The purpose of this study has been to review the development of public assistance in British Columbia; and to compare the present policies of (a) eligibility and determination of need, (b) assistance levels, and (c) service programs, in war Veterans’ Allowance, old Age Assistance, Blind Persons’ Allowance, Mothers’ Allowance and Social Allowance. Reference is made to American programs where a comparison of policies is helpful in clarifying Issues. On policy concerning such questions as residence, relatives’ responsibility, citizenship, assessment of resources, levels of assistance, and service programs, the policy Manual and the Acts and Regulations of the B.C. Social Welfare Branch are used as the basis for comparative analysis, interviews were held with authorities administering the programs and these were pursued in order to clarify apparent variation in policy between programs and administrative agencies. Information on the American programs was obtained through literature, correspondence; and a visit to one local office of the State Department of public Assistance, Washington. For the purpose of measuring levels of assistance, use is made of a standard budget developed in a previous Master of Social Work thesis. From this a monthly cost schedule is developed to suggest an up to date budgetary standard and to point up the evaluation of the adequacy of current public assistance allowances. Discrepancies between programs on such matters as exemptions and additional income are also examined. Service programs including the social and medical aspects are studied comparatively, and it is established that British Columbia is a leader in this respect. The more effective use of trained and untrained personnel in the social services appears to demand further research. The study leads to seven major suggestions; (a) abolition of local residence qualifications with appropriate financial arrangements; (b) standardization and liberalization of policies respecting assessment of resources and income; (c) use of the standard budget in establishing and meeting need; (d) use of a simplified budget - deficit method for determining grants; (e) more effective use of personnel in social services; (f) extended use of research in public assistance; (g) development of advisory - committee groups in public assistance. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This thesis examines public welfare administration in British Columbia. An historical review reveals the beginnings of the present administration as a number of "bits and pieces" of welfare legislation which were gradually co-ordinated over a period of fifty years. The present operations of the administration are examined in general, but focus is taken particularly on headquarters relationships with field units or regions. These are discussed and evaluated in the light of current administrative principles and against the background of difficult terrain and isolated regions common to the province. Delegations of authority from headquarters to the field receive special attention. The greater part of the material for the thesis was obtained by direct interview with provincial officials. With considerable reference to theory the information was then subjected to critical analysis. It was found that the public welfare organization had achieved: (a) A unified administration of technically good design, (b) A plan for headquarters field-relationship suitable to provincial terrain, (c) A partial implementation of the plan. Several unsolved problems prevented fuller use of the plan: (a) Lack of agreement among all elements of the administration regarding the decentralization. (b) Scarcity of personnel professionally trained in social work. (c) Cumbersome provincial-municipal relationships in regard to public welfare. These problems point to still existing needs: (a) A redefinition of administrative objectives acceptable to all elements. (b) A greater supply of professionally trained personnel. (c) Increased standards of treatment and supervision in the field. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The increasing incidence of unemployment in recent years (1960-62) has again brought the problem to the attention of governments and citizens, many of whom are attempting to reduce the consequences of unemployment in a mariner appropriate to their authority. One of the methods of dealing with the result of unemployment is through the administration of public welfare services. This study was designed to determine the requirements of the unemployed, the public welfare services they receive and to evaluate the adequacy of these services, using a suburban municipality of Vancouver as a case example. The history of public welfare of the Dominion, provincial and municipal governments is reviewed; and attention is then directed to the detailed organization of public welfare services in the Municipality of Surrey. Within the municipal structure of the Department of Social Welfare, the administrative controls, the size of case loads and social work staff were reviewed. The services available include the financial aid granted under the Social Assistance Act, health services, casework services, and the Winter Works programme. The unemployed employable persons in the municipality are identified by such characteristics as age, size of family, education, occupation, work history, financial assets, housing, and personality problems. The method of study is both historical and analytical. The literature pertinent to the historical development and present status of public welfare programmes is reviewed as background. An analysis is then made of cases requiring services, and the services given are evaluated. Information required for this study was received from the records of the Municipality of Surrey Social Welfare Department, current and past literature, interviews with administrative leaders, and the personal experience of the writer. The employable man without a job presents many severe problems which are only partially handled by the local social welfare department. The basic administrative organization is able to cope with the difficulties presented; but the interpretation of legislation and indecisive attitudes to welfare and rehabilitation programmes make the implementation of an adequate service practically impossible to attain. