Essay On Drug Testing For Welfare

Furthermore, the concern is directed to the wellbeing of the children of the recipients who do not fulfill program requirements. Thankfully, the NCSL also explains that those who are deemed ineligible for not completely the programs can “designate a protective payee to receive benefits on behalf of the child(ren)”(National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). In summary, drug testing welfare recipients will enable families to do two things: feed their children and get help for the parent or guardian who is abusing substances.

A decision to implement mandatory drug testing may be an imperative step for preventing welfare

In today’s America, government aid is highly depended on. The US government has spent $498 billion dollars this year on welfare alone. The state of Tennessee has an average of 250,000 residents on welfare and has $3 billion dollars this year alone. To help cut costs and help tax payers, 36 states, including Tennessee, have proposed a bill to drug test all welfare recipients. Since the beginning of the year, the welfare rate has jumped 7 percent while at the same time, the welfare funds are drying up. Tennessee funds have dropped 17.5 percent, which comes out to be about $215.3 million dollars this year. State lawmakers have proposed that if drug users on welfare are

There has been an ongoing controversy as to whether welfare recipients should have to have drug testing done. Drug testing will ensure that recipients will not abuse the money they’re given by the government. Having people on welfare take drug test is advantageous because it could save the system money, it would help social workers identify children who are around drug abuse, and it would deter people from purchasing and using illegal drugs; however, it does have a downside such as people who are on prescription medication will show false positives, it can be an invasion of privacy and drug testing can take hundreds and even thousands of dollars to administer.

Drug abuse is a huge epidemic in America, and we need to come for all angles to try and stop it. One of which can be from the welfare side. Drug testing is thought to decrease drug abuse with people on welfare. If people know that they have to pass a drug test to be able to get money for their necessities, it may encourage them to never use in the first place. It also might help them realize they have a problem and help give them a reason to get clean. This is important because an addict needs something to drive them to want to get clean, and knowing they will not receive government assistance if using can be a huge reason to be clean. Also drug testing will make the state aware and available to help the welfare recipients. The Mayor of New York Rudolph W. Giuliani says, “ Welfare recipients who test positive for drugs would be required to enroll in a drug treatment program or join a waiting list for treatment to keep getting benefits.” In Rhode Island a law bans recipients who fail a drug test from getting welfare for a year, unless they complete a substance abuse treatment successfully. Once they do complete treatment they can reapply after six months. Both of these states are giving people that fail a second chance, and maybe their only chance.

The numbers do not lie—little evidence exists that supports the claim that drug testing recipients will save money. Striving to prove that the main source of the drug problem in the United States lies in the recipients of the welfare program, policymakers continue to work fervently. The overgeneralization of the poor as drug users has become common practice in Washington. Lawmakers seem to feel that because recipients receive government funding, they in turn give up their constitutional rights as U.S. citizens. The practice of criminalizing the poor has become commonplace in the creation of U.S. governmental policy.

Drug Testing welfare recipients would insure to the tax payers that their money is not going to waste. Staying off drugs would insure that the parents of welfare kids would not lose their benefits, so drug testing would prevent any loss of benefits for the kids and their benefits. Drug testing would prevent illicit drugs in the poverty class by showing if a recipient did show positive for their drug test, they would lose all their benefits

Welfare is for people who don’t have enough income to live off of and is supposed to be for helping them out with things like food, clothing, and most basic necessities. 61% of people not on welfare are against it and believe people who receive welfare don’t use it for the intended reason and basically look at it as free money. There is 21.3% of the population on government assist. That’s approximately 52.2 million peaple participating in it right now. They get food stamps from the govt and sell them to buy drugs or alcohol which is probably the reason they are on it in the first place. If they did a drug test beforehand, then they would know to not accept that person because the money more than likely would only buy them their next high; therefore, welfare recipients should receive drug tests before being accepted.

People collecting welfare should undergo drug testing to get the money the government is giving them, because it makes welfare applicants go down at least 48 percent, it also will help the national debt go down and help people with their drug problems. There are many benefits of drug testing welfare recipients.

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

Since the early War on Drugs and the welfare reform of the 1990s, those who receive public benefits have been under the microscope of drug warriors and policy makers. Those who are proponents of drug testing say that substance abuse and addiction can interfere with the ability to obtain or maintain jobs. Drug testing can help welfare recipients prepare for the job market by getting them clean and ready for the job application process (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), 2011). Drug use and abuse can also contribute to child abuse and neglect (Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), 2013). Testing welfare recipients can also be cost effective, as it would prevent the misuse of public funds for the purchase

Currently no state in the United States requires you to take a drug test when applying for welfare, but what if the drug test helps drug abuse rates decline. When someone's living conditions and survival depends on a clean sample then this is motivation to potentially get clean, and find a higher paying job then the income of welfare each month (“States Consider Drug Testing”). For example, if someone were to fail the test then that applicant becomes ineligible for six months up to a year until able to reapply again. It isn’t fair to taxpayers to pay for the drug addiction of those who are receiving welfare,if they are in fact, using those funds to buy hard

Should welfare recipients be drug-tested? Welfare recipients should be drug tested because there are a lot of them who are buying drugs or alcohol but claimed that they can’t afford basic needs like food or water. The same way they are getting drugs they should be able to purchase food without having welfare help them. The government is providing for you and giving you free money in return you should be able to prove that you are worth it of those services by doing a drug screening test. The money welfare provides you should be used responsibly and not being treated as a hall pass. I believe money should be used to feed your children, not for your addictions. When you are being drug tested can also prove that you are capable to take care of your family. If the state is

Drug testing should be a requirement when applying for Welfare because it teaches self dependence. Allowing drug users to have welfare encourages them that they do not have to work for obtaining the basic necessities in life. Requiring drug screenings would allow addicts to change their life around and get the motivation that they need to support their families and community. Critics have argued that mandatory drug testing is prejudice against the poor ,but there are individuals who work hard and do not receive enough financial support. Should we discriminate against them ? we are taking money out of each paycheck they receive the least we can do is make sure that welfare funds end up in the right places. Drug addicts spend the little

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