Title Info: Public Welfare/Social Security Department, Evacuee (Japanese) Referrals for Resettlement and Assistance, 1945-1946

These records show the Basic Family Face Sheet from each file. The records contain ages and birthplaces of family members, education, languages spoken, previous addresses, economic resources, and services provided from assistance case files created for relocated Japanese and Japanese-American evacuees between 1945 and 1946.

During World War II, many Japanese and Japanese-Americans were removed from their homes along the West Coast and interned in government-run camps. Starting in 1945, the War Relocation Authority helped these people return home, while the Social Security Department and county welfare departments provided funds for maintenance and medical care. This special assistance ended as the recipients became self-supporting or qualified for other forms of assistance. First established in 1935, the Department of Public Welfare, later the Department of Social Security, served to provide assistance to Washingtonians in need. The Department administered programs for children, the blind, the elderly, unemployed persons and more general public assistance. In 1953, it was reorganized into the Department of Public Assistance, which was incorporated into the Department of Social and Health Services in 1970.