The purpose of this project was to explore the coping patterns of people denied public assistance. The primary focus was on resources available and used by those denied to assist them in the situation that led them to apply for public assistance in the first place. A review of the literature revealed that very little is known concerning those denied public assistance. This project is one of the first to study the problem of how those denied manage after denial. The data for this project was gathered by the use of an interview schedule administered in personal interviews with those in the sample. The data was then analyzed using frequency distributions and percentage compositions. When appropriate, chi square statistics were computed. The major finding of this exploratory study is that those denied public assistance have-very few resources available to them to assist them in their coping patterns. Frequently those denied become eligible very soon after initial denial. Very few seek help elsewhere after denial although most of those who do receive helpful assistance. Implications are that more referrals by the intake staff at the public welfare agency would lead to more of those denied receiving helpful assistance elsewhere. Because this project is one of the first to study those denied public assistance, the findings are limited by the fact that there are no previous research findings available for comparison. Another limitation is that only one quarter of the original sample could be contacted. Because of these limitations, more research in the area is indicated. Suggestions are made for future research.

From 1868 to 1911, the Multnomah County Poor Farm off Canyon Road in the Tualatin Hills housed indigent and sick residents of Portland and surrounding areas. In 1911, county officials relocated the Poor Farm from the West Hills flanking Portland to the far eastern portion of the county. Subsequently, the site hosted a municipal golf course and is currently home to the Oregon Zoo and Hoyt Arboretum. With no physical presence left, the original Poor Farm was quickly forgotten, and the reasons for its relocation have been obscured by the passage of time. Occasional references to the farm in newspapers and blogs retell the same story, that county authorities relocated the farm after a 1910 visit by charity organizations revealed atrocious living conditions. In reality, the county had begun scouting land for the new farm two years prior to the charity visit and ensuing newspaper exposé. Conditions at the farm in 1910 may have been bad, but the relocation was not a product of altruism alone. More important was Portland's striving for greatness in the opening of the twentieth century. The early 1900s were heady times for West Coast cities, and as the century opened, Portland was still the largest city in the Northwest and the regional hub for shipping and commerce. A massive development boom, coupled with Progressive-Era reforms around parks and public health, worked to reshape the face of Portland's physical landscape. As the city grew and local boosters sought to promote its image as a prosperous and beautiful metropolis, some leading Portlanders began to see the Poor Farm as a blight on their city. With land becoming more expensive and less available, Portlanders contested who had the right to which parcels and for which purposes. Real estate, public health, and general development fervor combined to make the Poor Farm land seem undeserving of its location. As Portland looked towards its future, Portlanders' desire to create a great city resulted in the displacement of the Poor Farm and its inhabitants to the county's physical and psychological fringes.

This study examines the Public Welfare Medical Transportation Program with particular focus on ambulance transportation. It addresses the problems Public Welfare has in funding and administrating the program, looks at the components of the larger emergency medical care system and its relationship to Public Welfare, studies who, how, and why this service is being delivered, and makes recommendations for policy revision in respect to the larger emergency medical care system.