Wilbert L. Walker, Deputy Director

H. Branch Warfield, Assistant Director for Social
Services

Pasquale Panaggio, Jr„ Assistant Director for In-
come Maintenance

Frank J. Bien, Staff Assistant to the State Board
Board of Social Services
Chairperson:'Lynll Kapiloff, 1983
Secretary: Robert S. Zetzer, 1981

Dr. Harriet Trader, 1979; Dr. Vera Wentworth,
1979; James R. Martin, Jr., 1981; Janet Rosen,
1981; Jules Berman, 1983; John Days, 1983;
Robert G. Jacobs, 1979.

11 South Street
Baltimore 21202 Telephone: 383-3602

The Social Services Administration was origi-
nally established as the State Department of
Public Welfare by Chapter 99, Acts of 1939, to
supersede the Board of State Aid and Charities
established by Chapter 679, Acts of 1900. By
Chapter 148, Acts of 1967, the General Assem-
bly modernized the law, bringing it into confor-
mance with practice and clarifying the responsi-
bilities of the boards and directors of the State
and local departments. The name of the agency
was changed to the Department of Social
Services by Chapter 702, Acts of 1968. The
Administration adopted its present name by
Chapter 96, Acts of 1970 (Code 1957, Art. 41,
sec. 205F (b)).

The Director of the Social Services Administra-
tion is appointed by the Secretary of Human
Resources and serves at his pleasure. The State
Director is responsible for the organization and
administration of the Social Services Administra-
tion and for the appointment, under the Merit
System Law, of all its personnel (Code 1957, Art.
88A, sec. 2).

The State Board of Social Services is composed
of nine members appointed by the Secretary of
Human Resources with the approval of the Gov-
ernor, one of whom the Secretary designates as
chairperson. All members serve six-year terms, so
arranged that three terms expire on June 30 of ev-
ery second year. The State Board gives advice
and counsel and makes recommendations to the
Secretary of Human Resources and to the State
Director of Social Services.

In Baltimore City, the Mayor appoints nine
citizens to a local social services commission for
staggered six-year terms. The Mayor and the
Commissioner of Health serve as ex office
members. In each county, members of the local
board of social services are appointed by the local
governing authority. Each of these boards
consists of nine members. One of these members
must be a member of the local governing body,
designated on July I of each year to serve as the
ex officio member of the local social services
board. Members of the local social services
boards are appointed for three-year terms, and no
appointee may serve for more than two consecu-
tive terms (Code 1957, Art. 88A, sees. 1, 2, 4, 14,
14A).

The Social Services Administration is the cen-
tral coordinating and directing agency of all so-
cial service and public assistance activities in the
State, including Aid to Families with Dependent
Children, General Public Assistance, and Food
Stamps. It has responsibility for the certification
of low income families for Medical Assistance. In
agreement with the U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture, the Social Services Administration
administers the food stamp program, which is
available in all political subdivisions of the State
whose governing bodies have agreed to provide
certain administrative costs (Code 1957, Art.
88A, sec. 3).

In Baltimore City and in each county there is a
local department of social services whose director
administers these social service and public assis-
tance activities within the respective locality sub-
ject to the supervision, direction, and control of
the State Administration. These activities include:
foster care services; adoption services to the natu-
ral parents, the child, and the adoptive parents so
that in a legally responsible way the best interest
of all concerned may be served; licensing of fami-
ly homes giving care for not more than four chil-
dren during part of the day; and protective
services on behalf of families with children who
are suspected of being neglected or abused. Pro-
fessional persons and others concerned with the
welfare of children are required to report suspect-
ed child abuse to their local social services de-
partment or to local law enforcement agencies.
Examples of additional services provided by local
departments of social services are referrals for
family planning, homemaker services that provide
certain in-home services to help maintain and
strengthen family life, services tu single parents,
and referrals to the Work Incentive Program op-
erated by the Employment Security Administra-
tion (Code 1957, Art. 88A, sees. 19-32A; Art. 16,
sees. 67-88; Art. 27, sec. IIA).