Aid to Families with Dependent Children: The Basic Service

Abstract

The Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, which began in 1935 with the passage of the Social Security Act, has steadily increased in number of families and children served, reaching nearly a million families, in cluding over three million children, at the beginning of 1964. This program was aimed primarily at the problem of children left dependent by reason of death, incapacity, or continued absence from home of the parent who usually provided the family's means of support. The whole purpose of the program is not served by mere provision of financial aid to families who meet the requirements of eligibility, however. There has always been a concern that receipt of this form of aid have a constructive effect upon the lives of the families and children who are recipients of it. The 1962 amendments to the Social Security Act ushered in a new era of federal leadership and financial contribution to increase the emphasis upon social services to the families receiving this form of public aid. In a very real sense, the AFDC program is becoming the corner- stone of a multifaceted public family and child welfare program of aid and social services that is reaching into every locality of the nation and its territories.