History of Social Welfare and

Social Work

Compiled by:
Florence Flores-Pasos, RSW, MSW
 Social Welfare

Everything that men do for the good of society

“An organized concern of all people for all people”

“An organized system of social services and

institutions designed to aid individuals and groups to
attain satisfying standards of life and health”
 Social Work
A profession that is concerned with man’s
adjustment to his environment and the
enhancement of his social functioning

A profession which is primarily concerned with

organized social service activity aimed to facilitate
and strengthen basic social relationships and the
mutual adjustment between individuals and their
social environment for the good of the individual and
of society
 Europe (16 -19 century)
th th

United States (18 -20 century)

th th

Philippines (16 -20 century)

th th
 EUROPE
1536

A law was passed in England stating that alms

collected by local authorities and churches on
Sundays, holidays or festivals were to help
relieve the sick and the poor

Focus:
Poor
Sick
Impotent
Persons with illnesses who were not able to work
 EUROPE

Provisions of the law:

Illegality of begging
Responsibility of society to help
Assistance by and through the local
community
Voluntary alms
Under the direction of the state
 EUROPE

1572

Overseers of the poor were appointed as

Civil Officers in each parish

Parliamentary enactment at this time

provided for a direct public tax for
assistance to the poor and destitute
 EUROPE

Elizabethan Poor Laws – these laws were

enacted during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth

Toward the close of the 16th century: a

civic sense of responsibility on a
nationwide basis had developed in
England
 EUROPE
1598

An act was passed and revised in 1601

that provided a systematic plan for helping
the poor and established a system of
public responsibility implemented through
local care

In operation until 1834

 EUROPE
Act of 1601

Played an important role in the

development of social welfare in Europe,
in the United States and elsewhere.

3 Classes of the Poor:

1. able bodied poor
2. impotent poor
3. dependent children
 EUROPE
18th Century

Situations that warranted assistance to

the poor:

Industrial revolution
Urbanization
Slums
Anonymity in living
 EUROPE
18th Century

Begging, almsgiving, charity, workhouses

Orphanages, insane asylums, jails

There were attempts to help the poor in a

dignified manner and various programs,
both public and private came into
existence
 EUROPE
1834: Poor Law

Provided for a centralized administration with a

pattern of uniformity throughout the country

Central Authority: 3 Poor Law Commissioners

The country were divided into districts (poor law
unions) that replaced the parishes as units of
administration
Each district had an elective Board of Guardians with
salaried officers who were responsible for the
administration of relief
 EUROPE
1834: Poor Law

Workhouse – where relief was administered

- relief to able-bodied persons
outside the workhouse was
abolished
 EUROPE
1860s
London Society for Organizing Charitable Relief and
Repressing Mendicancy or London Charity
Organizations (LCO)

There was a considerable increase in the number of

applicants for aid

Social reform, innovations and change

Pioneers in Social Welfare: Octavia Hill and Edward

Denison (their efforts paved the way to the
organization of the LCO)
 United States
The roots of social welfare in America had
their beginnings in Europe particularly related
to the Elizabethan Poor Laws of England.

Towns and local communities assumed

responsibilities for aiding the unfortunate and
disadvantaged
 United States
Colonial Period: Voluntary acts of service

Individuals and families would care for

themselves, but if further difficulties existed,
friends, neighbors or representatives of the
community would volunteer to meet their
needs
 United States
1800s

Organizations and associations were formed

and the act of helping became more
formalized
Seminaries, inns, churches, hospitals, prisons,
schools
Interaction with the needy, the ill and other
social problems; distribution of books and
sending of missionaries in certain places
 United States
1800s

Home for Little Wanderers

Penitent Female Refuge
Home for Intemperate Women

Volunteer efforts were frequently marked by a

condescending attitude toward the recipients
of services
 United States
Volunteer services:

25 members of a Junior League spent half a day a

week in assisting activities in the local comprehensive
mental health center

The Medical Wives Auxiliary perform a variety kind of

tasks in local hospitals

Volunteers from churches and religious groups

minister to the sick, the poor, the destitute and
unfortunate
 United States
Working as volunteer is characteristic of the American
way of life.

