Series CAP-CPAS, Archives Assistance and welfare (placements)

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Belgium

Holding institution:: PCSW Brussels, Archives and Museum Department

Holding institution (official language):: CPAS de Bruxelles, Service Archives et Musée

Postal address:: Rue Haute 289a / Hoogstraat 298a, 1000 Bruxelles

Phone number:: +32 (0)2 543 60 59

Web address:: http://www.cpasbru.irisnet.be

Email:: archives@cpasbru.irisnet.be

Reference number:: PCSW-Brussels-Assistance et prévoyance (placements)

Title:: Series CAP-CPAS, Archives Assistance and welfare (placements)

Title (official language):: Série CAP-CPAS, Fonds Assistance et prévoyance (placements)

Creator/accumulator:: Openbaar Centrum voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn van Brussel; Centre Public d’Action Sociale de Bruxelles

Date(s):: 1925/2016

Date note:: Material continues to be added to this collection.

Extent:: ca. 70 linear metres

Scope and content:: This fonds is divided into several sub-fonds.

In the sub-fonds Assistance et Placements, we note the following file: no. 16 “Register of placements in the Home Israélite (Wezembeek-Ophem)” (1930-1934); the register concerns three children and mentions their name, first name, date and place of birth, date of entry and exit, residence and remarks.

We also point out the file no. 504 “list of placements of the Jewish hospices in Greater Brussels”. The material is arranged by institution, the lists contain the surname and first name of the concerned individual, place and date of birth, filiation, marital status, address, date of admission, date of recovery, date of exit or decease, residence, pay rates, comments etc.

The sub-fonds Aliénés (“the insane”) is also relevant for our guide. The files in this series are ordered by year and the alphabetically, by name of the concerned individuals. The files vary in size, and consist of correspondence, medical documents containing personal information, an information form on the destitute person, documents from various municipal and CPAS administrations etc. These files, for example, often contain a detailed list of the possessions of the concerned individuals.

Administrative/biographical history:: The public organisation of poor relief dates from the French Revolution. During the French period various laws regulated the supervision of charities by the municipalities. After Belgian independence, local (especially the Gemeentewet of 1836) and to a lesser extent national laws played a role in the organisation of local poor relief, as they had done before. Following the law of 10 March 1925 the burelen van weldadigheid and the commissions of the burgerlijke godshuizen, the forerunners of the later COOs and OCMWs, were replaced by so-called Commissies van Openbare Onderstand / Commissions d’Assistance Publique (COO). It was not only their task to provide assistance to the needy, but also to prevent poverty. Important evolutions include the gradual introduction of a minimum income – from the guaranteed income for the elderly (1969) to the formal recognition for the right to a minimum income (1974). In 1976 the Openbare Centra voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn (OCMW)/Centre Public d’Aide Sociale (CPAS) (Public Centre for Social Welfare) succeeded the COOs. Its responsibilities were expanded; since then they have also included social, medical and psychological assistance. The same law also established the right to social assistance. OCMWs are managed by a social welfare council, of which the members are selected by the municipal council. This council elects a president and bureau. Between municipality and OCMW there is a consultative committee. Following the constitutional reform of 1980, the communities were made responsible for social welfare. In 1993 the organic law regarding the OCMWs became a competence of the communities. The respective communities have since issued decrees regarding the organisation of the CPAS/OCMWs. In French-speaking Belgium, since 2002, CPAS stands for Centre Public d’Action Sociale. The series of sources in the archives of the OCMWs and their predecessors are partly similar to those of municipal archives. We notably find minutes of meetings, annual reports, budgets, accounts and various bookkeeping records, ledgers related to real estate, documents regarding renting and leasing etc. Those looking for information on individuals should consult, notably, the lists of destitute individuals and the later series of individual files and ‘social files’. Furthermore we mention subject files, e.g. regarding the organisation and management of various institutions (hospitals, maternity homes, orphanages, nursing homes). OCMW archives are of great importance for the study of social and socio-economic history in general, and in particular for the study of medicine, health care, certain vulnerable groups within society etc. (P. van den Eeckhout, “De gemeenten en de lokale openbare instellingen”, in P. van den Eeckhout & G. Vanthemsche (ed.), Bronnen voor de studie van het hedendaagse België 19e – 21e eeuw. Tweede herziene en uitgebreide uitgave, Brussel, Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis / Commission Royale d’Histoire, 2009, pp. 31-92.)

Access points: locations:: Brussels; Wezembeek-Ophem

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Children; Health and medical matters; Health and medical matters--Hospitals; Health and medical matters--Mental health; Orphanages; Poverty; Vital records

System of arrangement:: See Scope and Content for the arrangement of different sub-fonds. The boxes are arranged by year and the first and last names of the files therein.

Access, restrictions:: The administrative registers can be consulted freely. Consultation of the individual files of placed persons requires the authorisation of the archivist-curator.

Finding aids:: There are several inventories, see: Inventaire Assistance et placement (Prévoyance) and Inventaire Aliénés.

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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