940. Action during 1939 by Missouri and New Hampshire complete compliance by the states with the provision (contained in the original Act) that by Jan. 1, 1940 the age of eligibility for old age assistance be reduced to 65.

The promotion of pension schemes of the kind termed Utopian gained tremendous momentum in several states during the year, but the two chief measures submitted to popular vote were defeated. These were the Bigelow Plan in Ohio and the so-called 'Ham and Eggs' or '$30 every Thursday' proposal for an amendment to the constitution of California, both containing drastic provisions for financing. Although old age assistance payments are certainly not excessive from the standpoint of decent and healthful living, it is a fact that in the majority of states more than half of all funds for the aid of the needy are expended upon the aged. This means still less adequate grants for other dependent classes inasmuch as there are far more needy persons under 65 than over that age.

The 1939 amendments were, in general, the same for the three special categories of assistance. An exception was the provision removing inequality in the Federal reimbursement rate between old age and blind assistance on the one hand, and aid to dependent children on the other. Effective Jan. 1, 1940, Federal funds will meet 50 per cent of the cost of the latter program instead of the present 33 per cent, making the percentage of reimbursement the same for all three categories. The maximum grant on which the Federal government will pay its share is still limited, however, to $18 for the first child in a family and $12 for each additional child. Another amendment permits states to raise the age limit from 16 to 18 for children regularly attending school. Ten states, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia, are not able through current legislation to grant assistance to such children. Two other states, already able to include children of 17, are planning legislation to extend the age to 18.

Work Relief and General Relief.

The Work Projects Administration Bill (note change in WPA title) set the appropriation for this major work relief program at $1,477,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940. Representing a reduction of funds by more than one-third, this action necessitated a reduction in employment. The statute provides that geographic allocation of funds be based on relative population and unemployment, and that persons who have been employed on WPA for 18 months be dismissed and not be rehired for at least 30 days. The paying of prevailing hourly rates for skilled work was abandoned and wage differentials among different localities were changed.

Since the Federal works program and the state-local general relief programs are complementary, drastic reduction in WPA would be expected to cause a much higher general relief load. As a seasonal rise is also expected with the approach of cold weather, it is not possible to determine how much of the actual increase between June and the close of 1939 was due to changes in WPA. It is safe to conclude, however, that these changes would have caused a much greater rise in general relief had it not been for considerable economic improvement during the same period. See also WORK-RELIEF IN THE UNITED STATES.

Medical Care.

There was a trend among the states during the year toward increased grants of public assistance to individuals in need of medical, surgical, or nursing care. Such little child welfare legislation as there was dealt largely with increased aid for crippled children. The Wagner National Health Bill, laid over until the next session after several hearings in Congress, proposed a national health program involving grants-in-aid to states under approved plans to provide medical care (especially to persons unable to pay), aid to states to extend clinic and hospital facilities and services, aid to states for disability benefits where the states have established satisfactory programs of medical care, and increased grants for state work in the fields of public health, maternal and child care, and control of certain major diseases. State legislatures in general put off action to await Congressional action on the Wagner bill. The feature of the bill which would aid the development of state health insurance has stimulated interest in this question among the states. New York and New Hampshire have legislative commissions studying the problem of medical care, and a health insurance bill was introduced in California but failed of passage.

Membership in nonprofit hospital service plans increased greatly during the year. Total enrollment on July 1, 1938, was not quite 1,950,000; by July 1, 1939, 4,034,000 were covered by this insurance. There is a strong movement underway to extend low-cost group service to the field of medical and surgical care, and successful plans are in operation in a few states. Several other states passed enabling legislation this year. While these voluntary insurances are not within the means of the very poor, they are of interest to the general field of public social service, and supervision of the type and cost of care is, in some jurisdictions, shared by state departments of public welfare.

Social Insurances.

The social insurances are so closely related to public social service that significant changes in their provisions should be noted here. The 1939 amendments to the Social Security Act relating to the old age insurance system marked great advances from the standpoint of social usefulness. Instead of relating benefits to the exact amount of prior wages, benefits are now to be related to needs of the insured and their dependents. Aged wives and widows of annuitants and younger widows with children will receive benefits under the new provisions. Aged parents will receive survivors benefits under certain circumstances. Payments of benefits will begin in 1940 instead of 1942. Coverage has been extended to include employees of banks, maritime labor on American vessels, and persons continuing in employment after age 65. (See also SOCIAL SECURITY.)