1965

USDOL reported 22 M individuals made contributions

to some health, education or welfare service on a
voluntary basis

1974: 37 million were listed as volunteers

 United States

The emergence of the social

work profession

1915-1950
 United States
Developing out of volunteer work came social work as
an occupation

Special relief Department of the United States

Sanitary Commission – the first to employ social
workers as Special Relief Agents (mostly women)

Clients: soldiers and their families experiencing social

and health problems during the civil war

The agency later ceased functioning and social

workers temporarily disappeared
 United States
1863

Massachusetts Board of Charities (MBC)was

established

Coordinated services in almshouses, hospitals and

other institutions
Functions were basically inspection and advice

Initiated by Samuel Gridley Howe and the director was

Frank B. Sanborn

The board gained wide acceptance

 United States
1863

The causes of poverty identified by the MBC:

Physical degradation and inferiority

Moral perversity
Mental incapacity
Accidents and infirmities
Unjust and unwise laws
Customs of society

Paid staff were required to deal with such complex

situations
 United States
Early 1870s

The concept of state boards spread to other states

and many achieved greater administrative
responsibilities

1900s

Responsibility for program management was achieved

 United States
1877
Charity Organization Society (COS) of Buffalo was
established

Function: Finding means to help the poor and

preventing the poor from taking advantage of the
numerous uncoordinated social agencies that had
developed in many communities.

“Friendly visitors” – they were trained people to

contact clients. They believed poverty could be
eradicated thru the introduction of additional scientific
Techniques: planned intervention or treatment
 United States
1893

Nathaniel Rosenau of the COS questioned the right of

the superannuated clergyman, unsuccessful merchant
or political favorite to serve as manager of a charitable
society or institution

He concluded that it was necessary that persons in

charge of this work be specially trained, have a calling
for the work and intend to devote themselves to it.
 United States
1898

The New York School of Philantropy was formed

under the guidance of Edward T. Devine, secretary of
the New York COS

From a 6-week summer session to one year then two

year training for social workers
 United States
1886

Initiation of the settlement movement

Settlement houses were established and patterned

after the settlement houses of London’s Toynbee Hall
Purpose: to deal with the problems of the city and its
poor focusing mostly on immigrants

Pioneers in this movement:

Stanton Coit and Jane Addams – they established
settlement houses in New York and Chicago
 United States
Settlement Workers:

Friendly contact with the poor

Acquired knowledge and understanding of the daily
life and trials of the urban masses

Where others thought of the people of the slums as

miserable wretches deserving either pity or correction,
settlement residents knew them as much entitled to
respect as any other members of the community

This attitude was the most important contribution of

the settlement movement to social welfare
 United States
1905

The first medical social work department was

established by Ida Cannon at the Massachusets
General Hospital

Medical social service invigorated the quest for

professional skill and technique and the implications
of casework theory and practice. It demanded new
and special instruction and expertise as opposed to
relief and economic dependency.

“Human kindness alone cannot solve tangled social

problems” Ida Cannon
 United States
Medical social work:

Medical social workers became interested in

professional education as a means of moving from the
“warm-heart” position into an understanding of the
psychic or social conditions at the base of patient
distress

With professional education, it would be possible to

move into a colleague relationship with the physician
 United States
1912

A one-year course in medical social work was

established in the Boston School of Social Work

1915

Meeting of the National Conference on Charities and

Corrections

Abraham Flexner, an authority on graduate education

asked: Is social work a profession?
 United States
18th and 19th centuries:

Industrialization
Greater mobility
Increase in population and accompanying
social problems implied the increase in public
and private social services
 United States
1935

The Social Security Act revolutionized the total social

welfare scene
Provisions:
Public assistance
Social insurance
Unemployment insurance
Aid to dependent children
Aid to the blind
Other special services
 United States
1962

Major modifications in the act

Additional provisions:

