The Administrative and Financial Aspects of Certain Types of Outdoor Relief in California

Abstract

DURING the past few years the administration of certain types of outdoor relief has been transferred from local to state and/or federal agencies. In addition to these administrative changes the financial problem has been brought to the fore as a result of the recent pressure on government budgets, and the whole question of federal, state, and local financial responsibility has been acute. Little definite information, however, is available regarding the effect of the depression on either the administration or the financing of relief to certain categorical groups. This study in California was undertaken to determine how public outdoor relief to specific classes, namely, the aged, the sick, the tubercular, the blind, the unemployed, and the dependent child was dealt with in 1930 and the subsequent changes since that date. To obtain as comparable data as possible a questionnaire' was sent to the clerk of the board of supervisors of each of the fifty-eight counties in the state, asking how certain types of outdoor relief were administered and financed in 1930 and the changes which had occurred between that time and June 30, 1934. Responses were received from fifty-two counties, or 89.6 per cent of the total number. Those not replying, however, were counties representing sparsely settled areas, evidenced by the fact that their population constituted only 2.2 per cent of that of the entire state. The following discussion of the administration and financial aspects of outdoor relief will be limited to fifty-one counties. Alpine County, because of its small