What did the Administrative Reform of 1999 Change? On the periodization of social assistance system development 1990–2020

The aim of this paper is to propose a periodization of the Polish assistance system in the Third Polish Republic. Focusing on the organizational structure, the development of the welfare assistance system in the last thirty years has been described. Based on this, two stages of social assistance development are described. Stage 1 (1990–1999), was characterized by the organization of welfare assistance system in the form of a poorly developed vertical system. Stage 2 (1999–2020), is characterized by the organization of the assistance system in the form of an extensive horizontal system.