The relationship of citizen participation to fund raising and social planning in a suburban program of a metropolitan chest and council

109 Pages·05.376 MB·English

by  Semenza, Grace

THE RELATIONSHIP OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION TO FUND RAISING
AND SOCIAL PLANNING IN A SUBURBAN PROGRAM OF A
METROPOLITAN CHEST AND COUNCIL
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Social Work
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Social Work
by
Grace Semenza
June 1950
UMI Number: EP66364
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UMI EP66364
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This thesis, written under the direction of the
candidate's Faculty Committee and approved
by all its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Faculty of the Graduate School
of Social Work in partial fulfilment of the re­
quirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK
Dean
Dfl^.Mar.cii-23^-19.50
Thesis of...............J & ra a a -X o n e -S e ia e n za .
Faculty Committee
Chairman
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I* INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Problem and its significance ............ 1
Purpose and methodology....................... 5
Definitions of terms u s e d . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Method • • • . • • • • • • • • .......... •• 7
Plan of the thesis....................... 9
II. THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE WELFARE
FEDERATION OF LOS ANGELES AREA........... 10
Federation structure .............. • • • • • 11
Campaign organization. • • • • ................ 15
Welfare Council structure. . • • • • • . • • • 16
Interrelationship between Federation and
Council............................... 19
Development of present Federation Department
of Associated Cities • • • • ............. 21
Southwest District Welfare Council and
Inglewood Community Chest. • • • • • • • • • 25
Summary............... 32
III. ANALYSIS OF THE INGLEWOOD COMMUNITY CHEST. . . . . 35
Origin and affiliation with Federation • • • • 35
Goal-setting . . . . . . . . . 38
Structure of the Community Chest.............. *fl
Leadership........................... *+3
ii
ill
CHAPTER PAGE
Administration of campaign • • • • • • • • • .
Relationship to Federation . . ........... . . b5
Staffing for campaign. • .................. ^6
Future planning by community • .............. b6
Summary. W
IV. ANALYSIS OF SOUTHWEST DISTRICT WELFARE COUNCIL . . 51
Origin ....................... 52
Purpose........... 56
Structure................... ...............53
Administration............................ 60
Program planning . . . . . ................... 63
Staff relationship to the Council.......... 6b
Relationship of District Council to the
Welfare Council.......................... 67
Local planning ................. 70
Summary. • • • • • ........... .......... . 71
V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS........................ 7b
Comparison of Chest and Council Organization . . 75
Origin................................... .. 75
Plan of organization..................... .. 76
Use of professional staff.• • • • • • • • • • 73
Time limits........• • • • ........... 79
Recruitment. • • • • • • ........ • • • • • • 80
Nature of programs ......................81
CHAPTER PAGE
Publicity and educational information . • • . 82
Summary ......... • 8k
Conclusions 85
Suggestions for further study • • • • • • • • . 88
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. ............................... 90
APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ 95
Appendix A— Editorial, Inglewood News, April 22,
1939 ......... 97
Appendix B— Copy of a Letter Written by the General
Manager of the Los Angeles Community Welfare
Federation to the Editor of the Inglewood News,
May 1, 1939......................... 100
* 3
.
LIST OF CHARTS AND HAPS
CHART PAGE
I. Welfare Federation of Los Angeles Area.......... l1*
II* Campaign Committee— Community Chest of Los Angeles
Area, 19^9-50 Campaign • .................... 17
III. Community Chest of Los Angeles Area.............. 2b
IV. Department of Associated Cities........... • . . b2
V. Staff Organization Chart— Community Chest of
Los Angeles Area, Department of Associated
Cities, 19^*9-50 Campaign . * • • • • • • • « • • by
v
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
I. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
Community chest and councils, after thirty years of
existence, are facing problems of organization and adminis­
tration in large metropolitan areas for which no specific
formula has been found and which require experimentation and
examination of organizational methods • This study will
examine one metropolitan city's experiment in establishing
fund-raising and social-planning programs in a suburban area*
The rapid and tremendous shifts in population to areas
surrounding cities with war industries has swelled the popu­
lation in some localities and has created new communities
which are just beginning to feel the need for social services.
These metropolitan areas have found their institutions and
agencies inadequate to meet the needs for services. Addi­
tional financing is needed for expansion of services* Com­
munity mindedness is basic to support of social services*
Such civic responsibility has had to grow in the new popula­
tion before interest could be created in providing services
and supporting them* To cut costs of many campaigns and
because oftentimes services were shared, community chests
and councils of communities contiguous to large cities have
joined in total area fund raising and planning, thus creating
1
2
large central structures. By such large-scale centralization,
local community responsibility and participation, became diffi­
cult to maintain.
Community chests and councils know the value of lay
participation in maintaining their programs. To meet the
problem of maintenance of citizen interest and participation,
chests and councils in large metropolitan areas have experi­
mented with various types of decentralized programs• There
is no one pattern of structure or method used by all the large
metropolitan chests or councils. In an article in the March
issue of Community on the Community Chests and Councils Mid­
west Conference in February 19**9> Alice Hay reported that
the following organizational structures were discussed:
. . . the federation of independent Chest and
Councils, as in Washington. • . . ; the central
corporate entity with subsidiary branches in
suburban areas, as in Detroit; the central cor­
porate entity without special subsidiary branches,
as in Columbus and Grand Rapids; the central cor­
porate entity, which through staff service, estab­
lishes liaison with independent community councils
in suburban areas, as in Chicago.1
The Los Angeles area has experienced a large growth
in population. Since the founding of the Welfare Federation
of Los Angeles Area in 192b the population has more than
1 Alice Ray, "Midwest Brass Tacks,« Community.
(March, 19^9), 126.
2
Henceforth in this thesis, the Welfare Federation
of Los Angeles Area will be referred to as "the Federation.M
3
doubled* The inclusion of more than seventy communities
within the Federation covering an area of 770 square miles
presents a problem that is individual to Los Angeles* The
growth of Los Angeles due to employment in war industries
created new communities and expanded existing communities*
To provide for the financing, of established social services
and the planning and establishment of others to meet the needs
of Greater Los Angeles, the Federation has tried various means
to develop links, from, the central organization to the member
communities* Some of the difficulties in securing active
citizen participation in social planning and fund raising
might be traced to the heavy concentration of new residents
who must experience a growth of awareness of community respon­
sibility and to a strong feeling of community entity and civic
mindedness in soie of the other contiguous communities* Time
is required for such aggregations of people to take form as
self-conscious communities.
The decentralization of an area-wide planning and
financing program presents a problem of the establishment of
a balance between local planning and co-ordinated planning
for the total aggregate of communities within the Federation*
The transition from a highly centralized program to a decen­
tralized program includes delegation of responsibility and
authority to local units of organization* The effectiveness
of such a decentralized program is dependent upon the local