A brief history of public policy
story by Bob Rost
 1601
England's Poor Law declared that "vagrants refusing work
could be whipped, branded or stoned," and stated that "parents
were responsible for the support of their needy children; and
children, insofar as they were able, were responsible for the
care of their needy parents." Beyond these harsh directives,
the law recognized that helpless or needy people not only deserved
state assistance, but had a legal right to it. The law helped
establish public attitudes toward the poor in England. These
attitudes, along with other English traditions, took root in
the colonies in the new world.
 1818
U.S. federal government passed the Revolutionary War Pension
Act, the nation's first military pension program. Intended to
provide assistance to impoverished Continental Army veterans,
it was one of the first attempts by the federal government to
take a direct hand in attending to the social welfare needs of
its citizens.
 1854
Congress passed a measure providing for assistance to the
mentally ill. President Franklin Pierce vetoed the measure, believing
that the Constitution did not give the federal government authority
to distribute "public charity."
 1909
A White House Conference convened to discuss growing concerns
about child welfare. The conference led to the establishment
of the U.S. Children's Bureau. The first agency of its kind in
the federal government, the bureau conducted research and collected
information on the condition and treatment of the nation's children.
 1918
Introduction of the Infancy and Maternity, or Sheppard-Towner,
Bill. The bill, eventually passed by Congress in 1921, gave the
federal government a direct role in child welfare in the area
of health.
 1929
Stock market crash. The Great Depression followed in the 1930s.
1933
Congress passed the Federal Emergency Relief Act to provide
unemployment relief for jobless workers.
1935
President Franklin D. Roosevelt began efforts to pass the
Social Security Act, which provided old age insurance and old
age assistance. This act and several similar laws became collectively
known as the New Deal, under which the federal government, for
the first time, directly assumed responsibility for the economic
security of U.S. citizens.
 1940s,
1950s
During this period many people began to accept the notion
that poverty had largely disappeared from the United States.
This thinking was bolstered by John Kenneth Galbraith's "The
Affluent Society," a best-selling book of the time.
 1962
President John F. Kennedy signed the Public Welfare Amendments
to the Social Security Act, which provided funding for job training
and job placement services targeted to people on public assistance.
1962
Congress passed the Manpower Development and Training Act
to retrain heads of families displaced by technological and economic
change. The act provided a subsidy to trainees.
 1964
The Economic Opportunity Act was passed as the keystone to
President Lyndon Johnson's "unconditional war on poverty."
The Act placed emphasis on education and training as a way to
enable poor people to become more productive and move off welfare
and into the workforce.
1964
The Job Corps was created to provide job training to older
youth and young adults, often in the building trades.
1965
President Johnson approved the "Medicare" amendments
to the Social Security Act, which were intended to provide adequate
health care to older citizens.
1969
President Richard Nixon sponsored the Family Assistance Plan,
which was to provide job training and a guaranteed family income
for the poor. However, the plan was never brought to a vote.
1970s
Welfare reform took hold on the national scene as elected
officials worried about how to move people off welfare and onto
the tax rolls.
 1973
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) provided
for the transfer of funds and decision-making authority for job
training programs from states to local primary sponsors.
1977
President Jimmy Carter proposed his Better Jobs and Income
Program, which was similar in many ways to Nixon's proposal with
its guaranteed income provision and job training and placement
plans. Like the Nixon plan, Carter's program was never brought
to a vote.
 1980s
Following the election of Ronald Reagan, the federal government
began backing away from its role in social welfare. President
Reagan slashed spending on social welfare programs and advocated
transferring control to the states of the Aid to Families with
Dependent Children (AFDC), Food Stamp and Medicaid programs.
1982
The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) highlighted training
as the key to putting jobless people to work. The act emphasized
public-private partnerships, and also put strong emphasis on
placing participants into unsubsidized, private sector jobs.
1988
Efforts by President Reagan and leaders in Congress to achieve
welfare reform brought about passage of the Family Support Act,
which was intended to revamp the AFDC program. It provided incentives
to get single welfare mothers into the workforce. It also enhanced
the child support offered by AFDC.
1996
The struggle to achieve welfare reform continued with passage
of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act signed by President Clinton in 1996. It ended federal guarantees
of public assistance to families with children, replaced AFDC
with block grants to states, and placed strict time limits on
benefits.
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