Government Assistance Abuse Research Paper

Another issue that is greatly affected by the abused welfare programs is unemployment. The unemployment rate goes beyond the lack of available jobs in the U.S.; unemployment also falls back on the individuals without jobs. While there are many unemployed Americans who do everything in their power to find a job, there are also several who abuse the system. Heritage.org reports that of the adults reported to be using illegal drugs, a majority of the users were unemployed. As seen in Appendix 3, 17.5% of adults using illegal drugs in 2010 were also unemployed. Additionally, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, severe barriers to unemployment were experienced by substance abusing women by more than double of those who do not abuse substances. Not only would tax payers and the

On 30 January 2011, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill and sent it to the senate that would require drug testing for those receiving state Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) funds. Funding from food stamps, medicare, and public housing would not be affected by this bill (Keller – House). According to Columbia Tribune reporter Rudi Keller, the bill is very similar to the Arizona law which is the only other state that tests welfare recipients. Missouri and Arizona would use a questionare and interview which would determine which applicants to test. The two states are also similar in their caseload of 45,017 people on assistance in Arizona and 42,885 in Missouri. The state would not be obligated to provide treatment

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

According to Pollack et al. (2002), “Substance abuse disorders among welfare recipients have attracted special concern among policymakers and the public” (pg. 24). It is not fair that some individuals are abusing illegal substances with American tax dollars. As a result, many policymakers and the general public are angry and demand a change in the system. There needs to be major changes that would require TANF recipients to submit to random drug testing, because scheduled drug testing can always be manipulated, and the government can save on money by cutting benefits to individuals who are abusing the

Florida's policy of requiring drug testing for welfare applicants appears to have reduced new welfare enrollments by as much as 48 percent. Welfare recipients in Florida now will have to undergo screening for illegal drug use. “Gov. Rick Scott says will ‘increase personal accountability and prevent Florida's tax dollars from subsidizing drug addiction.’”(Florida to drug-test welfare recipients) It starts on July 1, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services is required to conduct the drug tests on adults applying for assistance. The aid recipients would be responsible for the cost of the screening, which they would reimburse in their assistance if they qualify. Parents who fail the drug test may assign another individual to receive the benefits on behalf of the children. Although drug testing in Florida has been shut down because the judge says it goes against Americans rights from unreasonable searches. Some supporters say that you need to be drug free to prepare them for jobs anyways and that business have been requiring these drug test for years. They also say that the government so take these extra precautions to ensure that tax payers money doesn’t

There is no doubt that those Americans in need of assistance have been subjected to unconstitutional treatment by the welfare program. As a result of the criminal actions of a few, all of the needy are being unfairly scrutinized. The implementation of unfounded drug testing in addition to the already criminalizing application process will only serve to further stigmatize the needy—and all in the name of the mighty dollar. Some believe that it is not the quest to save money that is the driving force behind the push for this legislation. Rather, it is a desire to make millions for the pharmaceutical companies that lawmakers are seeking to achieve.

The only reason for why a person receiving food stamps cannot pass a drug test, is because the drug being used is for medical reasons only. If one must take the drug test and not pass, then a warning shall be given, along with two extra drug tests given monthly. If the same person does not pass the second time, food stamps should be cut by twenty percent; if they cannot pass the third test given, stamps should be cut by an additional thirty percent. Finally, if the same person has failed four consecutive drug test, or four within three months, food stamps should be cut out completely with a four month penalty before reapplying.

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.

Author Ilan Wurman argues in this his publication, that drug testing to apply for welfare violates the fourth amendment of the constitution so changes must be made to the current system. A failed testing program in Florida required all applicants to complete a drug screening test before receiving benefits and the cost of the tests are paid for by the applicant, but reimbursed if the test results are negative. Wurman concludes by stating that suspicion less drug testing of government assistance recipients in

This writing will be about the usage of food stamps, or maybe I should say the abuse of food stamps. I see a lot of food stamp abuse in my work environment and i would like to find out how they really work and if the system is really abused. I intend to learn and research about the background of food stamps and how the system really got started along with its original intentions. I would also like to research people's personal encounters with them, may it be what they have seen or the stories of the people who actually have them, whether they abuse them or use them for their good.

a.i) Government assistance, or welfare, is a very broad term. There are many different welfare programs available in the United States e.g., food stamps, cash assistance, and government housing. Currently there is mass debate, in courtrooms across the U.S., regarding the legality and morality of pre-assistance drug testing. This report is intended to familiarize the reader with the history of welfare reform; the histories of drug testing in regards to assistance eligibility; and persuade the audience to vote yes for mandatory pre-assistance drug testing.

There has been many issues as to what the government should do about regulating federal assistance. Most of the people that get federal assistance have a family to maintain. One of the programs within the federal assistance would be food stamps. Food stamps is federal money given to families that need assistance for groceries. Many question what kind of regulation should be implemented to obtain food stamps? Reason being is that there is a lot of fraud being committed by those that do obtain the assistance. One of the regulations many believe that should be implemented would be drug testing applicants.

The process of drug testing individuals who are applying or receiving welfare benefits has recently become the focus of a widely spread controversy. Florida, the first state to pass the law, now requires all individuals applying for public assistance to undergo drug testing. The state of Kentucky, among others, have considered following this trend. State lawmakers hope to prevent the squandering of taxpayer dollars on drugs by proposing similar guidelines. Alabama’s states representative Kerry Rich clearly affirmed his state’s position on the matter, “I don’t think the taxpayers should have to help fund somebody’s drug habit” (qtd. in Time).

Drug Testing Welfare Recipients To test or not to test has been has been the question at hand for many states that are dealing with whether or not to pass the law that welfare recipients should or should not be drug tested in order to receive assistance from the government. Florida was the first state to mandate the law in 2011 and thereafter twenty four other states in the last year have also passed this law in our own state of Oklahoma being one of them. Although alcohol is legal it is abused far more than marijuana or hard core drugs, According to the 1996 study by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism the differences between the proportion of welfare and non-welfare recipients using illegal drugs are statistically insignificant. Although some states have decided to pass the law for welfare recipients in order receive government assistance, I believe it’s ineffective to drug test these welfare recipients in order to receive their benefits. Welfare in the United States commonly refers to the federal government welfare programs that have been put in place to assist the unemployed or underemployed. Help is extended to the poor through a variety of government welfare programs that include the Women, Infants, and Children Program, which is referred to as WIC, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families commonly known as TANF and Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Drug testing welfare recipients is negative because drug tests performed on welfare

In today’s society, there are many controversial issues that surround the federal and state governments, in addition, the American populace. One such issue is the testing of Welfare recipients for the use of drugs in order to receive their Welfare benefits. While some individuals are for the idea of testing such recipients whether, from a moral, monetary, or personal standpoint, others may oppose them for the same or varied reasons. The average person pays significant percentages of their income in taxes to both the federal and state governments. Wouldn’t you like to know where exactly your money is headed and for what cause?