Additional federal participation

Liberalization of grants
Safeguarding the rights of children and families
Greater emphasis on rehabilitation and preventive
social welfare
 United States
1965 amendments to the act – expanding medical and
health care system in the US

Medicare

Encompassed a compulsory hospital insurance plan

and a voluntary supplemental medical insurance

Medicaid

Provided medical care to low income people

 United States
1898

The Charity Organization in New York initiated a

summer training course on social work education

1904

The course developed inhto a one-year training

program within the New York School of Philantrophy
 United States
1921

The American Association of Social Workers was

created, the first major professional social work body

1955

National Association of Social Workers was created

based on the amalgamation of 7 smaller specialized
social work associations
As of 1977, it had 154,000 members
1995: NASW’s 40th anniversary
 United States
1974
The CSWE approved the accreditation of the
undergraduate programs in SW or social welfare
 Philippines

Pre-historic period

Social welfare centered on mutual protection

and economic survival among the people in
the “barangays”
 Philippines
Spanish Period

Communities were formed into “pueblos”

creating large concentrations of people in an
area resulting in:

Health and sanitation problems

Personal maladjustments
Economic dislocation
Destitution or indigency due to the punitive
methods of the Spanish conquerors
 Philippines
Encomenderos provided the sick and the poor
with aid

Primary motivation: religious: to do good to

others for the salvation of their souls.

This was the underlying philosophy behind all

social welfare activities in the country
 Philippines
The Spanish missionaries administered
Hospitals
Orphanages
Asylums
Schools

1885

The Asilo de San Vicente de Paul, an asylum

for girls, was established
 Philippines
1565

Parochial School of Cebu – the first school to

be established

Other school were soon established

 Philippines
1589 Colegio de San Ignacio
1595 San Ildefonso College
1601 Colegio de San Jose
1717 College de San Felipe
1754 Artillery School
1859 Ateneo de Manila (out of the original
school: Obras Pias in 1817)
1694 Santa Isabel
1750 Santa Rosa
1696 Santa Catalina
 Philippines
After the 1850s, public school started to
be put up in the country

1867 There were 593 primary schools

in the country

Hospitals, asylums, orphanages and

schools were subsidized by the
Spanish gov’t with some donations
from philantrophic individuals
 Philippines
The outbreak of the revolution against the
Spanish government in the country led to
efforts that were directed mainly at the sick
and wounded Filipino soldiers who needed
medical care

“Hermanos”, a religious order and women

Provided leadership in nursing the wounded
in the battlefields particularly after the
execution of Dr. Jose Rizal on Dec. 30, 1896
 Philippines
1899

The National Association of the Red Cross

was organized

Provided medical supplies and food to the

revolutionaries in the provinces of Luzon
 Philippines
American Period

1899 The Philippines was occupied by

America

New educational system

New health methods
Religious freedom
 Philippines
1902

The Insular Board was created following an

epidemic of bubonic plague, cholera and
small pox

Function: to coordinate and supervise private

institutions engaged in social work
 Philippines
1908

The Philippine General Hospital was

established

1915

Public Welfare Board legislative act no. 2510

To coordinate the welfare activities of various
Charitable organizations
 Philippines
1910 School for the deaf and blind

1917
Associated Charities of Manila
Functioned as a “community chest”,
centralized the receipt and distribution of
donations to different charitable organizations

1905 Philippine chapter of the American Red

Cross
 Philippines
1907 La Gota de Leche
furnished child-caring institutions with
fresh cow’s milk. Offered free
consultation clinic for mothers

1910 Philippine Anti- Tuberculosis Society

1911 Tuberculosis Sanitarium in QC
 Philippines

1913 Association de Damas Filipinas

Helped destitute mothers and their
children

founded a settlement house on Rizal

Ave in Manila
chronic illness, accidents, broken
homes
 Philippines
1921

Office of the Public Welfare Commmissioner

(PWC) Under the Department of Interior

Absorbed the functions of the Public Welfare

Board
Coordinating and intensifying the activities of
child welfare organizations and agencies
 Philippines
1933

