University of Chicago. School of Social Service Administration.

The Work Incentive Program (WIN) was established by the U.S. Department of Labor in 1967-1968. WIN was designed to increase employability and employment among those receiving welfare under Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). It required states to offer job training and job-seeking assistance. A voluntary program until 1971, incentives for participation ranged from exemptions in calculating AFDC need to actual incentive payments. WIN programs were federally funded and locally administered by employment services and social services.

As a research institution and public service provider, the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration (SSA) was involved with local administration of the WIN program. Working closely with the University of Michigan's School of Social Work and Case Western University's School of Applied Social Science, SSA produced a number of reports on the program's administration and its efficacy on the ground.

The WIN Program met with widespread criticism and was generally recognized as having failed to accomplish its intended goals. By the early 1970s it was clear that many enrollees were not finding jobs. Amendments to the Social Security Act in 1971, 1980, 1982, and 1984 attempted to improve program administration. By 1990 it had been phased out by a new program, Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS).

The Graduate School of Social Service Administration was founded in 1920, continuing the work of the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy under the auspices of the University of Chicago. As one of the university's professional schools, SSA offers master's and doctoral degrees preparing students for leadership in fields of social work.

Having originated in the settlement movement, SSA stressed public welfare and social insurance in its curriculum. By the 1960s SSA had become a model for innovative social work education with a national influence on social policy. The bulk of the photographs in this collection were taken during the dynamic tenures of Deans Alton Linford (1956-1969) and Harold Richman (1969-1978). This period saw increased enrollment, involvement in national social initiatives, and the construction of a new building designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration prepares students for leadership in fields of social work. As one of the university's professional schools, SSA offers graduate-level coursework leading to master's and doctoral degrees.

The Graduate School of Social Service Administration was founded in 1920 when the trustees of the University accepted a proposal to carry on as a graduate professional school the work of the financially troubled Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, combining with it the Philanthropic division of the University's School of Commerce and Administration.

A major grant from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial in 1926 guaranteed the school's financial security and enabled it to expand its work, beginning with the publication of a journal, Social Service Review, edited by Breckinridge, Edith Abbott, and Grace Abbott, as well as a source book series and a monograph series.

Having originated in the settlement movement, SSA especially stressed public welfare and social insurance in its curriculum. During the depression its program grew, matching the expansion of public relief services. For example, in 1934-35 a special program of downstate classes was organized in cooperation with the Illinois Emergency Relief Administration.

The administration and faculty of SSA initially resisted the trend in social work toward an emphasis on a psychiatric model in casework. Not until the arrival of Charlotte Towle in 1932 was there a faculty member expert in mainstream developments in casework theory and practice. The Curriculum Committee's Subcommittee on Social Case Work took up the development of a so-called "generic casework" curriculum.

Even as its philosophic orientation gradually changed, SSA maintained conscious continuity with the intellectual heritage of Breckinridge and the Abbotts. Nowhere is this reflected more clearly than in the choices of deans for the school. Edith Abbott's successor upon her retirement as dean in 1942 was Helen R. Wright, who had studied in the School of Civics and Philanthropy, worked as Grace Abbott's research assistant, completed her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago in 1922, and joined the SSA faculty in 1928. Wright served as dean until 1956, when she was succeeded by Alton A. Linford, one of Edith Abbott's students, who had received his A.M. from SSA in 1938 and his Ph.D. in 1945, joining the faculty the same year.