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The Social Service Exchange began in Boston in 1873 at the same time that the art and the practice of social work were developing. The exchange grew out of the need to prevent duplication in giving among the social agencies, and as the thinking in the field of social work changed so the exchange varied in its function. It has now come to facilitate prevention of duplication in helping clients to solve their problems. This has been fostered by the growing schools of psychological thought which have emphasized that all practice must center on the client. The exchange organization in Vancouver has followed much the same pattern as the majority of the exchanges in North America by coming under the auspices of the Community Chests and Councils. As the town grew in size the exchange grew also. In addition there were numerous mergers until the Vancouver exchange was the clearing center for the whole province of British Columbia. At first the Vancouver Exchange was the 'hub of the social services' but by 1930 it became a tool of social planning under the auspices of the Community Chests and Councils. The Index has tended to become a mechanical process but recently it has begun to re-evaluate its function, only to find itself faced with innumerable problems in the fields of financing, registration policies and the like. There next follows a descriptive analysis of the present operation and function of the Vancouver Index. Starting with its place in the Community Chest and Council organization as a ‘service committee', the function of the Index Committee and the staff is outlined, together with the problems they face. Following this the methods of enrollment are dealt with, then the criteria for enrollment and the operation of the clearing process itself. Statistical facts are introduced to indicate the degree of efficiency of operation, followed by a review of the changing methods currently in use. The third section concerns the problems currently facing the Index. What is the reason that agencies are reducing their clearings, and is it the best policy? Why are the costs of clearings rising steadily, and is the price for this service more than the agencies can afford? The question of agency relationships and attitudes towards each other soon develops as a paramount factor and before this is evaluated it is impossible to determine whether there should be an Index or not. No attempt is made to determine the cause of the apparently negativistic attitudes of the agencies but its effects are considered as it is one of the most vital factors in the efficient functioning of the Index. Lastly, the use of the Index is shown as being beneficial to the client, the worker and the community. There is an evaluation of the present policies of registration currently followed and rather strong reasons presented why they should be shortly altered. It is felt that the present policy can lead only to the dissolution of the Index. The concluding section makes specific recommendations concerning the Index, both from a policy point of view and in the area of specific operation. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The Family Welfare Bureau of Greater Vancouver has now been in existence for twenty-five years, and it is the purpose of this study to trace its development from its origins in the recommendations of the British Columbia Child Welfare Survey of 1927, to the present day. Material for this purpose was collected from the minutes of the Executive Board of the Bureau, 1927 to 1952; the annual reports of the Director for the same years; personal interviews with the Director and other staff members; other related records and literature of the agency; and numerous pamphlets and publications of the Family Service Association of America. This latter body is a standard-setting association of family agencies to which the Bureau has belonged from its inception. In the course of its life, the agency has been faced with many unforeseen difficulties, the more drastic of these being the depression years of the 1930's and the war years of 1939 to 1945. These two periods of economic and social stress are reflected clearly in the workload of the agency, and it would have been understandable had this new organization strayed from its original objective, which was to do family casework. An appraisal of the work of the Bureau shows clearly, however, that: (1) it has filled a definite need within the overall framework of agencies in the community, and (2) it has steadfastly maintained its original purpose of providing family casework, services. In addition, (3) it has constantly striven to improve its standards of professional competence, and (4) it has followed the traditional role of private agencies in experimenting in the provision of new services. The record also indicates that, even though the community is showing increasing acceptance of casework services, continued and careful studies will have to be made to determine the most effective way of interpreting to the public, on which the Bureau depends for its financing, the meaning and value of these non-material services. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study is centered around examining the impact that the recent welfare reform has had on front-line workers in the welfare bureaucracy and the clients of the welfare system. In 1993 the government in British Columbia began implementing sweeping policy and procedural changes that altered the way in which welfare services were provided and limited the services available to the poor. The impetus for these changes is situated in the widespread media coverage of welfare fraud and abuse throughout 1993 and 1994. The media, by targeting certain sub-groups of the welfare client population, was able to substantiate their claim that the welfare system was not only being undermined but that it was also operating on the basis of policies that were flawed and therefore easily abused. This study begins with a presentation of the policy and procedural changes that have occurred within the Ministry of Social Services in British Columbia from 1993 to 1996. The second section of this study examines the media's response to the "welfare fraud crisis" and the way in which a moral panic was created around the "problem" of welfare fraud. This analysis draws upon moral panic and social constructionist theory to examine not only the media's presentation of the "crisis" but also the government's response to the public concern that had been generated. The final section of this study presents a discussion of the front-line worker's response to the changes that have taken place within the Ministry of Social Services over the last four years. The analysis is centered around examining how these front-line government workers cope with the restrictive and regulatory policies they are responsible for enforcing. The study concludes with suggestion for further research on this topic.

