xt7qrf5kdc6q https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qrf5kdc6q/data/mets.xml Maryland United States. Works Progress Administration. 1936 28 leaves; 27 cm.: UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries. Call Number Y 3.W 89/2:13 books English Washington : Works Progress Administration This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Maryland Works Progress Administration Publications Public welfare -- Law and legislation -- Maryland Charity laws and legislation -- Maryland Public welfare -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota Charity laws and legislation -- Minnesota Public welfare -- Law and legislation -- Alabama Charity laws and legislation -- Alabama Survey of Social Sork in Three Rural Counties text Survey of Social Sork in Three Rural Counties 1936 1936 2019 true xt7qrf5kdc6q section xt7qrf5kdc6q UNNERSMOFKENWW ; V \\\\\\3\\\\\\\[\l\\\\L\§\\\i\\\l\\\\\“flflfijfiflWflVflflfi . . wpgééggzgjs P R o a R 13 s s A!) M :1: I s. T a A T I o N ,1 ' Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator ' ’ “ Corrington Gill Howard B. Myers, Director ' ‘ Assi; 5% Administrator Social Research Divigidn . SURVEY OF SOCIAL WORK IN THREE RURAL‘COUI'ITIES I \JV’ERNMENT PUBLECATECJE. ‘Viashirxgion V... ‘ , - . ' JELe _ m w _ _ _ . .. ' 1056 ‘ YSJNIVERSBTY ‘f‘J‘é‘; k‘flauCK UBRAREES . g; ., I I ‘i ” 2 x 4 ‘ ‘njr‘fl? ’ . An exploratory survey of rursigSOoisl work was . made in the fall of 1955g The study of Escsmbis v County, Alabama was made by Wilma Van Dusseldorp; ~of Redwood County, Minnesota by Elizabeth ‘ , McCord; and of Wicomioo County, Maryland by ' ~ ~ Sybil Passe. ," V . _ _‘ *.‘ V ‘ The survey was carried out.in.coofierationiwith.ah7ri advisory committee, consisting of the folldwing members: ' ‘ .;_' . " ' Josephine Brown, Administratiye-AsSistsnt, 3 I , Works Progress Administration“; ' ‘ Edmund des. Brunner, Teachers College,~' -: > Columbia University - * 59"I7i’. _ ' g ' Antoinette Cannon, New Yerk Schodl of Social Work Louisa deB. FitzSimons,'State Director of Employe ' ' ment, Works'Progress-Administration, Georgia . _ ~ J. H; Kolb, University of'Wisconaip _5 ,y ‘ Gertrude Vaile, University of Minflesota . _ ‘_ . ' Both the survey andfthsrpreparetion~bf¥this‘re~ I y »3 port were under the;direotion‘of E. J, woorter, Jr., - ‘ Coordinator of Rural Research; '”*'- ‘ 5“ 2 s}. E“ \ G OFTEN? S a War-uni. gummy , IETRULMGEIDH 9 > E SCMEIB 14% 3305323331, ALJKBAKA . 'fi Efié‘k’i} Oil E3“ GUNS}; . EEIE‘EEEESGT A _ .. W233 GMICG G OUE‘EI, EMQKERED *a SUMMARY . All three agricultural countica included in this survey has oxpcrlcnco with professional social work dating back from boforo the depression. A welfare agency had been established in Redwood County, Minnesota in 1919, Wicomico County, Maryland in 1925, and in Eocambia County, Alabama in 1928. Those in Redwood and Escambla wore act up by the county govornmonta under tho atlmulua ' of the state child welfare dopartmonto. The agcncg 1n chomlco was privately lnitiatod, for the moot part private y nonportod, J and boa no official connection with the county govornmont. Prior to the depression, all three agencies were primarily concerned with child welfare. Those in Rcdwood and Wicomico also gavo assistance to tho mentally and physically handicapped and to persons needing medical old. When tho depression came the three agenciea assumed the initial burden of mocting emergency nnomnloyment noods. With the coming of Federal and state relief funds and the establishment of local Emergency Relief Administration in 1935, tho old welfare agencies lost personnel to the new organizations. Although nominally they continued to function in the field of service to ohildran and tho handicappod, this work was practically discontinued in Redwood and Eacambia and was curtailed in Wicomico. . The enactment of the Foderal Social Security Act in 1935 marked a third distinct pcrlod in the history of rural social work in tho three counties. Tho possibility of obtaining Social - Security Funds was undoubtedli too dotormining factor in the establishment of integrated s-ato welfaro programs in Maryland _ - and Alabama. Wicomlco and Escambia counties oat up local county wolfaro boards, in accordance with state legislation, to cover various types of relief and welfare cervical, including general relief, old age pensions, aid to tho blind. mothoro' allowances, and core of dopondcnt, dolinquont, or neglected children. With the establishment of this new comprohonaivo integrated program in Eocambia, the old Child Welfare Dopartmont was officially liquidated. Tho privato Wicomlco Wolfaro Dopartmont was officially