4C "V 75.L47°''""'"''"'*™"V Library U47, g'tu&fea in Mortal Mark Nmnber 1 ''■'' SOCIAL WORK WITH FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS A BRIEF MANUAL FOR INVESTIGATORS BY PORTER R. LEE Wilt Nem ^avk ^tifaal of ^tntmttlrni]!^ UNITED CHARITIES BUILDING NEW YORK CITY THIS is the first of a series of inex- pensive publications which The New York School of Philanthropy plans to issue from time to time for the use of social workers and other stu- dents of social problems. Announce- ments of future numbers will be made in The Survey and elsewhere. January, 1915. SOCIAL WORK WITH FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS Persons who need charitable assistance are not different from other persons except in the power, or the inclination, to satisfy their own needs. Whatever it is that enables non-depend- ent families and individuals to meet the contin- gencies of life through their own knowledge and effort is the particular thing which the depend- ent lacks. Primarily it is neither the loss of a job, sickness, lack of income, bad habits, or other disability that leads a man to ask for char- ity. If it were most people would be depend- ent frequently, since these liabilities are not confined to the poor. In any community more of those who are affected by them are above the line of dependence than below it. It is only those who lack the power of self-maintenance who become dependent. It is true that social work is organized for the most part in terms of material needs. We have laws for the preservation of health, for the protection of those who work, for the pro- tection of children, and for compulsory educa- tion. We have public departments for the ad- ministration of the machinery which these laws create. We have official and voluntary agencies for the improvement of housing conditions, for the care of the sick, for the provision of mate- rial relief, for the care of children. We have 4 FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS agencies for the study of working and living conditions with a view to the improvement of such as are prejudicial to the common welfare ; and we have a steady emphasis laid by all agencies upon the need for changes in our com- mon habits and practices which affect the wel- fare of the community and all its members. These organized activities, however, are not intended to lift from any person responsibility for his own welfare. They are rather the effort of the community to help him discharge that responsibility more successfully and more easily, and at less cost to himself and society. Any activity — whether in legislation, in relief, in medical treatment, or in industrial reform — which seeks to meet the normal needs of men from the outside rather than to develop within men the power to meet their own needs, repre- sents a low plane of social work. To develop the power of self -maintenance, while he recog- nizes and provides for immediate disabilities, is the important problem for the social worker. AN APPLICATION IS AN OPPORTUNITY Disabilities do not stand alone. If they did, a charitable agency might conduct its work very much like a business house. The applicant, like a customer, might ask for what he needed. The only question facing the social investigator would be whether the commodity or service re- quested is part of its stock in trade, and if so, whether it desires to place them at the disposal MANUAL FOR INVESTIGATORS 5 of this particular applicant. The disabilities of the poor, however, are even more varied than the forms of social work, and they rarely come singly. Inefficiency, ill-health, waywardness, unemployment, and unstable character have a way of intertwining themselves, and in the atmosphere in which they develop are found also many attendant evils like bad housing, ignorance, and immorality. Unlike a business house a charitable agency cannot deal alone with the one disability for which an applicant seeks its aid. There are usually others just as urgent, and one cannot be successfully treated without taking account of them all. The precise request made by an applicant may represent his greatest need and it may not. Usually it represents his own selection from among a variety of needs, any one of which would justify long and intelligent interest by a social worker. What he asks for — commitment of children, transportation, relief, hospital care, institutional care for a defective child — ^may seem to him to meet his most obvious need; it may be the most urgent thing ; it may be merely the thing he thinks he is most likely to get; it may be what a neighbor did actually succeed in getting. Whatever the reason behind, it should signify to a social worker an opportunity to study the applicant's whole situation, in order to discover how many and how varied his dis- abilities may be, and what service the commun- 6 FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS ity has made available in its organized social work to help him meet them. Diagnosis of the disabilities of applicants and the cooperation of different agencies in treating them have come to be part of a definite process. Every charitable service to a disabled family or individual should be preceded by an inquiry into the history and present condition of the applicant which will yield the facts nec- essary to intelligent action. This inquiry has come to be known technically to social workers as an investigation. DISABILITIES AND ASSETS There are many misconceptions as to the pur- pose of an investigation. No intelligent social agency investigates merely in order to separate residents from non-residents, or the worthy from the unworthy. The unworthy poor to an older generation included all those degenerate, shiftless, dishonest, lazy, deliberate victims of misconduct who do not readily respond to be- nevolent interest. A large part of modern so- cial work, on the other hand, is dedicated to the defense of society against misconduct and of the ' ' unworthy ' ' against themselves. The medi- cal treatment of inebriates, farm colonies for vagrants, and colonies for the feeble-minded, contrast with the harsh and uncharitable treat- ment which was formerly given. It is a miscon- ception to think of an investigation as an attempt to establish the truth or falsity of an MANUAL FOR INVESTIGATORS 7 applicant's statements, or as causing procrasti- nation in relief. Social investigation expedites relief. The fact is that the more thorough and spe- cialized the treatment of disabilities becomes, the more important it is that we have informa- tion regarding them before taking any but emergency action. A well-known physician says that whereas a generation ago ten minutes would serve for the diagnosis of most diseases, an average of an hour is required at the present time. This is largely because we know more about disease, have better facilities for study- ing it, and see its relation to many other fac- tors in the life of the patient. This is equally true in the treatment of social disabilities. The need of hospital treatment may prompt an ap- plication to a charitable agency. Behind the ill- ness, in work, habits, or home environment, lies a cause. These social disabilities may need treatment quite as urgently as the illness. No permanent result from any charitable relief can be hoped for until the social cause is known; until account has beeij taken, on the one hand, of all the other disabilities, and, on the other, of the family assets in character, earning ca- pacity, income, and moral influences. These assets are the foundation upon which the power of self -maintenance may be built. The facts regarding these disabilities and assets must be ascertained at the outset. If the 8 FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS situation is critical, emergency treatment such as shelter, food, or hospital care may need to be secured at once without waiting for investiga- tion. If the agency receiving the applica- tion is not able to give this emergency assist- ance, it must be obtained from some other organization. Such emergency action should not interfere with the securing of facts as a basis for extended treatment. If this is not done, short-sighted, inappropriate, or utterly in- effective service may be given, or even an actual injury. The kindest service, and in terms of family welfare, the least costly service, is that service which is most intelligent. The most in- telligent service is that which leads to results of permanent value. The process of discovering a family's assets and needs is not a separate and different pro- cess covering distinct ground according as it is made necessary by ill-health, inefficiency, lack of income, law-breaking, or orphanhood. A man can present only one character, one personality, one history, one life, whether he stands before the application desk of a hospital, a relief society, a shelter for homeless men, a domestic relations bureau, or a police station. A human being presents the same set of traits to reckon with or build upon wherever he may be. He has just one set of weaknesses, one set of preju- dices, one set of strong points, one personality, one temperament. This is true of the family as MANUAL FOR INVESTIGATORS 9 of the individual. Just as different traits group themselves into an individuality, so different disabilities and different resources group them- selves in the family problem and must be con- sidered together. It is not five different kinds of welfare that five different social organiza- tions desire for one family in which all are con- cerned. There may be many different factors in the achievement of social welfare. One may be more interested in one factor and another in another. But all are interested in securing that combination of circumstances upon which social welfare depends. METHODS OF INVESTIGATION It is the task of a social worker in his in- vestigation to analyze the needs and assets of his families in some such process as this. The information necessary can be acquired only in certain fairly definite ways which have come to be established as the method of social investiga- tion. We know what a man's health is, what his capacities, habits, temperament are, when we have made use of certain definite sources of information. The health of an individual is a prime factor in any plan for his welfare. This is obvious when his application to a charitable society is due to sickness. It is also true when other needs, like employment or relief, are more ap- parent. His present state of health can be 10 FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS ascertained by medical examination. Frequent- ly, however, it is desirable to know Ms previous Health history. This can be learned partly from his own statement, and partly, in many cases, from some institution where he has been under treatment. Disabilities of many kinds are so often due to poor physical condition that defi- nite information on this point should be part of practically every investigation. The earning power of a family is important. Children in New York state are forbidden to work until they are fourteen years old, and between fourteen and sixteen only after reach- ing certain standards of education and physical development. The capacity of a worker chiefly determines his earning power. This can be ascertained for both adults and children by con- sultation with former employers and this in- quiry will frequently lead to valuable informa- tion regarding habits and general intelligence. The personal qualities of a man are import- ant factors in any treatment. Intelligence, rea- sonableness, reliability, moral standards, thrift, and general responsibility are traits which make self-maintenance possible once the opportunity is given. Their absence will wreck any plan which the social worker may make. The degree to which a person possesses them cannot often be determined in one interview. One must know his habits, his reactions upon others, his MANUAL FOR INVESTIGATORS 1 1 response to those persons and organizations that have a claim npon him. This knowledge may be gained by conference with relatives, em- ployers, school teachers, friends, pastors, and others who have known him. It is usually well to avoid inquiries in the neighborhood where a family lives. Such inquiries nearly always lead to embarrassing publicity. The same sort of inquiry will reveal the help, financial and otherwise, which many of these same relatives, churches, benefit societies, and friends can contribute to the particular plan of treatment necessary to restore a family to some degree of normal living. Not every case of need will require so extended an investiga- tion. The inquiry should go far enough how- ever to enable the social worker to discover the strong and the weak points in the individual members of the family and to formulate clearly a plan of treatment which with the aid of the city's organized social service will develop the strong points to overcome the weak. THE USB OF OTHBE SOCIAL AGENCIES Investigation may show that the action re- quired is not a function of the agency or depart- ment receiving the application. A full measure of responsibility on the part of such an agency, however, demands that such application be not dismissed summarily, but referred to some one of the community's organizations whose func- tion it is to receive them. New York City has 12 FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS many facilities for dealing with the disabilities of the poor.. Laws and institutions abound. Societies and public departments exercise various functions. It is not to be expected that the poor will know which to call upon or how to use them all. Hence a large part of the task which every application presents to a social worker is the calling in of the appropriate services of other organizations. This responsi- bility demands of social workers a knowledge of the city 's resources and of the procedure for using them effectively, and in meeting it the use of the Charities Directory is indispensable. Some of these agencies confine their work to certain districts, and some cover the entire city. Most of them have fairly definite functions. A social worker whose duties are limited to a particular district should familiarize himself with the resources of the district — hospitals, dis- pensaries, nursing service, milk stations, relief societies, probation officers, tenement inspect- ors, public schools, playgrounds, settlements, employment agencies, and police stations. He should know their general powers and the scope given them by law or by their own organization. He should know how to secure the services of each. The more personal and informal the co- operation among such agencies the better for those in need of help. The most important single factor in the use of the other agencies is the Sociai Service Ex- MANUAL FOR INVESTIGATORS 13 change, with telephone service. The efficient social agencies of the city which deal with families and individuals use the Exchange regu- larly. By inquiry of the Exchange the social worker receiving an application from a family in need can learn at once what other organiza- tions have inquired concerning the same family. He can then put himself into touch with these agencies and receive the benefit of their ex- perience. This avoids duplication of work, but more important than this it enables him to learn how his families have responded to other forms of social treatment, and this in turn will help him in deciding upon his own plans. THE IMPORTANCE OF COOPEEATION The division of labor in social work has pro- ceeded so far that the cooperation of charities is no longer an exchange of courtesies merely. No one agency can meet all the needs of any one family. If the service needed is found to come more appropriately from some other agency, or if one's own organization can meet only a part of the difficulty, then the social worker must assume the responsibility of intelligent coopera- tion with others. For example, the commitment of children may be a function of the Department of Public Charities or of the Children's Court. If an application for commitment is rejected for good reasons after inquiry, but the family situation 14 FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS requires strengthening in otlier ways, the De- partment or the Court has not discharged its responsibility until its social investigators through their own efforts or in cooperation with the community's voluntary or official agencies have made sure that these other phases of the situation will be met. If the children are com- mitted, the public interest in the rehabilitation of the home is still more direct. Whatever con- ditions made the commitment necessary — the lack of the power of self -maintenance — ^must be removed before the children can be returned. Otherwise the work of the Department and the Court with the children will be wasted. To dis- cover just when its disabilities have been over- come, so that the children can wisely be re- turned, is as elementary an obligation as the commitment when that is necessary. Cooperation among charities, like all rela- tionships, is a process of give and take. As long as social work is in a tentative stage, there will be different standards in different agen- cies, different ways of meeting similar prob- lems. The response of other organizations for cooperation will not always be what is expected. Demands upon an organization may exceed its financial resources or its legal powers. Its ex- perience, with the full force of which other agencies are unfamiliar, may dictate policies which at first sight seem unreasonable. One cannot expect others, however, to concede the MANUAL FOR INVESTIGATORS 15 validity of his experience in hia own field unless he makes a similar concession to them. Those who attempt to cooperate with other agencies, as all social workers must, may well consider in this connection those factors which make any human relationships run smoothly and with satisfaction to those concerned. SOME FACTOES IN SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL WORK In social work, besides these general consid- erations, there are others of practical value in relations with other organizations. Personal ac- quaintance with workers in other organizations makes results possible where correspondence and telephone communications alone do not. Knowledge of the charitable resources of the city and one's district should include such ac- quaintance. Definite suggestions as to the sort of action which a given situation requires are better than general requests for cooperation. This implies a thorough knowledge of one's own case and of the point in a plan of treat- ment at which the cooperating agency can en- ter. Negotiations with other agencies should go far enough to enable all parties to under- stand one another. Plans involving several or- ganizations may well be worked out in confer- ence. A situation should never be left indefin- ite. There must be agreement on some plan of work in which all concerned, including the fam- ily itself, have a definite part; and there must 10 MANUAL FOR INVESTIGATORS be readiness to assume one's own full measure of responsibility. The following considerations lie at the basis of good social work: (1) Action should not be confined to the par- ticular request which an applicant makes. The aim should be to meet the actual needs and, when possible, to bring about the self-depend- ence of the family or individual, with all that this implies. (2) A plan for relief involves a foundation' of facts gained through a careful investiga- tion. This investigation involves the use of certain definite sources of information, includ- ing the family itself, in order to understand both its disabilities and its assets. (3) To carry out the plan usually involves the use of other agencies in a definite arrange- ment for cooperation. January, 1915.