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Welfare Drug Testing

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The article, “States Adding Drug Test as Hurdle for Welfare” stated that in three dozen sates proposed drug testing for the people that are on welfare. However, people say that the tax dollars given to them are not being misused and that it’s promoting stereotypes about the poor. the article says that in Florida, people that receive welfare have to pay for their own drug tests. Also, it says that people argued that it was unreasonable to drug test those on welfare and that it was an act of search and seizure. It’s noted that drug tests are getting more and more required for getting jobs. Ellen Brandom, a state representative in Missouri said, “Working people today work very hard to make ends meet, and it just doesn’t seem fair to them that …show more content…

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 …show more content…

The fate of a proposition to drug tests in Indiana welfare beneficiaries in in doubt after the provision’s creator formally pulled back his support and the state organization would control the system and it would cost $2.3 million during the next two years. However, that is after taking of consideration $213,000 in foreseen funds expecting that 5 percent of those tested fail and are temporarily removed from the program. Also, it was mentioned that this program would help stem a HIV outbreak which would be brought into play by sharing needles among drug abusers. According to state officials, just around 9,400 adults get installments or accept them in the interest of children, statewide and around 17,000 children get the advantage. If TANF beneficiaries fail a drug test, they would have a chance to get counseling. In any case, if they keep on failing drug screenings after counseling, they would be ineligible for welfare advantages for no less than three months. Beneficiaries would be in charge of the expense of counseling and positive drug tests. The drug testings proposition could accelerate an already steep decrease in the quantity of Indiana TANF beneficiaries. Normal installments are less than $90 a month for each beneficiary. Supporters of such drug testing measures say they help keep open help from being spent of unlawful

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