In April 1934 the Wisconsin Emergency Relief Administration (WERA) was established as a department of the Industrial Commission of Wisconsin. It absorbed the Unemployment Relief Department, the Wisconsin Transient Service, the drought relief program, and the work program initiated by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration upon the termination of the Civil Works Administration. The WERA continued to function until December 1935 when, by executive order, it was superseded by the Public Welfare Department. The Wisconsin Public Welfare Department was established on December 7, 1935, as a division of the Industrial Commission, and became an independent state agency on February 19, 1936. Its functions were merged into the new State Department of Public Welfare in 1939. The department was responsible for distributing federal relief funds, coordinating efforts with federal New Deal organizations (such as the WPA), and developing plans to meet the state's welfare needs.
