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estern U
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WO R K S
P. AOGHESS
HARRY
L.
A DM I N I S T R A T I
29~
HOPKINS, , ADMI N ISTRATOR
=r;!_/
CORRINGTON GILL
HOWAHO 8, MYERS, DIRECTOR
ASSISTANT ADMI N ISTRATOR
D1v1s10N OF SoctAL RESEARCH
RESEARCH
B U L L E T I N
ORGANIZATION AND PROCE~ RES
OF
THE MARYLAND OOARO OF STATE AID AND CHARITIES
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N i.JNI
K::i
f
PREF.ACE
In response to wa.ny requests that a study be made of social
work practice in rural areas, the Research Section of the
Division of Research, Statistics and Finc.:nce of the Federal
Emergency Relief Aaministration initiated such a survey in
July 1935. (The study was completed by the Division of Social Research of the Works Progress Administration.)
A staff of three social workers me.de a preliminary survey
of .three predominantly rural counties in different parts of
the country--Escambia County, Alabama; Redwood County, Minnesota; and Wicomico County, Maryland. The se counti es were
chosen primarily because in each of them an or~anized social work program, established prior to the depression, was
still functioning and beca~.1se the administration of general
relief had been and still was carried on under the supervision of a st a te organization.
A comparative analysis of the material gathered in these
three counties revealed the value of state planning and assistance in the establishment of ore anized social work in
these counti e s and the need for contin-1.ous supervision in
the development of rural social wor~ practice.
As a result of this analysis, it w.1.s decided to underte.ke
a survey of the work of the St~.te Department of Public Welfare in Alabama and of the Bo ard of State Aid and Charities
in Maryland with special emphasis up ,1n the rela tionship of
these agencies to rural public welfare agenci e s. Thc;se surveys were made during February and Ma~ ch 1936.1/
The following report is int ended to show the organization
of the Maryland sta te and loc a l public welf ar e services, the
extent and nature of the supe rvisory r es·~-ionsi bili ty assur:10 d
by the state agenci es, r:.11d
.
some of the effects ef their
leadership.
1/
Change s in the Maryland situation as a r esult of the
action ·of the legislature in April 1936 are noted in Append.ix G.
Prepar ed by
Elizabeth McCord
under the supervision of
T. J. Woofter, Jr.
Coordinator of Rural Research
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COlJTENTS
Pace
General Appraisal • • . • • • . . .
I.
II.
.
....
i
Factors in the Development of the St2 te Board
Effect of Federa.l Pr ogram • • • • • • • •
.
.
.
. . .. .
Orf.'an i zation a nd Practice of the State Board.
Le gal Provisions • •
•
•
Pr actic al Ope r r:c tion.
.
Source s of Fltn (7..S
.
De:9art ment of Social Wo rk Staff .
In t e r-Rela.tionshi ps of Staff Me'i'!be rs
•
Organization and Poli c ies of t he Divisi ons
...
. ....
... ... . ..
.....
.
III.
.
Orga..rii zat ion of t he Loc a l Units
County Welfare Boards.
• •
Local Staffs
•
Social 1:7o rk Practice
•
Community Attitudes.
..
.....
. .
.
. . . . .. . .. . . .
.
. . ...
.
.
.
.
..
..•
·1
2
4
4
4
5
6
8
9
16
16
16
19
20
Append.ix A
Law Defining Powers and Duties of t ::1e Board of St a te
Ai d. a.."ld Char i ti es and Provid.ing for Co1 m t y Welfare
Boards.
22
Ap:p endix B
Spe cificati ons for Personne l
• • • • • • • . • • . •
29
Appendix C
Out line of .Ad.mini stra ti ve Manua l • • • • • • • . • •
35
Ap ~1endix D
Outli n e of Old Age Manual • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
37
Ayipendix E
Minutes of St a te Staff Me e t i ng • . • • • • • • • • •
40
App en dix F
Not e Regar din g 1 936 Legisl a t i on • • • . • . . • . . •
43
.. ... . . . .. . .. . . . . .. .. .
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GENERAL .APPRAISAL
A few im; ortant p olici es and ,uroce d.ures stand out as
responsible for the high quality w:.-.i. i:::h has char .'.lct erized the work of
the Maryland Board of St ate .Aid ,md Ch[J,ri t ies as a whole. These factors may be summarized as follo1 ·s :
1.
Unpaid local boards have been selected jointly by the State :Board
and the cou..'1ty commis s ioners on the b a sis of interest in the progrom, ability, and repres entation. These boards have offered lay
leadership which has usually proved to be sound and non-partisan
2.
Both the administrator and the director of the Department of Social
Work have been well trained and have high professional standards.
This has made it possible for progressive planning and sound action
to originate at the top and also to be r e cognized and fostered
wherever they have occurred in the organiz o.tion.
3.
The state staff has been selected beco.us e of specific aoili ty in the
fi eld of p ublic welfr1.re, ru11i indi vidml qu.alificat ions for the work
to b e done. This is p articularly e viden t in t Le extent to whic h t ne
memb ers hav e had previous experi ,mc e in s ocial n ork as ne ll as p rofe ssional training. Such s e l ection of st ,'.d:( hD..s b eon made possibl e by
the Bon.rd' s policy of e mploying p orsons on t ne b a sis of qualifico.t ions
without limito.tion by such f acto1~ s [1.S r es i 0..ence or p oliticrtl affilia tion.
4.
Loc o.l st C'. ff members ho,ve botJn s ol ectod on the b as is, first of o.cc ep tabili ty to the county boo,r cls, and s e cond. of qua lificu.t ions for the
-rrork to 'ue done. This has brougi."1t about clo so coordina tion of uelf :JXe rrork uith other colfu~uni ty a c t iviti e s, and at t he same time has
r e sult ed in satisf~tctory- stnncbrds of ope r c~tion.
5.
.A clos e rel :,tionship hci.:::; b ee n rnaint o..inod 1:Je t ·,reun the st a te stci.ff and
the loc o..l vrork0rs. This has p rovi ded. o.n opp ortunity for the continuous dov olo}-Jment of the loc~,1 -rrorl::ers ,-,hilo on tho job.
6.
Both in tho st ~1..t e offi ce ,J.nd. i n t he r e l o..t i on of the s t c.te offic e to
loca l units e v ery effort ha s 00e21 mo,u.e to cro c·,te conditions in ,.-rh ich
,1orkers can function freel;7 a..---i.d r e sp ons i b ly according to eac h on e I s
abilities and limit at ions.
7.
The state staff has d.efined its function as mo.king l eaders:ni p ru1d
s upervision availabl e for each comnuni t y D.1."1d e : .1ch agen cy, r ~the r tha...11
d e t e rmining a pat t ern -;inic:'J. :·1.ms t be follo·:reci ex·~~ctly. The r es ult is
s een in the lack of unifor m st .:.mclox i s, both in r eli e f n.nd servic e ; in
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the t1mount of init i F1.ti ve twr.en by loc·:i.l boa rds and other l ay persons;
and in the willingn ess of boa rd members to ass1Jine responsibility for
the \,Ork of the loc a l a.t;enc i es.
8.
E;.;.c).1 community has been regard.ed by the s t a t e st a ff not 2:.s a sin gle
unit wl1ich will e ithe r oppos e or SUJ;port soci a l work but· !is co:nposed
of individua ls who h a vo VQrying rel a tionships to the d evelopment of
loc a l soci a l \✓0rk .
9.
Tne st a te st~ff has been interested in both p ro gr am a nd pr a ctice. It
lla.s H.Cted on the theory thc:.t a soci a l \'rorl:: program me re l y provides
the fr am e-work for a ssistance to individuals; t ha t sound development
of pr act ic e is a lso neces s ary; and tha t the futhC:,rin g of this d e velo pment is as much th e res p onsibility of the St a te :Cepi:!,rt rr,0nt as proj ecting 8. pro s ram.
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THE MARYLAND BOA.RD OF S'.r ATE AID AND CHARITIES
I.
Fac t ors i n t he Development of the St a te Boa rd
Until 1930 .Mary l and had left the responsibility for t h e development of social worlc throughou t the st a t e to l)rivat e initia tive. Legisl a tion concerning the wel fa r e of und er-privileged citiz ens had bee n almost
entirely per;:· is s i ve. It had provided no machinery for an educational progr9II1
to stimul a te action, no central bure au for advising and assisting county
units, and no means by which a plan for public welfare s ervic es might be
worked out for a county too poor to adopt a progr am una ided.
St ate grants-in-aid were given to private institutions a s ea rly
as 1798, and later public institutions were fi nanced from state fund s , but
little or nothing had ever been expended for a pr eventive , non-institutional
public soci al work program. Such st ate a id as was given to institutions was
centered in the Boa rd of St ate Aid and Cha riti es orgenized in 1900 .
In the report of the Social Welfa r e Comrnission!./in 1930 , the soci al
work in the 23 counti e s was outlined a s follo ws:
Seven counties had branches of the Maryland Ch ildren's Aid Society.
One county was in the process of organizing a branch of the Society.
'.Ihree counties had family welfare a genci es with paid workers, privately
supported.
One county enga~ed a work er paid by the county commissioners to ad.~inister reli ef.
One county had a probation offic e whos e work included family adjustment.
Ten counties h ad no paid s ocial worke rs.
One of the maj or recommendation s of the Social Welfare Commissi on
was tha t the Board of Sta te Aid and Charities ex tend its services so that
there would gradually d evelop a st ate department of welfare wh ich would be
comparable to the departments of h f:alth and education.
'.Ihe point of view expressed in th e r eport is important in rel ation
to the subsequent developme nt of the work of the Boa rd of St at e Aid and
Charit i es. The report st a t ed:
"Communities diff er as r adically and as p eculi a rly as individuals diff er. Before any organization is superimposed on a county
the re should be c areful case study of that county a s an 'individual'
8nd a plan evolved which will most adequat el y me e t its ne eds. It is
a s unsound for a community as for an individual to have things done
1 for 1 it r a ther thc;.n to hav e the initiative come from within • • • •
1/
Appointed in 1929 for the purpose of making a survey of the st a te's social
welfa re program.
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Thus a st a te social welf a r e p r ogr3JD should • • • be more in the na ture
of a p a rent or gani zation, whi ch by a p rocess of education a nd stimulation awakens in the commw1ity th e desire to achieve cert a in results.
Ev8n where a st a te h a s adopt ed u mor e or l ess idea l scheme it is
blocked in puttin g it into ope r a tion thr ou gh l a ck of personnel. There
is a dearth of tra ined social workers. Bu t even if there were no such
dearth the wisdom of constantly brin ging trained p ersons into a communit y from the outside is questionable • • • • We belie ve it is most
essentia l that a der artment of social welfare adopt an equalization plan
and reduce minimum requirements based on a businesslike estimate of what
the st a t e should sp end in preventive social work to forestall high bills
in the future c are of maladjusted pe rsons. • • • If these general principles a re follo ,7ed in d eveloping the present Boa rd of State Aid and
Charities then the k eynot e of the MarJland p rogram will be a s it should
be, growth and f lexibility. 11
Immediately after the commission made it s report the social worker
who had conduct ed the surv ey wa s employed by the Board of State Aid and
Charities to continue studying the situation and to be gin carrying out some
of the recommendations.
Ea rly in 1933 the Governor set up an independent committee for
the distribution of emer ge ncy reli ef, but in the 1933 l egislative se s s i0<l
the Bo a rd of St a te Aid and Charities was made t he off' ici n.l :an -rgcncy Relief
.Administration, effective July 1, 1933.
In the 1935 legislative session the Bo ard's duties and functions
were enl a r ged to make possible a more general st a te wel fa re program and
to p rovid e for county welf a re bo a rds. Tnis new law, which went into effect
June 1, 1935, provided a me ans for receiving and dispensing Federa l Social
Security funds and made p os s ible the re aliz ation of the recommenda tions made
by the cormnission in 1930 for t h e development of a depa rtment of welf a re
comparable to othe r st ate departmen ts.
Effe ct s of Fede r al Pro gr am
The Federal ]}ne r gency Reli ef Administration not only provided
the st ate with fund s which could not or would not have be en p rovided in
any othe r way, but it also had th e b ene ficial effect of helping to raise
standards of reli ef. The counti es worked out their own st anda rds to a
large ext ent and they ha ve continued to u se th em sinc e t h e t ermina tion of
the E. R. A., in est ablishing budgets for old ag e pensions. In gene ral
these bud gets are hi g..~ er than they would h ave been t h r ee y ears ago before
the counti e s h ad f elt the influenc e of Fed eral money and Federal sup ervi s ion.
The supervisory contact between state and Federal governments
under the F.E.R.A. had both negative and positive results. The whole Federal relief pro gram emphasized consideration for the client as an individual, respect for work as such r a the r than work for test purposes, and
adequacy of relief. This philosophy gave we ight to the type of program that
the State Board wished to e stablish in the counti e s. Th er e was no evidence
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of the old poor relief philosophy in the Federal Emergency Relief .Administration progrrun. In discarding such principles as publishing names of
clients and other means of making relief unpleasant, the F.E.R• .A. was a
decided force in advancing local thought on the whole relief question.
The F-E.R.A. policy of employing t:rained persons to administer the work
also mad.e it easier for the State Board to overcome local resistance to
trained personnel.
The procedures of the F-E.R • .A. were less helpful than its policies. The speed with which orders had to be executed often created friction
between the state administration and the local it i Rs, vthich sometimes resisted the orders, or took the attitude that the state alli~inistration should
solve the problems since it was forcing the issues • .Also plans conceived in
Washington did not always fit the local situation and did not readily allov,
for modification.
The relation of the state to the Federal gov8rnment changed
decidedly after the termination of F.E.R.A. grnnts • .At the time of the
survey, funds were being received from the Social Security Board for old
age pensions on the basis of legislation already passed. .A rilan for special
child welfare services had been approved by the Children's Bureau of the
United St a tes DcpartmL,nt of Labor and the Maryland allotment of $22,000 a
year for this work was soon to be made a vail~ble. In .April 1936, the legislature met and ennctcd laws which would enable the st a te to obtain Social
Security funds for aid. to dependent children and to the blind •.!./ Members of
the Board of State .Aid and Charities expressed the hope to the observer th~t
they would receive help from both the Children's Bureau and the Social Security Board in planning a progressive program, a."ld that they could look to
the Federal a gencies for specialized skill and service which would supplement
and stimul ate the st at e staff.
