Alabama. State Dept. of Human Resources (1986- ).

Authorities:

Alabama Government Manual. University of Alabama, 1959-1982.

Markley, Anne Ethelyn. Author Headings for the Official Publications of the State of Alabama. Chicago: American Library Association, 1948.

Alabama. State Department of Pensions and Security. Annual reports, 1968, 1977, 1980.

Alabama. State Department of Pensions and Security. Administrative Organization. 1973.

Alabama. State Department of Pensions and Security. Alabama's Public Welfare: Organization and Functions. 1967.

"A Brief History of Public Welfare in Alabama from 1799 through 1968." Alabama Social Welfare, Reprint, Sept. 1954, June 1969.

Code 1975, 38:1:1.

Legislation in 1986 changed the name of the State Department of Pensions and Security to the State Department of Human Resources. The responsibilities, functions, and powers of the Department remained the same. (Williams, Gwendolyn H., Commissioner, Memorandum, 14 May 1986)

The State Department of Human Resources was established for the purpose of promoting a unified development of welfare activities and agencies of the state and of local governments so that each may function as an integral part of a general system. It operates under a State Board of Pensions and Security, who appoints a Commissioner with qualifications of education, ability, and experience. The Commissioner appoints other officers.

The State Board of Pensions and Security consists of seven members. The Governor is Chairman and appoints six members on the basis of recognized interest in welfare work, with the advice and consent of the Senate. At least two of the members must be women.

As early as 1799, a Miss. Territory law provided for the appointment of overseers of the poor in every township. In 1803 the basic "Poor Law" charged the counties with responsibility for support of paupers, and in 1807 the law included that responsible relatives could be held liable for support of dependent persons and sued by the county for up to $8 per month. The Constitution of 1868, Article IV, Section 34, provided that the General Assembly should have the duty to make adequate provision in each county for the maintenance of the poor. The Constitution of 1875, Article IV, Section 49, provided that the General Assembly would require counties to maintain the poor.

The State Department of Public Welfare was established in 1935. It assumed the duties of the Alabama Relief Administration, which provided assistance and work to needy and unemployed persons, in 1935. Responsibilities relating to children's aid, the supervision of institutions, juvenile courts, and county boards of the Child Welfare Department were transferred to the Bureau of Child Welfare of the Department also in 1935. In 1939 the Department was directed to administer funds for the care and maintenance of the Jefferson Manly Falkner Soldiers' Home, and in 1943, to care for former inmates in other places (Acts 1939, No. 247, p. 419; Acts 1943, No. 258, p. 230).

The Department was governed by the State Board of Public Welfare. The act authorized a Commissioner and the following bureaus: a Bureau of Child Welfare, a Bureau of Family Welfare and Public Assistance, a Bureau of Mental Hygiene for Non-Institutional Care, and other bureaus found necessary by the State Board. According to Markley, a Bureau of Accounts, first entered in annual reports from 1936 to 1938 as the Bureau of Accounting and Business, was an administrative bureau in the 1938/39 report. The Bureau of Mental Hygiene for Non-Institutional Care was assumed not to have ever been organized, since there was no record of it in the annual reports. The Bureau of Family Welfare and Public Assistance from 1936 to 1938 became the Bureau of Public Assistance in the 1938/1939 report. The Bureau of Research and Statistics and the Bureau of War Services were listed as administrative bureaus in the Register in 1943. County Departments of Public Welfare, operating under County Boards who appoint County Directors, administered assistance, family welfare services, and child-care activities including dependent, neglected, handicapped, and delinquent children, and investigated applications for institutions providing care to indigents.

If appointed by a jurisdictional court, the County Department would also serve as a probation officer of the court, having charge of dependent, neglected, delinquent, or otherwise handicapped children and as an agent of the court for making investigations relating to the commitment or discharge of persons from state institutions, both duties under the supervision of the court. The County Director could also provide for the joint service of school attendence and public welfare. (Acts 1935, No. 332, pp. 762-769)

In 1955 the name of the State Department of Public Welfare was changed to the State Department of Pensions and Security. The Department assumed the duties of the Board of Confederate Pension Commissioners in 1959 (Acts 1959, No. 402, p. 1034). In 1973 some of the Department's duties relating to juvenile delinquents were transferred to the Department of Youth Services (Acts 1973, No. 816, p. 1261). The Department also handled Medicaid as part of the Medical Services Administration by Executive Order in 1965 and cooperated with the Department of Public Health by determining and furnishing eligible lists from about 1967. By Executive Order 81 in 1977, Governor George C. Wallace established the Medical Services Administration and transferred the Medical Care Division of the Department to the Administration, now called the Medicaid Agency. (Annual reports, 1967-1968, 1976-1977)

The duties of the State Board of Pensions and Security include: (1) to appoint a Commissioner and determine his salary; (2) in conference with the Commissioner, to determine policies, rules, and regulations governing the Department; (3) to fix minimum standards of service and standards for personnel and to set salary schedules, based upon qualifications, subject to the Merit System wherein applicable; (4) to approve an annual budget; and (5) to receive an annual report from the Commissioner.

As executive and administrative officer, the Commissioner is responsible for all functions of the Department, subject to the authority of the Board. He may allocate and reallocate functions among bureaus and departmental agencies and appoint officers. He will also serve on the Human Resources Board and submit names of recipients of public assistance who are employable, from County Directors, to the Director of Industrial Relations.

