Welfare worker

“ The profession of the social worker, which is the subject of this book, has developed in the United States mostly within the past twenty-five years. Probably ten thousand persons are now so employed. It is known by various titles—social worker, school nurse, home and school visitor, welfare worker, hospital social worker, probation officer—varying according to the particular institution—the hospital, the court, the factory, the school—from which it has developed. ”

“ Welfare departments in stores and factories indicate the growing importance in modern industry of work which has to do with social factors in employment. The trained social worker may find a position as secretary, statistician, visitor, investigator, lecturer, dietitian, nurse, or as a clerk or executive officer, in child welfare, civic improvement, or family relief work. ”

“ If it is simply a case of better working conditions, something that improves him as an efficient worker for the management, he will feel that this welfare work is in no sense something which he receives as a gift, but rather something which is his right, and which benefits the employer exactly as much, if not more than it benefits him.
Welfare Work Not Self-perpetuating. ”

“ We have succeeded in securing a very large number of admirable women and excellent work is being done. The Welfare Workers are in their turn inspected by Welfare Inspectors and Miss Proud, the Chief Inspector in dangerous factories, who sees the precautions against risk of poisoning from Tri-nitro-toluol, Tetryl, the aeroplane wing dope, etc., are all carried out by the management, has written an admirable textbook on welfare work. ”

“ Another fault which can be found with the actual administration of the welfare work, is the fact that it often disregards one of the fundamental principles of Scientific Management, in that the welfare workers themselves do not train enough people to follow in their footsteps, and thus make welfare self-perpetuating. ”

“ Here more than there is the tendency to exaggerate legislation and to neglect enforcement of law. Instead of harnessing the whole army of workingmen to the crusade and strengthening civic agencies such as factory, health, and tenement departments, houses are built and given to men, clubs are formed to amuse factory girls, amateur theatricals are organized. All this is called "welfare work." "What is welfare work?" ”

“ The American people have decided that it is better for people to work than be on welfare, that welfare should be a temporary help, not a way of life, but that the solution should support children and families, not undermine them. ”

“ We should reform welfare to move people from welfare to work.
But we know that business has a role to play, too, if we want people to have better lives, provide for their families, and face the future with confidence. ”

“ The membership is drawn from "practical men of affairs, whose acknowledged leadership in thought and business makes them typical representatives of business elements that voluntarily work together for the general good." As defined by this organization, welfare work is something given to the employee by the employer for the welfare of both. It is not something the employee himself does to improve his own working conditions.
We are told that employees should assume the management of welfare work. ”

“ Most of all, compassionate welfare reform must encourage more and more Americans to find the independence of a job. Today, states on average must require work of only 5 percent of adults getting welfare. ”

“ The American people need a welfare system that honors American values: work, family, and personal responsibility. In 1994, and again this year, I sent Congress a sweeping welfare reform plan that would impose strict time limits on how long people can stay on welfare and strict work requirements for people when they are on welfare. ”

“ As of July 1st, just a few days ago, welfare reform has taken effect in all 50 States. This week the old welfare system came to an end. Now a new system based on work is taking its place. This system demands responsibility, but not only from the people who are now required to work but also from every American. ”

“ I am proposing that every state be required within five years to have 70 percent of welfare recipients working or being trained to work at at least 40 hours a week. These work requirements must be applied carefully and compassionately. ”

“ For the last 3 years, we have been working hard to turn the welfare system around. All across America the welfare rolls are down, food stamp rolls are down, teen pregnancy rates are down compared to 4 years ago. And compared to 4 years ago, more and more people on welfare today are working as a condition of receiving welfare. ”

“ And people on welfare, who ought to become productive members of society, won't take jobs if it means giving up their health benefits. Just yesterday in Missouri, I met a woman who has moved from welfare to work but who says that when she loses her health benefits for her children, she's not sure she can stay working and may go back to welfare. ”

“ We have slashed this redtape to 37 States, covering 75 percent of all the people on welfare in America, so that they can take steps to fix the broken system. State by State, we are building a welfare system that demands work, requires responsibility, and protects our children. ”

“ To help those least fortunate of all, I am recommending a new public welfare program, stressing services instead of support, rehabilitation instead of relief, and training for useful work instead of prolonged dependency. ”

“ But what do you call the common good?" replied the little doctor, with childish pertinence.
"Ay," said Aaron, with a laugh, "that's it." The miners were all stirring now, to take part in the discussion.
"What do I call the common good?" repeated the landlady. "That all people should study the welfare of other people, and not only their own."
"They are not to study their own welfare?" said the doctor.
"Ah, that I did not say," replied the landlady. "Let them study their own welfare, and that of others also."
"Well then," said the doctor, "what is the welfare of a collier?" ”

“ It is within our local communities that the real contribution to the welfare of our citizens is made. Those closest to the problem-the social workers in State and local governments, area agencies, and private and voluntary organizations-are usually the most qualified persons to decide what help is needed and the best way to provide it. ”

