Illinois. Dept. of Public Welfare.

The Civil Administrative Code of 1917 consolidated the oversight of all state charitable and correctional institutions in the Department of Public Welfare. This new department gained the powers and duties formerly exercised by the Board of Administration, State Deportation Agent, State Agent for the Visitation of Children, Illinois Penitentiary Commissioners, Southern Illinois Penitentiary Commissioners, Board of Managers of the Illinois State Reformatory, Board of Prison Industries of Illinois, Board of Classification, and the Board of Pardons (L. 1917, p. 2).

These duties included not only the operation of all state charitable and correctional institutions, but the visitation, inspection, and licensing of all institutions providing care or services for children or the mentally ill; the administration of state and federal appropriations for the care of veterans in state institutions; the investigation of complaints against charitable groups that appealed for public aid or received trust funds; the visitation and instruction of the adult blind; the administration of public assistance legislation; the selection of superintendents and administrative staff for county departments of public welfare; the development of programs for the prevention of delinquency; and the gathering and filing of information on all known criminals.

The Department was abolished in 1961; its duties were assigned to the newly created Department of Mental Health.

From the description of Minutes of meetings, July 2, 1917-May 17, 1918. (Illinois State Archive). WorldCat record id: 36433900