Welfare in the United States
Everyone has their own opinion about the welfare system in the United States. Some feel it is well-designed and other find it to be valueless. Some say it is an excuse for “the lazy” to not have to contribute to society, and use it as a source of income. Some even say the program isn’t utilized in the manner in which it was meant when established. Regardless of opinions, the welfare system was established to help those in a time of need. The United States, “The land of opportunity”, is simply trying to help give those less fortunate the opportunity to succeed. In the following paragraphs we will discuss the history of the welfare system; why it was created; and how the conflict theory impacts it.
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Some exceptions may apply to citizenship rules. When an individual applies for welfare, his or her citizenship status is reviewed, along with the status of each household member, before assistance is granted. Each state has its own residency requirements as well. For example, to be eligible in Pennsylvania, an individual must be living within the state and have the intention of remaining there (Defty, 2007). A social security number is required for receiving welfare benefits. This is required not just of adults, but also of children in an applying household. If someone in an applying household doesn’t have a social security number, the person must apply for one, provide proof of applying for a number, and give the number to his or her caseworker once it is issued. The caseworker may also require a copy of the person’s social security card. Often, adults must meet certain work requirements in order to be eligible for welfare. The requirements may vary depending on the program and the state in which the individual is seeking aid. Generally, recipients are expected to seek employment and/or training. Some states provide work training and employment search programs geared specifically towards welfare recipients (Defty, 2007). In certain circumstances, a recipient may be exempt from work requirements. For example, an individual in a single-parent household, with a child
In 1996, the United States came up with the welfare to work law, which is now known as the Welfare to Work program (Hill). The purpose of this program was to encourage Americans on welfare to go back to work and not just stay at home and do nothing (Hill). The main goal was to reduce welfare by increasing the income of people on welfare (Greenberg). The program required people to get in an education program, get some type of training, or try to find a job (Greenberg). These requirements were intended to eventually get welfare recipients to get a job and not depend on welfare (Greenberg). Like
Changes within the welfare system as a result of policy shifts and by new thinking, more generally in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have had many methods, but the one that seemed most important, was that welfare recipients were required to do much more to justify their income support payments than before. The foundation of this new idea is that income support programs should allow individuals to maximise their participation in work. Due to the general shift in welfare administration, the number of activity test requirements an individual in Australia must meet in order to receive unemployment benefits, has expanded significantly since the early 1990s. This complex, overly bureaucratic process means that disadvantaged individuals cannot access the income support payments they require.
The current US welfare reform comes with time limit that on benefit together with the work activity requirement (Weil & Finegold 20). An adult can only get federal welfare fund within five years. Moreover, if the beneficiary is not participating in any income generating activity, the assistance that the beneficiary receives from the government should be cut after two years. There is also a research that shows that the welfare reform has recast programs that have low incomes such as health insurance and work support to ensure that the citizens leave the welfare.
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
Most of these families and individuals now are in programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, also known as welfare(National Coalition,2009), Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. These programs provide cash, health care benefits and food for these families and most individuals helping the individuals or families to get back on their feet although some will get denied for such help.
In order for a person to be eligible for the U.S. welfare aid, program managers must determine a number of
How would someone know if they were eligible? First, the individual would need to verify they are homeless, (someone who lacks a fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence and lacks sufficient means or support system to obtain housing). Next, they would need to be 18 years or older with a government-issued ID. They would also need to be sober and be able to care for themselves independently. Also, they would need to be willing to commit to working with a case manager toward a goal of sustained, self-sufficient life and willing to participate in activities geared at achieving self-sufficiency. The goal would be to help people obtain the resources and support they need to obtain permanent housing. Their stay is determined on their engagement towards that goal.
Welfare abuse is a severe problem across the country. Each year, millions of Americans receive government benefits such as housing assistance, food stamps, telephone service, and other funds. Welfare is a kind of system that is being set by a government to help and assist families and individuals who are having a hard time providing for themselves such as food, clothing, education and health assistance. This program helped many families survive during The Great Depression and still helps families survive today. Welfare, which was once meant to help individuals re enter society, has been abused and manipulated. The abuse of the Welfare System has become a serious problem. Many dependent persons rely mainly on welfare for their sole source of
Welfare: handouts to the lazy, or a helping hand to those facing hard times? The debate continues, even in the face of sweeping welfare reform, which, for all of its sound and fury, has not helped or changed much. What's wrong with welfare and how can we fix it? This is not a simple question, and there is no simple answer. However, one thing remains eminently clear. Welfare desperately needs to change. But where are we now? Directly correlated with welfare is work. Welfare reform would not be complete without work options and job training programs in place so that recipients may eventually get off of
In 1935, Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act which, among other things, provided for the financial, medical, and material needs of the poor (Komisar 125,128). Since then, there have many additions and reforms to the bill, none of which has served to quell the controversy surrounding the effectiveness of the welfare system in the United States. The main concerns of the distribution of welfare dollars and resources can be answered by the questions ?Who gets assistance?? and ?How much do they receive??. The U.S. welfare system is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, which attempts to answer these questions through a system of minimum incomes, government-calculated poverty levels, number of children, health problems, and many other criteria. This complicated system leads to one of the critiques of the welfare system?that it is too large and inefficient. President Lyndon Johnson declared a ?War on Poverty? in 1964 designed to alleviate the burden of the poor and established the Food Stamp program the next year (Patterson 139). In 1996, a major welfare reform bill was passed that placed time limits on welfare assistance, required able participants to actively seek employment, and implemented additional services for the needy (Patterson 217).
United States Government Welfare began in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt thought of this system as an aid for low-income families whose men were off to war, or injured while at war. The welfare system proved to be beneficial early on by giving families temporary aid, just enough to help them accommodate their family’s needs. Fast forward almost 90 years, and it has become apparent that this one once helpful system, has become flawed. Welfare itself and the ideologies it stands on, contains decent fundamentals; furthermore, this system of aid needs only to be reformed to better meet the needs of today’s society.
First of all, people who are on welfare usually do become dependent on assistance because it gives them an incentive to avoid work. Many generations of families have been living on welfare assistance and have not made any reasonable efforts to prosper within our society. According to the article Welfare in the United States, “Some people get on welfare because they were laid off or relocated, but whatever the reason, some get stuck on welfare much longer than necessary and no one has the ability to remove them” (Redyns, 2007). Welfare was designed to give a boost to the poor, and help struggling families make it through the year,
The U.S welfare programs are designed to help the poor and needy Americans who lack the means to lead a decent life expected of an American for it is a constitutional requirement that the Government should promote the general welfare of the people for all people are equal and subject to equal treatment and opportunity as per the law . The Government welfare programs primarily exist so as to serve those in need, and utilizing them fully is paramount if you are in need of assistance.
Social workers need to keep update on resources and programs and need to be able to help their clients navigate the complex process of accessing resources. Federal and state welfare programs include cash assistance, health and medical provisions, food assistance, housing subsidies, utility subsidies, child care assistance, unemployment compensation etc. Below are some of the important programs that are designed to help or intervene on behalf of clients in distress.
Next, the caseworker checks to see if the customer can work or not. If the customer has children in the home, they do not have to work to receive SNAP. If the customer is an able bode adult without children (ABAWD) and does not work at least 20 hours per week the customer can only receive assistance for three months. If the customer is a student and does not work 20 hours per week or receive federal work student or have a child under 6 years old, they are not eligible for SNAP.