The Social Security money seems to have provided the impetus necessary to make the st ,1-te and counties take immediate action to fill the gap
left by the withdrawal of Federal relief funds in 1935. Both the state leg,-islature and the county commissione rs saw the advantage in providing means
for matching Federal funds as soon as possible. Wheth er the limitation of
Federal funds to a few definite categories will limit the action of the
state and localities in providing for more gene ral reli e f is yE.,t to be det 0:rmincd.
1/
See Appendix G, Note Regarding 1936 Legislation.
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II.
Organization and Practice of the State Board
Legal Provisions
The law providing for Cou.11ty
..
Welfare Boaru..s, w:hic:i went into
ef:ft::ct on June 1, 1935, a lso amended the law relatiYe to the Board of
State Aid anci.. Cl~aritiesl/ In order to make it comply with the provisions
of the Social Security Act.
l;he State Board was made the .se3-..1ncy to h!.llldle Social Security
and otr.En· :E'ederal funds for welfare and relief in Maryland. It wa s ma.de
th o llce;:ntral, coordin:,ting and directing agency" of welfa re activities in
th.::: st c•,te. All activiti us of the County Welfare BoaTds and of the Depr:i,rt,n a1t of Welfa re of B:1lt irnore City, f inane ed. in whole or in part by the
st : : .te, were pl aced uncler its supervision, direction, and control.
The :Board rras e:npoviered to cre a te a County Welfa re Bo a. rd in
each county, and to select the persons from whom the county commissioners
could mal.c e appointments to the local boards. The Boa rd v:as further given
authority to prescribe the number, salaries, and minimum qualifica tions
of the personnel engaged in state financed activities of tl1e loca l boards.
The Board vms also directed to 11 investiga te, study, and cons:i..der
the whole system of public and private institutions, or •: ;anizations and
a gencies of a charitabl e na ture in t l1e stat e , including those which receive
part of their income rror!1 the stat8 11 • It wa s 6 iv-:m '"'u thority to inspect
welfare institutions or a ~encies, and to suspend or revoke licenses and
ord8r withdrawal of stat c appropriations 1i1here conditions were found to
warrant such act ion.
The law stated that the Board should consist of eic;ht persons,
incluclin0 the Governor, the Director of Eealth, and six appointees of the
Governor. Terms of office were SFlt ~t four years. The Boa rd was directed
to appoint. a "competent :::erson 11 to act as its full-time executive secretary.
This person should have tra ining cl.Ild experience in 11 soci al welfare and
relief worka.
Practical Operation
While the law gave the Bo ~rd of St a te Aid and Charities almost
unli;uited control over the v1ork of local &gencies, the J3oaro. in practice
ado:pted the policy of exerting little absolu te control.
In the rnattEc:r of Old Ag e Assist ance, for instance, the St a te
Board had authority to e stablish detailed st andards for assistanc o . Inst ead
of set ting up rigid st &ndards, however, it was merely r ecommending tha t
]J Seo Appendix A.
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Old Age Assistance be based on a budget which included all the necessities
of living. The amounts for individual i terns it left to the cletermination
of th~ local boards. As a result of this policy, the budgets for Old Age
Assistance vo.ried widely frorr. county to county. At the tim8 of the survey
the range · was from $9. 75 per person per month in one county to $21. 85 per
person per month in another.
The same policy was pursued in regard to salaries of county
workers. The Board had set a salary scale for each position in the county
as well as in the state organization, but it was not insisting that this
scale be followed in the counties. Consequently, many local workers were
still being paid $75 a month, the minimum salary set by the state, whereas
under the state policy of salary increases, they should have been receiving
$85.
There were only two ways in which the State Board definitely
exercised an administrative function. It audited the books of the County
Welfare :Boa.rds, send.ing a state z.udi tor to each county about once a month;
and it required monthly reports from each county, all records being retained
in the county office.
In practice, the St ate Board I s ralat ionship with the local boards
was chiefly supervisory and it ext enried. such service to almost every function
of the County Vielfare Boards. Its se rvic e v2.ric,d from rocommending technical procedures to l1elping develop points of view and philosophy. Its relationship to County Boards vms sometimes direct, but more frequently it was through
the local executive, especially if this executive had not yet established
himself in the community. However, the state administratpr, or in a few
cases some other member of the state staff, , with one or two members of the
State Board, met with each County Board when it was first established.
Tne relationship with the county commissioners was also an essential part of the st a te st ~ff 1 s activity. Both directly and through the
local executive the st aff tended to seek the advice of the county .corn.rnissioners whenever decisions on local matters were being made.
Sources of Funds
At the time of the survey, the state was financing all of the
work of the County Welfare Boards except that one-third of the Old Age Assistance grants was being supplied by the counti e s under the law of 1935. '.Ihe
state funds cnme from the one percent gross receipts tax levy for emergency
relief, effective April 1, 1G35 to April 1, 1936. This money had been allocated to the counties for relief and. administrative exr,enses according to
their needs as estimated by the counties and approved by the State Board.
All fu..."'1.ds were ad.'l',inistcred by the counties.·
In tho first we0k of April 1936 the Gen8ral Assembly was to convene for the purpose of considering furthe r relief and Social Security
measuresl/in ord0r to continue the relief r.ork after the gross sales tax
expired on April 1.
1/
See Ap-pendix G, Note Regarding 1936 Legislation.
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The regular budget of the state made no prov~s1on for the public
aci~inistration of relief except for a small staff of the Board of State Aid
and Charities. The counties, besides providing one-third of the co s t of Old
.Age Assistance, levied taxes for II outdoor pensions" and in a few insta:-1ces
for Mothers' Aid. No Federal funds were available for Mothers' Aid at the
time of the survey, since the state Mothers' .l).id Law did_ not meet the qualifications set up by the Social Security Act.l/
At the time of this survey, a State Commit te e on Fol icy and
Rennue for Aid to the Nt; edy ( the 11 Casey Cornmitt ee 11 ) , appoint ed -by the
Govr;:, rnor, was studying the probl em of continuing the r elie f pro gr .sm in
re gard to both perman ent lon g-time public assistance, and tE:111porary a id to
employable persons and their families not ca red for by the Works Fro gress
Administration and the Public Works Administration.~/ The financing of Old
Age Assistance, Aid to Dependent Children,and other child welfa re activities
was of major concern to this cornmittee.0'
Department of Social Work Staff
The accompanying chart shows the organiz ation of the Department
of Social Work of the Maryland Board of State Aid and Charities.1:/ This
departruent performs the major part of the work of the :Bo.:u d. It functions
through four divisions, the Division of Field Supe rvision and County Organization, the Division of Case Work Supervision and Pers rmnel, th e Division
of Child Welfare, and the Division of Re s earch and Statistics. Each of
these divisions is under th e direction of a chief directly responsible to
the director of the Depa rtment.
The pe r sonnel of the staff at the time of the survey wns the same
as that which administer ed emergency relief. Just prior to the survey, all
members except the administrator and the director of social work had t al:en
civil service examinations for classific ation purposes.
The professional staff included 15 work ers pa id by the st a te.
Ten of thE-s e had their h eadqua rters in th e Baltimore off ice and f 1 mct ioned
in the st a te as a whol e - one a s the dir8ctor, t nre e in the Divis:on of
Fi old St1pervision and County Organi zation, three in the Division of
l/ The leg isl a tion cnact 0d in April 1936 conformed with t h e Social Security
Act.
'?J Another commit tee ( the "Boyd Com:ni t te e 11 ) was appointed by the le gislature
at the 1935 session to mak e a stud.J, of tl1e st a te government, i ncludin g a
study of relief. This c ommitt ee r eport ed on a numb er of indivi d.u rtl cases
at the 1936 session but its r eport had no important eff ect on l eg islation.
y The r eport of the "Cas ey Committee " to th e GE:ne ral Ass embly in th e April
193G session recorrunE:ndE.d that the city and county reli ef units be given
compl ete autonomy in the administrati on of r eli ef, that r eli ef funds be
handl ed by the Board of }·ublic Works, and th1:1.t the Bo u.rd of St ate Aid and
Charities be ma.d.e•a supervisor;/, policy forming, planning , and reviewing
body only. This plan wa s not acceptable to t he Social Security Board and
was not approved by the General Assembly. The original organization bill
enacted in 1935 (Chapt e r 586 of the Laws of Maryland) was allowed to stand
without amendment.
1./ There is no administrative relationship between the Board of State Aid and
Charities and other state departments~ However, the Director of Health is an
ex-officio memb eDigll~ect.tfye Board.
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O'!"ganization Chart of Departme nt of' Social ·Fork
Boar~ o • State Aid a nr'1 Ch a ri ties
z
0
~
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I
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Bx ec uti ve Secretary
~R elief Arm:i nis+.rator)
mo
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-------1
C
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i'_ _ _ _ __________ -
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Business and
Finance
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DPp-:i.rtmen~ o• Social ti1ork
Di r ecto r
·1
--
1----------1One
'- ------..------ - - - --!
---- - ----- - ----------,--,--- - -~--- - - - -·- -..
:!:)i,,ision o f Field
l
Di visi on of Research and l
Stot'sti cs
2
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~
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Chief St~t i stic ian
! Statisti c al As s i sbmts
One Gtenor; r aphe r
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Chief
Ass i st ant Chief
Fie l --1 8upe r:risor
Ona Ste1102; r aphe r
1
.
1. _
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m
~
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- - - - ·· -
-
-
- Division ; f Childl
Welfare
---.J
I
I
State
_ _ _ _ - - - - - - ·-
l
"Di v:'... sion of Case ·1vcrk
SupP r vi s i on and Personne~
-----,
-·j
___I
- - --------- - -----------1
12 -Exe
-c-ut-ives
- - Paid
- - ---~
by
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eel
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------'-
~- - - - -- - - - - ----·-~--·L ___ I
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Supe r vi sion a n r! County
Or r"l nization
I
m 3·
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:
_
Ste-n c ;;r;"9h0 r
Chief
Case 'Nor k Consultant
Rc:i on~l Case Supervisor
On~ Steno s r aphcr
----
II
I
I
________,
Chief
Children's Worke r i
Statistical Ass't
One Steno ~r aphe r
3 Case Supenris ors in
Countie s Paid :.,y State
---
Board of St 3.te Aid and Chari ties, J an m ry 22 , 1?36
1/
The Boar<:'1 o f 0 tJ.te Airi and Char itie s has supervision ov er a ll s tat e a i ded. ins ti tut i ons o.n,i a genc ie s,
:includ ing h os p::. to.ls , t u-':: tl, is vrn r l· is n ot departmentalized.
"°
s
0
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Case Work Supervision and Perso nnel, two in the Division of Child Welfare,
and one in the Division of Research and Statistics. Two of the 15 were
supervisors who had charge of the cns e supervi sion in three counties each ,
and were locat e d in one of the counti e s. Two executive s- and one c a se s i-oervi sor, with responsibility fo r one county each, were attached to the lo cal
rather than the stat e staff, and were ultima t e ly to be 9aid by thG localities.
1
Of the 12 m0mb ers of the stat e social work staff who were functioning in more than a local C[~paci ty, 11 had collet~e degrees, and s even had
done general gradu at e work. Five of the 12 were grci du?.t es of s chools of
social work, and five others had some formal tr aini ng in soci al work .
All of the profes s ional tra i ning had be en receive d since 1925 . Nine of the
12 had ha d experience in private social work, s even ha d had previous expe rience in public soci ~l work , and s even had ha d other professional or busine ss
experience.
The director of the Department of Soci a l Work had been connected
with the Maryland stat e welfare or r e lief p ro gram for f~ur and one half
years. The other 11 staff members had been with the st ate st aff for from
nine months to two and one half years.
The ages of the st rd'f r Bnge d from 31 to 43 years.
Inter-Rel a tion ships of Stmf Memb er s
Staff members in the st a t e office worke d to ge ther smo othly ?nd cooperatively. Status se emed r el a tively unimportn.nt. From the ndministrator
down there we,s no evidence of nn c>~uthori t n.ti ve a ttitude . The pe rson r e sponsible for a job c arrie d the r eul nut hority f or it.
Staff memb e rs wer e unusu::tlly willing to experiment. This quality
probably arose p rimarily from the f act tha t t he whol e staff a ccept ed the
possibility of f ailure and did not hold r.n y one p erson r espons ible if some
action prove d unsucc es sful. Occasional f d lur e wa s rec ogni ze d a s the necessary concomit ent of a gr owing j ob P-nd tho r easors fo r f nilure wer e vi ewe d
objectively.
Maj or polici e s nnd p roc edur e s wer e e s t 2.bli s hed by th8 s t at e s t !:ff a s
a whole. Before t a king up a question with t ho St nt e Boar d, for exampl e , t he
staff usually met for a thorough dis cu s sion of the issue and decided what
points should be t aken up with the Board.
Lines of responsibility were not clearly defi ne d as t he transition
was just being made from an emergency to a permanent set-up . Members of
the staff had assumed r esponsibility fo r certain 1·. ork becau se of their particular int erest of fitness for it, rather than be cause t heir pos itions
required it. New staff members had be en t n-ken on becau se the;y s eemed to
have something to contribut e to the tota l p ro gram r a the r t han because they
fitt e d neatly into a g iven nic he. At the time of the survey an a tt emp t was
being made to define more cl early the variou s respons ibiliti e s. Thi s we,s
being done mor e l a r gely in terms of the s ervi ce s th8 pr e sent s t a t e staff could ,
offer than in t erms of administr a tive machinery.
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These int e r-relationshi o s we ra lar gely due to the a dministrator
and the director of social work, wh0 wer e re ~p onsible not only for the
forma.J. structure of the staff but nlso for the atmosphe re in whic h the
organization functi oned.
The administrator, professionally trained in law, was l e nt to th::
r 0li ef administration at the beginning of the 0me r gen cy reli e f p ro g ram from
an e x e cutive :positio n i n p rivat e social work. :Bot h h •:; ari.d the director of
social work encour age d group discussions and grouu decisions by the sta ff.
fa, s hm•E; d gr eat skill in dealing with the Sta te :803.rd and with other l ay
g r oup s.
