The Aid of welfare is important to society for those considered financially unstable. According to the United Stated Department of Human Services, there are over 12 million citizen receiving welfare. The states of Alabama, Mississippi,Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin require drug testing in order to receive welfare. Drug testing is not an effective way to detect drug use because many have found ways to get pass the testing. As we know welfare is supposedly to meet the human’s needs but not for the purchase and use of drugs. Some says that drug test to receive assistance is unconstitutional and unfair, others believe it would be safe if child with parent who uses drugs. By randomly drug testing, those who receive assistance would help deter drug use, decrease unemployment rate, and potential savings for taxpayers. Deterring drug use can help the system identify that the recipient needs help. By requiring drug tests it would discourage welfare recipients from using drugs. A lot of people may argue that the problem is that there is not much access to rehabilitation. By rejecting aid without drug without some type of help will only help solve half of the issue. Drug use happens in all …show more content…
Tax payers spends plenty of money to support the welfare system by eliminating those using drugs from programs with aid assistance would cut the amount of funds given to recipients. Many people receiving welfare benefits are children, passing a drug testing order could harmfully affect the children of drug users. Therefore, a change in operation could remove a number of receivers who are abusing the system. This can also help with those who are not eligible for benefits. This could also help the government save money and supply the benefits to those who need
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
Many people may agree that drug testing people who are on or will become welfare is a great way to stop misuse of the system. Drug testing is one way to accomplish this, and their reasoning may be well founded.
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
A decision to implement mandatory drug testing may be an imperative step for preventing welfare
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
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
After analyzing the various sources I have determined it is not cost effective to require drug testing for welfare applicants and recipients. Before I go into my reasoning I want to give a little history on why the welfare system was put into place. The British poor laws were in place before the Welfare system as we know was adapted. These laws were in place top distinguish what people were unable to work due to various reasons and who was able to work but just could not find employment. One that fell into this category received assistance either cash or others forms of help. All through the 1800's the government attempted to reconstruct how they dealt with the poor. The idea was to assist the poor while helping them move to their independence.