The Importance Of Drug Testing And Background Screening

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.

Homelessness has been a social problem for a long time so by trying to enable the individuals to gain access to the same health care as others it may prevent the amount of deaths of homeless people. It was found that just over a third of homeless person’s deaths were due to alcohol and drug misuse; if homeless individuals had access to a GP or health services they may be able to be referred and continuously reviewed to enable them to stop the substance misuse.

​Homelessness and substance abuse are often two problems that continue to be linked together. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (2011), research conducted in the past five years indicates that about 50% of those who are homeless have co-occurring substance abuse problems. Along with co-occurring substance abuse problems, there continues to be other problems such as treatment access to those who are homeless. In this paper we will explore research on the homeless population in relation to substance abuse, and effective interventions on an individual level.

The Homeless are a vulnerable population. Homelessness is a social issue that anyone can almost be subjected to despite his or her age, race, ethnicity or geographical background. Kornblum (2012) defined homelessness as… “as a social condition in which people do not have regular housing and are forced to sleep in public places, public shelters, or facilities designed for homeless individuals and families” (p.280). The homeless population faces several adversaries in their lifetime of being homeless. Their adversaries are a lack physical and emotional disabilities, and possibly drug abuse. Grant some are homeless by choice, whereas most are homeless by mishaps, but nevertheless, they are humans deserving to be treated with fairness, dignity,

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.

Substance abuse is often a cause of homelessness. A high percentage of homeless people struggle with substance abuse, but addictions must be considered as illnesses and demand a great deal of treatment, counseling, and support to be able to

As Lombardo says, “Many people need to be drug tested in order to have gainful employment and a regular paycheck. If it is a normal part of life for the vast majority of a country’s population, then the system of testing is already in place to add welfare recipients into the regular testing cycle.” Every year local, state, and national government programs offer low-income households the opportunity to make impoverished peoples needs to be met. These welfare systems have a 3% abuse rate where recipients use their benefits for alcohol and illicit drugs. To maintain compliance with program regulations, drug testing would have to be in the

A misconception that we must address is the fact that there is no single reason for a person to become a homelessness person. The stereotype of a person with a substance abuse problem is, unfortunately, the common perception of the cause of homelessness, which is not the case. This misconception leads us to have a harsher view on these people, which then pushes us to inforce criminal sanctions.

While other shelters might screen out the intoxicated, the active drug users, the ex-offenders, or those with

According to this estimate, a greater percentage of inmates have been previously homeless, (5% of general population versus 15% of incarcerated population with history of homelessness), which illustrates that homelessness often triggers incarceration. (Metraux S, Culhane , 2006.) Individuals with past incarceration face great barriers attempting to exit homelessness due to such policies which disqualify them from most federal housing assistance programs due to their criminal records. One of the federal housing assistance programs of the community is through the Great Falls Housing Authority, also known as “Section 8 Housing”. This program offers privage landlords contrated with the Housing Authority which approves the home for Housing Quality Standards and subsidizes the rent for the client which pays approximately 30% of their adjusted income as rent. Due to people with previous felonies of sorts being disqualified from such programs, these individuals may feel it necessary to engage in criminal activities to attempt to break the cycle of homelessness, only in turn perpetuationg the viscious cycle of homelessness, and being

Drug testing is the most useful method that employers conduct on their hiring process to examine the overall health results of their potential employees. Blood draws and urine testing are the primary health examinations that employers use to conclude whether any potential candidate has been abusing drugs. Hence, employers may deny their job offer to candidates, who were found that engaged on positive drug testing. However,

The purpose of this study is to identify areas where the use of data, algorithms, and comprehensive need assessments could reduce costs while increasing access to services by those in need. This research has the potential to reduce duplication of processes involved in administration and services to more efficiently prevent or resolve homelessness. I have reviewed recent literature identifying many structural barriers to services faced by homeless individuals. Each of the research papers I reviewed identified areas where lack of communication between agencies, unclear criteria or unstated criteria, and poor communication with clients increased difficulty in obtaining services for eligible clients.

In today’s world the government budget and where money is spent is very concerning to some people. I believe that anyone applying for and or receiving government aid should have to be drug tested. The use of drug testing to determine aid eligibility would help with the diagnoses and prevention of drug abuse, ensure government aid is reaching those with the greatest need and help strengthen the taxpayer’s confidence in the systems effectiveness. One of the more controversial topics recently being debated by the government is whether or not, anyone applying for or currently receiving government assistance should submit to drug testing prior to receiving their benefits or as a condition to continue to receive their government assistance.

Substance abuse can be attributed to about fifty percent of the homeless population. Homeless individuals are three times more likely to have alcohol-use disorder compared with the general population (Keane, Magee, and Lee 2015). Alcohol is also usually associated with anxiety and depression disorders and it can lead to criminal behaviors or even suicide. Alcohol use can a contributor or the result of being homeless, many people use alcohol as a form of coping. People who have experienced child abuse are more likely to develop a substance abuse disorder at a later age. It shows that the homeless population have experienced abuse or other traumatic incident in their life. The more likely someone is to recall a traumatic childhood experience the more likely they were to consume alcohol. Alcohol and abuse are very much related. So is low economic burden being of low wage household increases all these factors. The person will be more at risk to

According to Joseph Desjardins and Ronald Duska’s Drug Testing in Employment, administering a drug test before and during employment may be popular but is mostly unnecessary and a