The Family Service Records document the evolution of a local social service agency from its founding in 1910 through 1994. Particularly well covered are Family Service programs and policies as well as the organization's changing mission and service philosophy. There is also a good deal of information on the interactions between Family Service and other Madison and Dane County relief and social service agencies. Less prominent is information about individual clients. There are select case studies of individuals and families in the meeting minutes and annual reports, especially through the World War II era, but the collection contains no distinct case files, client correspondence or other significant materials that would document client services over time. There is also little information on the interaction between Family Service of Dane County and its national organization, Family Service Association of America.
The Family Service Records are arranged in three series: GENERAL MATERIAL, BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEE MATERIAL, and PRESIDENT'S SUBJECT FILES.
The GENERAL MATERIAL includes annual reports and brochures, clippings, photographs, a client register, and various internal reports and policy manuals. While the run of annual reports is not complete, it does span the duration of the collection and provides good documentation on the organization's programs and mission. Most of the brochures date from the 1980s and 1990s; they document public relations efforts as well as specific Family Service programs. The scrapbooks and newspaper clippings also contain scattered information on agency programs and events, especially for the 1940s through 1960s. The USO/Travelers Aid scrapbook is broader in scope than the others. It provides general information on local aid efforts during World War II as well as material on the role of Family Service in continuing those efforts after the war. The photographs provide limited visual documentation of the organization: most are snapshots of staff members from the mid-1960s. Comprehensive information on internal operations, especially during the late 1970s and 1980s, can be found in the policy and procedure manuals. Included are articles of incorporation as well as policies governing client intake, referral, confidentiality, fees, and personnel and financial matters.
The client register is a unique document in the collection. It dates from the mid-to-late 1920s and lists individual cases (by last name) with brief histories and action notes. This single volume does not provide substantial documentation on agency clients, but it is the only document in the collection that contains a working list of clients rather than case studies selected for discussion or presentation at meetings. Who recorded the information and under what circumstances is unclear. About half the pages were covered with glued-on cash receipt records for the Service Shop for the years 1929-1931.
Another document of note is the 1948 Homemaker Service report. This study, produced by social work students at the University of Wisconsin, documents the need for housekeeping services in Madison. Included are summaries of interviews with hospital social workers, private physicians, clergy, personnel officers of large Madison businesses like Ray-o-vac, and school officials about the housekeeping needs of temporarily incapacitated adults and the elderly. This report helped spur Family Service to establish a homemaker service for the city in 1949. (Much additional information on the Homemaker Service can be found in the meeting minutes discussed below.)
The BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEE MATERIAL is the most significant and substantial documentation in the collection. There is a nearly complete run of meeting minutes from 1910 to 1994. These are arranged chronologically and include minutes of the Associated Charities Council, the Board of Directors, Annual meetings, and various committees including the Executive Committee. Many of the board minutes include policy documents, financial statements, case volume reports, and other materials that were presented to and discussed by the board. Thus, the meeting minutes provide substantial documentation on Family Service policies and operations. For the period before 1985, the meeting minutes provide the most complete documentation in the collection on Family Service and its relationship to other Madison social service agencies including the Community Chest and United Way. For the David Fraser era (1985-1994), the President's Subject Files described below provide additional information that complements the meeting minutes for this time period.
The minutes themselves are richest for the pre-World War II era. Many of the early council and board meetings included discussions of individual clients. Often these clients are not fully identified by name, but background information and discussions of relief options are included. Board members were particularly concerned with services to Madison's Italian community in the 1910s and 1920s, and the minutes include both general discussions of the “Italian situation” and specific information on the Neighborhood House community center. Specific services to African Americans are also periodically recorded. In addition, minutes from this time period include information on the agency's day nurseries, Service Shop, and other programs. Of particular note are minutes from the Camp Committee, 1925-1926, documenting the founding of the Kiddie Camp, a summer camp for children exposed to tuberculosis. Minutes from the early 1930s reflect how the agency dealt with the effects of the Great Depression. All the various name and mission changes, program incorporations, and mergers of the time period are also documented in the minutes.
Beginning in the 1940s, the meeting minutes become less detailed. Often, information on cases or service volume is summarized quantitatively and appended to the minutes. Board discussions are reported more succinctly than before, and there are fewer details about individual clients. However, Family Service programs are still well-documented, especially the Homemaker Service established in 1949.
The minutes are less useful for the 1960s, as they focus mainly on internal operations, with few details about community needs or services. For the 1970s through 1994, the minutes again include more substantial documentation on Family Service programs and the local social service milieu. There is little information on individual clients for these years. Instead, policy documents, financial reports, action plans, and other materials presented to the Board are prevalent in the files. There is also documentation on the changing nature of Family Service counseling programs including the adoption of group counseling and psychiatric outpatient services. Information on major program initiatives in areas such as financial counseling, domestic abuse, and troubled teens is also included. However, more detailed program information for the 1980s and 1990s can be found in the President's Subject Files.
In addition to meeting minutes, the series includes correspondence, lists of Board and committee members, and a summary of board policies, 1960-1977. Most of the correspondence is spotty, chiefly concerning personnel and financial matters. However, the two books of credentials, 1928-1931, contain incoming and outgoing letters concerning the recruitment and service of board members. At that time, most members were representatives from different private and public service agencies in Madison so the books document the official connections between a wide range of city welfare workers. For general lists of board and committee members, see the lists of members files, 1929-1994.
The alphabetically-arranged PRESIDENT'S SUBJECT FILES are mainly the files maintained by David Fraser, president of Family Service from 1985 to 1994. There is some pre-1985 material relating to programs begun and policies instituted during the tenure of Francis Redding (1966-1985), but the bulk of series covers the late 1980s and early 1990s. Included are program and policy documents, correspondence, handwritten notes, financial reports, clippings, and surveys. There is little information on individual clients.
Of particular note is the material on three program areas: financial and domestic abuse counseling and children's services. Three different program files contain information on financial counseling: Consumer Credit Consortium of Dane County, Consumer Credit Counseling Service, and Financial Counseling. For domestic abuse counseling, Family Service maintained several overlapping programs geared to victims or batterers: Alternatives to Aggression (ATA), adult and child divisions of the Program to Prevent Woman Abuse (PPWA), and Children of Violent Homes (CVH). Information on all these programs is filed as Program to Prevent Woman Abuse (PPWA). Children's programs that are well-documented in the subject files include: Families and Schools Together (FAST), Families in Transition (FIT), and Safe at Home. All of these files contain information on services, administration, personnel, funding, and public relations. Additional program information can be found in the United Way Uniform Application Budget files. Each year, Family Service provided summary information on each program in these funding applications.
While the above subject files document Family Service programs, many files relate more directly to David Fraser's leadership. Files on the Board of Directors, Evaluation Committee, Executive Committee, External Relations Committee, and Space Committee all contain material relating to his personal attendance at meetings and involvement in particular board and committee issues. Of particular note is material on advertising campaigns in the External Relations Committee file and in the Fundraising files. In addition, the agency's strategic planning process is documented in the Planning files. Fraser also represented Family Service in various social service organizations including two that are well-documented in the collection: the Children, Youth and Families Consortium and the Four Agency Cooperative Effort (FACE). These files contain minutes, correspondence, and program documents. The remaining files are less substantial, but they do include additional information on Fraser's presidency and the agency's interactions with other social service organizations.