Unemployment insurance administration has been simplified in sixteen states during 1939 by the adoption of benefit tables within wage classes in lieu of the former complex method of computing each individual benefit separately. Nine states have also adopted the simple and constructive device of uniform periods of duration of benefits for all qualified workers. Merit-rating of contributions, a source of great administrative complexity, was abandoned in four states but adopted for the first time in two others and the Territory of Hawaii.

Railroad workers are not covered by old age insurance under the Social Security Act but under a separate system administered by the Railroad Retirement Board. An amendment to the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act provided that effective July 1, 1939, railroad employees be excluded from state unemployment insurance programs and that the Railroad Retirement Board administer unemployment compensation on a national scale for this industry.

Organizational Changes.

Important in the trend toward better integration of social service functions was the regrouping of Federal agencies and bureaus to form, as of July 1, 1939 the Federal Security Agency and the Federal Works Agency. The former includes the Social Security Board, the National Youth Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the United States Employment Service, Office of Education, and Public Health Service while the latter brings together the Work Projects Administration, the United States Housing Authority and several public works agencies not related to public social service. The Department of Labor retains the Children's Bureau and the Immigration and Naturalization Services. The Railroad Retirement Board remains an independent agency.

State governments to establish new welfare departments during the year were Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island and Texas, and five other states made very substantial changes in the organization of existing agencies. Still others put through minor organizational changes.

Conclusion.

In general the year 1939 has seen advances in organizational structure, in liberalization of public assistance, in reorientation of old age insurance on the basis of needs of annuitants and their survivors, and in simplifying unemployment insurance. Attention is now centered on the whole problem of medical care to such extent that further social action may be expected in the near future.

1939: Social Service, Private

No satisfactory definition of private social work has yet appeared. As discussed in this article, the term comprises all privately-operated, non-profitmaking institutions and agencies specifically concerned with the prevention, amelioration, care or treatment of dependency, delinquency, defect, disease and other human ills, and the positive promotion of socially desirable conditions. While all these agencies are supported in whole or in part by private funds, many derive a large part (and some even a major part) of their income from public tax sources.

The year 1939 saw a continuation of trends that have profoundly influenced the field of private social work during the past decade. The Great Depression has been a major conditioning factor in the field. Its impact on the public conscience, resulting in the acceptance of public responsibility for wide areas of social welfare which had previously been considered the domain of private philanthropy, necessitated a reorientation of the latter. Sharp contraction of private resources also influenced the development of this field. On the other hand, certain outstanding trends in private social work antedated the depression in their origin. Chief among these are the tendencies toward centralization and coordination of activities, especially as reflected in the financing and administration of private social agencies.

Central Financing Organizations.

In urban areas of 25,000 population or over, the most widely used method of central financing is the community chest, a cooperative organization that carries on centralized fund campaigns each year for its affiliated health and welfare agencies. There were over 518 chests in 1939; of cities with populations of 100,000 or over, only five had no chest.

Community chests operate on the principle that it is more economical and expedient to raise funds for private social service by concerted and intensive community-wide drives than by uncoordinated campaigns of individual agencies. Funds thus raised are distributed among the member agencies according to a prearranged budget. Most chests are nonsectarian or inter-sectarian in makeup. The chest idea is by no means universally accepted, and many organizations, large and small, continue to carry on independent campaigns for funds.

Closely allied to the community chest principle, but differing from it in several important respects, are the Chicago Community Fund and the Greater New York Fund. These central financing organizations, both of which are nonsectarian, accept no individual donations, but instead restrict their campaigns to business and employee groups. No degree of budgetary control or supervision is exercised over member agencies, which are permitted to carry on their own campaigns for contributions, with the provision that they shall not again solicit from groups that have already contributed to the central fund. In its 1939 campaign the Greater New York Fund raised nearly $3,400,000 up to September 30 of that year, to be distributed among its approximately 400 participating agencies.

