The Homemaker Service Program of Family Service Society, New Orleans, 1946-1956
Abstract
Homemaker service is a relatively new area in social welfare programs. It began in three family agencies in the 1920's in Baltimore, Chicago, and Philadelphia, respectively. These agencies at that time employed visiting housekeepers in order to do physical tasks in various households. The next step in the development was somewhat slow, until the depression years, when the Works Project Administration employed housekeeping aides to families needing emergency service. During World War II, recruiting for homemaker service was difficult, because of the many opportunities in industry for women. With the establishment of the National Committee on Homemaker Service in 1939, the program has seen its greatest progress. Presently, homemaker service programs are under a variety of auspices, that is, under both public and private agencies, children’s and family agencies, and in some public and private hospitals. Its service extends both to adults and children, the aged and the ill. The essential goal of the service is to preserve family living, however, its real value has been apparent when casework skills were utilized. This awareness of the service with its emotional and psychological aspects has led to its being called homemaker service rather than domestic or housekeeper service. Although the service has developed in recent years, it still falls short of community needs in some sections of the country. It is the recognition of this fact which lends validation to a study of this type, which shows how one community developed its homemaker service program.
Subject Area
Public administration|Individual & family studies|Social work
Recommended Citation
Miller, Joyce Marie, "The Homemaker Service Program of Family Service Society, New Orleans, 1946-1956" (1957). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30509596.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30509596
