DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

1935-1995

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

When Depression struck the nation in the 1930s public and private welfare agencies in Montgomery County struggled to meet the needs of residents facing destitution. The burden of relief fell mainly on the shoulders of the Social Service League, the State's first private welfare agency, which was formed in 1908. Under the Federal Emergency Relief Act Maryland began to receive Federal tax funds for the administration of unemployment relief. Welfare boards throughout the state began channeling these funds to the needy. In Montgomery County the Social Service League, in conjunction with the local welfare board, administered relief programs until 1934, when the Montgomery County Welfare Board became a separate entity and assumed control for aid to the unemployed.

The seven-member Welfare Board was appointed by the Governor upon the recommendations of the State Relief Director and the State Administrator of the Civil Works Administration, and with the approval of the County Commissioners. The Board began its work in the Red Brick Courthouse, and, with one trained executive, two case workers, and seven relief aides, established the concept of the "friendly visitor," or case worker, which became the model for the State's social services system.

In 1935 the Board of State Aid and Charities was formed. This Board made each county welfare board a permanent public agency which was empowered to administer public relief to families and individuals, including the aged, the blind, and the handicapped. Boards were also charged with responsibility for the care of neglected, dependent, and delinquent children, and with rendering probation services to juvenile courts. All welfare board employees were required to join the state merit system. Later that year, the Social Security Act signaled the end of the Emergency Relief Program and established the framework of benefit programs designed to permanently prevent or alleviate the conditions of poverty.

In 1939 Maryland replaced the Board of State Aid and Charities with the Department of Public Welfare, enlarging its jurisdiction in order to qualify for federal aid under the Social Security Act, and designating local welfare boards the agent of the State for each county. The State also created a Board of Social Services, which had administrative responsibility for welfare programs until 1970.

Through the Welfare Board the County developed adoption and foster care services, and assured the placement and supervision of children committed by juvenile court. Social services were divided into two areas in the 1960s: adult and family services, and child welfare services. In 1967 the Welfare Board was renamed the Montgomery County Department of Public Welfare. In 1968 it became the Department of Social Services (DSS), a name which aptly reflected the Department's concentration on service programs.

In 1969 an adult service program was established, and single parent services were initiated in 1970 as an expansion and further specialization of adoption services. In 1972 the County government allocated $18,000 to the DSS to provide emergency shelter for individuals and families without housing. Throughout the 1980s shrinking funds demanded the creation of management programs and labor-saving measures; food stamp automation and the use of word processing and microfilm were implemented to increase the efficiency of the Department. In 1989, in response to welfare reform, the DSS created a series of programs designed to reduce the financial burden of welfare services. These included a plan to combine job training and support services with cash rewards in order to encourage self-sufficiency for mothers receiving welfare, and a Family Independence Program aimed at the unemployed.

In the early 1990s the DSS continued to operate as a social service department supervised by the State of Maryland's Department of Human Resources, while simultaneously functioning as an agency of the Montgomery County Government. The Department operated through four divisions under the Office of the Director: Income Maintenance, Adult Services, Child Welfare Services, and Emergency Services. On July 1, 1995 the DSS became part of the newly created Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) which combined the Departments of Social Services; Addiction, Victim, and Mental Health; Family Resources; and Health into one department focused on integrated service delivery systems.

PROCESSING PROCEDURES

General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents and photographs were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere.

Preservation copying of newspaper clippings was performed whenever feasible. Records in folders were arranged, unless otherwise indicated, in forward chronological order, with undated records appearing at the end of the folder.

PROVENANCE

The bulk of the records were transferred from the former DSS in 1997. Series II, Subseries 1 was supplemented with reports culled from various accessions of printed material. The meeting minutes in Series I were accessioned from the Rockville Regional Library in 1998.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The records of the DSS comprise 2 cubic feet of papers, photographs, negatives, clippings, printed material, video cassette tapes, and audio cassette tapes. The bulk of the records represent an effort by the Historical Subcommittee of the Department's Employee Action Committee to collect material documenting the history of the DSS from the creation of the Welfare Board in 1934 to the incorporation of the DSS into the DHHS in 1995 and 1996. The records document day-to-day operations of the Department, provide a visual record of special events in the Department's history, and include interviews with key personnel.