liquiéatod. The private wlcomloo Welfaro Association continued to exist but apparently it was to loco its childmplacing functions and juvenile delinquency work to tho new Public Welfare Board: The third stop was not completed in Redwood County. Minnoaota . had mado no plans to take advantage of Social security Funds and had not set up an integrated state wolfaro program. The social work program in Redwood County continued under the domination of - tho county commiaaionorc. Although thoy agrood to tho ostabliahmont of a County Board of Public Wolfaro under supervision of the State EBA they apparently were to delegate to it only tho administration of relief to unomploydbloa and certification of workora for WPA. . They themselves at the time of the survey directly aflministcrod old age pensions, poor roller, and medical care, and shared with I I l -2“ the probate judge the administration of mothers' allowances. A . local county relief agency under their control administered 4 generelrelief independent of the State ERA, pending the setting up of the proposed Board of Public Welfare. The Child Welfare Board continued to give services to children, feebleeminded, and miscellaneous cases, under supervision of the State Children's Bureau but also under the control of the county commissioners. The state directly administered aid to the blind, with the ' assistance of the Child Welfare Board. The state social work supervisors in recommending these ‘ counties for study said that the general attitudes toward adequate standards of relief, professional service, state administration, and the entire social work problem.in these three counties were more favorable than in neighboring rural counties. They attributed this fact in part to the longer history of aid to persons in need. Since the states themselves were chosen because they had relatively advanced programs of rural social work, findings of this study represent a higher quality of rural social work than exists in the country as a whole. In none of the three counties, at the time of the survey was a.com§lcte social work program in force, when measured by the accepted area of social work. The fundamental human needs which an adequate social work program meets may be listed as follows: (a) The economic need of individuals and families who, either . temporarily or permanently, cannot obtain the basic necessities of life. (b) The need of children left without guardianship or with y ‘ inadequate guardianship. - (o) The need of individuals for help with specific problems: children in conflict with the law or with parents, persons . troubled about social relationships, etc. (d) The need of the physically ill for information in regard to medical resources and care, and help in using them. (6) The need of the mentally defective or mentally ill for understanding snyervieion or for help in obtaining custodial care. The county welfare boards established in Escembia and Wicomico . offered possibilities of expansion to meet the first four of these needs. No action had been taken in the field of mental hygiene by the social work agencies in any of the counties or states, _ although Alabama had stipulated in its Department of Public Welfare Act of 1955 that such a program should be set up. The additional need for companionship, varied interests, and personal 0 WWW-MW A mental hygiene clinic conducted in Wioomico had no direct connection with the social work agencies. . . , -3- expression had not been recognized by any of the social work ~ ~ agencies in the three counties as their province. < At the time of the survey none of the social work agencies "’ was actually meeting in full even those types of need which it accepted as its responsibilities. Relief of economic need, on which primary emphasis was based, was inadequate according to the agencies‘ can standards, both in the amount of assistance given to individual cases and in the extent to which assistance reached all individuals in the community who were in need. None of the ‘ counties had ascertained the extent of this or any other needs or had accepted full responsibility for meeting them. Limitations in financial resources, in personnel, in guidance from the state, 4 and in sympathetic attitudes on the part of the community restricted the practice of the agencies. ’ Nature of the Rural Case Load The general relief agencies in all three counties and the child welfare agencies in Wicomico and Redwood had largely undifferentiated functions. Analysis of their case loads reveals the wide variety of problems which they were attempting to meet. Inall three counties, the general relief agency carried cases of