Drug Testing Welfare

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

This woman provided for all three of her children on a monthly welfare check of $342, plus $642 in food stamps. She also that the struggle to make ends meet while trying to pursue a health care degree was so chaotic that taking drugs seemed ridiculous. A quote by Kimberley Davis, the director of social services for Operation Breakthrough said, “All this does is perpetuate the stereotype that low-income people are lazy, shiftless drug addicts and if all they did was pick themselves up from the bootstraps then the country wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in.” However, preparations have already been done including 20 states prohibiting unemployment payments for anyone who lost a job because of drug use and more than a dozen states refuse welfare payments to anyone convicted of a drug felony. Federal statistics show that unemployed adults are about twice as much likely as employed adults to have used drugs in the previous month. Chicago, Illinois and Flint, Michigan made a proposal in Congress for nationwide testing of welfare recipients. Although, many of the proposals failed to win support because of the concern about

Although some people do not believe that people should get drugs tested for welfare. There is some people who think that drug testing welfare recipients could lead to efficiency. A survey found that 53% believe all welfare applicants should be drug tested before receiving benefits (Covert and Israel) . Welfares should check client's record. If welfare has a client that had used any type of drug before should be

While it is true that there are some jobs that do require a drug test prior to employment, the employees have a choice in the matter. If they do not wish to take a drug test, or if they fail the test, they can choose to find another job. However, by making it mandatory that welfare recipients be drug tested, they do not have a choice. If welfare recipients fail a drug test or refuse to take it, they don’t have the option to find another government to get the assistance that they need. Most welfare recipients are in need of public assistance due to situations that they cannot control. For example, if a single mother of three kids gets laid off due to the harsh economy, at some point, she has no other choice but to ask for help. Eventually, she may have to utilize public assistance that the government has put in place such as food stamps, Medicaid, or welfare. If the government makes drug testing mandatory, the single mother of three has only one choice to make—do whatever the government requires to feed

Living day to day throughout our country, many people receive government assistance in order to meet the basic necessities needed in life. These people are provided with benefits because of the many assistance programs that have been created to help the citizens of the United States. However, people are beginning to notice that there are many recipients that use the money for things other than living essentials. This is a big problem in the eyes of the tax payers because they see people who are on welfare take their money and buy drugs with it. This has raised the question, should the government drug test welfare recipients? Due to the increase of government assistance programs being abused, welfare recipients should be drug tested because

Waking up at 4:00am is hard to do. Especially if you’re getting paid 8.00 dollars an hour, and have to provide for another 6 people. When it that time of the month, the one you’ve been saving for, all those bills you need to pay. If you’re lucky you could have a couple of dollars saved up. Now you see your neighbors with their 2 daughters getting a 1,500 dollar check, when all they do is lay down in their bedrooms and smoke some type of drug. Wouldn’t it make you angry? When you’re having to wake up at 4:00am and working all day, but your neighbors stay home and do nothing. Even though those on welfare may be exploited, welfare drug testing should be allowed because welfare can be used for helping people and welfare can be used for actual needs.

Florida's policy of requiring drug testing for welfare applicants appears to have reduced new welfare enrollments by as much as 48 percent. Welfare recipients in Florida now will have to undergo screening for illegal drug use. “Gov. Rick Scott says will ‘increase personal accountability and prevent Florida's tax dollars from subsidizing drug addiction.’”(Florida to drug-test welfare recipients) It starts on July 1, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services is required to conduct the drug tests on adults applying for assistance. The aid recipients would be responsible for the cost of the screening, which they would reimburse in their assistance if they qualify. Parents who fail the drug test may assign another individual to receive the benefits on behalf of the children. Although drug testing in Florida has been shut down because the judge says it goes against Americans rights from unreasonable searches. Some supporters say that you need to be drug free to prepare them for jobs anyways and that business have been requiring these drug test for years. They also say that the government so take these extra precautions to ensure that tax payers money doesn’t

When the United States’ welfare program was created during the Great Depression, it was meant to temporarily relieve the burdens of the one-fourth of American families who were unemployed, and struggling financially. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Social Security Act in 1935, then amended it in 1939 to create programs to assist families with unemployment compensation, and to create government agencies to oversee these programs, including Health and Human Services. The purpose of the welfare program was to provide short-term assistance to families in need while they got back on their feet, and found new employment. It was and is still funded by the hard-earned money of American taxpayers. Since that time, government assistance programs have progressed to the point of serving 49.2 percent of the population according to 2011 statistics, released in 2014.7 Of those receiving benefits, approximately 20 percent have been on the program for over five years. These facts go against the initial purpose of the welfare program as a temporary crutch. Studies have shown that about 20 percent of welfare recipients have tested for, or reported illicit drug use (although, those numbers vary and can be higher, based on the testing method used). Taxpayers should be aware that their taxes are funding these drug users’ illegal lifestyles. Therefore, drug testing should be a mandatory

