Caring for Specific Populations (3)

Toward the latter part of the 19th century,
several states developed centralized agencies to oversee the activities of charitable institutions. State charity agencies sought better quality of
care for institutional inmates, as well as greater efficiency and economy in providing relief to the poor. With the federal government assuming only limited responsibility for selected groups
(veterans, for example), state agencies became the primary public resource for addressing the problems of the poor and debilitated (Day, 2005).