Th0 major spe ci a lized tra ining of t h t~ dire ctor of s oc i a l work h:,,d
b een in r oson.rch ~~ t s he had a lso hnd social work traini ng nnd exr,0ri 0nce .
She F,c:.ve he r staff memb ors actual r c sponsi bi J.i ty for developing t he ir O'Nll
j ob s without losing control of the s ituation. It was he r r eportl/ five ·
y 0a rs befo re which r~1d se t the goals now be ginning to be r ealized.
Organization a.,."ld Polici Ps of the Divisions
The wo rk of the D8~n artment of Soci al Work was a.ep a rtm::mtalized
as follows:
1.
Di vis i on of Fi el d Supervision nnd Coup.ty Orf;nni znti011
This Di vi s ion assume d maj or ad.mini s tra ti ,,e r ospons i bil i ty for the
count y organizations. All coun t y exe cut ive s were directly r Aspon3 ibl e to
t he chi Gf of thi s Divi sio n. It s duti e s wer e outline d by the St nt e Bon:rd?:,/
as foll ows :
( n ) Super visi on of a l l administr at i ve e.cti vi ti es . '11 he chi of of
the Division i s [l,ctuall;,,- t he chi ef of county exc, cutives . This su p ervision
impli es :
(1) Plcmning routi ne s and proc e dures, dra ftin g f orms,
ori g i nating rul es and r egulati ons for ~11 work of
t h e Coun ty Welfare Boa rd.s.
( 2 ) Li a i s on with the Dep n rtme nt of Busi ness a nd
Financ e en d its va rious sub- divi s ions .
( 3 ) Adminis t r a tive r evi ew of c omp li anc e wit h r egul e.tio n s
in the gr an ti n 6 of s p ecial funas.
( b) Consul tat ion with the county exe cuti ve. on spec ial p r oblem s of :
( 1) Co mmuni t~r atti tud.es a..ri.d r elationshi ns .
( 2) Ex t e n s i on of !3.gency s ervi c,:is a nd fu H::ti on s.
1 / Report of t he Socia.l We l fa re Commi ss i on of t he St n te of Maryl 2.n d.
?.,/ From the -y, l an sul,;ni t t e d t o tha Chil dr en I G Bu r eau for p a rticip 2ti ri n in
funds fo r s peciB.l c hild welfare s e rvi ce r, ,
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( 3) Re 1a t ion t o othe r a g e nc i e s .
(4) Relation to county governm, n t.
(5) Financial support from lo cal community.
(6) Ac tiviti e s of thti b oard, i n mee t ing s and as individuals.
( 7) Cor;-illli tt e o or ganiz ati on a11d lay g r OU})S.
( 8) Us G of anal yses , r ep or t s , surveys, etc ., for p l ann ing,
i n t e r p r c t 2tio n , budgeti ng , e tc.
At t he tim e of the survey, t h e s taff of this Division i ncluded two
social wo r :<e rs b esides the c hi e f. In additio n , execu t i ves of two counti ,s
who wer0 p a id by the s t ,q,te we r e i nc l ude d i n t his Division and t h e chief of
th8 Division of Chil d We lf a r e w~ s re sp on s ibl e for f i e ld su r e rvisio n in two
counties. One s t Qff membe r h~d di r ec t r esp onsibility f o r five counties and
was develo~ i n g manua l s f or the whole s tate- on ctdministr a ti v e 2.Il d Old .A{;e
Assi stance p r oc e dures .1_/ The othc. r s b =tf f membe r wr,.s r eading r ecords in e2.c h
coun ty to hel p the exe cu tive s in e s t a blishing 9 r ocedur e s r e ~iired by law,
such as inves ti g a ti on of Old Age P e nsi on app l icants . Thi s member h 8.d Rlso
done so me sp ecial wo r k in inte r p r e tati on of r outi ne p r oce du r es to the st a ff .z.j
The chief of the 2)ivis i on carri e d r e sponsi.bil ity f or fi 8l d sur:. e rvision in 16
counti es , many of which neede d l ess he l D t han the other sev en because the y
had direct and co n tinuou::; con t ac t with a memb e r of t he s t a te staff from the
Di vi s ion of Case Work Super vision a wl P e rso nne l.
I n t hus a i vi di n.~ t 1:ie wor k of the Division t he c hief was a t t empting
to use the speci al quali ti e s of h er s taff whe r e they would be of most value.
Her own work i nv ol v e d 6 r e a t respo n sihil i ty and a wide r nn ~e . The two memb e rs
of he r st0Sf had s cop e i n the assi gnments F,iven them hut not much continuity
in develop ing jobs of thd r own. Thi s zitua.tion, h s)we v er, may have been a
temp orary one , sub ,je ct t o chan 6 e a s the wo r k develops.
The chi e f of the Di vision ~1ad a.n inti mat e kno wl e dge of each county,
its economi c probl ems, its ~oliti cal slan t , its i nf l u e nti al citizens. She
was able to iden ti fy he r s e lf wit h the l ay p e r son t o s1Jch an e xtent that she
could see the l ocal situa tion f ro m his s t an dp o i nt , r s sp ec t hi s op ini ons, and
meet him on hi s own g roull<L She expr e ss 8 d the op inion t hat soc i a l work in
the counties shoul d de velo p out of l ocal s e:: -L tim ent and ;oroc ee d at a pece which
r ,:11::: e.;er, t ,~d the best t hinking of all i n t e r e s t ed l ayme n - not of one :9 ro g r essive i ndi Yidual a lo ne .
1.f
Se e Appendtx C, Ou tli ne of Anmini strat i v ·3 Manual and Ap-:_) e ndix D, Outli ne
of Old Age Manual.
~/ George Fink, "Establishing Rout i n e s and Pr ocedur e s , 11 ~he Family, March
19 36 , P • 1 0 .
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Her responsibility, a s she sa w it , wo s to give lea d ers hip in the
gradua l establishment of a coun ty soci a l work progr~ , r a t her t han to impose
on t h e corLinuni ty a fully d evelop ed p rogram. This lea d 8rsh ip wou ld take the
form of interpreta tion, of hel p with administration, and of consulta tion on
a ny mQtt or troubling the bo a rd or executive. She sa id she thought that the
community itself could usu.ally t ake care of emergencies a nd that h er function
shou ld be to help pla n a permanent program. Her methods of carrying out her
duties, as she described tho~ , were charac t erized by the followi ng p oi n ts:
2.
(a )
To evolve pl a ns of action she called in the county workers as
well a s the sta te staff because she was convinced that the
loca l units rea lly knew what procedures would be usable and
helpful.
(b)
She gave help to the county executives with speci a l problems.
For instance, she spent hours with one executive on the question of board me eting s, thinking through with her various pro~lems that mi ght arise a nd evolvin~ plans to meet exi g encies.
( c)
She left responsi.bili ty for action with the workers rather than
ta~ing it over herself.
(d)
She used loc a l surveys and reports to dev elop the local workers'
understanding of t heir o wn comrrruni ties, a nd also t o sho w the
bo a rd or l ay g roup the conditions vri th which t h ey were dealing.
Division of C:=tse Work Su.pervi s ion and Personnel
This Division h ;,.d a s its prim:=i.ry fu nction t h e d evelopmen t of efficient
p orsonnel a nd the e st abli sh11ent pf sound socia.l case ·work p r a ctice. Its duties
a s outli ned by the Sta te Boar d.hi wer e as follo ws:
(a )
Guida n ce i n tho fe l ec t ion, eva l ua t i on, and p romotion of p ersonneJ
(1) Recruiting of new p ersonnel.
( 2 ) Li oi so n ·:,i th t h e State Employm ent Cor:imis s io n er.
( 3) Dev elor 'nen t of me t hods of evaluating p ersonnel.
( 4) Sel ec t ion of p ersons f or tra ining , scholarship s, promotion.
(5 ) Adjustmen t of difficu lt p erso nnel problems.
y
( b)
As si gnment of case v,ork sup ervi sors to cov er all coun ties in
t h e sta te.
(c )
Group r,E:e ti ng s of c a s e work sup ervisor s , and i nd.ividu al conf er onc a s with them.
From the plan sub.'.'.li t t e d to the Childr e n' c Bureau for p art i~ i pa tio n in
funds for sp ec..i::i .1. 2 ea't'ly
r-.hild vv(.;lfa re services.
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- 12 (d) Cr eative exr:iloration in the field of c~se work supervision.
(e) Pl a ns for group work rn J. acE1 demic work for aides while on the
j0b.
(1)
Staff meetings.
( 2) Institutes.
(3) Traveling te nching courses, etc.
(f) Prepara tion of fjaterials for ca se work supervisors and teachers.
(1 )
Cas e rec ~rds.
(Z•) Literatur e in the fitJld.
(3) Papers, moni:-igr 8.phs, etc., by sta ff members.
(g) Periodic evaluati o n o f t he c a se work standards of the County
Welfare :Boards.
:Besides the chief the Division i ncluded two members who worked from
the state office, Rnd three case sup ervisors. Both work ers in the st.a te
office were interested i n t h e tra.ining a spects of the job and had a ssumed
responsib i lity for c a se supervisi on and t eaching in va ri ou s counties as the
oppo rtunity and need had arisen. Of the three case supe rvi ~ors a ttached to
the Divisi o n, two were responsible for t hree countie s e.9.ch, and one was supervising in one county and was Gxp ect i ng to be tak en on the c ounty payroll in
the near future.
The chief of thi s Divisi on had work ed in clo se co op era tic n with
the Sta te Civil Se rvice Commission, hel,2.n.3 to d e fine p ositions, to work out
qualifications for them, a nd to se t mini 18l1Il and mo.ximum salaries.
Since ther e ,'!ere no schol a rshi p s for workers and, except in one
county, no scho ol of social wor k a cc e ssi ble to wo rkers on the job, the Division ha d t o devise other means of providi ng training. It ha d a dop ted a plan
by which soma tra.ine d servic ':> w~,s madi:i availa.ble to every county. The kind
of service given d ep ended on th e size of the county, the stage of thinking of
the local board 2-nd comrrruni t~,, c:nd the training and experiencG of the local
workers.
When the survey was ma de this Division was furnishing sup ervision
for 15 counties. This supervi s ion was g iven in a variety of ways:
(a ) By a sup ervisor who se en tire function was the supervision
of aides in a sin.gl e coun ty and who, al though p aid by the
sta te, wa s a pa rt of the loca l staff.
(b) :By a supervisor who w:1 s resp onsible for c a se supervision
in two or three counties and wa s considered more or less
integ r a ted into each staff which she served.
(c) :By a worker temporarily paid by the state but a ssumi ng
both e ~fg'iHiAf8y0 a.nd sup ervisory responsibili e.figi~t#fr&i sma ll
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(d) By a nemo er of t he sta t 0 st;:, ff who s erved t wo cou nti e s
but ·.vhose e as 3 w-ct s t he s t a te office a nd who h8. d a more
formal teoching r esponsioility a s well.
In general this Division had tak en t he view t ha t whi le pr of e ssional
traini ng was desirabl e for the exoeutive a s well a s for t he cas e sup ervisor,
t hi s p ri nciple woul d onl y gr a dually be accep t ed oy i ndividual communities.
Instead of imp osing a set policy on all cou nti e s, t her efor e , the Di vision had
handl ed the probl em of profes s ionally tra ined p er sonnel i n ea ch county on an
i ndividual ba sis. Thus in one county a n exp erienc ed loc a l p erson without
forma l tre ining was made county executive oec::ius e of h er kno wledge of the community and because she wa s a cc ep t able to loca l l eaders. The Sta te Departm ent
of Soci a l Work first sent a field sup ervisor a nd later a sta ff member of the
Division of Ca se Work Sup ervision and Personnel t o give as sista nce. The latter
person tra ined the aides in this county by individua l super vision a nd teaching . By the ti me of t h e survey the ex ecutive ha d s ecured a c a se supervisor a s
a member of her own sta ff. This sup ervi sor wa s paid by the sta te but wa s
ultima tely to be k..k en over by the local agency.
Tho ne eds of othe r cou nti e s were me t in va r i ous woys. When t here
wa s no l oc al p er son available to fill a po si ti on i n a local agency, tho
Personnel Divi sion tri ed to fi nd one or more suita ble persons to recommend
to the Coun t y J30arc:.. The Board then ma de i ts own s el ection on the ba sis of
a p er sonal i n tervie w.
Cl a s se s had b e en held i n t hr ee counti e s wher e the sta ff s s eemed
r ea cly fo r it. Emphasi s wa s pL1c ed on h el pi ng t o develop a n u ndersta nding
of p eople and of t h e ::,r ac tica l jo b , with no a ttemp t to give t i1oor e tical
knowl edg e a s such. Ca s e situa t i ons wer e con s ider ed in t reir r a cial, ec onomic,
and oc cupa tiona l s et ti ng s.
In a f ew coun ti e s wher o t he cx ecu t i v e part icul a rly de sir ed. such
s ervic e t he sta t e supervi sor to ok char ge of part or a ll of t he staff mee ti ngs.
The Di vi s ion was conc orn od. vvi t h t he problem of r econciling t h e poi nts
of vi ev: of t r a i ned a nd un tra ined workers. The sta te s t a ff memb ers were
awar e of the difficulty t ~1a t an untra in0d coun t y execut ive mi ; ht have in
u si ng a tra i n ed worker even if t he executive r eal ized t he nee d of such a
work er and si ncerely wanted the benef i t of her ser vi c e. Al so a cou nty sup ervisor mi gh t be i n t ens el y int er e st ed i n t he t r a i ni ng she 'Fa s gi vi:1€." t h e ,,_,o r kers
a nd t he u s efuln e ss of her s ervi ce to the v;ho l e a genc y, bu t mi gh t f i nd i t
difficu.l t to remain in the 'background so f a r a s agency :policy a nd procedure
wer e conc er ned.
The work b ei ng done by t his Division, si nce it i nvolved fitting
i n to va ri ed si tuat i ons, was co ~s t a ntly changing . It l a ck ed the consi st ent
a nd co n ti nuou s authority whi ch v,ould have given frame work to the j o'b a nd
it dema nded grea t fl exibility in t h e s t aff members.
