There were changes in staff. There were also changes in how to deal with people. One idea was that all people should be treated equally. Another idea was that people should be able to get help where they lived. District welfare offices were set up. At first, there were 22. By 1958, there were 52. Everyone would now follow the same rules, fill out the same forms. The welfare officers sent reports from their regions. Newfoundland was moving toward an organized social welfare system.

An organized approach to welfare would be a good thing. But it made new problems, too. As the new system grew, so did the piles of paper, the forms to fill out, and the waiting periods we know so well today. Not everyone was happy with this. The Canadian government also had forms to fill out. It had rules and waiting periods. Many people did not know what they could get, or how to get it. People were not used to two governments. One man wrote the Premier to ask when he could get his pension. He said that he had filled out three forms. Now he was starving, but he had not seen any pension yet.⁷

There were other people who found the new system hard to figure out. Welfare officers had a hard time too. What should they do? What should they not do? Should they find people jobs? This was one thing that was never clear. The story of one welfare officer shows what could happen when there were jobs to be had.

In July, 1961, the welfare officer in Glovertown wrote to the Deputy Minister of Public Welfare.⁸ He had a problem. It had to do with jobs. The Newfoundland Light and Power Company was there. Here is what the welfare officer said:

The job of digging holes and striking the light poles has caused trouble for me and in some cases made quite a few enemies.

Many men showed up looking for work. There were more men than jobs. The Light and Power foreman did not know what to do. He told the men that the welfare officer would handle the hiring. The welfare officer wrote:

...you can imagine the number of office and phone calls I received after the word got around. However, because I was forced into the thing I saw it through and the result was most of the relief recipients in Glovertown are now employed.