During the mid-20th century the growth to help the mental illness increased. The social welfare system expanded to provide better service to the mentally ill, children and the poor. The National Mental Health Act of 1946 created a Mental Hygiene Division within the U.S. Public Health Service and a center for information and research which later became the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) to assist in the development of state and community health service; to study the causes, prevention and treatment of mental illness and support training of psychiatrists,