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A change in the organi z2. tion of the Division was being considered
at the time of this survey. The plan under discussion would involve the
assignment of members of the staff to certain counties for continuous contact
on the basis of tbe needs of tho county. 'l'hat is, a person whose major
interest and contribution was case su.pervi sion would be assigned to counties
where ca se !:"1.lp ervi sion wa s esrecially need.ed. Each memb e r \,ould c a rry the
full rosponsi bili ty for field su·i:) ervi sion in any county wher e she was working but would call in other members of the staff when she needed special
consulta tion or service.
3.
Di vision of Child. Welfare
The Di vision of Child Welfare consisted of a staff of two social
v~rk ers with special training and skill in social work with children. As
was true of other Di visions, its du ties were l a rgely in the field of case
supervision rather than administr~tion, It rea ched the cli ent through the
same agencies and same wo rkers a.s the ge ner a.l pu.bli c a ssista nc e p rogram,
namely, the County Welfare Boards. It centered its attenti o n primarily upon
creating an awareness on the part of loca l workers of the p roblems of children, whether in their own families, or in foster homes, To acomp lish this
purpose it worked with the administrative persons on the state staff, the
general case work sup ervisors on the state and county staffs, and the county
executives, and s'Up ervised special workers on the county staffs. The two
social workers of this Division worked closely with the Division of Case
Work Sup ori vision a nd Per conn ol.
The duties of the Divisionlf were:
(a) Case work sup ervision a s rel at ed particularly
for children.
to the p rogram
(1) Individual conferences with 'HOrk er s and c a se work
sup ervisors on a regul a r regiona l er visiting basis
in those coun ti e s wher e sp ecial work is b eing done
with Social Socu ri ty f u nds p rovid ed tbrougb. the U. S.
Children's fure au.
(2) Simila r service on a pl anned basis in oth er coun ties,
(b) Tea ching , r roup '.'!Ork, TJ repar a tion of 'Tlat eri a ls, g ener ally on
a ssigrun ent by, or at l ea.st in full coop eration wi ·l;h, the
chief of the Division of Cas e work Supervision and Personnel.
(c) Crea tive work in the a rea of social c;:,__s e wo r }:: with beL.avior
problems, parti:::ul:trly a s r elat ed to p rob a tion work within the
juwmil e court.
( d) Develop ing standa r ds of car e in ins ti tu tion s for children
through:
- - - - ··
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1/
to the Children's Bureau f o r partici p ation in
fund s fur special child welfare servic e s.
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- 15 ( 1 ) Regul a r vi si ts to i nst i t u t io ns on a sel e ct i v e ,
p lanned ba~i : :; , with particul a r regard to intake
a nd discharg e; a ttitude s within the i n stitution;
s t anda rds o f physica l care a!L d record keep ing
(the licen s i ng and s t ate a id bei ng t he au t ho rity
f or sup e rvision ) .
( 2) Group me eting s and institut e s.
( 3 ) Liter a ture.
( 4) Advice i n r e ~ard t o perso nnel.
( 5 ) rtec r'U.iting of stR t e- wi de resourc e s for u se by
c hi l dr en 1 s work ers suc h a s:
a) Stimul c1.ti on of, a nd coop er at i on wi t h, th e p ro p er
authori ti es , in g e tt i ng mor e p sych i ~ tric servic e .
b) Work ing out r ela t io nshi p s with o t n er ch ildr en • s
a g enci es i n t h e s t a te.
( 6) Sup e rvision of t he s t arida rds of c a r e in th e bo a rding
hom e a g enci e s.
(7 ) Con stantly modify ing a nd r a ising th e l ev el of r equirements, rul e s, a nd r 8gul ati on s IDA.de by t h o :Soa rd of
State Aid a nd Cha riti e s .
The one a s s i s t an t in t h i s D:ivi si on wa s a s s i gned to su p ervis e p riva te
institu ti on s r ec eiv in g s t a te subsidi es . Su"!'"l ervision of su ch i n stitutions
ha d be en f l ex i bl e in the past. The ass i st-=rn t 8)..--p r e ss ed the op inion t ha t
defi nit e a nd un i fo r m s tancla r ,l. s cou l d 110 t b e i :n~.i o s ed on a genci e s tha t had
r ec ei ve d stat e si.:..b s i1i e. s f or year s wi t hou t na vi ng to mee t suc h sta nda rds.
Co ns equently tho WOl' k of su·,);·;r visi o n Le d r r o c'3 e dc d v e ry slo wly.
4 . Divisio n of Rcs :? rc ~ a nd St a t i s tic s
This Divi s i on a ss embl orl d'.' t a r el a t i v e to t h o whol e p ro gram. It had
a s sumed r esponsi bility fo r oo t aimn g report s fro m loc a l uni ts r ega rding a ll
ph 3.ses of the cou nt y p ro g r am s '3.nd info r ma tio n n e e de d fo r r ep or ts to tho
Social Sccuri ty Boa rd a nd t h e Chil dr en ' s Fur cau.
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OrgA.nizati on of t h8 Local Unit s
County '\l!el:are BoarJs
Th a l aw of J une 1, 1 9351./ p rovided f or a s i ngl e c o'm ty- wide
pub li c a gency, nam cl:,,- t he C•Jun ty Welfare :Board , i n each local 6 overmnent
unit. The County Boards were to be s el ected by j oint action of t he Board
of Stat e Ai d and Cheri ti es and the c oun t y c omrni s sione rs. · The l e.w conferred
upon th e s e Coun t y Boards aut ho rity 11 t-O administ er rm'olic ass ist ance and
gen er 2l outdo or r eli ef 2nd s er vice t o fami li e s and i nd i vi duals in n eed,
in clud i ng the administrat i on of r eli ef u nde r the mother's assist rnce l aw ,
the 2.drni nistro.t io n of ol d age pension reli ef , t he administrntion of r eli ef
to the blind and ot he r handicapned and needy, and the ca re of negl ec t ed,
dependen t, and delinqu ent chil dr en, wh ich c'3.r e shall i nclud e thE r ende ri ng
of proba tion s er vic e to juven il e cou rts or othe r courts havi ng jurisdiction
over min ors. 11
Ea ch County 3oard wa s to consist
least one coun t y commissioner. All s[1oul d
office wer e se t at thr ee yea1·s and wer e t n
should be made by the county c ornr1i ss i oners
Stat e Boe.rd.
of s even ,erso ns, in cl ud i ng at
s e rve wit h out pay. Te rms of
be over-la:opi ng . Appointments
from a list sub mitted by t he
The Co1':r::t:· W,"lfare Bo '.uds wer e t o app oi nt t ne nece ssary :9e rs onne l
fo r the urone r ~: drn:..nis tra ti o:i of the Act 11 • Tlv orga nizatio n of all Coun t y
Boards was cor,1plc_, t: ec_ :lur i ng th e summe r of 1935 and each 11"8. S f unc ti on i ng 2.t
the ti ;-ne of t h e sl:rvey . The members of t he Coun ty Welfare Boards, with
th e exc ept io n of th8 r ep res e!l tative:: from t h e count;:, com')'l i ~sione rs, we r e
laymen. Aft er a t n0 r riugh study of each corr-1uni t y , end l a r ge ly on the
r ecommendati on of t he J ena r t ment of So c ial Wo r k , t he St a t e Board had submitt ed 1 2 n2mc1 s to the c0unty co mmission<:< rs of each county. The commis sione rs ha.d a:ppoi.nt ed six rn,--moers f r om t h is li s t. The St ~t e BoRrd had att emp t ed
to r ec -Jmmend perso:is who woul d trul y r epres en t th e commu:ii t;{ a:id irrho would
.;i ve a ct ive , int ell i gent s ervice without partis an sliip.
11
Local Staf f s
The staffs of county agencie s who s e s al a ries were pa i d out of
the county allocatior_ rang ed in siz e fro m thre e persons , namely a worke r-.
in- charge , a worker , and an off ic e cl e rk ( wi th a r egiona l cas e work sup erviso r on th e stat e payr oll) to 30 :pers ons. They carri ed cas e l oads m:> de
up of gene ral uubli c a ssistance, Ol d Age Assist an ce, and Ai d t o Dependent
Chil dr en.
P ers ons fr om outside th e county oc cup ied most of the s upe r vis ory
and exe cutiv e positions, whil e lo cal pe rs ons fil l ecl mos t of th e other j obs.
Thus t wo of th e thr ee cas e w0r k su-re rvisors and 10 of t he 1 5 count3r executive s
came f r om outsi de t he st a t e . On t he othe r ha.nd , s even of the eight wo rkers- incharge we r e l ocal resid ents, and th e junior and s enio r wo rke rs, or a i de s a s
t hey had pre viously been called , were practical J. y all r e si dents of t he l ocalities.
!/
See Append i x A.
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- 17 During the _o e rio cl of the Eme r ,grwcy Relief Ad.mi n istrAtion, the
:Soard of State .A.id and Clw r i ti 11r-; hr1d n rot e ct ed th e county s e t- up from
political p ressur e by r ecjl..' irinc>~ e ve; r,r apr,licant for a po sition to take an
examinati on , evt'n thou~h the pN, i tions w1, r e no t t h e n und e r th e st ~t e
civil s e rvL: ,j . Theo St ,, t,_; Bn; ir d b :1c1. show n its g r ::isn of th t' r e'i liti e s of
the lo r,E·l situn tion b ,-,, s ,., tting up e ducrt ion cind t rµin i ng r equir em,-'nts
flexible en ough to p 1:;rmit l 0cal per s ons to ouali f y for t he j obs. In
some c0unties ther e were enm.,gh young college g racl.uates to })e rmi t coll ege
graduation as a prer equisite; in othe rs hi gh scho ol g raduat e s or pL rsons
with hi [;h schoo l and n ormal school training h ad b e en acc ep t e d.
Ac c ording to t h e n~w law all personnel had to b e s elect ed by
a mf,ri t e::amination, exc 0yi t t hat t he 11ersonnel employed previous to
June 1, 1935 was to b e exami ned for classification, rather than in open
c ompetition. Th e State Bo ard., rh ich had the -pov,er to set qualifications,
salary, and specificatio ns f or the various positions, had Dlanned the
requirements in such a way as to retai n t ho; e me mbers of the forme r staff
~b o were of p rov ed ab:Lli ty. 'Ih e / f ollo wi ng socia.l Yrork positions were
includ ed i n the s pe ci f ications:1
Executive Secret a ry, County Welfare Board
Worker-in-Cha r~e
Case Work Supe rvisor
Ca se Worke r
Seni or Worker
,Junior Vlorker
So cia l Wo r k Consultant (stat e staff)
Soc ial Stati stic ian
Eve ry Coun ty Welf;:i_re Board wa s r e ,-:rc.ired to 8mpl oy 2 11 ex ecutive s ec retary,
exceptin g t h.::> t in the e i gh t couriti c-' s with l e ss than 19 , r)l,Q pOT)u..l a ti on a
worker-in-charge might be emp l o:;·e d . Where t here ,nas a wo r ke r-in-charge
in li eu of an executi v e s e crc-t A17>7 , t h ,3 r e was al s o to be a ca s e work sup e rvisor, usnally s e rvin.o; m0 r e th-=i.n or1e c ounty.
The Divi s ion o~ Cas e Work Sune r vision an~ P e rs onnel of the Stat e
Denartment of Soc i a l Wn r K h arl o~en of much a s sts t 8nc8 t o t h e cou nties i n
obtaining the ouality of i-· 0 •r fo nr,el v"hich exi st e d a t the time of the survey,
e v en though up to the tirn 1j wh e ::-i c i v il s ervi ce wa s de finit e ly es tablished in
Janu ar:,· 1936 t he coun ty agencies bad spl ec t t; d th e ir sta ff s, th0 P e rsonn el
Division taking r e spons i bi li t;r me r e ly f or r e crui ti ng r,nd r e com;aendi ng . .All
m•.:lmbers of t h e ;.;t a t e st .9 -ff sr"id they tbous ht it w:=i.s unsound to urge the app ointme nt of an yo ne who111 t h ,. l ocaJ. County Wel f? r (~ B02 r d did not we.nt. By tak ing
this sta nd t he stat e staf f allowed tho r e s p1n s ib ility fo r wo r king r e l a ti ons
with the appointed V1:orke r t o r es t in the l oca.li t y .
The t r ab.ing of m(o mb e rs of t he county st 8ffs i nd icat ed the
to which the coc.:.nt;t a 6 encie s hs.d acc 0p t ed professional st anda r d s fo r
s onnel. Of tbe 1 5 (,x e c 1.1ti ve s 10 we r e tra i n ed and expe ri enced social
Of the 1 2~ worke rs, only four had had s ome fo rmal training in so c ial
5.2 we re college graduate s, 1 2 hnd had s0me collegl:i education, and 22
normal school graduates.
f/
See Appe ndi x B , Spc:ci :f ica ti on s for P e rsonnel.
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pervrorke rs.
work, but
were
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The c oun t ;r V''nrk · rs , l •qgc,1 .7 1mtrained , vRried in the ir a b i l i ty
to do t he job 2nd i n thf::i r capacity fu r de v el opment . Tne e x t-: cut i ve s found
ma ny d r avii:Jacks i :i us i ng local p ,. r sor. s f or th r. s e j ob s , but a l so found a
de ci d " d advant :=- ge in th e fact t 11,· t th lJ commu11 i ti e s acc (:•n t ed t h em. One chai rman of a County VTelfc=-, r e Bnard s --1id h e cn;1side r ed it du d r able t o have t1rn
executive and SUTJe r v i sor com:J f r r,m outd d.e the count y , l arge l y b e c 2.us G he
t hout;ht it w0u l d be um•i s e t o 1J1a c ,., one l ocal person 11 ove r 11 the ot h e r . Mo st
boa r d s 1·ould h 2V8 s trongly r e s ist ed t~i-1oo s ing t h e aides from ou t si de t h e
count y , but ac cep t ed executive s and superYis o r s f r om ou t side be c aus e they
r e c o gn i zed t ha t t he s e j ob s d ema nded sne ci a l qu'3 li f i ca t i0n s.
rt. was the
op in ion of se v e r 2l cas e s11pe r v i s o r s and •3 Xe cu t i v e s t hat as fa r a s ac t u al ly
do i L~ t te j ob was c onc 8r nod it was no t e s sen ti a l t o nave l ocal pers on s or
t ho s e who had h8d s pe c i f i c r u r a l e ..q:ie r ience . The:r b e li e ve t h 3t t he im9o rt 2.nt c 1 ,n s idera tio n wa s whe t h e r or no t the ne r s on c ou l d ad j us t he r se l f t o t he
t ot 3l situat i on .
