The collection consists of records dating from 1948, but primarily from 1967-1973. The records are divided into four series: COMMUNITY WELFARE COUNCIL, DANE COUNTY SOCIAL PLANNING AGENCY, ADDITIONAL DCSPA RECORDS, and SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES REFERENCE FILE.

The COMMUNITY WELFARE COUNCIL (CWC) series includes the following subseries: Organization and History, Board of Directors, Correspondence, Budget, Annual Meetings, Membership, Personnel, Committees, Studies, and the CWC-sponsored Madison Youth Council.

The CWC was financially supported by the United Community Chest (UCC), and the budget records therefore document UCC funding of CWC activities. The UCC divided the budget responsibilities concerning the CWC into four “Panels.” Each Panel had budgetary authority over certain CWC programs, which are enumerated in the contents list below.

The Committees file comprises the bulk of the CWC material. The records are arranged in alphabetical order by committee names. This file consists largely of minutes of committee meetings, but occasional correspondence and resource material for issues under committee consideration are included as well.

The Studies segment includes the final reports, and in some cases, the background and raw data for studies on social services in Madison (1954-1962) conducted by the CWC.

The Madison Youth Council was sponsored by the CWC, and a notebook including correspondence, minutes, and membership lists of the Council is filed here.

The DANE COUNTY SOCIAL PLANNING AGENCY (DCSPA) series includes the following subseries: Organization, Annual Work Plan, Board of Directors, Correspondence, Budget, Reports, Personnel, Committees, Divisions, Projects, Studies, and Local Agencies Working with the DCSPA.

Most valuable among the financial records are budgets, audits, project contracts, and a general ledger of disbursements, receipts, and payroll records.

The Personnel segment contains staff resumes, resumes from job applicants, and records of University of Wisconsin student work-study employees.

Committee files of the DCSPA are arranged alphabetically by committee title and contain the same types of information found in the CWC committee files. The DCSPA committees are not documented as fully as the CWC committees.

The Divisions file of the DCSPA records consist of the correspondence and project reports of the Institute for Simulation Analysis (ISA) and the Voluntary Action Center. These two services operated under the policies and management of the DCSPA as established by its board of directors. Their planning and operating functions, however, were separate from DCSPA. The Voluntary Action Center carried out the traditional services of a volunteer bureau - promoting individual interest in volunteer opportunities, encouraging agencies to use volunteers, and matching volunteers to volunteer station. By 1972 the Center had recruited 354 volunteers to their choice of 75 Dane County agencies. It also directed a Volunteers in Probation program which consisted of training volunteers to work with juvenile and adult parolees. The ISA provided models of real life situations as tools for use in training and decision making. Under this program, a simulated situation allows for experimentation with alternative strategies without the consequences of actual events. ISA was created principally for the purpose of meeting requests from the public, private, academic, and service planning sectors. A primary interest of these sectors had been for research and design of simulation plans for the use of citizen participation in the following areas: policy formation, program design, and facilities development. Communities and agencies that received ISA, design proposals can be found in the contents list below.

The Studies file consists of DCSPA reports on welfare programs and social service agencies in Dane County and other areas of Wisconsin. The Local Agencies Working with DCSPA Section contains the records of service organizations with which DCSPA had a working relationship. The strength of these relationships varied from service to service. A complete listing of these agencies is located in the contents list below.

The ADDITIONAL DCSPA RECORDS were received in the Archives in 1978. They date from 1969 to 1974 and include financial records and records of projects.

The SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES REFERENCE FILE was collected by DCSPA and is made up of records from various agencies involved in social work. This series has been divided into three geographical areas: local, Wisconsin, and national. Each of these areas has been further subdivided into private agencies and public agencies.