The records are arranged as four series:

Series I: Subject Files

Series II: Printed Material

Subseries 1: Reports

Subseries 2: Manuals and Serials

Series III: Audiovisual Material

Series IV: Photographic Material

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I: Subject Files, 1937-1995 (1 cu. ft.)

This series documents the general administration and activities of the Welfare Board and the DSS. It includes typewritten notes by Welfare Board personnel during the 1930s and 1940s that were originally stored in four binders. Folder titles for these records are the original titles assigned to sections within these binders. The notes document public relations efforts, special events, day-to-day administration of the Board and its relationship with State agencies, personnel matters, policy development, and details of individual cases dealt with by the Board. The series also contains general correspondence and memoranda, materials used in training, and background information on welfare services. Of particular interest is a historical time line of the Department, Cherish the Accomplishments, written by Steve Zepnik, Chairperson of the Historical Subcommittee. Several of the early folders containing Welfare Board notes are restricted as they contain sensitive personnel and case information.

The series is arranged alphabetically by subject. Records within folders are arranged in chronological order, either reverse or forward depending on the original arrangement.

Series II: Printed Material, 1935-1995 (1 cu. ft)

This series contains annual reports of the Welfare Board and the DSS, program summary documents, State manuals, serial publications of the Department, and other ad hoc reports.

The series is arranged into two subseries: Reports and Serials.

Subseries 1: Reports, 1935-1995 (0.5 cu.ft.)

This subseries consists primarily of annual reports, but also includes some other special ad hoc reports.

The subseries is arranged chronologically, and alphabetically within each year.

Subseries 2: Manuals and Serials, [1948]-1995 (0.5 cu. ft.)

This subseries contains issues of three serials produced by the DSS during the 1990s, and several manuals and program descriptions originating from State agencies. These State publications contain specific instructions for the DSS, the agency through which State policies described in the publications were implemented locally.

Records in this subseries are arranged alphabetically and then chronologically.

Series III: Audiovisual Material, 1987- 1991 (1 folder)

This series contains separation sheets for nine video taped recordings and two P6-120 video cassette recordings of key DSS staff including Executive Director Harriet Herman, and Gladys Benson, a senior case supervisor for the Board from 1934 to 1971, which have been removed for storage to Record Group 16: Oral Histories. No transcripts currently exist for the recordings. Recordings for which no oral history release forms were received are restricted. The recordings are arranged in Record Group 16 by last name of interviewee. The series also contains a separation sheet for an audio tape of a recording of National Public Radio's Morning Edition featuring coverage of the County's Family Independence Project (FIP), a pilot program designed to reduce welfare dependency by providing health care subsidies. This recording has been transferred for storage to Record Group 19: Audiovisual.

Series IV: Photographic Material, [1935]-1995 (1 folder)

This series contains separation sheets for photographic material documenting the history of the Department which has been removed for storage to RG 19: Photographs. It includes photographs of Welfare Board members from the 1930s, and photographs and negatives of other key personnel and events since that date, such as the retirement of William E. Royer, the Board's first director. One photograph is restricted as it contains confidential adoption information.

Photographs and negatives are arranged separately respectively, in chronological order.

BOX INVENTORY

Series I: Subject Files

Box 1

Awards and Accomplishments, 1994-1995, n.d.

Cherish the Accomplishments: A Montgomery County Department of Social Services Historical

Time Line, 1990

Clippings, 1937-1941, 1956

Clippings, 1987, 1989-1990

Community Contacts, October 1938-March 1939 RESTRICTED

Community Contacts, April 1938-September 1938 RESTRICTED

Community Contacts, April 1939-1940 RESTRICTED

Conferences with State Staff, 1941 RESTRICTED

Conferences with State Staff, 1942 RESTRICTED

Conferences with State Field Supervisors, 1943 RESTRICTED

Independent Boarding Homes, 1939-1940 RESTRICTED

Material Relevant to Montgomery County Welfare Board Policies, 1939-1940 RESTRICTED

Meeting Minutes, 1989-1995 (3 folders)

Memoranda and General Information, 1961-1979

Memoranda and General Information, 1981-1995, n.d.

Presentation to James Gleason, 1974

Program Descriptions and Chronologies, 1974, 1990, n.d.

Responsibilities of an Executive Secretary in a Small County Welfare Board, [c. 1940]

State Programs and Salary Standards, 1941-1945, 1966, 1986

Supervisory Memoranda, 1980

Training Materials, 1964-1966, n.d.