'.!.' hey a ls o t houch t t ha t i t v1a s impo r t a n t t o e mph a siz e t h e
similari t i e s ;:i s wel l Rs t h e d i ff e r e nc es b e t wee n r 1 ir:=tl end u rb =m s oc i nl wo r k .
0
I nt e r views with t h e e:rn c'.:.. ti ve s r e v eal e d cl).ar ac t e risti c s which
s eeme d hop eful fo r :ut u r e d e v e l opment of t he wo rk .!/ They s ee med gew1i n cly
int erested in t he ir wo r k a nd t ri li ke and r e s pect t he pe rs ons wi th whom th ey
dealt. Th EJy r Lcogn i zed bo t h t he . Count y Welfa r e Board a nd t h e communi t y a s
i nh br ent part s of a ny soc ial work p r ogr am . Th ny we r e a war e of t he pos sib l e
f u t u r e d e ve l opment o f the ir j obs bu t 9.c c ep t ed t h e f act t ha t p ro g r es s mi gh t
b e sl ow. Mor e ove r, t he s e count y execut ive s we r e def i ni t e l y i n t e r a st od in
v,hat t he Stat e Depart men t o f Pub li c Wel far e c oul d cont ri bu t e t o t he ir jobs
and exrJr e ss ed app r ec i a tio n of it s sup no rt. On t h e o t he r hand , it was c l e ar
t hat d e v el opment i n t h e e i ght count ie s wi t h untrai ned wo r k e rs- i n- ch3.r ge would
b e sl owe r and mo re d ep enden t u pon contimit,d sup e r vis or y h e l p .
Th e c ount y wor lrn rs wan tGd h elp o+' d i f f e r ent k i nd s f r om t h e St e t o
Depa rt me n t of Snc i a l Wo r k an d the nrob l Pm of g i v i n~ h el u d i f f e r e d g r eatly
wit h t he d iff e r en t e x e cutive s a nd wnr L·-,r s - in- cha r e;e .
I n the i n t e r vi ews
r e f e rr e d t o abov e t lle e x e c J ti V IJ S s:peci:" i Ad that th ey wan t ed t he fol l owi ng
h el p fr om the st ate s taff :
1
( a) Ai d. i n s ol v i n,~ a ,-J;r1in.istra tiv e 1_, r ob lems.
( b ) As si sta ~ c e with st n'lst ical r Pc0 rd s.
( c ) Pr ()vis i on f or cas c;
aides .
1.,
, rk t r oining and sup e r v ision for the
(d ) P rogram of reg i onRl mc,:e ti ngs and insti t u t es .
(e) Advice in spe ci a l f i ,~l ds s 0 ~c11a:; ch i l d vre l fn r e , care of
t h e bl ind , 2 nd d e 7 i nqu ency pr ob l ,:; ms .
1/
As 2, mc1,1oor of the ex o.m1n 1n~ boa r d (;f th e Mr>.ryl Pnd Ci vi l Se rvic e Commi ss ion
the obs e r-re r had brief int e r vi ews with 1 4 c oun t y exe cut i ve s.
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( f) Assi s t2 :1ce in planning new nBrt s 0f th e nro gram.
( g) Help in int e rpreting th P l oc al wo rk to th e community, County
We lfare Board, and l aymt~ n.
Each county pr esented its own indivi~1 al p r obl em as to the kind
of sup or vi sion n e eded. The trained p e rs on might f i nd c e rtai n ~robl ems
hard.e r to meet than the untrained . Th,, s the tr a in ed p e rson mi ght de sir e
to do more for the client than the commun ity woul d permi t . Th e untra.in od
worke r, on the other hand, might he.ve an app reciation of t he cornmun i ty point
of vi ew but might l e.ck unde rstanding of social and individu al probl ems.
The l ocal pe rs on might make s erious mist ake s wh ich woul d be
acc ep t ed by the community as its own mist a ke s. If the p urs on wa s a trained
worke r from outside th e county, th e burden of a ny mistake was li kel y to b e
plac e d upon hi.,r 2.nd upon p ro fess iona l so ci al work. The r e for e the person
from out side the county often n eeded clos e and en 11tinuous hel p from the
St a t e Department until he had b ec 0me an accep t ed memb e r of t he co mrrJJ_nity.
Social Work Practic e
Obs e rvation in four counties, the evaluation of r ep resentative
case r ecords, and information given by the st a t e staff i ndic a t ed t hci t the
quality of the soci al work in t he c0unti es wns st endi ly improving, 2nd tl~.t
the cci.mties reco 6 nized th e ne4,;d fo1· furth e ·,: i rq: ro'1·ement. This r,ro Lresu
.\·:as largely due to th€ State 3oard' s consistent 1Lelp to the countie::;.
The e s tablisr1ment of de fi nite st andar ds 0f r eli ef had b ee n gradual and had differed con si de ra·o1:r t hr oughoat the st a tc . The State Board,
both i n une mpl oyme nt r eli ef a nd in th e r ecent de velo pment of Old Age Assistanc e hacl s t r es s eo. t he f a ct t.118 t comul e te budge t s should be conside red. I n
Novemb e r 1935 th e aver age budge ts for gE'ne r c=i.l r e li ef r c=inged f rom $9 . 40 n Pr
family in one county to $28.70 in ano the r. This ,ariation res~lted fr om
t he differing st andard s of r Ali ef acc ep t ed by the counties as wel l as from
t h e extent of availabl e lo cal r e sources. The se amounts r ep res :rnted a
dec ided adva.nce in man;7 coun t it::s ove r th e av erage budgets v.ben une mpl oyment
r eli ef first began . I n one county wher e th e av er age budge t during the earl:r
month s of the Eme r gency Reli ef Administration in 1 933 was about $8 pe r family
pe r month, the av 8rage budge t i n January 1 936 wa s $21. The ave rag0 budget s
for Old Age Assistance v2ri ed a s wid el :r a s t ho s e f or g0ne r"'l r elief .1/
The u s e of cash in st ead of ord e rs for direct r eli ef h~d bee n gredual ly acce:rted in most c ounties. This was a principle which the Stat e Department of Social Work had horied t o achieve but had not pres sed at any po i nt .
I:i one cou11ty wh e re 90 pe rc ent of all r eli ef was being g iven in cash a t the
time of the survey, th e execu tive s a id th~t t he pr i ncipl e of ca sh r eli ef had
b een acc ept E:- d bec '.'·.u s e the Bo r-i rd r ealiz ed th2t th e cl i ent c ould purchas e f oo d
mo r e e c onomically with cash t han ~ith f ood orders.
1_/
See page 5.
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Most imp ortant to note is t he fact t ha t ce rtain concep ts of s ocial
work p ractic e s ee med to b e quit e gen or ally acc en t ed i n all counti e s, such as,
for instanc e , the impo rt ance of k <"f-'p .ing r ecords - ancl th e val ue of inv e sti gation of cases.
Other aspe cts 0f n ractice as t hey exi s t ed in the c ount i e s we re
summf;.rized b~r a membe r of th e Division of Ca s e Wor k Suue rvisio n and Pers onnel on the b:'l sis of 2 r evi ew of 86 r eu r es en t c:· ti v e ca s / r 8Cords. She r e-oort ed
that during this early pe riod th e unt~ained worke rs we re sometimes u nable to
se e situ atio ns apart f r om what the age ncy could or c oul d not do at the moment,
ignored t h e client's resou rc e s, -rere unawa r e of th8 ir function of helping the
cli ent to hel p hims elf, u s ed r eli e f as a puai tive to ol to p roduce more a c c ev tabl e st 2ndards, e.do1Jt ed =1.n au t ho rit2tivc Rttitude tow/" rd cli ents, us ed community r eports as the ba sis for r eli ef de cisions, 8.nd r e j ecte d ncc..d for s ervice
even when it could be given. On the other hand some worke rs showe d gro wth in
fr ee dom from :prejudice and i n objectivity, attempted to hel p cli ents through
a more individualized ap pr oach, and trie d to mee t the ne eds of clieats in the
face of lay criticism and ag 0ncy l imitation.
Community Attitude s
Th u ext ent t o which s oc ial · work in the 23 counti e s in Maryland had
~ r ogressed at t he time of t he survey differe d wi dely. Most counties, however,
s ee med t o be ,., orking co'Jpe ratively with the Boa rd of Stat e .A.id and Chariti e s,
to de s i r e the supervision provid ed by the. st Ett e , a:::-id to have r ea.l intere st in
an int egr a t ed progrRm of sociPl welf ~r e .
Comnn.L.11. i ty i nt& r e st in soci 2l Wt;l f . .,r e h -:.>d b ecome evid t: nt in v :- rious
ways. I nte r views h2,cl r e~c.::1 tl:l °LJ8en h2ld b7 th e s ta t e admi:i.i stra t or of s ocial
v·o r k a.nd tb e chief of th e Di vis :Lon of Fi nl d s,..:n':' rvision and Cou..."lt:r Organization, and t wo chPi rrnen of C"U.."lt~r c0m:nis s ion8rs of t he ef'lst ern r nd we st e r n shores.
The chairmen ex.9 r es sed t he ir int e r e s t in the coun t ;.,· we lf2r e program, thei r
beli ef in go od admi nistra tion a nd in hi gh s tan1ar ds of r elief, t he ir desire
to have a coun ty wel fare o..genc;r which ,,,ould give oth er kinds of se rvice than
r e li e f, and their willin gne ss to aclvocat tj such a p ro ,::r am i n t h e coming l egislative s e s sion .
Thes e s eemeu to be the attitud e s of many commissi on e rs and even
more of boa r d mer:1bers, bu t of c 0urse in no cas e we re they t he attitudes of
t he enti re commun ity. In ev 3r y commu:i.i t y t he r e we r e person s who f or various
r eas ons had opposed th.,, devel opment of t he kind of wo rk which the St a t e Board
advoc a ted . Oft en t h is op::,osition was d ir ect ed against t he g iving of r elief
on the bas i s of need and the s el e ction of p rs onnel on the bas i s of qualifications for t he work , since these t wo p r ~c tic e s made it imu ossibl e t o use
reli ef or the a gency for per sonal or po l it i cal pur poses. There wa s also s ome
obj ec ti on to the exten t t o wh ich r d i ef wa s given a s t o b oth t he numb6r of
per s ons who r e ce i ved it and the amount s 5 i v0n p1:. r ca s e . In se ver c?.l counti e s
members of t he le gislature, may ors, or othe r pub li c officials had t aken these
iss ue s as p oi n ts of a ttack and had tri t=, d to change th e no li cy of the agen~y
according to their own ideas. In gene ral t he s e o~~ osing forc e s we r e firmly
met by the County Wdf' ar e Boards. The Bo1:irds ha d made th e policies in the
first place and th ey w0r e vQlling to st 2nd b?ck of them.
0
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In one county, where ge ner al conditions were mo s t backward and
where a state senator v:as making an investi c:;9. tion of relief po licie s-, t he
executive sa id she felt tha t the Board wa s really taking resp onsibility
for the p rogram and t hat she did not nee d to d.ef~nd it. In o.no ther county
where a mature trained worker had been statio n ed only a short time but bad
fitted into the comrmrni ty with unusual ease, 20 lay p ersons rep rese nting
different social, industrial, and professional groups were holdi r.g a series
of me •j ting s to make p lans for pooling all their resources to meet t h e n eeds
of emp loyable p ersons who were either not assigned to w.P.A. or ne e ded supplementation of wages.
Laymen and many of the ooard members were reluctant to give r elief
to employable men, whereas they more readil;r accepted the need of th 8 t::;.ged,
children, or the physically handicapped. This attitude was a pparently due
to a munber of factors, among which was the fear of up setting tho local employment situation a.nd of causing the supply of available workers to be l ess ready
to take any job offered. Tne State Board h~d attempted to meet this attitude
in different ways, in one county by planning a su.rvey of employment conducted
by the aides, in another county by getting the farmers together and discussing
the actual employment opportunities.
In ma ny counties it was dobutful whether laymen regarded the work
which had been go1r.g 0n in connection with giving r eli ef as social work, but
they accep ted wr.a t the;y· had observed a s valua ble without classifying it.
This was true ev en in tha matt er of p ersonnel a nd of tra ining. One co;nmissioner told the district r ep r e sen ta ti ve that he could see the d.i fference in
attitude b etwe e n the ai~ ,~ s who were "b eing trained and the un trained workers
in a local p rivate agency, when they came into his ban..~ to ask for i n formation
about clients.
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Appendix A
LAW DEFINillJG POWERS AND DUTIES OF 1'HE BO.AF.D OF STATE AID A~-JD CHARITIES.
JJ\l"D PROVIDilW FOR cou:JTY WELJ!,A."83 BOAi.lDS
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CHAPTER ht 131./
BOARD OF ST.A.I1F A~D AND CHARITIES
AN .A.CT to r ep e al Se ctions 1, 2 , 3 , 4, 5 , 6 , 7 , and 8, of Article SBA of the Annotat e d Code of Maryland (19 24 Edi tio n) ,
title 11 St 2 te Aid and Cha :;--i ti e s, 11 ond. Section 5A of sai '.l · Article (1 929 Suppl ement), (Sections 1, 2, Sc , 5 , 6 , and 7, having
been amenderl. by Chapter 223 o-f t he Acts of 1933 , and to enact i~ lieu the reof fif t ee n new sections, faid new s e ctions
to be known as Sect ion s 1 to SG inclusiv e , of said Article;
r el ating t o th e Board of Sta t e Aid a nd Ch~rities, defining
its powe rs e nd du ti e s, e nd p ro v i d ing for County We lf 2.r e Boards
and defining the ir powe rs And 6uti e s$
SECTION 1. Ile it r-mact e d by the Gen e ral Assembl y of Ma ryland,
That Sections 1, 3 , 3 , 4 , 3 , 6 , 7 , and 8 , of Arti cle 88A of the
Annotat ed Code of Ma ryland (19 24 Edition), and. Secti on 5 A of
sai d. Ar ti cl e (1 929 Suppl e me n t),) titl e "St ate Ai d and Cha riti e s, 11
( Se ctj_o:1S 1, 2 , 4 , 5 , 6, 2nd 7r, hov i ng be8~'1 2mend.ed by Chanter
2 22 of t he Acts of 1 q33), b e nnd they ar e h e r eby r e c 82l od 2nd
th , t f ift een n ew sections be ~nd th ey 8re hL r eby LnRcted i n li eu
th e r e of: s 8.id n t:: w sections to b e known ~s Se ctions 1 to BG inclusive , of -sgi d Arti c l e , gnd to read as follows:
1. The re shall b e a Board of State A_;_a and Cha rit ie s, consisting of eig.l-it pe rson3, s ix of who m shall be app ointed by
the Gove rnor. The Govern o r and t he Dire ctor of Health shall be
ex-officio member s of s2.id :Board , and t he Gov 8rnor shall
bi ennially app oint t hre8 members of s11.i cl. Boeri, who shc>.ll s e rve
for 2. pe riod of four yc1~.rs from t he first Mond,>.y in Mfl y next
aft e r their apr o i ,1tmen t , and. s hal l c ori tinue in o::~fice unt il
their suc cessors shG.J.l l1av =, been a·r;')o i n ted. and quali fied . Of
the six membe rs so a -:::,1,oint l:' d not mr,re t l:Lm three shall b e
r es id ents of any one county or city . Vacancies sh all b e fill ~d
by a ppointment for t he u:.csT.·,ire d t e rm in a:::cordanc e with the
t e r ms of t his Se cti on .
No thing h t-: r ei n she.11 3ffcc t thu tenure of office of t he
present members of s aid Eo ard .
The members of said Boa rd shA ll rec e ive no c om~ensation for
their servic e s, except such co~nensatio~ as may be provided
in th e Stat e Budget, but the actual exp 0ns us incurred by them
in att end ing the meeting~ of t :i e :Joard or in oe rf or ;nanc e of
the ir du ties s h all be paid .
2.
In orde r to ef fectua te t"le nurrJoses of t his Act t he
Board of State Aid and Cha rit i ,~ s shal l be the c ent r !:il, coordinatin6 and d ir e cting agency of t he wel fa r 8 activiti e s included wi thi n this Act. All of t:he activiti e s of th ,:, County
Bo n r ds , he r e innfte r ~ rovid ed ~or , 2nd of the Departme nt of
Welfare nf :=Jal tim Jre City, which the Stat e :finance s in v:hole
or in rart th r o,_-:.&h such Jjoard nr Dep"'rtment , s l"all be sub j e ct
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to the supervision, direction
State Aid and Charitie s . The
study, and con s ider t he whole
stitutions, organizations and
in the State, including those
come from the State.
and control of said Bua.rd of
said Board shall also i nves tigate,
system of public and p rivat e in::igencies of a charitable nature
vrhich receive pnr t of the ir in-
3.
Prior to the convening of every regular session of the
Gene ral Assembly it shall furnish to the Governor a printed
report of all its activities and of the condition of all the
institutions re:ceiving financi a l aid from the State on recommendation of the Board; and shall further ma.ko such recomnr:: ndations as to app ropriations for such i nstitntions as mRy se0m
wise and for the be st interes ts of the State, giving the r eas ons
for such r ocommenda tions as fully as may bo practicable.
4.
No mem"'.: er of said Bo ard n or ruiy of its emr,loyees shall be
directly or i ndirectly int erested in any cont:i.-a~t for building ,
repairing, or furnishing in whole or i n part . or be fi na..11.cially
interested in any contra ct with any ins ti ~ution comi ng lli1der the
supervision of this Board; no r shall any offic e r, s ec r e tary or
employee of any such i ns titution be eligi ble to e.npo i ntment on
this Board.
5.
The Board may, with the a:9provaJ. of t he Governor , i1 f' s:..e:nat8
organizations within the Sta.t e as its agents a s moy be r eq_l1 ired
for the purpos e s of this Article; and the :So a rd mny, with the
approval of thu Governor, pres cribe r 06u lations necess~ry for tho
execution of tho purposes of this ArticJ. e , provia.e d such rog11lations be not inconsistent ther ewith.
6.
To cnablo the Bo a rd of Sta t e Aid a..-id Chariti es to discha rge
properly tho duti os impo se d upon it, tho s~id Board may of its
own motion, or by the dir8ction of the Governor shall cause
char ges to be f ormulated Rgainst any corpor a tion~ ass ociat ion, institution or agency engP,ged in chari t e.b le or social welfare
a ctivities, rece::i.ving financin.l a ssist :mce from the Sta te or with
which the State hr:.s contracts and c ause a copy of such chare es
to be served on such corporation, associ&tion, instit Qtion or
agency; and shall have power to issue summonses f or witne s ses
and documents, which summonses sho.11 be a.uly served, as are othe r
simila r writs, by r:..ny sheriff to whom the sam"' shall bv directed,
an d to a dminister oaths, and tn.ke t e stimony which it shP.11 cause
to be tr.-·n scri be d nnd i nc luded in its report. The :Soard may,
if in its judgment the :facts Wl:l.rran t , :,mspPr.d or r avoke any
licen s es i ssued to such corporation, associatio n , i ns ti tTtion or
agency and may order the ce s sation of a,.-iy futu re app rop ri a ti on
there to. .And the said :Board shall hn.ve furthe r power to -ri si t,
in person or by its :BJxecutive Secre tary or other emplo;rees ,
any St a t e-aided i ns ti t u ti o::.-1 , organization or aeency engage d in
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- 25 welfare activiti e s, 3.Ild thoro ,lf>;hly to i n::;pec t the managemen t,
buildi ngs and equi pms::nt thel'(:) t)f ; but such visits and in sp c-i c t i on s
shall be made at r easonably co ·we11 i ent hours and with rea sonab le
regard to the established disc .i.pline, r egu lations and customs of
the said in s tit ut i on , orba nization or agency .
7.
All mo r. ies app r op r i3.te d t o charit ab l e i n s ti t ut i ons ,
or gan izatio ns or ae;enc ies s hall be paid to them on a per cap ita
basis according to r a tes fi xe d by the Board, which shall be
imparti a l, f a ir and u n iform in the c ase of a ll i 11 sti t u t ions ,
orcanizatio n s or a gen cies cari ng for persons of subst2..ntial ly
the srune cl as s . Provided , ho wever , tha t the amount to which any
i ns titutio n , or ga:aizat ion or agency ma y be entitl e d on account
of servic e s r on c.e r e d on a p e r capit a b a sis in any one year shall
riot exc ee d the Dmount appro p ri o.ted t o it.
B.
The said Board shall appoint a competent p e rson to ~ct
a s it s Ex0cu ti ve Secr e tary who shall be pai d for his services
such com1;en s c:.t i on a s may b o p ro vided for i n the St a t e bu dget
u pon the r e commen da ti on of the BoRrd. The Exe cutive Secr e t a ry
sha ll bo a compe te n t pe r son having ade qu a t e tr a i n ing and
p r a ctic a l exp e ri ence in social welf a r e an d r elief work; and in
making s ccid 2.ppointment , t ho :Bo a rd shall b e governed by Ar t icle
64A of tho Code of Pu blic Gener a l Laws of M~ryl ru1d . The Exe cutive Se cretary shall de v o to his who l e tim0 to the dut i es of
the office . The s a i d Boa rd may a:ypoir,t such o ther empl oyee s as
a prope r performance of its dut i es may r equir e . In no c ase
shall the toto.l exp en ditu r es of the sni d Bo a rd f or adm i ni s tr ati ve expens os e x c ee d the amoun t 2pp r op r i2ted theref or i n the
State budget.
BA. The appointment 8,nd re:n ov a J. of o.11 pa id personnel under
this article sha ll be gove :rn ea. by the p rovisions of Article
64A of the Code of P>.1blic Gen en, l Laws of Marylru1d , but i n
the c a se of the Departm en t of Pub li c Welfare of Ba ltimo r e City,
Sec ti-lns 203A to 202Q, inclus i 7e , of the Br~lti mo re City Charter
sha ll govern. Pr ovide d, howE:ve r, tha t the Board of St a te .A.id
and Charities may presc rib e t he numbe r, sa::i..ari es and minimum
qualificat i ons of the personnel e ngnge d i n the adminis tr a ti on
of such n.cti v i ti e s of the l oc1.l Bo2rds ~s o.r e fi nanc e d in whole
or in part by the Ct a te .
BB. On and afte r June 1st, 1927 , a ll i nstitu tion s , agencies
an d societ i es whether incorp orat8t or n0t , except t ho s e r ec e iving fi nanc i a l a ssi stanc ~ from th0 Stat e or h:w i :::ig contn,cts
with the St n.t e , or licensed by any i ncorpo:r P.. t e d munici pality o r
district author iz e d t o iss .10 such li censes , as we ll as a ll ind iv i ~Q2l s , having the c ~r e , custody or control or on8 or mor e
mi n or s , other than fhildren r e l a t e d by b l ooa or marriag e to ,
or a dopted by su ch individuals, or for whom s11ch i n di viduri.ls a r e
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duly appointed guardians, shall obtdn an annual license therefor from the St a te, to be issued by the Boe.rd. of Stc1-te Aid nn d
Chari ties, upon due proof of comp liance with r ules and regul ~tions designed to secure the proper care of such minors, which
rul es nnd r egulatio ns the s aid Board i s he reby authorized to
est ablish.
The s aid Bo a rd shall have the same power t o i nvestigat e and
visit any such i nst itut ions, ag enc i es , societies, or i ndividuals
as is now pro v id~d by law i n the c ~se of c orporat ions, asso ciations, instit u tions or agenci e s r e ceivi ng financial assi s tance
from the Stat e or having contracts with the State, a.nd shall
have power to revoke the lic ense s of nr:..y such inst itutions, agencies, societi e s or individuals. All su ch a ctio n of the Boar d is
subject to the sc>J!le ri ght of appee.l by aiiy party who sball f ee l
aggrieve d a t any action of t he Bo ar d hereunder, as in the cas e
~f state-aided i n stitutions. The provisions of Section 378 of
Article 27 shall n ot be construed as limiti ng the powers herein
granted to the said Board .
Any person or persons and any officer or r epr esen tative of an
ins ti t ut ion, agency or society which asswaes or exercises the
care, cust ody or control of minor children in viol at ion of this
s ec tion sha ll be de emed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fi ne not to exceed $100 or
imprisonment not to exce ed three months.
BC . 1·ne Bo2.r d may, with the approval of t he Governor,
des i e nate exi s ti ng agenci e s or organiza tions within the State·
as its agents a s may in it s di sc r et i on be desirable or nec e ssary
f or the purpos e of this Act. In the s electior. of age nci e s or
organizations for t ho ca re of childr en) the Board shall use
only such as sh2..ll comply wit h proper standc1rds fo r the physical,
e ducational, and mora l life of t he child. Chi ldr .sn shA.11 be
place d in institut i ons or homes of the same r elie;ious f p_i th a s
t hat of t he child if there be such i nstitat ion or home with
p rope r s t anda rds.
The Bo 2,rd of State Aid and. ChD.ri t i os, sha ll be em9owe rod
to create in each coun ty a County Welfa re Bo a rd t o be knJwn
as such with the ncr:ne of t he count y pr efixed thereto, which
Board s hall b'3 an ad!'1b.i s tr D.tive o.epc.rt!'lent of t he l ocal F",Overnment. Such Bo ~.rdc v1hen crea t ed sr,all have anthori ty to
administer public a s s istanc e mid gene r al outdoor relief and
service to f e.mili e s 2.nd individuals in neod, i ncluding t,he
a dministration of r elief un c.er the mo thers I a ssi s t ance l aw,
t he administ r a tion of old age pens io n r elief, the admi nistration
of reli ef to the bl i nd n.r, d othe r handicappe d and ne edy, and
the CP.re of negl ec t ed. , dependent , a n.cl !leli na_uen t children, whi8h
care shall include t }1e :reno.e ri ng of p r obation ~ervi ce to
juvenile court s or other c0urts hc>.ving ju.,,,isd.iction over mino rs.
8D .
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8E. Each County Board shall consist of seven persons, one of
whom shall be a County Cammi ssioner of the coun t ~r in which such
Board is to function. Said County Comrni.ssioner shall be an
ex-officio member of the Board, and each y0ar the Board of
Count~,r Commissioners shall designate which of its members sha ll
so serve. All members of the County Boards siwll serve w.ithou.t
pay.
The members of each County Board, aside from the County Commissioner serving thereon, shall serve for three years and be
eligible for reappointment. With the establishm0nt of said 3oard
two p ersons shall be appointed to serve for one year, two persons
sha ll be appointed t0 serve for two yea rs, and two persons sha ll
be a.PIJOir1 ted to serve for three years. Thereafter the vac a ncies
created yearly by the retiring two mem~8rs shall be immediately
filled in the manner hereinafter :provided for.
The members of said 3oard, other than the County Commissioner
serving thereon, shall be appointed by the Board of County Commissioners from a list submitted by the Board of State Aid and
Chari ties, as hereinafter provided. In order tha.t the initial
membership in the County Boards may be established, the Board
of State Aid and Charities after conference with the Board of
County Commissioners of each county shall submit to the Board of
County Commissioners of each county in this State a list of
twelve persons, six of whom shall be immediately selected by
the Board of County Commissioners for the terms herein provided.
Thoreafter, the Boctrd of State Aid and Charities after conference as aforesaid shall submit yearly to the Board of County Commissioners of each county a list of four persons, two of whom
shall be selected by the Board of County Commissioners for the
terms herein provided.
