Agencies  /  Jewish Family Service

Overview

Jewish Family Services of Western New York grew out of a number of different organizations but it traces its beginnings back to July 15, 1863 and the formation of the Hebrew Union Benevolent Society that gave aid to the sick and needy. From that begining it evolved into an organization which provides medical and counseling services, job guidance, and a range of child related services, functions that are familiar to its current work.

In the organization’s second form in 1903, it was absorbed into Federated Jewish Charities that had both a fundraising and planning role alongside a relief wing to aid with medical and employment needs. One of the first coordinated actions was to survey dental hygiene in Jewish school children in 1911 and provide free dental services made available by volunteer professionals. By 1917, the Federated Jewish Charities hired a medical professional to augment the other health services provided by volunteers.

In 1914, a special committee of the Federated Jewish Charities on unemployment brought together a group of volunteer businessmen and professionals who could offer employment directly or secure placements through their contacts. Renamed as the Jewish Federation for Social Service in 1919, “relief” or service to individuals and families became a separate autonomous division led by Cecil Wiener. From 1919, the Jewish Federation for Social Service ran an increasing range of medical and counseling clinics for children and adults. For children, a Nutrition Clinic was established in 1921, a visiting nurse service the year after, and a Roof Garden Clinic for under-nourished children opened in 1925. A child case worker was also engaged. In late 1927, rather than use paid or volunteer professional services in community settings, the Jewish Federation for Social Service opened its own dental clinic and a pre-natal clinic in 1929. In 1930, the function of relief became its own organization: The Jewish Welfare Society that freed the Federation for Social Services of its social service responsibility so that it could expand on its fundraising, coordinating and planning. The Jewish Welfare Society was able to hire its first professional social worker. This coincided with the loss of Cecil Wiener on her appointment as Judge of the Children’s Court, although she returned to lead the agency once more in 1938.

Opening a Salvage Shop in 1930, the Society was able to offer a work training center for clients that eventually led to the creation of an expanded vocational service department. In the postwar era, Arthur S. Rosichan, the organization’s first professional executive director, changed the name of the agency to Jewish Community Service Society (JCSS), instituting a change in thinking about the organization as a service organization. Service to the Jewish community was to be offered without regard to economic status, with fee charging for counseling. Medical and dental clinics were closed.