This thesis is a comparative case study of welfare reform in Alberta and British Columbia in the 1990s. It explores the predominant pressures on the social assistance systems emanating from the provincial, national and international arenas. It further identifies and compares the policy response of each province to these pressures and the consequences of the reforms for the respective governments and social assistance communities. Lastly, it attempts to account for the major similarities and differences between the two reformed welfare policies. This thesis argues that while Alberta's and British Columbia's welfare reforms share a number of notable similarities, they reflect fundamentally different models of welfare provision: Alberta's reforms follow a market-enforcement model while British Columbia's approximate a market-performance model. The similarities between the two policies are best accounted for as reactions to parallel pressures on the two welfare programs, specifically, rising welfare caseloads and program costs as well as the changing debate around the merits of government social assistance programs. Conversely, the differences between the two policies reflect the salience of distinctive pressures on each welfare system. In Alberta reform was driven by the influence of Alberta Family and Social Services Minister Mike Cardinal and the example of American welfare reforms while in BC the reforms were initiated on account of federal policy transformations and public perceptions of fraud. Finally, this thesis suggests that the specific models of welfare provision chosen in each case reflect the influence of each provinces' unique political context. The political ideology of the governing party in both provinces was a significant factor in determining the orientation of the reformed welfare policy. In Alberta the adoption of a market-enforcement model was further facilitated by the province's longstanding political culture while in British Columbia the influence of interest groups contributed to the creation of a social assistance policy closely resembling a market-performance model.

A man grows and develops through the activity of "work". It is more than a source of income, though this is apt to be forgotten for the wage earner in the industrialized money-economy of today. When a man is trained to his capacity and is employed, he is an asset to both his community and himself. He experiences a feeling of self-worth; he can be a figure of respect and adequacy to his wife and children. In contrast to this, a wage-earner decays when exposed to prolonged periods of enforced idleness. Unemployment demoralizes, debilitates and isolates; normal energetic drives may be turned into anxiety, guilt and depression. Unemployment aggravates other personal and social problems which break down men, their wives and children. All this is particularly true among the "lower strata" of the unemployed. In October, 1959, in Vancouver, almost 20,000 men and women were registered with the National Employment Service. At the same time there were only 1,000 unfilled job vacancies. In January of the same year, the Special Placements Section for British Columbia had 1,200 registrants, and found jobs for 64. This is a placement record of one in twenty. Unemployment Insurance was collected by 1,200 Vancouver persons in December 1959, at the same time that 5,000 unemployed received half a million dollars in Social Assistance. The Salvation Army, in 1959, gave Vancouver's unemployed men 167,466 free meals and 13,427 free nights lodging. The Francescan Sisters of Vancouver gave out sandwiches to 300 men each day at 4 o'clock. Of the 100 persons registered with the Epilepsy Centre, over 50 were seeking work. Of 36 new cases opened with the Alcoholism Foundation in January 1960, 28 were unemployed. Eighty per cent of those registered with the John Howard Society had no work. And the vast majority of the addicts asking for help from the Narcotic Addiction Foundation were unemployed. These figures add several dimensions to the simple word "unemployed". The survey of available services, which was the second part of the present study, was made through personal interviews (based on a standard schedule of questions) with officials of all agencies having regular contact with unemployed men. This permitted: (a) a composite picture of the lower-stratum or skid row unemployed man, (b) an assessment of current services, with special reference to work needs. The typical skid row unemployed man is unattached, with few roots in the community. He is usually over 40, (though there is a minority group of younger men) with grade school education, no skill, and an irregular work history. Although registered for employment, he is seldom called for work because he has so little to offer. He receives Social Assistance because he has no savings, and is ineligible for Unemployment Insurance. He usually has some degree of physical disability, which may include a problem with alcohol. He is medically certified as being "capable of light work", but is physically run-down and has lost the habit of regular work. Services presently available include economic maintenance, food, clothing, shelter, registration for employment and counselling: but these are offered in varying amounts by a variety of agencies. They meet the basic needs, but they are not coordinated; and most of all, they do not offer the opportunity to work or alternative training and rehabilitation. The immediate need in Vancouver is for an active central registry of all unemployed, improved communication between the various agencies and services, and the establishment of a central service council to evaluate needs and develop a programme to meet these needs. Comprehensive planning starting from registration, evaluation and training, and ending with job placement, should be the goal: but "sheltered work", for both training and production is the most practical resource. Insufficient attention has been given to successful programmes of sheltered work and rehabilitation courses in other countries. These could usefully be considered for adaptation here: preferably on a national scale. