History of Case Management /American Social Welfare System
English Poor Laws
The origins of the American Social Welfare started in England in the 1600s with what are known as the “English Poor Laws”. The Act of 1601 had several main objectives:
They established the local church parish as the administrative unit responsible for helping the poor and providing relief.
They provided materials (hemp, wool, flax, etc.) to provide for those that were able to work.
The provided a setting for the apprenticeship of children (child could learn a trade like being a blacksmith in order to provide for himself in the future).
Established almshouses or poorhouses (residential settings) for those who were blind, disabled, elderly and could not work.
Determined that any person who was able to work who refused would be placed in prison.
Like the current welfare system the poor laws and workhouses were meant to provide for peoples’ basic needs and to stimulate work ethic –however, the reality was very different.
Early immigrants from England (ie. The colonists) instituted similar forms of the English poor laws into Colonial American Society.
Progressive Era
During the 1800s American state governments took on a greater role in providing relief for the poor/needy. Since many of the state programs and efforts were often inadequate, private societies and self-help organizations assisted the state efforts with local programs. The people that volunteered in these societies were often upper class women and men who used moral persuasion and personal example as ways to help the less fortunate. This was the beginning of what was known as the Progressive Era.
In 1886 the settlement house movement began. This was the beginning of the idea of social change as they began to look at some of the causes of poverty and ways to expand jobs for the poor. The Neighborhood Guild in NYC and Hull House in Chicago are two of the more famous settlement houses. The settlement house movement focused on MACRO level change (which is change at the community, state, or national level). Some examples of what they accomplished were:
Conducted research
Helped develop the juvenile court system
Created a widow pension program
Instituted public health reforms
Promoted child labor legislation
Introduced the concept of social insurance
Around the same time the Charity Organization Society introduced the concept of individual work or “casework” with families and groups. Case work began to develop areas of specialization- medical, psychiatric, children, etc. The first formal casework training program was created by the Charity Organization Society in 1897 in a partnership with Columbia University.
After World War I, casework expanded from helping those who were impoverished to those who were suffering war-related problems. It was common for soldiers to be suffering from what was known at the time as “shell shock” or what we call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Casework with individuals, families, and small groups is known as MICRO level social work. MICRO level work forcuses on change within the individual or small groups.
The Great Depression and New Deal
The stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression led to the implementation of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program in 1933. The New Deal was a economic recovery program that used the federal government as an instrument of change. It was based on the belief that greater government regulation and oversight would solve the countries’ problems.
The New Deal created many programs to get people back to work and stimulate the economy. The Works Progress Administration was a program to reduce unemployment instead of providing people with welfare. Many of our countries roads and highways are a result of this program.
The New Deal also developed the Social Security System with the intent to provide workers who contributed to the program a small pension or safety net.
As a result of the New Deal the social welfare system in America expanded beyond relief for the poor to include housing, electricity, health programs, child welfare programs, and many forms of social insurance for all Americans.
War On Poverty and the Great Society
In the 1960’s poverty was “rediscovered “ as a social problem. Over 40 million Americans lived in poverty (mostly children). Many of these people were African-American.
President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed and “unconditional war on poverty”. Congress introduced the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) which created federally funded programs such as Job Corps, Upward Bound, Neighborhood Youth Corps, Head Start, Communion Action, Legal Services, Foster Grandparents, and others through the Office of Economic Opportunity.
In 1965 Medicare and Medicaid were introduced and the Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was established.
Other programs developed during the Great Society were the Older Americans Act (established nursing homes), the Food Stamp Program, and programs that gave direct federal aid to local school systems to “level the playing field”.
By the mid-1970’s many of these social programs had stagnated due to a feeling in the country that many of these programs has created levels of social unrest in America.
During this time changes in Social Work/Case Management included training on multiculturalism and gender awareness and the development of multi-disciplinary degree programs in urban planning, public health, public policy, education, and law. The BSW degree program was established along with the idea of social workers having a “private practice”.
1990’s The Clinton Years
There was a social push in the country and intense focus on limiting welfare dependence and moving away from the stereotype of the “welfare mother”, which claimed that the system encouraged people to live off benefits rather than work.
1996 Welfare Reform Act eliminated the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (ADFC) and replaced the program with block grants to states that had time limited conditions (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF)
It implemented programs that used private local agencies (non profits) to provide managed care for clients. Caseworkers in these private non-profits helped administer federally funded programs on the local level.
Please complete the following assignment based on the reading of Chapter 2:
Based on the history of the social welfare system presented in the reading which system structure do you believe works better at addressing the needs of individuals in a community (local private-run and funded organizations or large federally mandated and funded programs) and why? Please cite a minimum of three examples from the reading to support your answer.
Do you think that the role of case management has changed over time? How and why? Do you think that the changes (if any) have benefited those receiving services? Please cite a minimum of three examples from the reading to support your answer.
In your opinion, what is the biggest social welfare issue in American today (i.e. poverty, education, etc.)? Please identify some programs that are in place to help combat this issue and whether or not you believe they are effective and why. What else in your opinion needs to be done to help solve this problem?
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