unemployment, employment with insufficient income, medical care, old age,_and maintenance of children. In addition, unemployablec and feeble- minded were on the rolls in Wicomico and anamhia. The older service agencies in Redwood and Wicomico carried similarly . diversified loads, except that none of their cases had applied for . assistance because of unemployment or employment with insufficient . income, the dominant reasons for applying to the relief agencies. _ These same problems would be met by social work agencies in a city, but in no city would any single agency assume responsibility for such a wide range of problems. Except for the private agency in Wicomico, these rural agencies placed no definite limitations upon their field of service, other than the amount of funds, the personnel available, and the capacity of the workers. Personnel of Staff and Governing Boards , The professional workers in the county were limited in training and social work experience. Only one out of a total of 18 had had so much as one consecutive year of formal social work training and this one was aciaee work supervisor paid by the state rather than by the county. Only one of the five workers in administrative positions had any recognized social work training. . The education of the 17 locally employed workers ranged from high school to college graduation. Only two of the workers ' had had experience in social work previous to their employment . in the county. Twelve of the group had been teachers and others had a background of nursing experience. All had the advantage of rural backgrounds, and most ofthem " had been residents of the county before their present appointments. . Residents of the county seemed to have an advantage in being more immediately acceptable to the community and in satisfying the demand that jobs be given to local pereona. The Minnesota ERA ~4~ ‘ ‘ had had a polity of employing out-of-oounty rooidonta for its ataff but the visitors so omployed in Redwood during the ERA regime had "’ been severoly criticized by local officials for their immaturity and their liberal relief policies. Tho size of staff in relation to the case loads appeared to to in acoorfianoo with state atandards-in Wicomio and Eooombia in October 1935_whon activo oases ovorogod 75-100 per social workor and 100~150 per clerical worker. The active ease loads, however, ‘ would soon be augmented by old age pension applications which promised to double the nnmbor of cases per social worker in Wicomioo and triple the number in Escombio, if additional staff members wars . ‘ not engaged. A raviow of practice showed that delays betweenv application and investigation, between investigation and notification of rejection, and infrequent visits to oliants wore duo primarily to lack of sufficient staff. - The governing boards of the various agenoioa represented the taxpayers and employers of tho county, including prosperous farmers, business man, lamyoro, county officials, and civic leaders. The money spent on social work was their money and it was being opent on thoir_own neighbors eonaequontly thoy showea a vital interest in all dotoilo of tho work» Tho county commisoionora also were closely in touch with the work of the publio agonciea, and took an active interest in cases and plans, when tho expenditure of county funds was involved or . whoa new policies wars being established. ‘ Tho social workers had to spond much tins conferring with governing boardo and the oommiooionoro, The seemed to accept this part of their work as necessary and desirable and to have smooth working relationships with tho boards. In fact, tho axooutivea tended to allow Ehfi responsibility for tho development of the agency to rest with the boards taking little or no leadership themselves. It was clear from the study that while this situation continued no real progress could he made; yet it also appeared quoationdblo how mneh responsibility load board: would be willing to dolagato and how long they would permit an executive to remain in her position if she inniatod upon having claarout responsibility or if she was impatient to sea progress. ' ‘ ' Facilities In Wicomioo and Eaeambia Counties thorn had been recent expansion in office space, since tho disoontinuanoo of the ERA. ' In turn the ERA in each of‘tho counties had had better Inrking conditions than the previoua local agency. PriVncy or semi-privacy . was provided for interviewing clients. 