SOCIAL ASSISTANCE: FROM CARE TO SOCIAL SERVICES

The article is about the genesis and evolution of social services in Poland. The authors presented the Polish way of building social services in Poland until 1939, as well as the way of functioning of social services in the People’s Republic of Poland and during the years 1990–2015. The last chapter of the article is focused on the reforms of social services in Poland after 2015. In the conclusion of the article, the authors state that history of social services in Poland shows the never ending efforts of meeting new social needs, as well as growing complexity and internal diversity of organizational structures of social services that require integration and coordination.