This collection comprises three groups of records that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services has generated during its history. Two of these groups come from agencies within the DPSS: the Bureau of Social Services and the Staff Development Division. The former consists solely of a run of administrative memorandums, while the latter group constitutes material--e.g., reports and training program--created and received during the course of this agency's activities. Thus it is much larger in volume and contains more types of material than the does BSS. In the third group have been gathered materials that the DPSS; its predecessor agency, the Department of Charities; and the Public Social Services Commission have created. The Department of Public Social Services is central here, with the others closely connected to it. In 1966 the Department of Charities underwent a name change and eventually became the Department of Public Social Services; in 1967 the Public Social Services Commission was established, with formalized authority, to act as an advisory and research body to the DPSS. Thus, these LA County governmental organizations have a symbiotic relationship, with the DPPS the central organization.This collection's material is all textual, overwhelmingly bureaucratic in nature. Within the holdings of the DPSS exist many reports or studies privately published and bound by the DPSS. Many of these are statistical reports on DPSS programs, making them a resource for investigating the types and quantity of work for which the DPSS has been responsible over the years. Of special interest is an undated compilation of poverty data--e.g., family size, ethnicity--by census tract in Los Angeles (See box 15, folder 1 ). Also, found in this collection are correspondence, departmental handbooks, and studies of critical social issues, e.g., child abuse.The Staff Development Division series contains memorandums, quarterly and monthly reports, research reports, correspondence, lettergrams, and committee agendas and minutes. There also exist forms, schedules, course plans and outlines, proposals, and tests for the SDD training programs. Of special interest are the training materials devoted to affirmative action and equal opportunity employment. Staff Development Division records also include personnel grievances and evaluations, which have been restricted because of their personal nature. The chronological span of the DPSS series, including the Public Service Commission, is 1948-1999, with much material dating from the decade of the 1970s. The Staff Development Division encompasses material dating from 1971-1981, and the Bureau of Social Services holds material from 1974-1981. Thus, this collection is especially strong in documenting the history of the DPSS in the decade of the 1970s into the early 1980s. As a result, it covers such important changes in national, state, and local welfare as the implementation of Title XX and the development of such work programs as GAIN.