ABSTRACT
Social and health services provided by federal, state, and local governments are designed to provide benefits and programs such as education; food safety and nutrition support; health care; subsidized housing; and other programs for improving the health, life, and living conditions of the nation’s children, disabled, disadvantaged, elderly, and poor. All of these programs are mirrored to some degree in state and local governments, where the services are actually delivered. For the first time since 1983, however, in 2008 and 2009 state and local governments were spending less on social welfare (adjusted for inflation and need). This drop was largely due to a steep decline in federal grants to states and local governments, which occurred mostly because of changes in the Medicaid program (Gais and Dadayan 2008). How, when, why, and by whom these services are delivered to the public and the nature of the services themselves are targets for case research.
