本研究以身心障礙福利為例探討1999年「地方制度法」通過施行後，社會福利歸屬地方自治事項，繼而2001年中央統籌稅款與基本社福經費「設算」，自此社福「地方自治」，中央與地方政府詮釋及因應為何；訪談關鍵人物及郵寄問卷調查25縣市社會局局長收集資料。研究發現中央對地方督導力量消減、地方自主性高；中央以「績效考核」地方因應；就地方而言，社福缺穩定財源，且設算不足須自籌，雖有公益彩券盈餘分配款彌補不足，公彩不穩定，社福法定實施項目日益增多；地制法施行影響多寡視地方首長是否重視社福、專業力及財力；一方面地治後，地方可自主規劃財源創新方案，符合社福地方自治滿足地方需求精神，然地方限於財源不足及不穩定，仍期許由中央主導規劃。

In Taiwan, with the 1999 Local Government Act and with the financial distribution from central to local, according to a certain formula, social welfare has become one part of local self-government. Disability welfare as an example, this study aims to explore how the central and the local governments interpret and deal with their new role as the main responsible authority for social welfare, and how this new role affects them. The data adopted included in-depth interviews and mail survey on the head of the Social Bureau of 25 cities and counties. The main findings are: The central government interprets 'local self-government' as decentralizing power, and it adopts the formula system for welfare budget distribution as well as evaluation of the local governments' performance annually as a coping strategy with the changes. For local governments, on the other hand, 'local self-government' means more responsibility on social welfare, more autonomy, as well as more pressure on making their own welfare budget plans. To sum up, local governments have their own independent financial sources and the possibility of developing new programs which suit their local needs.