The duties of the Department include the following: (1) to administer or supervise all forms of public assistance, including aid to the blind, aged, dependent children, permanently or totally disabled, widows of Confederate veterans, and medical assistance to elderly persons; (2) to exercise powers and duties formerly vested in the Child Welfare Department; (3) to provide services to county and municipal governments, including the organization and supervision of counties; (4) to assist other departments of the state and federal government, when requested, by performing services in conformity with the purposes of the Department; (5) to act as an agent of the federal government in welfare matters; (6) to designate county departments as its agents;

(7) to administer welfare functions hereinafter vested by law; (8) to establishe and enforce reasonable rules and regulations governing the custody, use, and preservation of the records, papers, files, and communications of the state and county departments (Case records are considered confidential; however, county directors will submit, upon request, a list of recipients to the Grand Jury at each session of the Circuit Court.); (9) to cooperate with the State Board of Corrections or with any pardon or parole authority in the state by making necessary investigations relating to families or dependents of persons committed to state penal institutions and to confer with court officials and the Department of Corrections about children whose parents or parent may be inmates of a jail or prison; (10) to seek out minor children who need care and protection and provide aid; (11) to advise with Judges and Probation Officers of the juvenile courts; (12) to visit and inspect state, county, municipal, and other agencies, public or private, who receive, place, or care for dependent or neglected children; (13) to license biennially institutions and agencies which are not under state ownership and control and to revoke such license for cause;

(14) to establish and maintain homes or other agencies for the care of dependent or neglected children or contract for their care, and to receive, care, and investigate in detail the personal history of the child and place such child in family homes or suitable agencies, and supervise such child when placed; (15) to require reports from courts and institutions; (16) to solicit and receive gifts, real estate, et cetera; (17) to administer the food stamp program; (18) to license child-care facilities; (19) to provide protective services for adults with physical or mental impairment who are in need of care and protection because of danger to their health and safety; (20) to operate child support programs, including locating absent parents, establishing paternity, enforcing child support obligations, and related matters; and (21) to participate in the public employment of recipients on assistance programs.

County offices determine eligibility and distribute aid. A Board is appointed by county governing bodies, and in urban counties, jointly with municipal authorities. It files a list of recipients quarterly with the County Judge of Probate.

Other programs included are Social Services for Refugees, Energy Assistance, Disaster Management (with Civil Defense), and the Work Incentive Program (with Industrial Relations). Social Services, such as protective services in cases of abuse, day care, adoption, homemaker services, and counseling, are provided to adults and children.

In 1959, the Department had the following units: Bureaus of Administrative Services, Public Assistance, Field Service, Accounts, Child Welfare, Research and Statistics, and Informational Service.

In 1967, the Bureaus consisted of (1) Administrative Services, which coordinated agency administration and bureau functions of personnel, staff development, and business management; (2) Informational Service, relating to publications, the library, press and public relations, legislation, inter-agency relationships, emergency welfare services, and continuity of welfare services in disasters; (3) Accounts, including budgeting, receipt of funds, expenditures for assistance, administration, and other, bookkeeping and accounting, and financial reporting; (4) Research and Statistics, covering research, statistical reporting and procedures, special studies and reports, administrative formulae, juvenile court statistics, and reporting of child-caring institutions and agencies; (5) Public Assistance, administering old age-pensions, aid to the blind, aid to permanently and totally disabled, aid to dependent children, medical assistance, temporary aid, appeals and fair hearings, location of deserting parents, and Confederate pensions;

(6) Commodity Distribution, concerning direct distribution, the food stamp program, and county supervision; (7) Child Welfare, performing the supervision and interpretation of child welfare services and policies, staff development, licensing of services, foster care, adoptions, and juvenile court consultation; and (8) Field Service, encompassing the supervision of county departments, policy interpretations, county conformity to established practices, and quality control. The Department also had a Legal Services unit responsible to the Commissioner and the Department, and a Confidential Assistant responsible to the Board. The County Departments were related to the Bureaus of Commodity Distribution and Child Welfare. A Deputy Commissioner was added to the organization of the Department by 1970.

In 1973 the Department was divided into three offices: Program Administration, which included special programs and projects, food assistance, assistance payments, adult services, family and children's services, and emergency welfare; Internal Administration, composed of internal auditing, staff development, administrative services, management information, financial management, and field service, which administered the County Departments; and External Administration, comprising legal services and public affairs, involving interagency relations, state and federal legislation, and public information. A Confidential Assistant was responsible to the Board.

In 1977 the organization was grouped into Program Administration, Internal Administration, and External Administration. Program Administration encompassed aid and services to people; Internal Administration coordinated staff development, administrative services, management information (research and statistics), financial management, internal audit, quality control, and field service, which supervised and consulted with the counties on administration and service; and External Administration was constituted by legal services and public affairs, which included legislation, inter-agency relations,public information, and and civil rights monitoring. A Confidential Assistant was responsible to the Board.

By 1982 the Department was organized into three areas: the Commissioner and two Deputy Commissioners. Several bureaus and offices report to each Deputy Commissioner.

Alabama. State Department of Pensions and Security. Commissioner.

Authority: Alabama Government Manual, 1982.

Under the Commissioner are functions of legal counsel, public information, planning and research, and legislative relations.

Alabama. State Department of Pensions and Security. Deputy Commissioner for Administration.

Administrative functions include financial management, data processing, statistics, fraud detection and control, personnel, housing, and office services.

Alabama. State Department of Pensions and Security. Deputy Commissioner for Programs.

The area of Programs entails responsibilities for policies and procedures related to programs, including financial assistance, child support, social services, and food stamps, as well as staff training, quality control, and supervision of and consultation with county offices.