In case of a vacancy occurring in the membership of a ny Coi;nt;y
Board, the Board of County CoLunissioners of th~ ·county concerned
shall forthwith proceed to appoint the requ isite number or numbers f rom a list to be submitted by the :Board of State Aid and
Charities, which list shall co~tain twice the number of persons
to be selected. Provided, how~ver, t:rat s vac~ncy created in
the ex-officio me:nborsl:.ip of the County Board shall be filled by
the Board of County Cammi ssioners alorie.
Each County Board shall select its o,:m chairman a nm1ally.
The County Boards shall in their resp ective counties a pnoint
the p ersonnel necessary for the ~roper administration of this
Act, v1hich pow,:3r of nppointment shall ·be subject to the conditions
prescri b0d in Section BA of t b.is sub-title.
BF. The Board cf State Aid and Chariti e s is t er eby authorized and empowered to acce:9 t any and all allotments of Federal
funds an d to manage and dispose of such funds in whatever manner
may bo required by Federal Act or Acts, and to take advantage
of whatever economic security measure may be passed by Congres s.
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The organiza tion, ri gh ts, powers, duties, obliga tions
and· functions of the Depart□ ent of Welfa re of Balti mo r e City as
prescribed in Section 117A of the Charter of Baltimore City
shall not be a ffected by this .Act, excep t a s herinbL:fore provided, bu t said Department of Welfare is hereby vested v:rith a ll
the r igh ts, poners and functions v.rhi ch a re vested in the County
:Boards under t 11i s Act.
BG.
SEC. 2 . And be it further ena cted, That al l Laws or parts of
Laws inco n sistent with the provisions of t his Act, be and they
are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsist ency.
SEC. 3, And be it further enacted, That this Act shall tRke
effect June 1, 1935 .
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Appendix B
SPE CI FI CATIONS FOD. PERSON:NEL
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96?0
SOCIAL WORK COlT~ULTA:\T 1/
Board of State Ai d and Ch8 rities
OV!P .SHSATIOl~ :
$;A.Ou-3500 p er annum.
iUTI?:S: To b ··, r 8s po n sil,le for t he fo r mulati on of p olici e s and pro ce dur e s of the
,1 1bl i c welf:, r e p ro g r a m in th e
St ~:1. t e ; t o sur(3 rvis ,~ t be 1•!or}: of t he cou.1:.ty r1elfa.re
oards; to devel op a nd carr;y t t r ougi1 a T:, r O{ I' !➔ 'Ti 0£' s1'p~rvi s io:i ond tr2.i n L ig that
ill p r ovi de or:o ortuni tj_ e s f o r !Jr c f e ssi on.ql g r ·)wth t o t he so c iRl wnr.k st ,::.f f t.hrough1ut th e f t at s , ac1d to ::::i•· r f-; rm r el a t r d ,·,o r k a s r oau i r e:l.
1
:XAMPLES: FormuJ.E. ting pol i cit. s [-m'.'l :p roc eiln r e,s of t he St a t e nublic welf a t' e nroGram
Lnd int e r !'ret ~ng them t o :inth p rof e ssional staff &nd l ny boards of the county
,rganizations; 1::.lanni ns , l nit i a ting a nd c ond u ct i ng re s f a.r ch :oroj e cts r1 nd surveys;
malysing incli vi J.ue.l c o1.1nt ;r s i t u 0 tions with r c; s n c- ct to so c ial welfe. re ne t:: ds, and
LSSisting in d oveloping t h •.: onr.: ed. ur og:r.em to me " t s pe ci::il !le eds; d ir e cting the VTork
1f '3. c ounty welf ~_r e ~-•O-" rd for derno n str;, t, i on >)U r po s Gs; "' p:9:roving or dii:>.p proving
Lddi tional staf f i n the c 0unty ,nelfa re bo a rd s ; C" ::J.duc t ing p lanned stud;y- groups for
irai :'.l ing !J:.Lrpos e s; a na lysi ng st anda r cl s of c as e Wl·rk in indivi du a l aou!lti ,3 s,
iuALIFICATIOl~S: Co mpl e t i on of t wo ~rear s 0f gra 'l1..tate wo r k i n an 2:9p roved sc~w ol of
;ocial worl<: end tw o ;y·ear s of :omplo~r .1P !1:0 en s . ,_ l 3 r y i n a r ec0,;ni zed s o ci nl P.ger,::.y,
it le e- st OYJ.8 of wh i ch mu st bc:ive b eea i n :;:. ~upe r v i so r ;r nr exe c1.: t t v e c cr_DP c ity ;
0r
;ompletion of on e y 2r>. r of f; r s di.;.:, t e wo rki n "' n .,.op r o·.,e d scho ol of s oci 1 '.vo rk <'nd
;l1re0 y e::- rs of s u cc e ssfu l exp·:ri enc e in e m_r,1 0;/rne!l t on :;; a l a r y in a r fl C•>r·n ~z ed.
;ocial a ,:ency, at l east one o-!: which nrust have ·oe en i:i a su~)e rv i sory o:r ex ec·LJtive
!apaci ty;
or
}raduation fr om a r e c ognized uni v en, i t y or c o1l eg6 inc ·1 udj_n6 CG"'lp l et i,J n of an
mdergraduat e curri cul um i n so c i a l wnrk fr o m c: n .: ., pp r o v iJd s chno l of 60c.i 2.l work
md f our y ,: : E:.rs cf empl ,J;nnent o n s E.l n ry i n ' i r e c obni~ cd so c i A.l 'l,;Pnc;1.r, ro t le "'..st
;w0 of wr... i c:b m-c.st h'lv e bee n i n Fl s u_'Jc• r v i s 0ry o r exc,c,: tiv8 or c ~p E> c ity ;
or
;.r2d11,·.ti o n fr rJru "'· coll ege or ur. iv t r2i t y o.f r -J cogn i z ed s t ;-,nd i nf; "'nd fiv e y .__: G.rs in
3mployme nt on salary in a r e c ot-:-ni::ed s oc ial a t:;e n:::y 2 t l e ast Olli:: of which mu st have
)3bn in a su:p 0r v is o r;r or ex E..c1.1.t iv 8 c Lpac ity . De,aons tr:: 1.t ed outst a n .:ling q·.1alities
)f lead e rship in soci a l wo r }: , par ti cul arly in p l ann i ng and i n itiating local or
3tate public welfare p r og r ams .
1
rn'IE: For ea ,: h ye ar of rw1 •ir ed er3.u.c a t i on , o"le ;--rear's bXUbri enr:! e; as describ e d
:i.b ove may b e su1: 3t i t u kid . F ·r-:::fer c- nc•i wi l l b e g i ven to a o,)li c ants betwe en the
:i.ge s of t went y-six a nd fif t ;/ .
,AE_TS AND W:C IGE'l'S IN TE ST:
L/
E:1uc a tion - 3; Expr; ri c::1c e - 3 ; I nt e rvi ew - 4.
Rel e3.s e issue d. by : en , r tr1t,nt o-:" Sta te ~mpl oyment and Regi s tr 3.ti on , St a t e
~m:,ril oy ment Com'Tli s sio n e r, 22 I i.gh t Street , ::2 21 t i mo r e , Ma rvlPr. 1 , 19 35 .
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COMPEl:SATION:
$1200-1500 per annum.
DUTiio: Under direction, to organize and direct the staff of a County Welfare
:Board to 1Jut into effect policies, rules, and re;;ul:1.tions of the :Board of State Ai
and Charities; to plan and carry into effect r elationships with outside a gencies;
under supervision, to be resp onsible for carrying a case load; and to perform related work as required.
EXAMPLES: Acting as administrative officer of a County Welfa re Board; arranging
for and atte nding :Board meetings; carrying out policies esta.blished by the :Board;
preparing reports of a.cti vi ties and making recommenda tions to the :Bo a rd; pre-pariil{
publications and reports; addressing meetinc s on the work of the County Welfare
Board a nd the public welfare program of the State; working out r olatio n ships with
doctors, l a ndlords, employees and other social a gencies; interviewing applicants
for relief and making investi gations; preparing case records; planning budgets;
sending out relief after a n1)roval; following up of cmpl0yment po s sibilities and en
ploying co mmunity resources; closing case s; :r:;e rformi ng R.u xili<1.ry service in famil~
or individual situations; keeping records a nd pr -s pa ring r eports.
Q,UALIFICATIONS: Gradua tion from a reco .":niz ed colle _~e or univorsi ty r,lur one year
successful experience in employment on salary in a r e co i:~ni ze d s-'.)cial a,;ency;
or
Grad.u·.1,:;i o11 from a recognized norma l school or its equi vn.lent, plus one year of
SU.8ces s ful exp erience in employment on salary in c. r l1co ,_;nized soJial 2.. 6 ency;
or
Gradua tio n from a stan dard h i gh school p lus one yee.r of suc c e sc·, fu.l experi ence in
emplo;-i,1nont or. sr,lary in a r e co gnized scc i a l egency; d emonstra t ed c,bil i ty i n administrative a spects of the v,ork a nd i n the fi eld of co mrm1nit y r elation::,hips ;
experience in t eo ching , musing or law d es irable; f arnil i a ri ty 11vi th modern soc ial
work concep ts.
NOTE: Preference will b8 given to apJ.1li can t s ·between the =1ges of t wen t y-o r.e a nd
forty.
PAR TS .A.ED V.TEIG-HTS IN TES I' :
.Education - 2 ; Experience - 3 ; Duties - 2 ; Interview SENI OR WOID'..ER
COMPENSATION:
DUTI ES:
EXAMPLES:
$1020-$1200 p er a nnum.
Under sup ervision, to i nve sti ga te c.pplic:rn ts for relief, and to :;,--, er form
related work as required.
I n terviewing applicants for relief and ma ki ng inve stiga tions; pr epari n.
case records, ~lanning budge ts; sending out reli e f aftur approval;
following up employment possibiliti es a nd other community resources;
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closing cas es; performing auxiliary s ~rvice in family or individual situations
keeping records and preparing reports.
QUALIFICATI Ol'T S: Graduation from a college or university of recognized standing
plus one year of successful experience in employment on salary inn
recognized social agency;
or
Completion of two years' college or normal sch9ol work plus one year of
successful experience in em~loyment on salary in a recognized social agency;
or
Graduation from a standard high school plus one y ear of successful
experience in employment on salary in a recogniz e d social agency; experience
in teaching, nursing, or law, de sirabl e ; familiarity with modern social work
concepts.
NOTE: Preferonco will be given to applicnnts between the a.g os of twenty-one
and forty.
PART~ AlU) WEIGHTS IN TEST: Education - 2; Experi ence - 2; Duti 8s - 3;
Int e rview - 3.
JUNIOR TIOR](ER
COMPENSATION:
$900-1020 per annum.
DUTIES: Under sup ervision, to i nvc stig &t e app licaLts for reli ef, and to
perf orm relat e d work as requir8d.
EXJ.lv1PLES: Intervi ewi ng ap plicants f or r tJ li of (ll1 d ma ..<n ng i nvesti gations;
preparing c a se records; -p lanning budgets; sen ding out relief after approval;
following up employment pos s i bilitie s and otl:ce r corn:m..mi t y r e sources; closing
cases; performing a11Xilia ry servi c e in f !Ullily or i n a_i vi dual situ ations;
keeping records and pr epari ng r r,po rts.
Q,UALIFICATIONS: Gradua tion fr om~ coll ege or university of recognized
standing, preferably with a m&jor in so 81a l sci ence 3;
or
Comp letion of two y t, ar s I coll o.o;0 o:,_• n ormal s chJol work plus sUC'. C'3 ssful
exp eri enc e in emp loym ent on s e l a ry PS a wor ~;:nr in a rec oe,n.;. z0 d s ocial agoncy;
or
Gra duati on fr cm e.. s t au dar c1 hi r·h scho ol p J..us su cc es sful 8 }.--p 3ri ::inc e in E'mployment on sal ary in a r e co,:-;niz Gd ::;oc ial ciguncy ; uxy.T i ·Jnc e i :1 t Jc1.ching ,
nursing or 1 8-W de sirable ; L:,.mili a r i ty wi tb r.noder n soci a l work conc8p t s.
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NOTE: Pr ef er enc e will bo given t o ap pl i c8.Ilt s be t ween t he ag0 s of t wenty-one
and forty.
PARTS AND WEIGHTS I N TEST:
Int ervi ew - 3 .
Exp er ience .... 2; Educ a t i on - 2 ; Dut i c1 s - 3 ;
CASE WJRKER
COMPENSATI ON :
$1500 pe r annum.
DUTIES: Under dir oction, t o i nvisst iga,t c applic Rn t s f or r uli of; t o a s sumo
r ospons i bili ty f or i n t ensive s t u dy an d p rof e ssio nal ca s e wo r k s ervi ce i n
a c a s e lo a d; and t o perform r el a t e d wo r k a s r equir e d.
EXAMPLES: Int ervi ewi ng applic nn t s f or re l i ef an d s ervice , and maki ng
inves ti gations ; pl anning buagets ; sendi ng ou t r e li ef ; fo llowing up emp loyment po s sibiliti e s and using communi ty r esources ; clo s i ng cases ; prepari ng
case r e cor ds ; p r epari ng demo ns tr a tion mat eri al fo r ot her members of the s taff;
pr eparing p sychiatric s oci al ca s e hi sto r y anal ys e s ; keep i ng r e cor ds and
pr eparing r epo rt s .
~U.ALIFICATI ONS :
of s ocial wo r k ;
Comp l etio n of t he f ull graduat e cour s e i n an appr oved schoo l
or
Completion of on e scho ol y ear of gr aduat e wo r k in an appr oved s r-L.o Jl of
s oci al wo r k , and one y ear of suc ce s s ful expe rien ce in emp l oymen t o~ sal ary
a s a socia l wo r ker in a reco gni zed soc i a l agency ;
or
Gradua ti on fr om a r eco gni zed college or uni ve r si ty i nclud.ing c omp l et i on of
an u ri der-gr aduate cu rri culum in soc i al wo r k i n an app r oved sc hool of s ocial
work , and two year s ' su ccessful exp er i ence i n emp l oymer. t on sal a r y a s a
s oci a l wor k er i n a r ecogni ze d agency; knowl edge of lit e r a t u r e i n t he fi eld of
soc i al work ; knowl e dge of moder n concep t s of s oc i al c a s e wor k ; ability to
prepa r e case r ec ords and psychi a t ri c s oc i al ca s e hi sto r y en al ;yses .