0n tho other hand, in Redwood County thorn relief wan in local hands and welfare services still unintagrated, office spoon . was extremely limited at the time of the survey. a g ' f I . \ «:35- ' . Transportaticn pro-«1:110:15 made for wox‘kera in all three counties appeared to be relativaly adequate. ' Resauraea for institutional care were limited in all three counties. ?roviaimn3 for.the faoblanmindad wars cayeciaAly inadequate. Eons of the counting had adequate provisions to meat the medical naeda of families. E33aflbia offerea the least ' nflaquate cars, from thu stanfipoint of both institutional and individual treatment. Escambia and Wicomica Counties both had 4 some regular public health service, while Hedwcod had practically ’ 200130. Practiqg_and Procedures . , - In all three counties practice w&s ahanging rapiély at the time er the survey. Much of the data obtained was based on past yarformance under the E.E.A« sinus current practice under the haw organization, in each county was nut always reafiily chaervable. By practice 15 meant the tetal contact with the client, including matarial assistance and other conn crate services, and with the conwunity in behalf of tha client. An attempt was made to learn ta what fifitfifit the problem of'dintaaca in rural areas affactad practice ané to determine whehhsr or Wat farm familias racaivad equal canaidaration with non-farm. Tfi.a11 threa countias it was funnd that open cowntry . . came tendad to be underureprmzented on relieaf while town and village casas were avarureprasanteé. Whether this reflects a tendency in practice to giva less attantien to farm families and those at remote cistancea or whether it indicates a greater need for aid among the village and tawn gayulatious was not clear from this survey. In Escamhia County tha fact that many farm families were under care of the Rural nahabilitatlan Corwoyation oartiallv axnlains their under-representation on relief. In general, Negroes were nroportionately Bapresented on thn relief rails in Wicomico County on tha basia of tbair number y in the gmneral populatian'but war: markedly undor-repreaanted - on the rails of the private welfare aganmy. In Esaahbia ' . county fihere was no oonsiatent relationship between tbs preportion of ficgroaa 1n the general population and the prapartion of Hegpnes in the varinua ralief samplea taken. There was evidence that Negroas raceived fewer home visits fram the aoeial workers than did tbs whiten, and that amounta of relief to Negroes were - less, gince tha budgeta were based an usual living standards. The principal type of halp givan by tbs relief agencies ~ was material assistance. some medical care, health guidance, financial advige, and help in finding employmant were also extended. Th9 private welfare agancies in Wicomico and Redwood, on thn othnr hand, gave chiefly service, such as medical examinations, . placement in institutions, advioo and friencily contacts. The private agency in Wicomico also gave sows direct financial aid. ’ ‘ -6- ~n ‘ Work relief was cammonly given by the relief agencies in 2 Redwood and anambla Counties but usually in combination with direct relief, from 80~95 per cent of the cases receiving both types. In - ‘I’ wioomleo County only about half of the cases received work relief and this was in oombination with direct-relief. In Redwood County when the survey was made the tendency was to give work relief in cash and direct relief in kind or orders; in anambla also the three types of grant; were employed; in Wioomico all relief was in kind or orders, but cash was about to be introduced. The average monthly relief grant per family changed very slightly in Eacembia and WioOmico Counties when the new integrated programs ‘ took the place of the E.R.A. In Redwood County, on the other hand, there was a sharp drop, probably éue to the high average of $24 a month.under tho E.R.A. The average grant in fioptembor when the county assumed responsibility for its relief load was about $11. The amount rose, however, in October to nearly #19 a month‘ In all three counties relief oontinuod to be given on a budgetary deficiency basis. In anambia and Wioomlco Counties the budget war related to tho fowilioo‘ usual standard of living, and woo based on food needs only; All other neeés were ignored in Eeoaflbia; in Wicomico medical care was proviéed rather liberally and some clothing and bedding were furnishefi in kind, but no rent was paid. In Reéwood unfier the E.R.A. a greater effort had be n made to baae relief grants on an accepted mlnimwm budget. After the county withdraw from the E.R.l. local relief fins coloulated_to meet emergencies only, and the usualuatandord of living normal so . prevailed here. ' In the relief agencies of all three oeunties investigation for ? relief and service had been accepted procedures under E.R.A. , Ellblllty in Wioomloo was ootabliohod