Charities, State Board of

New York's first publicly-supported institution for dependents was established in New York City in 1734. Opened in 1736, the "House of Correction, Workhouse and Poorhouse" housed the poor who refused to work, the poor who were unable to work, and the poor who were willing but unable to find work. Following the opening of this institution, more poorhouses were opened throughout the province. New York's first general hospital, established in 1771 and opened in 1791, also was in New York City. This was the province's first publicly-funded institution providing medical aid to the poor.

Meanwhile, increased legislative activity attempted to cope with New York's growing dependent population. A poor law enacted in 1773 (Chapter 1600) was the last and most comprehensive colonial New York poor law. It still relied on removal of non-resident poor as in previous poor laws. Parents and grandparents of dependents were required to provide as much of their support as possible. The first state poor law, passed in 1784 (Chapter 35), was similar to the 1773 law but increased local responsibility. The law divided parishes into districts, each of which was responsible for its own poor.

Another law in 1788 (Chapter 62) made each town or city responsible for its poor. All towns and cities were authorized to build almshouses if desired. The poor could apply for relief to the overseers, who for the first time were required to register all applicants for and recipients of poor relief. The overseers could place children in indentureships or apprenticeships. However, this law, and similar laws and amendments passed in 1801, 1809, 1813, 1817, and 1821, continued to focus on removal of the poor.

Private organizations increased their public welfare efforts in the early nineteenth century, especially in New York City, where the extent and variety of need was greatest. In 1806 the city's Orphan Asylum Society founded New York's first orphan asylum. In 1818 the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism was founded, soon becoming a leading New York City public welfare agency. It became the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in 1823 and the following year established the New York House of Refuge, the first juvenile reformatory in the United States. The House of Refuge received city and state funding in addition to private support.

The government lagged behind private relief efforts, but did become increasingly involved during the nineteenth century. A law of 1824 (Chapter 331) directed specified counties to establish and provide tax support for a poorhouse; the remaining counties were also authorized to establish poorhouses. County supervisors were to appoint superintendents to run the county poorhouses. Town overseers could send paupers applying for relief to the poorhouse and could also send beggars under age 15 to be "instructed in...labor" until they could be self-supporting. The poorhouse superintendent could direct inmates to work to cover the cost of their support.

A growing number of publicly-funded institutions were established at this time. The New York City Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island, founded in 1834, was the first municipal mental hospital in the United States. The State Hospital for the Insane at Utica, established by a law of 1842 (Chapter 135), was the first charitable institution controlled entirely by the state and was responsible to the State Legislature. The Western House of Refuge in Rochester, established in 1846 (Chapter 143), was the first American juvenile reformatory controlled entirely by a state and was also responsible to the Legislature.

Later, the state formed government agencies to handle specific relief efforts or to coordinate public welfare activities. The Board of Commissioners of Emigration, established in 1847 (Chapter 483), was the first state body functioning in public welfare. The board supervised care of needy immigrants and was responsible to the State Legislature until its dissolution in 1891. A law of 1867 (Chapter 951) established a Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. The board was comprised of eight gubernatorial appointees, one from each judicial district. It supervised charitable and correctional institutions (except prisons) receiving state funding and was directed to visit each institution annually to check expenditures, conditions, instruction of inmates, conduct of officials, accomplishment of the institution's stated objectives, and compliance with the law; these powers extended to all city and county poorhouses.

A law of 1871 (Chapter 699) authorized the board to investigate charges regarding the conduct of institution staff and officers and empowered the board to subpoena witnesses and administer oaths. In 1873 (Chapter 571) the board was renamed the State Board of Charities and was enlarged to eleven members, with one additional member from Kings County and two additional members from New York County. Its powers were extended to all (public or private) institutions for the insane and to charitable, correctional (except prisons), and reformatory institutions whether or not receiving public funds. The board was authorized to gather statistics and other information from institutions and to suggest legislation concerning public or private assistance and the care and treatment of the insane. All insane asylums were to obtain a license from the board; the board was to visit the institution before issuing a license.

The law also directed the Governor to appoint a State Commissioner in Lunacy who would be an ex officio member of the Board of Charities. The commissioner was to study the condition of the insane in New York, study the management and conduct of institutions for the insane, and perform other related duties as directed by the board. Later (Laws of 1874, Chapter 446), the commissioner was given power to license institutions for the insane (previously a board function).

The board's role in public welfare activities increased in the late 1800s. A law of 1875 (Chapter 140) required each almshouse or poorhouse to keep records on individual inmates and to send copies of the records to the board each month. The "Children's Law" (Chapter 173), passed the same year as the result of the board's 1875 report to the State Legislature, prohibited admission of children over age 3 or under 16 to poorhouses unless insane, epileptic, or otherwise "unfit for family care;" children were instead sent to orphan asylums or placed with families. In 1894 (Chapter 171), the Board was authorized to approve or disapprove the organization and incorporation of institutions for children. The Board could also apply to the Supreme Court to cancel the certificate of incorporation of institutions of which the Board disapproved.

Also in the late 1800s the state reorganized public welfare functions and responsibilities. A law of 1889 (Chapter 283) established a State Commission in Lunancy comprised of three gubernatorial appointees who replaced and assumed the functions of the Commissioner in Lunacy. The commission was independent of the Board of Charities and was responsible to the State Legislature. It assumed the visitation, inspection and record keeping duties connected with the supervision of insane asylums. All institutions (including poorhouses) housing the insane were to report annually to the commission.

