New York (State) Dept. of Social Services.

The Department of Charities was established by the Laws of 1926 (Chapter 651), following the constitutional reorganization of State government. The administrative head of the department was the State Board of Charities, originally established in 1867. The department implemented the public-assistance policies and programs of the Board of Charities and assumed administrative control of institutions for dependents from the local boards of managers. Duties of the commissioner of education relating to Native American Affairs (except the education of children on reservations) were transferred to the Department of Charities. The State Commission for the Blind, originally established in 1913, became a bureau in the new department.

In 1929 (Chapter 654), the department was renamed the Department of Social Welfare, while its administrative head was renamed the Board of Social Welfare. This law and a series of public welfare laws that year reflected the importance of a new State emphasis on home relief rather than institutionalization as the fundamental basis of public welfare administration, superseding the antiquated "poor laws".

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