acoordiug to atendarda a“ - developed by the state and locality togother. Those had hecome‘y inereasingly liberal in recent montho; In Esoambla County thorea were no set standarde for eligibility and the intake worker decided eligibility on a casowto~case heels. - The number of contacts with clients in Esoambia and Redwood Counties appeared in general to be related to the case load per worker. Visits of clients to the relief office were more numoroue then visit: of the workers to tho oliente' homes in these counties. In wioomioo, on the other hand, home contacts exceeded office contacts, the number of homo contacts bearing a close relationship to the number of months under care. There were for contacts between the cliente and the social worker in the child welfare agency in . Roauood County and such oontaote as were made weremoatly 1n the home. Home contacts were also more numerous with the Wioomieo Welfare Association clients. In spite of the greater distances to be covered in visiting clients in rural areas the social workers made approximately as many _ visite to open country cases as to the more aocesoiblo village . and tom canes. -7; , ‘ ‘ Closing of cases appeared to be rolated more to funds , available and to adminiotrative policies than to tho need of . the clients... In Redwood County clients were removed from relief when it vac discovered that they worr new resiaenta and cases were closed when employmont was thought available. In Escambia relief to the farmers was out to aooomodato land owners or to encourage families to become Rural Rehabilitation clients. Tho Child Welfare agancy in Heéwood rarely closed cases, keeping them open on the books when they were not actually receiving ‘ ‘ aid, 4 Records of tho roller agencies in each county were in ‘ better condition thnni;hoao of the agoncioa which had exiated prior to the E.R.A. They'werc fairly complete and adequate . except for data on rejectiona, and, in some coco, interview material and closing data‘” The child welfare agency records » in Redwood and Eccambia none much less satisfactory. The difference appeared to'bs largely dog to lack of clerical personnel. Tho state child welfare flopartmcnt, like the E.R.A., hafl set no clerical pPchdans which the limited staffs had not been able to follow. Practice in.regard tozznild welfare was undeveloped in all three conniics¢ Factor home care was inoufflciofit’to*mbeb tho-need in any county, and no county baa a worker with special training to hclp with problcmc of child care. Standards for ”boarding; chfluu were not used and adquafzo invoctigationa 01’ homes . were nob manic. ‘ In their rolations with.clienta the workora showed a variety of attitufics. some attemntod to inject themaelvea into tho personal lives of their clients-or cvan of porcons not on relief and to impose upon than their ideas of correct conduct. On the othor hand, one worker was so friendly with clients thni she spent ' an unwarrantod amount of time with them in social conversation. Another worker took a punitive attituoe toward alloliento. In all counties, howovor, thpro were Workera who were ovldoctly making a consciofifiious effort to be objective, considerate, and businesslike. ‘ , Communltz Influegcos .. Intorviewa with loading citizons of tho three countics broughfl out varying opinions concerning relief and social work. Some persona axpreoced approval of tho more lflboral standards of rolls: introduced under fiho E;R.Am Othero contendad that grants . had been too high under the E.H‘M. and that aoclal work: should be limited to a service progfiam, cépcclally for children. In one county come of the layman interviewed expressed opposition to . professional social work in goneral, both.becauso of its coat ' ‘ and because social workerfi interferoo "where they tore not wanted.” On the whclo,laymen intorviewad'chcucd little understanding . of the meaning and purpocowofprofoaaioml social work. It is »- aafo to say that in none ofytheae ccuntloa-had formal social work training been felt to be necessary.5 social workers were K n «a» ‘ ‘ aeeegted or rejectee net on the basin of training er superier M, ekil. in handling the details of the work but on the basin of . general executive ability and at personal qualities. Ccnsidereble oppOeition to state interference in local matters was expressed. State supervision was accepted, however, while genereua state and Federal funds were flowing into the counties. When Federal aid ended in Minneeeta, Redwood County immediately withdrew frem state supervision, evidently preferring to do without ' a email financial centributicn tram the state, than to accept further state control