Other organized methods of financing private social work include charity balls, benefits and parties, tag-day and membership drives, and special newspaper appeals, such as the New York Times' 'Hundred Neediest Cases.' Federated bodies of Jewish or Catholic social agencies carry on joint financing campaigns in many communities. Every year a nation-wide Mobilization for Human Needs is conducted on behalf of 35 national private social agencies, as a means of reinforcing local campaigns. Outstanding examples of direct fund-raising drives by national organizations are the annual roll call of the American National Red Cross and the Christmas seal campaign of the National Tuberculosis Association.

Contributions to Community Chests.

It is impossible to present an estimate of the total amount raised annually for all private social work, but community chest figures give us some indications of current trends. A total of $82,808,793 was raised by 518 chests of 1939 (Funds budgeted for 1939 were raised during the previous year.). This amount represents a decline of about one million dollars from that raised for 1938 by 480 chests. One-third of the 1939 total was accounted for by the ten largest chests, which raised sums ranging from $1,800,000 to $4,500,000. The peak year for community chest drives was 1932, when a total of $101,377,537 was raised. This year marked the last desperate effort of private philanthropy to maintain major responsibility for unemployment relief necessitated by the great depression.

An analysis of contributions for 1939 in 125 cities made by the Community Chests and Councils, Inc., shows that seventeen out of every hundred persons in these cities subscribed to the local chest. Thirteen of the seventeen contributors gave less than $5, averaging $1.61. It is significant that the percentage of givers of amounts of $25 and less has been steadily increasing in recent years. An important factor influencing the extent of contributions is the income tax exemption on gifts to private charitable enterprise.

It is likely that taxes on wages and payrolls in connection with the social security program will have some effect on voluntary contributions to welfare agencies, although no marked influence is discernible as yet.

Sources and Disposition of Income.

Besides voluntary gifts and bequests, the income of private social work is derived from tax funds and fees paid by clients. It has been estimated that member agencies of community chests in 1938 received 37.8 per cent of their total income from the chest, 36.1 per cent from fees charged to clients, 8.1 per cent from public tax funds, and 18 per cent from miscellaneous sources, including income from endowments. Hospitals and leisure-time agencies derived a large proportion of their income from fees paid by clients, such payments accounting for 64.5 per cent of hospital income and nearly 40 per cent of the funds of leisure-time services. Child-caring agencies derived about 25 per cent of their income from beneficiaries, and 16.5 from tax funds. Tax funds account for nearly 20 per cent of the income sources of hospital and other health services. There are two types of public subsidies to private agencies: per capita payments on the basis of services rendered, and lump-sum subsidies. A joint committee of health and welfare officials recently stated its preference for the former over the latter type of public payment.

As for the distribution of community chest funds for 1939 statistics covering 96 cities which raised nearly half the grand chest total indicate that about one-fourth of the total amount was allocated for family service and general dependency, 23.7 per cent for leisure-time activities, 18.4 per cent for the care of children, a little more than 20 per cent for hospitals and other health services, 2.9 per cent for delinquency, 1.6 per cent for care of the aged, and 10.1 per cent for the Chest and Council. Private expenditures for the care of the aged have declined sharply of late, due in large measure to the extensive public programs for old age security. On the other hand, an upward trend in support of leisure-time services has been noted since 1933.

Central Planning.

Central financing, as illustrated by the chest idea, represents one major aspect of the trend toward coordination in private social work. Central planning, as represented by councils of social agencies, reflects another. In a number of communities the chest and council are combined in one organization; in others they are separate and independent entities. While financing must inevitably have some effect on policy-making, it is still a disputed question whether the community is best served by having both financing and planning functions vested in a single agency.

The council idea is an old one, but only in recent years has it been put into effective operation in a large number of communities. It represents a distinct departure from the time-worn custom of social agencies to act independently and even in competition with one another. The ideal methodology of the council includes a broad study of community needs and an analysis of the available and potential resources for meeting them, from which a community program is carefully worked out with the aim of obtaining a maximum degree of cooperation and efficiency from each member agency. Duplication and competition is eliminated or minimized wherever possible.

