Legal Definitions - HEW

HEW stands for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. This was a cabinet-level department of the U.S. federal government established in 1953.

HEW was responsible for administering a wide range of federal programs related to public health, education, and social welfare. In 1979, when the Department of Education was created as a separate entity, the remaining functions of HEW were reorganized and renamed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

• Imagine a historian researching the origins of Medicare and Medicaid. They might come across congressional records or internal government memos from the mid-1960s that refer to the HEW as the primary agency responsible for developing and implementing these landmark healthcare programs.

  This illustrates how the term HEW would appear in historical documents, indicating the federal body overseeing significant social welfare initiatives before its restructuring.

• A policy analyst studying the evolution of federal funding for public schools might review budgets from the 1970s. These documents would show allocations made by the HEW for various educational grants and programs, such as those supporting disadvantaged students or vocational training.

  This demonstrates that HEW was the central federal authority for educational policy and funding during that period, prior to the creation of a dedicated Department of Education.

• Consider an archived newspaper article from the early 1970s reporting on a new federal initiative to combat childhood diseases. The article might quote an official from the HEW discussing the department's plans for nationwide vaccination campaigns or public health awareness programs.

  This shows how the term HEW was used in public discourse and media to refer to the federal agency responsible for major public health efforts before it became HHS.