I do not think it's the governments job to support social service organizations. (I'm not even sure I'm giving these organizations the right name.) There are a lot of social workers in my life that are very dear to me. I think their jobs are very important. I don't think their jobs should be government funded.
For example, here is a recent facebook post I came across: "Overruled! The SC legislature – both Republicans and Democrats – voted overwhelmingly to restore the funds that Gov. Haley axed for domestic violence and sexual assault prevention in South Carolina." Now, I think her calling battered women a distraction was probably not necessary, correct or frankly nice. But it doesn't change my opinion that supporting these programs is not the governments job. Another post I came across awhile ago was about how an organization fighting a specific disease lost it's government funding. Again, not the governments job to support that. Especially when they can't balance the budget to begin with, and the national debt keeps climbing.
Stealing the words from my father's mouth, "It is our duty as human beings to take care of one another." I think we as individuals have an individual responsibility to support the causes and organizations that we find worthy of our time, energy and money. I'm not willing to abdicate that responsibility to a politician that I may or may not have voted for. And yes, I could (and do) make tax deductible donations to those organizations that I care about, and then I know my money is going where I want it to. But that's my personal belief that we should all chip in. If you want to keep your money for yourself, no one else has the right to take it from you and say, "You have to help too!" Additionally, if non-profits only got their funding from direct donations instead of the government, they'd get more of it. After all, we have to pay the government workers that decide who gets the funding, and distribute it, so some of your tax dollars will go there instead. And yes, that means there would be fewer government jobs. But I also don't think it's the governments job to create jobs.
So as I've been fuming over this, more questions occur to me. "If I don't think that's the governments job, what do I think the governments job is?" One of the first thoughts that came to my mind was to set up a system that keeps the peace, and protects individuals rights. In other words, make laws and enforce them. Another was, "I should get out my pocket version of 'The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States'." And after checking that, it turns out my first though was not too far from what our forefathers had in mind. From The Declaration of Independence: "all men...are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,...to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men..." (As I re-read some of the words I have not quoted here, and get more and more angry, I think to myself, "Crap! This is gonna get me on some list." So I better stop before I go too far. But I'm sure you know where I want to go with that. If not, look up the document and read it for yourself.) Then I started thinking about things that we all use, like roads. But you know what, this question is more of an aside. I think the most important job of government is what I just stated above. Should it be responsible for other things like roads, etc. Maybe, but that's for another discussion. This post is about social services. I've already wandered too far off topic.
So, back to my money and what the government does with it. Another thought that occurred to me is whether or not I've participated in "projects" that are government funded. I probably have. And as I said above, I've taken tax deductions for charitable contributions. Why am I participating in a system I don't support? Because as long as they are going to take my money, I'm going to get as much of it back as I can!
One more thought occurred to me. I would hate for the abused and battered to not have the support they need. Often abuse ruins the rest of a person's life, as they become the abuser, and the cycle goes on. So how can we help make sure these programs get the funding they need? Garnish the wages of known abusers for the rest of their lives. She doesn't want to press charges, because she's afraid of the consequences? Run it like a murder case where state presses charges because the deceased can't. Then his money pays for the program that will help her get out of the situation. Obviously in these cases you would need another witness, since if the abused won't press charges, she also probably also won't testify. (*Disclaimer* I realize the abusers are not always men, and the abused aren't always women. I picked pronouns that were easy to understand. Feel free to switch them out for whatever the situation may be.)