A law was passed requiring any person,

corporation, organization or association
desiring to solicit or receive contributions
for charitable or public welfare purposes

1924
The associated charities had become an
independent agency under the supervision
of the PWC
 Philippines
1924
Phil Legislative Act No. 3203
Care and custody of neglected and delinquent
children
There were reformatories in Manila for boys
and for girls under PWC

1926
Welfareville – a 50-hectare compound in San
Felipe Neri (now Mandaluyong) under
PWC Divison of Dependent children
 Philippines
“Congragate system” of the division:

Wards were grouped in separate cottages

based on children’s needs and problems

1933
Frank Murphy became governor general
Scholarship grants for professional training in
social work in the US were made available
 Philippines
Other developments during the administration
of Murphy:

Maternal health centers in each town

Social health centers in selected communities
First housing committee that undertook the
study of slums (31 houses in Tondo)
Private colleges and technical schools
National Economic Protectionism (NEPA)
established to promote home industries
 Philippines
Unemployment Committee which
recommended the creation of a National
Emergency Relief Board to relieve distress
caused by unemployment and to reduce
unemployment; later extended to typhoon
victims

Women suffrage campaign – signed a law

enfranchising women in 1933 that took
effect in 1937
 Philippines
Prominent Persons:

Dr. Jose Fabella – Director of PWC

Josefa Jara Martinez – obtained a diploma in
social work from the New York School of
Social Work in 1921; she worked for the
Public Welfare Board where she started to
introduce the scientific approach in social
work and then was detailed to the
Associated Charities
 Philippines
Frank Murphy

It was during his administration that the

government took full responsibility for the
relief of the distressed due to any cause.
 Philippines
Commonwealth Period (Manuel L. Quezon)

Filipinos took over the government

Rural charity clinics
A home for mentally defective children and for
the aged in Welfareville
Anti-usury laws
8-hour labor law; minimum wages
Laws related to insurance, pensions, women
and child labor
 Philippines
Commonwealth Period (Manuel L. Quezon)

Housing projects
Relief boards and other bodies
Creation of the Department of Health and
Public Welfare
 Philippines
Japanese Occupation

Medical care and treatment and provision of

food and clothing to the wounded soldiers,
prisoners and civilians during World War II
Relief work was undertaken by volunteer
organizations
Workers of the Philippine war relief, Inc.
organized in the US accompanied the
liberating army when it landed in Leyte
 Philippines
Bureau of Public Welfare was closed during
the war and reopened in 1946.

1947 it became the Social Welfare

Commission under the Office of the
President

This signified the formal recognition of social

welfare as a responsibility by the state
 Philippines
Bureau of Public Welfare was closed during
the war and reopened in 1946.

1947 it became the Social Welfare

Commission under the Office of the
President

This signified the formal recognition of social

welfare as a responsibility by the state
 Philippines
Three Categories of Services of the
Commission:

1. Child welfare work (probation and parole,

institutional care)
2. Public assistance (relief and casework)
3. Coordination and supervision of all public
welfare activities
 Philippines
1948
Pres. Quirino created the President’s Action
Committee on Social Amelioration
(PACSA)
Gave relief assistance to the hungry, the
homeless and the sick.

UNICEF – United Nations International

Children’s Emergency Fund was created
in 1946 by the United Nations general
Assembly (maternal and child health)
 Philippines
1949
Council of Welfare Agencies of the Phils
Community Chest of Greater Manila
Early 1950s
Philippine Youth Welfare Coordinating Council
(PYWCC)
 Philippines
1951
The Social Welfare Commission and PACSA
were fused into one agency called
Social Welfare Administration
Responsibility for relief was taken over by its
Division of Public Assistance
Was concerned with the need for a more
professional administration of public tax
supported welfare programs
Accepted field practice students and
conducted surveys
 Philippines
1968 Marcos signed RA 5416 Social Welfare
Act elevating the Social Welfare
Administration into a Department
1970s

Martial Law (1972)

Marcos set up a crisis government
Developmental decades (1960s and 1970s)
The UN called on nations to focus on
developmental efforts aimed at improving
the quality of life of people
 Philippines
1976
The Dept of Social Welfare became the
Department of Social Services and
Development (DSSD)
From the traditional, institution-based social
welfare to community-oriented programs
and services which underscored people’s
own capacities for problem-solving
1978
Conversion of departments into Ministries
 Philippines
1976
The Dept of Social Welfare became the
Department of Social Services and
Development (DSSD)
From the traditional, institution-based social
welfare to community-oriented programs
and services which underscored people’s
own capacities for problem-solving
1978
Conversion of departments into Ministries
 Philippines
1980s
The Ministry of Social Services and
Development (MSSD)
banner program: the Self-Employment
Assistance
case management system
 Philippines
1987
Pres. Corazon Aquino signed Executive Order
No. 123 reorganizing the MSSD and
renaming it Department of Social Welfare
and Development

“evolving from mere welfare or relief agency

to the greater task of development”
 Philippines
1990s-Early 2008

October 10, 1991 RA 7160 or the Local

Government Code was passed
The DSWD devolved its functions, programs
and services, direct services workers,
budget and assets and liabilities to the
local government units starting 1992.
 Philippines
The national DSWD became leaner and more
responsive
Four categories of social services:

Center-institution based services

Community-based programs and services
Locally funded and foreign assisted projects
Disaster relief and rehabilitation augmentation
 Philippines
In the 90s, the DSWD moved from its
traditional image of service provider to one
that leads in social welfare policy and
program development, provision of
technical assistance, capability-building
and augmentation support to local
government units (LGU), non-government
organizations (NGO) and people’s
organizations (PO)
 Philippines
Vision of the DSWD

Poverty eradication and empowerment of

disadvantaged individuals, families and
communities with capability to improve
their quality of life through the provision of
assistance to LGUs, Pos, NGOs, NGAs
(other national government agencies) and
other members of civil society
 Philippines
The NGOs

They supplement government efforts

Defined as “private, non-profit, voluntary
organizations that are committed to the
task of socio-economic development and
established primarily for service”
The number of NGOs began to grow after the
EDSA Revolution in 1986
 Philippines
NGO Classifications:

1. Primary NGOs – also called POs, direct

organizations of the beneficiaries
themselves
2. Secondary/intermediate – composed of
different professions providing services to
the beneficiaries
3. Tertiary – usually a network of NGOs
established for mutual assistance or for
special purposes
 Philippines
1999

Philippine Council for NGO Certification was

launched by NGO networks to regulate the
operation of NGOs
Certifies NGOs applying for donee institution
status based on specific standards:
professionalism, transparency and
accountability
Has certified 858 applicants out more than
1,500 applications over a period of 9 years
 The Development of the
Social Work Profession in
the Philippines
 Philippines
The mother of the SW profession in the Phils:

The Associated Charities (1917)

First to use casework
First to use social workers as full time, paid
employees
The first to hire a trained social worker as its
Executive Secretary (Josefa Jara Martinez
then later Asuncion A. Perez who was also
educated in the US)
 Philippines
1947

The seven or eight social workers who had

gone to the US before the war to pursue
formal social work education formed the
Philippine Association of Social Workers
(PASW)

Nurturing the development of the social work

profession
 Philippines
1950

The Philippine School of Social Work was

established
One-year program: Master of Arts in Social
Administration – Josefa Jara Martinez was
the school’s first director
1951- graduate program expanded to two
years and the degree changed to Master
of Social Work
 Philippines
The University of the Philippines and Centro
Escolar University also started offering
social work courses at the grduate level

1956
The Civil Service Commission gave an
examination for social workers
 Philippines
Early 50s
The following offered a bachelor’s degree in
social work:
Philippine School of Social Work
Centro Escolar University
University of the Philippines
University of Santo Tomas
 Philippines
A big boost to the professionalization of social
work was the launching of the UNICEF-
assisted Social Services Project of the
Social Welfare Administration in July 1961.

