Public Welfare in New York State State Residence as a Requirement for Public Assistance

This study deals with the public welfare provisions for assisting the needy nonresident person in New York State, a state which in 1960 does not require a person to live within its borders for a specified period of time as a condition of eligibility to receive public aid. The writer has surveyed the developments of the past, examined the policies of the present, and considered the probabilities for the future in relation to residence as a requirement for public assistance. But what is residence? This then is a timely study, because in 1960 all persons interested in public welfare are concerned, directly or indirectly, with the significance of residence restrictions and their effect upon human beings. Background of the Study. In American heritage the responsibility for the care of the needy has passed back and forth between public and private organizations, sometimes both sharing the obligation. Public welfare is one of the oldest government services in the United States. Local government responsibility for its own poor was established in New York as early as 1665, more than 100 years before New York became a state. Since that time, as the country grew and developed many states have enacted or have retained legislation requiring periods of residence in their locality before a person may be eligible to receive public assistance