Article VIII of the Constitution of 1894 made the Board of Charities a constitutional body responsible for the supervision, visitation, and inspection of all charitable, correctional, and reformatory institutions except those supervised by the Commission in Lunacy or the Prison Commission. A law of 1895 (Chapter 771) consolidated and clarified all laws regarding the Board of Charities. The "State Charities Law" passed in 1896 (Chapter 546) limited the board's supervision to institutions receiving state aid but also extended its authority to dispensaries. Another member from New York County was added, bringing the total Board membership to twelve.

The "Poor Law" of 1896 (Chapter 225) repealed most previous poor laws and clarified the role of state and local poor relief officers and of the board's duties regarding the poor. The board was to administer laws concerning the poor; investigate conditions of the poor and plan for their relief; advise and correct almshouse managers on their management, the treatment of inmates, and related issues; visit and inspect almshouses; and approve plans and designs for almshouse construction. The law also called for County Superintendents of the Poor to report annually to the Board of Charities; superintend the care of county poor using county funds; and provide, maintain, and supervise an almshouse.

If there was no county almshouse, the superintendent could direct town Overseers of the Poor to provide relief. The superintendent could also direct temporary or outdoor relief. Overseers of the Poor were given power of approval of relief applications and were to send applicants to the county almshouse or arrange other relief. The Overseers reported to their town board; the town boards reported to the County Superintendents of the Poor who in turn reported to the Board of Charities. The duties of the Superintendent of State Alien and Poor were equivalent to those of County Superintendents but related to the poor with no sixty-day residence in any New York county in the last year. He was to visit and inspect state almshouses, keep records of all state poor inmates, and report annually to the Board of Charities.

Public welfare was again reorganized in the 1920s. The Constitution of 1925 transferred some Board of Charities functions to the new departments of Mental Hygiene and Correction. A 1926 law (Chapter 651) established the Department of Charities with the Board of Charities as its executive body. The department assumed the board's functions. The board retained its structure and its visitation and inspection functions. The Commission of the Blind and the non-education functions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs were placed in the Department of Charities. The Public Welfare Law of 1929 (Chapter 565) superseded the Poor Law and repealed about 140 special laws related to counties. The law clarified the financial responsibilities of counties, cities, and towns and gave public welfare officials greater latitude to provide for the needy. More emphasis was placed on home care (rather than institutionalization) and on medical care for the sick.

A law of 1929 (Chapter 654) changed the name of the department to the Department of Social Welfare. The board's name was changed to the Board of Social Welfare. The board was reorganized in 1936 (Chapter 873). The twelve-member, eight-year-term board was abolished, and the Governor appointed a new fifteen-member, five-year-term board. The board had power to appoint and remove a Commissioner of Public Welfare, and its role toward public welfare institutions and officials became more regulatory and advisory and less administrative. The board was to make rules regarding administration of social welfare programs; determine the principals upon which the state welfare programs; determine the principals upon which the state and local governments would provide public relief; advise local welfare institutions and officials; establish general rules for the functioning of institutions; and inspect institutions.

A constitutional amendment of 1938 clarified the board's powers of inspection of all public and private state-funded charitable, correctional, or reformatory institutions except those for the blind, deaf, or dumb and those supervised by the Department of Mental Hygiene or the Department of Correction. If an institution received no state funding, the board could still inspect it for health, safety, and treatment and training of inmates. A law of 1940 (Chapter 619) combined the Public Welfare and State Charities laws. The Board of Social Welfare was continued as the executive body of the department with authority to establish public assistance policies and advise local welfare officials and agencies.

A law of 1967 (Chapter 728) changed the name of department to the Department of Social Services (The board's name was not changed since it was set forth in the constitution). Chapter 55 of the state's Consolidated Laws was now the Social Services Law; and the term "social services" replaced "social welfare" and "public welfare" in the laws and in the names of government institutions. In 1971 (Chapter 110) the Board of Social Welfare was removed from the Department of Social Services and established as a separate agency within the Executive Department. The Bureau of Proprietary Organizations, which had the power of approval of certificates of incorporation, was also removed from the department and placed under the board. The power to name a commissioner of social services was removed from the board and assigned to the governor, and the authority of the board to regulate the administration of local public assistance was transferred to the department. The board's direct supervision of child and adult care institutions was transferred to other state agencies.

The board continued to exercise its traditional, constitutional functions relating to the visitation, inspection, and setting of standards for institutions and agencies caring for dependent, neglected or delinquent children, the aged, indigent, disabled and disadvantaged. A 1977 law (Chapter 669) further clarified and expanded the board's responsibility to act as an independent overseer, to review, report and make recommendations concerning implementation of state policies and programs for child and adult care, and to monitor the quality of administration of these programs by responsible state and local agencies. The Board's responsibility for regulation of charitable fund raising (begun under a 1956 law) was transferred to the Department of State.

At present the Board, consisting of fifteen members appointed by the governor for five-year terms and with a staff headed by an executive director, visits and inspects charitable institutions; conducts investigations and holds hearings; conducts special research and analyses of state policies and programs affecting child and adult care; reviews and comments on proposed legislation and regulations; and encourages new or improved social welfare programs.