Improvement of child welfare services by

upgrading the competence of family and
child workers (seminars, study grants, pilot
projects) leading to the upgrading of SWA
personnel salaries
 Philippines
1965

Passage of RA 4373, An Act to Regulate the

Practice of Social Work and the Operation
of Social Work Agencies in the Philippines
Completion of Bachelor of Science in
Social Work degree
1,000 hours of supervised field practice
Passing of a government board
examination in Social Work for licensing or
registration as a social worker
 Philippines
Creation of a board of examiners (now called
Board for Social Workers) that will
administer its provisions
Empowered the Department of Social Welfare
and development (DSWD) to license and
accredit public and private organizations
for social welfare work
The law had a desirable effect of making
those already occupying social work
positions undergo professional social work
education
 Philippines
The passing of RA 4373 is generally
considered as the formal recognition of
social work as a profession in the
Philippines

As of December 2006 – 16,134 licensed

social workers in the Philippines
 Philippines
The Philippine Association of Social Workers,
Inc. (PASWI)

The national organization of social workers in

the country
Founded on Nov. 12, 1947, incorporated on
April 18, 1948, re-incorporated with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) in 1988.
 Philippines
As of 2007 - 36 active chapters in different
regions of the country
429 lifetime members
1,036 regular members
A member of the International Federation of
Social Workers (IFSW)
There are 1.5 million professional workers in
practice globally
 Philippines
PASWI’s Objectives:

Promote and maintain a professional

standard of social work practice
Strengthen the members’ competence
Work for better understanding, acceptance
and recognition of the profession
Work for social legislation in social welfare
and development
Expansion through local chapters and
linkages
 Philippines
PASWI’s Accomplishments:

Adopted the Phil Soc Work Code of Ethics in

1964, revised in Nov. 1998
Nominated members of the Board for Social
Workers (to the President) since 1965
Worked for the passage of RA 4373 in 1965
and its amendments with RA 5175 in 1967
Supported the passage of the SW Act
elevating the SWA to DSW in 1968
 Philippines
PASWI’s Accomplishments:
Served as core of the Phil organizing
committee for the SW symposia in the
Phils in 1970
Took a stand on issues such as family
planning, integration of cultural minorities
into society, etc.
Submitted proposals to the 1971
constitutional convention
 Philippines
PASWI’s Accomplishments:

Initiated proposal to merge the DSWD and

the Department of Health in the 1980s

Supported the package of the Magna Carta

for Public Social Workers (RA 9433 on
April 11, 2007)
 Philippines
Magna Carta for Social Workers

For all registered social workers in

government service
Positions in government for social workers
Upgrading of salaries
Code of conduct
Professional development
 Summary:
Europe
Situation of the poor (simple to complex)
Presence of laws
Role of the parish church
Evolving programs and services
Public responsibility was emphasized: use of
public tax to help the poor; from district units to a
nationwide concern
Administration by the state
From plain charitable work to an organized and
systematic way of helping the poor
 United States
From volunteer to paid staff
Charity organizations
Welfare societies
The rise of the profession of Social Work
Social work education; medical social work
The number of trained social workers increased
rapidly at the turn of the 20th century

National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

became the cenrtal professional body
Council on Social Work Education – a national
educational body for setting standards
 Prominent Persons
Mary Ellen Richmond (1861-1928)

A social work pioneer

Worked as Treasurer of the Charity
Organization Society
The first to develop a structured social work
Published “Social Diagnosis” in 1917 –
formalized a communicable body of
techniques in different settings where social
workers were found
 Prominent Persons

Dr. Abraham Flexner

An authority on graduate education

who had made a penetrating study
that led to major changes in medical
education
 Philippines
From charity and relief to social development and
empowerment
From the sick and homeless to individuals, families
and communities
Developments in social welfare under the Spaniards,
the Americans, the Japanese
The professionalization of Social Work
Social work education
Supportive laws
The rise of NGOs and POs as partners
Networking and Alliance-building
The evolution of the DSWD
PASWI
 Social Work is committed to the
pursuit of social welfare

There is a continuity in the

development of social welfare and
social work in the Philippines
Thank you!