of relief. Persona interviewed in Redwood and Escembie . indicated that they believed werk relief wee the best type of public aid. Apparently this attitude wee not so strong in Wicomicc where much less werk relief was given to rural workere ené where much . er the lay leadership was located in a town of 10,000. In Reduced and Wicomicc Counties influential opinion was in favor of eterilieatien of certain typee of public dependents. Sterilization of unmarried mothers permitted under mnryland law, and of feeble-minded women under Minnesota law, with the ccnsent of the patient, were encouraged and there wee some sentiment expreaeed in favor cf e wider and more stringent application of the lave. State Sugervision . In the new public welfare programs which were functioning in Alabama and Merylanfl at the time of the study, the single state public ‘ . welfare agency in each state assumed leadership in the development ‘ ‘ cf local social work programs and practice. They set up personnel qualifications for lecal staffs, established record preceflures, and recommended standards regarding case leads of‘werkere, amounts of relief, eligibility requirements for clients, etc. The counties were not required to accept etate recommendations, but in many states they were doing an at the time of the survey. - , In Alabama representatives of the state office were sent out to supervise administrative detail and case work methods, but their number was limited in view of the area to be covered. The representative in Eacumbie gave very little time to case work supervision. In Wicomieo, case work supervision was conducted ccntinneuely through a werker employed by the statev as had been done under E.R.A. Since she was subordinate to the locai executive her .eutherity res limited, but she was able to effect improwementa in yrectice through auggeetion and example. In Minnesota the Children'e Bureau of the State Beard of Control - eupervised the work of lecal child welfare beards. With c.11m1ted field staff and no funds with which to eupplement lceal work, it was seriously handicapped. All three state agencies seemed to take a conciliatory nttitudelp/' teenrd the counties, striving to introduce their methcde without / . antagonizing local gevermnente. ' -v~ The influence of the fbrmer E.R.A. aupervieion was still apparent in the countiaeu Under the E.R.A. supervision of county work by .91 ' ‘ the otate agency had bean legally authorized in each state and counties had been expected to meet certain requirements in order . to r oceive funds. Even whoa state polioiea wore not strictly followed thoy had tended to r3139 standards in the counties. Undoubtedly morn efficient personnel was employod because of E.R.A. standards as to training and experience. Office records 1myrovod greatly under' E.B.A. Caah relief was introduced in Eocambia. Case loads ‘ per worker wore kopt about at the levels recommended by tho state E.B.A.'s. Suoh polioios as giving relief on the basis or aligibilitg, making regular invoatigations of clients, and treating ' clients vi h consideration Was introduced in all three counties and were accepted at least in principlo. The supervisory work conducted prior to the E.R.A. by the Alabama Child Welfare Department and the Minneaota Children's Bureau, while handioapped by the lock of funds and of legal authority, had holpod to bring to public attention tho noodn of individuals, particularly children, and had encouraged tho continuance of social work for meeting those needs. Without those state dopartmonts it is doubtful whether there would have been any organized social work in those two counties. ‘Ho_stato auporviaion or atimtlus had ovor boon available for tho private child welfare agency in Wicomioo County, a lack which may aocount in part for the atatic quality of the work of this . agency. The quality and content of what a state aspartmont can contribute to local units in the way of a permanent program is still to be dofinitoly formulated. Moreover, tho readiness of local workers to accept supervision and to use it to advantage will vary. Nevertholoas it appears that the possibility that good york will be done in those throo countioo depends on the leadership of tho otate staffs. What the reopoctivo state departments do 4 will determine to a large oxtont whothor or not these some counties will be do?ng superior work according to current standards 10 yoaro honoo. le~ lRTRODUCTION . Since social agencies were first established in rural areas the limitations of social work practice in the country, as compared with the city, have becnaipparant. How to improve the quality.of tho work has been the concern of