Training Materials, Foster Care, [ca. 1960]

Series II: Printed Material

Subseries 1: Reports

Welfare Board Annual Report 1934-1935, 1935

State of Maryland Laws Relating to Public Assistance, 1936

Welfare Board Annual Report 1935-1936, 1936

Welfare Board Annual Report 1936-1937, 1937

Montgomery County's Welfare Program, 1938

Welfare Board Annual Report 1938-1939, and Social Service League Annual Report, 1939

Welfare Board Annual Report 1939-1940, 1940

Box 2

Welfare Board Annual Report 1940-1941, 1941

Welfare Board Annual Report 1941-1942, 1942

Welfare Board Annual Report 1942-1943, 1943

Welfare Board Annual Report 1943-1944, 1944

Welfare Board Annual Report 1944-1945, 1945

Welfare Board Annual Report 1945-1946, 1946

Welfare Board Annual Report 1946-1947, 1947

Welfare Board Annual Report 1947-1948, 1948

Welfare Board Annual Report 1948-1949, 1949

Maryland's Most Valuable Resource: A Report to the Citizens of Maryland and the Local Youth

Commissions from the Maryland Commission for Youth, 1950

Welfare Board Annual Report 1949-1950, [1950]

Welfare Board Annual Report 1953-1954, 1954

Welfare Board Annual Report 1954-1955, 1955

Governor's Conference on Juvenile Delinquency, 1955

Second Governor's Conference on Juvenile Delinquency, 1956

Needs of Youth as Youth Sees Them: A Survey Among Senior High School Students of

Montgomery County, Maryland 1953-1959, [1959]

Public Welfare: First Quarter Century, 1934-1959, [1959]

Public Welfare Organization and Administration in Maryland, 1964

Advisory Council on Child Welfare Annual Report, 1965

Helping People to Help Themselves, 1968

Annual Report 1967-1968, 1969

Summary of Programs and Services, Revised 1969

Annual Report 1968-1969, 1970

Annual Report 1969-1970, 1970

Helping People to Help Themselves, 1970

Annual Report 1970-1971, 1971

Maryland State Department of Social Services Personnel Manual, [1971]

Annual Report 1971-1972, 1972

Annual Report 1972-1973, 1974

Child Welfare Services Division Annual Report, 1976

Summary of Programs, 1977

Annual Report Fiscal Year 1977, 1978

Annual Report Fiscal Year 1978, [1978]

Annual Report Fiscal Year 1980, 1980

Summary of Programs, 1980

Fiscal Year 1981 Annual Report, 1981

Quality Assistance Committee Report, 1988

Summary of Programs, 1989

Cornerstone of Social Services Delivery System, 1991

FY 92 Annual Report, 1992

Annual Report FY 93, 1993

Annual Report FY 94, 1995

Annual Report FY 95, 1995

Health and Human Services Restructuring Design, 1995

Subseries 2: Manuals and Serials

FYI Weekly Administrative Bulletin, March 1990, January-December 1994

Good News Newsletter, November-December 1994

Manual of the Department of Public Welfare, [1948-1967]

Maryland Social Services Administration Programs 1 (3 folders), [1970-1980]

Maryland Social Services Administration Programs 2 (2 folders), [1969-1980]

Spotlight, February 1992-June 1994

Spotlight, October 1994-June 1995

Series III: Audiovisual Material

Audiovisual Material

Benson, Gladys, Interview, n.d.(2 cassettes)

Bishop, Ann, Interview, April 22, 1990 (2 cassettes) RESTRICTED

Bishop, Ann, Interview, April 23, 1990 RESTRICTED

Caulk, Robert, Interview, August 29, 1991 RESTRICTED

Herman, Harriet, Interview, June 12, 1990

Herman, Harriet, Edit, n.d Oswald, Mary Lou, Interview, April 25, 1990

Scott, Pat, Oral History, March 1990

Smith, Catherine, Interview, June 21, 1990

Smith, Jim, Interview, March 8, 1990 (on Ann Bishop April 22, 1990 tape)

National Public Radio's Morning Edition, November 4, 1987

Series IV: Photographs

Photographs, [c. 1935]-1995, n.d. RESTRICTED

Negatives, [1973], 1991