A little-noticed provision in the nation's new welfare law that will immediately cut Federal money for safety-net services like soup kitchens and child protection programs has set off a struggle by state officials to preserve what they can.

As of Oct. 1, the Government will chop 15 percent, or $420 million, from the $2.8 billion it distributes annually to the states in no-strings-attached money under a program known as the Social Services Block Grant.