Public and Private Social Work.

The unprecedented expansion of public welfare since 1933 has profoundly affected the course of private social work in several respects, as previously noted. The continual growth of Federal and state Social security programs has greatly reduced the need for private social work in certain fields in which it formerly played an important and even dominant role. This trend has been reflected most sharply, of course, in the field of general relief. Statistics based on a study of 116 urban areas show that in 1929 nearly 25 per cent of relief funds came from private sources; in 1931 it reached a peak of 29 per cent; in 1939 private funds accounted for considerably less than 1 per cent of total expenditures for relief. In July, 1939, more than $101,000,000 was expended in these 116 urban areas for public assistance and earnings from WPA-operated projects, as compared with only $768,422 expended by private agencies for relief, representing .8 per cent of the total outlay. The contribution of private agencies to the total relief bill has remained substantially under 1 per cent for several years. In rural districts, according to statistics gathered by the Social Security Board, the ratio of private to public funds for relief is much less than in urban districts.

As public welfare has pushed onward along the frontiers of material aid, private social work has concentrated increasing attention on the development of non-material services. Private agencies are tending to accept the theory that the supplying of basic economic needs is essentially a governmental problem. Generally more flexible than public welfare bodies, private social agencies have proved of great benefit as experimental laboratories, initiating many programs that were later taken over as permanent activities of public agencies. The better private agencies also may be credited with maintaining and improving standards of social welfare, both public and private.

While non-material services are receiving more emphasis in private social work, relief-giving still constitutes an essential though declining part of its activities, especially in the area of family welfare. Statistics covering 59 sample private family welfare agencies, compiled by Ralph G. Hurlin of the Russell Sage Foundation, show that relief cases constituted about 39 per cent of the total number of their active cases in September 1939. This figure compares with a ratio of 48 per cent in 1936 and 1937, and 40 per cent in 1938. The extent of material relief granted by private agencies is naturally conditioned by the public assistance program prevailing in the community.

Family welfare agencies have continued the exploitation of the social case work process in meeting the problems of their clients. It is interesting to note, however, that the highly individualized approach to social unadjustment, in which the individual client was regarded as the unit of treatment, is now giving way to a return to the old principle of the family as the proper unit of the case worker's attention.

Coordination of Private Social Work.

The general trend toward coordination of private effort was reflected in the family welfare field in 1939 by agency mergers that took place in Greenwich and Stamford, Connecticut, Peoria, Illinois, St. Paul, Minnesota, Elmira, New York, and New York City. Most of the recent mergers in private social work have been between family welfare and child-caring agencies.

One of the most significant events of 1939 was the consolidation of the two largest family welfare agencies in the country — the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor and the Charity Organization Society in New York City. Established in 1843 and 1882, respectively, the two organizations were merged into the present Community Service Society, with a combined capital fund of about $28,000,000. Expenditures of both agencies in the year before the merger aggregated more than $2,700,000.

The consolidation was preceded by a long and careful survey of the activities of both agencies within the community framework. It was found that the two organizations — which had espoused markedly similar aims from the very beginning — had been drawing closer together in attitudes and activities in late years, that they were duplicating each other's work at some points, and that the community would be more effectively served through a consolidated society. The final report of the New York A.I.C.P. contains a significant commentary on contemporary trends in private social work:

'There is a growing feeling that there are now such a large number of differentiated and specialized social service organizations that the whole field of social work suffers; that, in the community's organized efforts to deal with its problems, a pattern of service has developed which by its very complexity obstructs their usefulness. It is growing more difficult not only for individuals to act alone but for individuals in small groups to act separately. Team work, organization, planning together, must increasingly be the order of the day.'

The outcome of the consolidation of these giant agencies will be watched with interest.

The desirability of large-scale mergers in private social work, especially with respect to fund-raising aspects, has been questioned. Some observers incline to the belief that financial contributions are more easily obtained in behalf of special services (such as aid to needy children, the aged, etc.) than for general services. A substantially similar issue is being debated in the public welfare field by the proponents of 'categorical' relief as opposed to 'general' relief. Any survey of present trends in private social work would have to take into consideration the tremendous developments in public social security programs during recent years.