Guide to the Archives of the City of Seattle

Record Group 3600
Human Services Department

An Office of Human Resources was established in 1971 in the Executive Department to develop, implement, and manage social services for low-income and disadvantaged residents of Seattle. In 1973 it was replaced by the Department of Human Resources. DHR administered family and youth services programs, senior citizen services, community service activities, the Seattle Veterans Action Center, and the Comprehensive Residential Weatherization Program. Federal, state, and local grants comprised two-thirds of the department's operating budget. Passage of the 1986 Low Income Housing Levy increased the City's funding and policy role in housing issues. In 1991, the agency name was changed to the Department of Human Services. A year later, the Department of Housing and Human Services was created, incorporating the City housing programs and Community Development Block Grant administration from the recently abolished Department of Community Development. DHHS programs included aging services, family and youth services, housing and community services, human services, and the City's education office. In 1999, the Office of Housing was established as an independent agency and DHHS was reorganized as the Human Services Department.

3600-01
Department Reorganization Records
1990-1992
0.2 cubic foot

Correspondence, reports, organization charts, mission statements, and proposed models regarding the dissolution of the Department of Community Development and the reorganization of its functions into the Department of Neighborhoods and the Department of Housing and Human Services.

SMA

3600-02
Director's Records
1974-1986
6.6 cubic feet

Correspondence, memoranda, reports, studies, policies, proceducres, and notes of the director of the Department of Human Resources. Subjects covered relate to social service delivery in the areas of aging and senior services, family and youth concerns, low income housing needs, alcoholism, sexual abuse, handicapped services, and verterans' services. The files are primarily from 1978 and 1985.

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Folder List

3618-01
Community Development Block Grant Administration Records
1985-1991
0.8 cubic foot

Correspondence, departmental agreements, final allocation reports, letters of authority, grantee performance reports, and financial records relating to administration of the Community Development Block Grant program. Approximately half of the material concerns the Emergency Shelter Grant Program.

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Folder List

3618-02
Community Development Block Grant Project Records
1981-1991
7.0 cubic feet

Correspondence, reports, program plans and project summaries, financial monitoring records, and letters of authority to expend funds for block grant funded programs. Seattle's block grant programs concentrate in low income neighborhoods and focus on housing rehabilitation; extension of human services such as child care, nutrition, victim advocacy, medical services, and employment and training; and neighborhood improvement through economic development.

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Folder List

3621-01
City Learning Team Records
1986-1989
0.8 cubic foot

Correspondence, evaluations, reports, and statistics regarding a project designed to decrease the ninth grade drop-out rate at Seattle high schools. City employees were recruited to be tutors. The goals of the project were to decrease the drop-out rate by ten percent, raise student grades to 2.0 so they could participate in school activities, and to assist students in earning a minimum of five credits so they could enter tenth grade with their peers.

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Folder List

3621-02
Homeless Children's Network Records
1987-1992
0.8 cubic foot

Correspondence, reports, agreements, and grant proposals for a federally funded project to develop a system for integrating homeless children into community based child care centers. The project provided 3,256 days of child care for homeless children in two community sites in 1990 and in 1991 mobilized a state-wide coalition that successfully lobbied the state Legislature for over one million dollars for homeless child care. The Department contracted with a non-governmental social service agency to continue network services following completion of the federal grant.

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Folder List

3631-01
Seattle Veterans Action Center Records
1971-1978
2.0 cubic feet

Correspondence, memoranda, reports, grant proposals, and informational material relating to the Seattle Veteran's Action Center. Includes materials concerning creation of the Center, projects and programs, amnesty, and discharge upgrading.

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Folder List

3631-02
Seattle Veterans Action Center Correspondence
1974-1979
0.4 cubic foot

Chronological correspondence of the Seattle Veterans Action Center.

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