Important Historical Events Influencing The Field Of Human Services

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Human Services is a profession that improves and promotes service systems. They seek to improve accessibility and coordination among other agencies. In the following pages we will be looking back throughout history at a few of the man important historical events that influenced the field of Human Services, making it into what it is today. This includes The Social Security Act, The Older Americans Act, Medicare and Medicaid Programs, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind program. These acts and programs helped shape and widened the field of Human Services as well as created jobs. Most of the historical events that shaped Human Services targeted the minority populations, such as elderly, women, children, …show more content…

With the influence of European systems, America created several different programs to help out the unemployed, injured workers, elderly, and minority populations. The state old age pension was the most active form of welfare before Social Security Act began. Over 30 states formed old age pension programs to help out the elderly, but they were inadequate and ineffective. Only about 3 percent of elderly were receiving benefits of .65 cents a day. Then the Great Depression hit in 1929. It affected everyone, with the elderly being hit the hardest. They were typically the ones that lost their jobs first and were rehired last. During this time it was unheard of for anyone to have a pension plan and retirement plans was unknown among working class Americans. The Great Depression brought on a extreme change in economics causing radical pension movements such as the Townsend plan to be put into place. The Townsend plan promised every American over the age of 60 and older retirement benefits of 200 dollars a month. The average income at this time for an average American was only $100 a month. With many desperate seniors joining efforts to make these schemes, such as the Townsend Plan, national, the government stepped in to develop a realistic old age pension program. The Great Depression was not the reason for the Social Security Act, but it did trigger it. The biggest reason for the development of social insurance was the need for economic security in a modern society. After the Great Depression President Franklin Roosevelt created the “First New Deal” which was for relief and recovering the direct impacts of the Great Depression. The “Second New Deal” was the period of reform to introduce longer lasting changes for the