NOTE : Prefer enc e will be given to appl i can t s be t we en t he ~ge s of twenty-one
ana. :a rty.
The Ca s e Wor ker I s duti e s ar e c.i f f ,3 r cnt i at od f r om t hose of the J u n i or and
Seni or Wor ke r and t hE:: Wor ker-i n- Charge by t ho f act that tr..e Cas e Wor ker ,
be cau s e of p r of e ss io nal tra i ni ng , i s rt; sponsi bl e fo r pr ovi d.i ng a skill e d
pr of e s s ional cas e wor k s er vi ce on a di sc ri mi nat i ng ba sis ; he i s i n nee d of
l e s s dir ec t supervi s i on in anal yz i ng an d develop i ne; plans of pr oc e dure i n
i ndividu al s ituat i ons , and he i s r esponsibl e f or c ommunity i nt er pr e t r1ti ons
in i n dividual s i tuati ons a nd, t o some ext ent, i r. r elat ion t o t he t ot a l p r ogr am .
PARTS .AND WE I Gh""T S I N TE STS:
Educ a ti on - 3 ; Experi enc e - 3 ; I nt e r vi ew - 4 .
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CASE SUPERVISOR
COMPENSATION:
$1 80 0 p er Rnnum.
DUTIES: To be resp on s i bl e for r e vi ewing i n divi ~ 1r l c a s e s; to be r esp ons ible
f or the p rofes sio nal deve lopme nt of the staff nnd t he int egr 2:Lion of the
cas es worl{ prog r f'm with t he ~dmini s trr-1-ti ve org ani zation; 2.nd to pc; rform
r ele.t e d wor k a s r equir e d.
EXAMPLES: Hol di r_~ i nd.i vi dual conf e n.mc e s with tho st c=-.. ff for r e vi e w of ca se
and interpr e t a tion of p olicies nn d pr oc e dur e s; pl r:11ning a nd dir ecti ng staff
conferences for purpo se s of tn.ining ; f ormulating plans with the orc ani zation
head for the reli e f and social case wor 7c p rogram; interp reting community and
organiz:1.tional nee d s a nd defici e nci e s; making sp e cial inve sti ga tions and adjustmen ts.
Q,UALIFI CAT'IONS: Com·) l e tion of two y02.rs of gr2.dua te work in a n approved
school of soci a l wor~;
or
Comp l e tion of on G scho ol y ear of g r nduat e work in an approved school of
soci a l work, 0r its e qui v Rlent; tw o years I succ essful e}..rp e rience in emp l oyment on sal etry as a s oci a l wor ke r in a r e cog ni z ed social agency;
or
Gradua tion from a r e c ognized coll Ec g G or unive rsity includi ng c omp l e tion of an
undergraduate curriculum in soci a l wo r k in a n a ppr ove d scnool of social work,
plus three y enrs I succ e ssful exp , ri en co in orrrp loyrn ent on s a l a r y a s n, soci a l
worker in a recognized social age n cy; knowl edg e of li t e r ature in the fi eld of
social work; kno wledg e of and ability to tea ch modern co n c ept s of s oci e. l
c a se work; supervis o ry ability.
0
NOTZ: Pr e f er ence will be given to app lic ants bet ween the ages of t we nty-three
and fifty.
PARTS Ai'ffi WEIGHTS I N TE STS:
Interview - 4.
Educq tion - 3; :Eb-p
.. e ri ence - 3; Personal
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Ar p endi x C
OUTLI NE OF .mi.1I1HSTR.\.TI V~ U.ANU.AL
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OUTLINE OF A.DMIHI STRA.TI VE MANUAL 1)
Note: Each bulletin sent out has a notation g1v1ng
the section under which it is to 1e filed and the
previous bulletins which it supersedes.
I. A~~i nistrative Routine.
II. Financial Procedur c and Reporting.
III. Ca se Reporting Procedure.
IV. Special Reports and Surveys.
V. Personnel and Training.
VI. Coun ty Welfare Board Procedure.
VII. Residence and Transien ts.
VIII. Old Age Assistance (s eparat e) .
IX. Child Welfare.
X. Works Pro gress Ad.ministration.
Certification Proc edure.
c.c.c.
N. Y. J1..
Emergency Educati on.
Surpl~s Commoditi e s.
XI. Laws and Interpreta ti ons .
XII. Case Work.
1./
I ssu.ed by the Departrnen t of Soci al Worrr. of tnc Maryl and :Board of
Sta te Aid and Charities, 1936 .
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.Appendix D
OUTLINE OF OLD .AGE MANUAL
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- 38 OUTL UTE OF OLD ~B MANUAL
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Policy-Making ty the County Welfare Board.
1. Adoption of a budget.
2. Equity in real property.
3. Equity in insurance, bank deposits, and other liquid asset~.
4. Action on g ranting or denying assistance.
5. Con s ideration of special c as es.
Priorities in Granting Old Age Pensions.
l. Relie f cases.
2. Outdoor pension cases.
3. All other cas es.
The Applic a tion.
1. Witnessing tlie applic ation.
2. Di st ri but io n of applic a.t ion.
3. Filing of applic a tion.
4. Rejection at i ntake .
5. Reapplication.
The Investi gation - Determi ning Elig ibility.
1. Clearance i n maste r file with othe r socia l
2. Proof of a ge , re s idenc e , cit izenship.
3. Rel a tive J.egally r e sponsible.
4. Wo rk r ef erences.
5 . Inc ome from inv estments , pension .
6 . .Lnsuranc e.
7. Real estate.
8 • Bank account s •
9. War veterans.
Disbursing Old Age Assistance.
VII.
Financing Old Age Assistance.
IX.
X.
agencies.
The Budget
1. The standard budget
a. Food
e. Clothing
b. Rent
f. Insura11ce
c. Fuel
g. Med ic al c a re
d. Light
h. Incident als
2 . Plan for aged persons or eoupl es not living in a fam ily group.
3. Use of budget it ems when aged p orson has dependents.
4. Use of budget items when aged persons belongs to a family gro~p,
relief or non-relief.
VI.
VIII.
lJ
Insurance.
Real Property.
Problems of Residence.
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XI.
XII.
XIII.
1./
The Ri ght of Appe al.
St a ti s tic al Routine and Pr ocedure.
Service to t he .Aged.
1. Acquaint aged pe rsons with services off ered by
County W~lfare Bo ard.
2 . Use of volunteers.
3. Planning of tre a tment.
4. Characteristic behavior manifest a tions of the
aged a s guides in tre a tment.
Is su ed by the Department of Socinl Work of the Maryl and ]o Rrd of
State Aid and Charities, 1936 .
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Appendix E
MilflJTES OF ST.ATE STAFF MEET I HG
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MI NU TES OF STATE STAFF M3ETING
A meeting of eight members of the state staff was hela.lf to discuss
what step s shou ld be tak en next by the Di vision of Personnel and Ca se
Sup ervision.
The county situation was pr ~s en ted as follows: Six counties a re in
char ge of workers who are trained and able to supervise their st.3,ffs, and
have no ot her c a s e supervisors a t p resent. Fifte en counties have the full
or par t-time service of a case supervisor. Two counties have no trained
servi ce, eit he r executive or supervisory.
Since in most counties the i nitial stage has been past, and p ractically
all areas a re covered as adequately as will be possible for some ti n e, it
seemed advisable to take stock of how the state staff coul d be most useful
in its service to the existing or ganization. The contact whi ch the Sta te
Department of Public Welfar e nas had with the cou nties through grO'.lJ) r.1eetings, the field staff, or members of the case sup ervision de paer ment has
centered a round:
(1) Administrative matters of organiza tion, r ep orting p roc edure.
( 2 ) Socia l work point of view and development of the work in all
of its phas e s.
Thes e overlap to a grea t extent, bu t the emergency program has demanded more
of the first and has li mi t ed the pos sibility of conc en tra ting on the s econd.
It is anti cipa ted that in t h e future the county staffs will need a minimum
of help with admini strati ve ma t ters, and will want more ass is tance in developing a sound pro gr am, ba sic wo rking philosophy, and service to individuals.
Individua l agenc ies have r ecognized t he f ac t t hat gro wth of the agency a s a
who le along p ro gressive, prof e ssi onal li ne s means offering opportuniti e s to
their sta ffs for continuous developm ent.
The se opportuniti a s may tak e a diff erent form each year acc ording to the
int er es ts a nd needs of the staff and the sp ecial demands a nd conditions of
the job. It seems po s si ble tha t responsibility for offering p rof essional
dev elo pment wi ll be mo re a nd more ac cep ted by the Stat e Depa rtmen t both
because loc a l staff s desi r e it a nd b ecause the aim s of a dtw el oping Sta te
Department demand it. Some of t he many ways in which the state staff may
offer this hel p are:
Genera l sta te meetings.
Regio nal meetings devoted to spec ial to pic s .
Proj ects by which local executives can hel p in nlanning policies.
Rugul a r i ndividual conf erences with fi eld sup ervisors for
di scu s sion of i mme di a te a nd de tailed qu e s ti ons 'lnd for consider a tion of fundamenta l problems i n th e job.
( 5) Individual conferen c 1.; s oe t ween local executive s and member s
of th6 state sta ff on spe cific subjects.
( 6) Formal cl as ses givi ~g t heors tica l in s truct i on.
(7) A series of mee t ings arran~ed a round a sel ected to:i;ii c, 1 13d by
one p erson who t ake s r esponsibilit y f or the pl anning ~nd
direction of t he meetings.
(1 )
( 2)
(3)
( 4)
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These various sugt:;estions :uP 3.11 pos s j.bili ties for f u ture consider&tion. At p res~nt for rnAl tL aoretic,il i n strllction will not be h el p ful. All
of the other sugg estions r.1 i. €;h t b e incorpor a t ed in a ny p lan with different
empha se s at di ff arent tim e s. Re gu lar co r1.fe i' en ces with field su p ervisors
are imp ort a nt at a ll timos. The g0ri.erBl obj e c ti v0s shou ld be k ep t in mind
wha tever pla n s are r.mde. De\ eloprnen t a long two lines is · desirable - work
with individuals and work with the community. The capacity of individual
staff members will determ i ne the extent to wh ich their skill, understa.nding,
and g eneral prof e ssional equipm .-,n t increases.
0
Since the emp hasis up to the present has been on general meetings or
individual conferences, the loc a l staffs may now want the onportuni ty to
di cuss vari ous subjects in som o detail through the medium of smaller
group mee tings . L,,2.darship of t hese group s, subject matter, and division
of staff members into t_:roups nm.s t all be considered carefully. The state
staff shou ld t ake the general responsibility for leadershi p . A possible
division into g r ou p s may be aci.1ieved on the basis of subject matt er.
Ther e wa s s o'.Ile discussi o n of th e me t ho cl a nd philosop hy of g rou:p discussion a n d a rather g enera l agre ement that the to p ic must be limited if
discussion is to be fruitful; that the l <Jader should be willing to take
r e spohsi bili ty for gen eral c on tent a.nd dir ecti on, while allov1ing the group
some freedom of action; and that for the p r esent at least top ics of discussion
should be p r ac tical r a ther t han theoretica l.
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.Appen dix F
NOTE REGARDI NG 1936 LEGISLATION
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NOTE REGARDING 1936 LEGI SL.A.TI ON
The General As s embly of the St8.te of Ma ryl a nd convened during
the first week of Auril 1936 for the purpo s e of considering general relief needs and meas~res required in order to secure Social Security funds.
New legislation enacted providos tha t Old Age Assisten ce, Aid to Dependent
Children, and Aid to the Blind, be a dministered by the pqunty Welfare
Boa rds and the Department of Welfare of Baltimore City.D General public
assi s tance for employables and unemployables is financed by a state tax,
but paid t o the fiscal officer of the county, and the funds may be used
f .: r relief or for the ordinary purposes of government a s the county commissi oners may decide.
General public assistance may be administered according to the
wishes of the county uommissioners. There is no provision for state supervision of these funds. However, in most counties these fund s are being
turned over to the County Welfare Bo a rds. In two counties the commissioners have gone on record a s ready to administer t h ese funds t h emselves; in
others the situation is doubtful.
General public assista~ce funds are delayed because of the wordi ng of tho Sta te Revenue Act. '?:.! It re quire s t ha t t he State Comp troller ,
from t he income of t h e t ax, first set a side suffici ent funds to cover
the exp ensesof collection and the expenses of the Bo a rd of Sta te Ai d and
Charities. Then he must set aside a sum not in exce ss of $1,000, 000 for
Old Age As sista nc e and a sum not in exc e s s of $1,450,000 for Aid to Dependen t Children. Only when he is certain of the coll ection s will he be ready
to mak e some distribution of the gen er al fund s . For t his rea so n t her e are
some cou nties in which ca ses dependent upon gene ral public as si stance a re
not covered. In the City of Baltimore and in some cou nties an a dvan c e ha s
been made in anticipa tion of repa ym ent from t h e sta te fu nds.
The new l aw provide s tha t admi ni s tra ti ve cos ts shall be met from
s te.t e fu nds or local f unds or both, a s t he Bo a rd of St a te Ai d. ancl Cha ri ties
shall direct. The Sta te Bo ard i s no w working on 9 . policy for paym ent of
a dministra tive costs, but contempl a tes some shari ng of cost by t he local
unit.
The new l egisl a tion al so rea~u ir ~s som e local fi nancing of all
t hre e public a ssis t anc e fe a ~~re s : one si xth of Ol d Age Assi s t ance (or one
t hird shou ld Federal fu nds no longer be "l.Ya il able ) , an amount equi val en t to
1¢' on t h e t ax r 3. te for Aid to Dependent Chil dren , a nd an arcou nt not in excess of $250 f or Aid to t he Needy Blind.
--,--------------~------------ ---------!/
See Chap ters 149 , 1 48 , a nd 1 45 of the La ws of Maryl a nd 1936 .
E.J This Act provided for a selecti ve excis e t ax and cor poration fr a nc hise
t ax.
See Chap ter 10 of t he Laws of Mar yl and 1936 .
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