Departments of Public Welfare or Social Services

Abstract

This chapter addresses the practice of social work in public welfare and social services; settings from which the profession has retreated. A survey by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) indicated less than 1% of membership worked in these public sector settings. The chapter describes historic and contemporary roles of professional social workers in public welfare and social services, including work in income maintenance, adult protective services, special housing programs, HIV/AIDS services, kinship care, and domestic violence programs. It describes the dilemmas and tensions inherent in these roles.