One of the many goals of the American Welfare System is to provide financial assistance to U.S citizens who are unable to support themselves. Government funds are provided in hopes that many of these able bodied citizens will eventually find a way to become financially independent and economically productive. However, there is a percentage of welfare recipients that use their government funding to purchase and abuse illicit drugs. When welfare is abused in this manner, the system loses credibility and the long-term goals of seeing financially self-sufficient citizens, and economic progress on both micro and macro levels, are not only compromised, they are regressed by the negative impacts of illegal drug use. The most common (and commonly debated) method of weeding out citizens who choose to abuse the welfare system is enforcing mandatory drug testing on all welfare recipients. This method is an ongoing controversy involving elements of legality, economics, budget analysis, a violation of rights, the allocation of government funds, and discriminatory stereotypes of welfare recipients. Regardless of the diverse array of fundamental complexities involved with executing or rejecting this preventative procedure, most Americans’ opinions are simply based

In today’s society about 12,800,000 people are supported by government welfare programs for help with their financial necessities. The argument everyone is making nowadays, is whether or not they should be drug testing recipients of welfare. I agree with this strongly because I know that if I were paying taxes on this program I would not want someone going out and abusing this privilege on drugs. People collecting welfare, or other government assistance, should be drug tested because if they are just going to spend money on drugs, they do not need help.

Public welfare is the term which stands for the variety of tax-supported programs that provide cash assistance or services to residents who are not able to financially take care of themselves (Hansan, 2011). This program was started in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. There are several types of welfare including health care, food stamps, child care assistance, cash aid, and housing assistance. Medicaid is considered to be one of the welfare programs; it is a medical care that provides cash income assistance for the poor (“Medicaid”, 2002). Recipients must meet multiple requirements that are established prior to receiving aid. The requirements include low income, child dependency, family size, and any crisis situation such as pregnancy, unemployment, and medical emergencies (Welfare Information, n.d.). As of today, some states require welfare recipients to get drug tested when applying for financial benefits. Arguments arose whether the test should take place or not. Many people believe that the government should not drug test welfare recipients because unpleasant consequences occur. Not only does drug testing recipients create chaos in the U.S. bureaucratic system, it also labels the recipients, creating stigma and deviance especially if the test comes out positive. Welfare recipients are being discriminated by society and this may lead to knowledge gaps between the underclass and other social classes which creates a caste system. Many negative effects take place as

All around the world, taxpayers are paying to help support the welfare programs. "On average, each federal income taxpayer in America spends $8,776 annually to keep federal welfare programs afloat." Most of the time, however, there are the people who abuse the welfare program by using it for drugs. So the legislation has proposed the idea of drug testing welfare applicants. According to Stephanie Larson in the article “Should We Drug Test Welfare Recipients?” currently 62% of large employers in the US have drug testing in the work place. So why not on welfare applicants? Also Pennsylvania has not yet passed legislation on this growing topic. Furthermore, approximately 18.3% of Erie County residents are below the poverty line and 29.2% of the

Welfare was created in 1935 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is the closest technique or practice of our country to socialism. It helped families during the Great Depression, but has been abused thoroughly within our country. Many citizens would like to do away with the system, but many resist this because it is their only income. Lots of skeptical citizens see it as the root of much of our country’s debt, but there is no easy way for it to be eliminated. Many steps have been taken to reduce the abusement and eventually do away with the system. This includes drug testing for welfare recipients. There are multiple issues with this idea and lots of people would like keep the system. Taxpayers that dislike what the government has come to, fear that

You would think that with them drug testing these welfare recipients that they would catch more drug users, well that isn’t the case. The state of Tennessee is a prime example why the test isn’t effective at all, with them posting poor results. A year after the state started to test applicants for a welfare program, they ended up denying 30 people out of the 28,599 people who applied. This goes to show that they can’t find the people who are actually using the money they get from the welfare programs for the use of

People who apply for welfare benefits should be tested for drugs and they should be cleared of all illicit drugs before they receive any benefits in the form of cash or food stamps because, the government spends so much money on welfare and rehabilitation programs and screening welfare recipients will help the government save more money to fix the economy. Most employees are tested of illicit drugs before they are employed by their employer so why shouldn’t welfare recipients also be tested of illicit drug before they receive any kind of assistance? The government deducts so much tax out of worker’s earnings of which part of these deductions go to fund welfare programs, therefore welfare assistance like cash should not be used to purchase