Public Welfare Programs

In 1933, Harry Hopkins, one of FDR’s top advisors, argued that public welfare should not be a haven for professional social work practice. In the 1960s, the Public Welfare Association asserted that having social workers in public welfare programs would not only improve the life of poor families, but also reduce the number of welfare recipients.

• Why did the NASW support the separation of social services from cash assistance in the 1970s?
• Has this separation helped or hindered the social welfare profession? The poor? Why or why not?

Economic Opportunity Act and the War on Poverty

Explain how the Economic Opportunity Act and the War on Poverty caused a shift in social work’s views on social welfare and the profession itself.