“ Her duties take her into factory and workshop, and she has identified herself with the movement against the premature employment of children, and for the protection of men and women who work that they may not risk health and life itself while earning their living. The nurse is being socialized, made part of a community plan for the communal health. Her contribution to human welfare, unified and harmonized with those powers which aim at care and prevention, rather than at police power and punishment, forms part of the great policy of bringing human beings to a higher level. ”

“ But we can all agree that we must meet the challenge, not by pouring more money into a bad program, but by abolishing the present welfare system and adopting a new one.
So let us place a floor under the income of every family with children in America--and without those demeaning, soul-stifling affronts to human dignity that so blight the lives of welfare children today. But let us also establish an effective work incentive and an effective work requirement. ”

“ In the main, however, the care of the health of the people is a governmental function, whether it has to do with the prevention of sickness or the satisfactory medical treatment and nursing of the sick.
There is no early prospect of voluntary workers becoming unnecessary; for average human nature, as represented on governmental bodies, is shortsighted and needs much education, morally and intellectually, before it will undertake the whole sphere of work called for in the interest of the welfare of the mother and her child. ”

“ In my State of the Union Address, I directed our administration to study the welfare system with a keen eye to making reforms. We already have in place a low-income assistance working group, which is hard at its task. ”

“ Tax credits and other incentives for businesses that hire people off welfare; Incentives for job placement firms in states to create more jobs for welfare recipients; Training, transportation and child care to help people go to work. Now I challenge every state--turn those welfare checks into private sector paychecks. I challenge every religious congregation, every community nonprofit, every business to hire someone off welfare. And I'd like to say especially to every employer in our country who ever criticized the old welfare system, you can't blame that old system anymore ”

“ First, we cannot delay longer in accomplishing a total reform of our welfare system. When a system penalizes work, breaks up homes, robs recipients of dignity, there is no alternative to abolishing that system and adopting in its place the program of income support, job training, and work incentives which I recommended to the Congress last year. ”

“ When I signed the historic welfare reform law we set out to honor a moral obligation for our nation, to help many people in our national community to help themselves. This law dramatically changes the nation's welfare system so that no longer will it fail our people, trap so many families in a cycle of dependency, but instead will now help people to move from welfare to work. It will do so by requiring work of every able-bodied person, by protecting children, by promoting parental responsibility through tougher child support enforcement. ”

“ Without a single exception, professional social workers speak of the integrated social program as a milestone, a breakthrough, moving relentlessly towards a reorientation of the entire welfare movement in our country. ”

“ Successful prosecution of welfare work requires concentration of responsibility. All of its branches must be under the supervision of one person, or efforts in different directions may conflict, or special and perhaps pressing needs may escape attention. Pressure of daily business routine usually relegates welfare work to the last consideration, but the average employer is interested in his men and is willing to improve their condition if only their needs are brought to his attention. ”

“ I say to those who are on welfare, and especially to those who have been trapped on welfare for a long time: For too long our welfare system has undermined the values of family and work, instead of supporting them. The Congress and I are near agreement on sweeping welfare reform. ”

“ An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
812Corporations, too, should show that they have souls by not neglecting the welfare of their employes. They should promote their health by giving them healthy surroundings where they work, and also by making graduated provision for old age service, or pensions in case of disability, after long service. ”

“ Because of its peculiar relationship to all the employees in the organization, there is no department better fitted to undertake all of that activity in connection with industrial life, which is known as welfare work or social betterment, than that entrusted with employment. ”

“ People ought to get paychecks, not welfare checks. But to finish the job on welfare reform, we must press on in our efforts to restore responsibility and make work a way of life again for all Americans. ”

“ These instincts of pugnacity and of joy in a fight, of winning out no matter what the obstacle, are readily responsive to appeal, and most helpful to the leader who knows how to use them.
In some industries the physical and mental condition of the workers is made the care of a welfare department, which provides proper environment, sanitation, athletics, hospitals, kitchens, libraries, saving banks, country clubs, etc.—a background for successful management. But there still remains the necessity for the personal touch of the foreman in direct contact with the men. ”

“ Government can help to move people from welfare to work by acting the way we want all employers to act—demanding high performance from workers, but going the extra mile to offer opportunity to those who have been on welfare and want to do something more with their lives. ”

“ We still have a lot more to do — all of us — to make welfare reform a success. Providing child care, helping families move closer to available jobs, challenging more companies to join our welfare-to- work partnership, increasing child support collections from deadbeat parents who have a duty to support their own children. ”

“ It is for this reason that the advance of rural social work will depend upon arousing an active interest in the welfare of the community's "disadvantaged" through discussion by such organizations as the church, the grange, the farm and home bureau, lodges, women's clubs, instruction in high schools, etc. The work of the public health nurse will reveal many family problems with which she is unable to deal and which demand the help of one experienced in social work, and the nurse will be of service in educating the community to the need of such work. ”

“ The third division of provision for rest falls under the general heading of betterment work, or what is popularly called “welfare work.” The term “betterment work” is used by those who are interested in measured management instead of “welfare work,” to emphasize a distinction in thought. Some welfare work implies that it is the gift of the manager to the workers. Betterment work is the same type of work, done with the distinct understanding that what is done is for the good and profit of the organization. ”