all those interested in the douclogmont of social agencies. ~ Progrccsivo citizens in rural communities want tho cams variety of social work service from their single small agencies as may be obtained from several spoolalizcd agoncioo in the cities. « Social workcrs going into rural work want the same opportunities for professional developmont that are available to staff members of well organized city agenciec. Organizers of rural social work programs are looking for information on how to deal with local governments and how to oolect personnel that will most effectively moot rural situations. Supervisors or rual programs , are searching for methods of improving rural practioo.v Schoolc of social work arc coking for help in planning curricula for students-preparing for the rural field. . With the extension of emergency relief agonoiea into prac- tically all rural counties in the last for years and with tho prospect of widespread dcvolopmont of permoncnt public welfare‘ programs in rural areas in the near future, tho problem of raising the quality of rural social work practice has recently become more pressing. As an agency directly concerned with tho . establishment of emergency social work programs in rural areas, the Federal Emorgoncy Relief Administration undertook to study the problem. In July of 1935, tho Coordinator of tho Rural Research Unit of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration called together a number of persons identified with rural social work, traixing schoola for social work and social research to serve as an Advisory Committee in working out the details of the present study. It was hoped that through observation of ourront rural social work practice information would_bc gained that would be helpful in shaping future policies. ‘ It was decided to make a preliminary study of currcnt practice in s overal widely separated rural arena of the country to determine , tho specific problems social work meets in those areas. A plan to make an intensive, observational study of social work practice in a single county in each of three atatoc was adopted. The three counting, Redwood County, Minnesota, chomico County- Maryland, and Eoccmbia County, Alabama, were chosen on tho bacls ' of the following critlria. . l -11. _ ‘ 1. Location (a) The counties aeleeted should represent contracts in . geographical characterietioa and typos of.‘ farming. (b) Tho countioo should be in states where the state department of welfare and other state agencies usvvell as tho administrative offices oft;he F.E.R.A. or S.E.R.A, were interested in having the study mode andw illing ‘ _to give aesiotance. 2. General Characteristics ‘ (a) All of the counties should be predominantly rural in character. (b) of the rural population, from 45 to.70 per cent should be engaged in forming. (c) All counties should have usual rather than unique problems. 3; Social work (a) In each county there should be at least one agency public or private dealing with individuals, which had existed ‘ continuously since 1927 or earlier, and which was , actively functioning at the time of the study. (b) In each county there should be a public agency for relief . other than the overseer-c of the poor or the county , commiseionora. no fibers of the state staffs indicated the counties in their respective states which answered these descriptioua and which they considered to be doing comparatively effectiVe work, They . took into account such factors as the professional preparation oft;he local personnel for eocial work, the present workers' familiarity with the community over a period of time, the absence of unusual political involvemente, and the capacity of the local workers to participate in 3 study of the practice of their agencies; The study of the three counties began with the collection of background data on the local geographic and economic situations. ~ Review was made of currently effective social legislation in the states and provisions for other state-wide or local social work programs serving these counties. The field study was made in each . of the three counties as of October 1935; a social worker was aoaigned to take each county where one spent from three to four weeks. Observation of social work practice was limited to the - work or the county public relief administration and of one other major social work agency dealing with individuals, if such existed in the county. Sources of informction were local oaoe1“ecorda, interviews with social workers, and influential citizens of the . county, and direct observations of the staff at work. ‘iTfifir'ouEIines and scfieauzag used; see Kppefidii. ' " ‘” ’“"' I . REDWO