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Finding aid for the Special Service for Groups records 0457
0457  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Historical note
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Preferred Citation
  • Scope and Content
  • Conditions Governing Use

  • Title: Special Service for Groups records
    Collection number: 0457
    Contributing Institution: USC Libraries Special Collections
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 0.21 linear ft. 1 box
    Date (inclusive): 1948-1983
    Abstract: This small collection of reports, correspondence, and studies, documents the activities of Special Service for Groups, 1948-1983. Included are documents describing the history of the organization, independent evaluations of the work of the agency's social workers, documentation for an agency study, and various reports and research papers.
    creator: Special Service for Groups, Inc.

    Historical note

    Originally founded in 1945 as the Special Service Unit of the Los Angeles Youth Project, Special Service for Groups was incorporated in March 1952 on the recommendation of the Welfare Planning Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles. Its purpose was to provide direct leadership of professional social workers working with teenage gangs and delinquent youth.
    In 1943, the Los Angeles "Zoot Suit Riots" called attention to the need for more adequate service to youth in the city's growing urban areas. Eleven agencies approached the Welfare Planning Council seeking funds that would allow for the hiring of additional workers to provide more adequate services to these areas, where teenage delinquency was rampant. Out of this initial request grew the Los Angeles Youth Project. Initial priorities were established, including intensified work with "pre-delinquents" and delinquent youth. Early efforts were not entirely successful, and in 1945 a special Delinquency Committee was appointed, with members coming from a wide variety of agencies. The Committee directed its attention to neighborhoods in which agencies were not making progress and in which they saw the greatest need for specialized social workers. The Commitee's first recommendation was the establishment of a Special Service Unit to be set up within the Youth Project. Its primary function would be the development of a group work program for gangs and delinquent youth, and to consult with agencies in the development of these programs. By 1952, it was recognized that the Unit had demonstrated its effectiveness and thus should become a separate agency. The name was changed to Special Service for Groups, and a board of Directors elected.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Advance notice required for access.

    Preferred Citation

    [Box/folder# or item name], Special Service for Groups records, Collection no. 0457, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

    Scope and Content

    This small collection of reports, correspondence, and studies, documents the activities of Special Service for Groups, 1948-1983. Included are documents describing the history of the organization, independent evaluations of the work of the agency's social workers, documentation for an agency study, and various reports and research papers.

    Conditions Governing Use

    The use of archival materials for on-site research does not constitute permission from the California Social Welfare Archives to publish them. Copyright has not been assigned to the California Social Welfare Archives, and the researcher is instructed to obtain permission from the copyright holder to quote from or publish manuscripts in the CSWA's collections.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Special Service for Groups, Inc. -- Archives
    Correspondence
    Los Angeles (Calif.)--Social conditions--Archival resources
    Minutes
    Reports
    Social work with juvenile delinquents--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources