A Brief Note On The Welfare Reform System

The United States has many welfare programs, such a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) that provide social welfare payments to those in need. Often, these benefits are abused by drug users those who lack the ability or motivation to find employment and become self-sufficient. As a result, several states have attempted to implement drug testing as a requirement to receive benefits. Proponents of drug testing believe that incorporating drug testing into the welfare systems allows the government to provide those with drug addictions the needed treatment and suspend the benefits from those who continue to use drugs and test positive after treatment. They also claim that in the long

Drug problems costs the US billions of dollars every year from disease, crime, accidents, child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, and lost wages that causes deaths and other serious economic and social consequences (Hunter). The crimes include stealing, drug trafficking, murder, robbery, domestic violence, breaking and entering, child abuse and neglect, and assault. Health care problems, such as overdoses, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculosis, are often results of substance abuse. Requiring drug testing of TANF recipients who are at risk for drug abuse is a step in the right direction to help addicts overcome addiction, gain employment, and become responsible citizens in society. It also helps efforts in the long term to deter drug abuse costs of healthcare, law enforcement, and prisons where addicts usually resort to crime to support their habits.

The current (US) welfare reform consists of more than cash payment that the poor US citizen could bank on. There is a monthly payment that each poor person received in spite of their ability to work. The main people who received this payment were both mothers and children. Moreover, the payment does not have time limit and those people could not remain on the welfare for the rest of their live.

The welfare system first came into action during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Unemployed citizens needed federal assistance to escape the reality of severe poverty. The welfare system supplies families with services such as: food stamps, medicaid, and housing among others. The welfare system has played a vital role in the US, in controlling the amount of poverty to a certain level. Sadly, the system has been abused and taken for granted by citizens across the country. The welfare system was previously controlled by the federal government until 1996; the federal government handed over the responsibility to the states in hope of reducing welfare abuse. However, this change has not prevented folks from scamming the system. The

The effects of the 1996 welfare reform bill helped declined caseloads on the social and economic well-being of fragile families, single mothers, and children. Although, the welfare reform was documented for making several positive changes such as reducing poverty rates, lowering the out of-wedlock childbearing, and formulated a better family structure, it is undeniable that poverty remained high among single mothers and their children. The reality of the matter was that most welfare recipients experienced serious barriers to maintain a stable employment due to their lack of skills, not having anyone available to take care of their young children when they leave for work as well as not gaining long-time employment with decent pay to help foster the family. As a result, most poor women and children were faced with the instability of economic and social future as welfare eligibility exhausted their efforts of supporting their families.

In 1996 the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant was created as a way to provide assistance to needy families and to end the dependence on government benefits through encouraging job preparation, marriage with the formation of two parent families, and work. In reality, TANF has created a weakened safety net and provides less protection for individuals facing poverty. It grants less assistance than before to lessen poverty and the hardship that comes along with it. The policy has become more of a Band-Aid that is continually ripped off due to its sanctions and requirements revealing the same deeper issues that were there in the first place. Families are stuck in a hole of poverty where they cannot climb out of, and policies like TANF help to maintain it. Since the year 2000, poverty in the U.S has been on the rise, especially the increase in deep poverty. The number of families in deep poverty rose from 2.7 million to 3 million between 1996 and 2013. This is an extremely important issue that we are currently facing in our country. More time and effort needs to be spent on both the creation and reformation of policies like TANF to help combat this rising issue in our country.

“A closed mouth doesn’t get fed” is a saying that many people have heard throughout life. This saying was brought about to encourage people to ask for help if needed. But what happens when the open mouth asked to be fed, and instead of receiving help they are forced to be demeaned by going through a rigorous process that assumes that all applicants fall in to the category of drug addicts? Guilty until proven innocent is the message conveyed to persons requesting these services. Millions of dollars are spent each year on federally funded programs that are considered “welfare”. The types of services these programs offer include TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), SNAP

The process of drug testing individuals who are applying or receiving welfare benefits has recently become the focus of a widely spread controversy. Florida, the first state to pass the law, now requires all individuals applying for public assistance to undergo drug testing. The state of Kentucky, among others, have considered following this trend. State lawmakers hope to prevent the squandering of taxpayer dollars on drugs by proposing similar guidelines. Alabama’s states representative Kerry Rich clearly affirmed his state’s position on the matter, “I don’t think the taxpayers should have to help fund somebody’s drug habit” (qtd. in Time).

The United States has many welfare programs, such a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), that provide social welfare payments to those in need. Welfare recipients statistically have a higher potential to use illicit drugs, making it more difficult to secure a job. Often, these benefits are abused by drug users those who lack the ability or motivation to find employment and become self-sufficient. Incorporating drug testing into the welfare systems allows the government to provide those with drug addictions the needed treatment and suspend the benefits from those who continue to use drug and test positive after treatment. In the long run, there will be a costs savings

I found that after reading this article that a lot of different reasons why the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Post-Secondary Reform movements have been so successful. We always hear about students dropping out of college or not going to college because they can’t afford the tuition. The two case studies that we will talk about are Kentucky and Maine and how they succeeded in getting this reform to work.

What would happen if the government made changes to the welfare system? There are approximately 110,489,000 of Americans on welfare. Many people benefit from what the system has to offer: food stamps, housing, health insurance, day care, and unemployment. Taxpayers often argue that the individuals who benefit from the system, abuse the system; however, this is not entirely true. Many of the people who receive benefits really and truly need the help. Even though some people believe welfare should be reformed, welfare should not be reformed because 40% of single mothers are poor, some elderly people do not have a support system, and college students can not afford to take extra loans.

According to Pollack et al. (2002), “Substance abuse disorders among welfare recipients have attracted special concern among policymakers and the public” (pg. 24). It is not fair that some individuals are abusing illegal substances with American tax dollars. As a result, many policymakers and the general public are angry and demand a change in the system. There needs to be major changes that would require TANF recipients to submit to random drug testing, because scheduled drug testing can always be manipulated, and the government can save on money by cutting benefits to individuals who are abusing the

The United States federal government spent about $16.5 billion dollars each year to support the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (“Policy” 2). This program, established in 1996, provides a block grant to the states, which use these funds to operate their own programs.

109,631,000, that is the number of Americans that lived in households that received benefits from one or more federally funded "means-tested programs" — also known as welfare — as of the fourth quarter of 2012, according to data released by the Census Bureau.( Jeffrey 1) This is my objective to tell the history and statistics of the welfare system in the U.S. There is no lack of information on the topic of welfare due to it being a topic of politics in the nation. Accordingly most information I have is from databases and news reports or speeches over it. However a lot of these areas of information can be biased which is something to avoid. To evenly space the information I will supply you with I am going to split it up into two halves. The first half will be the history of welfare and how it affects the country. The second half will be over the statistics and who all is eligible for welfare.

This article examines the current status of drug testing welfare recipients and the effects it is having on each individual state. The author is not for nor against the law, she simply states how much it is costing for each state and the results of the drug tests. Although she brings in the statistic that has been found from each state, she bring each law up to date on how it has developed throughout the past couple of years. Although the author is not biased, she does give citations from those who feel that the law is not doing what it was created to do.