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This thesis has reviewed the medical care programme for public assistance recipients in British Columbia. It has been concerned with eligibility qualifications, the extent of services provided, and the administration and financing of these services. As background material, recent developments in social assistance medical care in Canada were summarized. Particular attention was given to an analysis of the Saskatchewan programme, as its philosophy of public assistance is similar to that of British Columbia. Eligibility for medical services is not a complex subject in British Columbia because it simply extends to all categories of public assistance. The same may be said of the actual provision of services. British Columbia does not have the usual administrative tangles usually surrounding the kinds of services offered because of the fact that it has chosen to provide comprehensive care. The administration and financing of the programme offers plenty of material for discussion by the student of public administration. It is evident that the provincial role is predominant, as is true of many aspects of provincial-municipal relations in British Columbia. The contribution of the municipalities is largely confined to a share in the financing of the scheme, and this is not large. The Director of the Medical Services Division carries administrative responsibility for the programme, but the Canadian Medical Association (B.C. Division) through its Social Assistance Medical Service is responsible for remuneration to the individual physician from a pooled fund provided by the provincial government. The administration of public funds by a private body is a much-discussed issue in the extension of public medical care, but it suffices here to state that the plan seems to be working satisfactorily in British Columbia. Probably the distinctive contribution of the programme is the integration of the physician and the social worker in the planning of the physical and social rehabilitation of the individual. The relatively comprehensive nature of services, both medical and of a social work nature, contribute to the integration. The extension of medical care is now a lively issue in Canada, and has become a focal point in federal-provincial relations. British Columbia has prepared itself for an inclusive programme through the introduction of hospital insurance, but its pioneering in medical care for the needy may also be of aid in the planning of the larger programme which must inevitably come. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Persons not covered by categorical aid programs (such as old age assistance and mother's allowance ) and insurance schemes (such as old age security and unemployment insurance), are cared for by the social assistance program in British Columbia. The present study is concerned with this residual group of persons in one community - New Westminster. The development of the present assistance program is traced, the changes in caseload that have occurred in the last four years are considered, and a survey made of the cases that received assistance in 1951. A social assistance program has been in operation in New Westminster for the past fifty years, during which time major changes have occurred. The principle of local responsibility for caring for the destitute has been modified, and the provincial government today assumes major financial responsibility for social assistance, and has formulated the policy which is followed by all public assistance agencies in the province. In contrast to the "relief days”, unemployable persons today comprise the major group of persons receiving help. The employment of social workers to implement policy is also a recognized principle. Social assistance in New Westminster is only one function of the public agency. The stigma attached to charity in the relief days has decreased and persons in need are regarding assistance as a legitimate resource in times of financial stress. The total caseload of the New Westminster agency has increased in the last four years of joint municipal-provincial operation, but this increase had been particularly prominent in the social assistance caseload. Minor (and constant) fluctuations in the number of persons requiring help have occurred, and there is a tendency for the assistance caseload to decrease in late summer. Judging from the eight-month period in 1951, the social assistance caseload is characterized by a turnover in cases as high as one in three. The social worker has met these changes by giving more of his time to the social assistance caseload. The persons receiving assistance are not a homogenous group. They include persons who receive assistance as a temporary measure, and those for whom assistance is a permanent source of income. Again, the social assistance group is made up of persons whose only problem is financial destitution, and those who have problems requiring casework help. A high proportion of the persons have been married at one time but are now living alone. The majority of the people on assistance are over sixty years of age, and these people suffer from crippling ailments, particularly heart disease and arthritis. One-third of the 558 persons who benefited from assistance in April 1951 were dependent children, one-half of them under ten years of age. The majority of the dependents live with a widowed or separated woman. The majority of the 122 men who received assistance in April 1951, had been previously employed as unskilled labourers. The majority.pf the 248 women who received assistance were housewives with no specific occupational training. Social assistance in New Westminster is a heterogenous residual category of public assistance, with considerable fluctuation in size, indicating that the social assistance program needs to be flexible. The rates of assistance also need to be more flexible, to permit adequate coverage for persons requiring temporary help and for those requiring long-term financial assistance. An alternative would be to provide separate insurance programs for the major groups of destitutes, such as mothers with dependent children; and categorical aid programs for the totally and permanently disabled. In order to provide the casework help that sixty per cent of the cases need, the number of social workers needs to be increased. The employment of an experienced worker is essential to provide (a) uniform policy respecting eligibility and (b) early diagnosis, to ensure the application of the principle of differential treatment for the mixed groups of persons comprising the social assistance category. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate