It is assumed by many that people who are receiving public assistance funds are using this money to support their alcohol and or drug addictions. Is drug testing to receive public assistance an answer to this problem? Would making this a condition of eligibility actually push people with serious substance abuse and or dependency problems farther away from the help and treatment they need?
Federal Welfare Reform
The Federal Welfare reform act which, was passed in the mid 1990’s has changed the way our system addresses these issues. PRWORA (Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act) provided some distinctive features to address the issues, and changed the idea that there was universal entitlement for all, and helped to reinforce the notion that there is a class of the deserving poor. In 2001 California implemented the policies required and created our version of the TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) called Cal-WORKS (California’s Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program.) This program has allowed for rules to be implemented such as time limits, work requirements and the availability of substance abuse treatment. (Newell, 2011)
The population and the substances.
According to the National Poverty Center (2004) the numbers have been overstated and the number of people that are on welfare and are abusing substances are lower than originally estimated. The studies have varied widely in their findings due to the different types of measurements used and the fact that most of these reports include other types of assistance such as General Assistance. The number quoted for the TANF programs are approximately 9.6%, these numbers very similar to the rates of use amongst the general population (Jayako...
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...e Workers’ View of Substance Abuse and Welfare Reform. Contemporary Drug Problems, 32(3) 429-455.
Jayakody, R., Danziger, S., Seefeldt, K. & Pollack, H. (2004, April). Policy Brief. NPC (National Poverty Center), (2), 1-4.
Newell, W. (2011). Tax Dollars Earmarked for Drugs? The Policy and Constitutionality of Drug Testing Welfare Recipients. Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 43(1), 215-254
Radel, L., Joyce, K., & Wulff, C. (2011, October). Drug Testing Welfare Recipients: Recent Proposals and Continuing Controversies. ASPE Issue Brief Office of the Assistanct Sercrtary for Planning and Evaluation Officer Of Human Services Policy U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ,( 2-28.)
Spencer, PhD, M.S., Muroff, MSW, J.R., & Delva, PhD, J. (2000). Conditional Welfare: A Family Social Work Perspective on Mandatory Drug Testing. The Haworth Press Inc., 4 (4), 3-14.
"States Consider Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients." FoxNews.com - Breaking News | Latest News | Current News. 26 March 2009. Web. 31 January 2011
There is an ongoing debate over whether or not Welfare recipients should be drug tested to receive the benefits. The lines of reasoning from both sides of this argument have unambiguous points. Those who oppose the idea of drug testing say that it is unconstitutional, and violates the Fourth Amendment. Furthermore, they claim that this law stereotypes and discriminates against the poor
Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested for Drugs? U.S News & World Report. 2014: Pgs 1-2.
There is an ongoing debate over whether or not welfare recipients should be drug tested to receive the benefits. Both sides of the argument have merit. Those who oppose the idea of drug testing say that it is unconstitutional and violates the Fourth Amendment. Furthermore, they claim that this law stereotypes and discriminates against those from low socioeconomic demographics, implying that because they are poor, they must be drug addicts. However, those who support the law note that its intended purpose is to ensure that taxpayer money is not being squandered on people who only plan to abuse this assistance. Only nine states so far have instituted drug testing of candidates for welfare assistance. This drug testing has proven to be prohibitively expensive in many cases. Consequently, some states only test subjects with whom they find suspicion, or who have admitted to past drug use. Though proposed drug testing of welfare applicants initially appears to be a good idea to eliminate potential abusers of the system from receiving assistance, it appears that even more money may be wasted on the testing process, which negates the savings that are the primary objective of the law.
“Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested for Drugs?” Debate Club, U.S News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-welfare-recipients-be-tested-for-drugs
"States Consider Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News - FOXNews.com." FoxNews.com - Breaking News | Latest News | Current News. 26 Mar. 2009. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. .
In my opinion I feel that this time of authority drug test are not effective. ” It would seem that if this policy were to make way that there would not be such a large rate of recidivism” (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1999). It takes more that sending a person to prison to break them of their habits. The means which are necessary to aid the cause of ending a drug habit are not available with this policy. Under the Bill of rights, the four rights that this policy violates are, The right to be assumed innocent until proven guilty, the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to be treated the same as others.
“States Consider Drug Testing For Welfare Recipients.” Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly 21.8 (2009): 4-6 Academic Search Premir. Web. 28 Sept. 2015
Moore, L. D., & Elkavich, A. (2008). Who's Using and Who's Doing Time: Incarceration, the War on Drugs, and Public Health. American Journal Of Public Health, 98(5), 782-786.
Drug use now in days has grown more over these past years, with the abuse of drugs many people still have the privilege to apply freely to the welfare programs such as WIC, Food Stamps, and TANF. My interest to this topic is why it would be unconstitutional to be able to do a drug testing on welfare applicants.
Drug testing kits have become relatively inexpensive over the last few years due to our increased imports from China. The annual savings of promoting good health by screening out a drug addicted applicant is substantial when comparing the difference in taxpayer money that was lost after a recipient misused their benefits to support a chemical addiction. After a welfare recipient passes an initial drug screening and receives their electronic benefit card, the food stamp account should be monitored monthly to verify nutritious foods are being bought. Buying nutritious foods instead of selling or trading food stamps for illegal drugs or alcohol promotes the overall health of a mind and body. A healthy mind and body then creates an individual who makes adequate progress in their daily
More than half of the states are considering drug-test requirements for people on welfare. Not only would this help save money in the welfare program, it would also allow the government to get help for drug users on public assistance. The tests could either be urine based, or written tests that could help flag down drug users (Grovum). According to Jake Grovum’s article “Some States Still Pushing Drug Testing for Welfare”, Alabama may have come up with the most sensible law. The law, which has passed in their state senate, states that anyone who has been convicted of a drug offense in the last five years must undergo, and pay for, a drug test as a part of their welfare application. I am aware that not all people on welfare are using drugs and many former drug users get the help they need and get off their addiction, but I think taxpayers in the U.S. have the right of knowing their hard earned money is going to the right
There are many advantages to drug testing welfare recipients. One advantage is that people that are abusing drugs will stop taking advantage of the benefits that are provided to them by our government. If the working taxpayers are required to take a drug test in order to work, then individuals that are receiving aid from our government should be required to do the same. (Miran, 2015.). These individuals will have to decide what is more important to them, food and shelter or drugs? This proposal could also potentially save taxpayers money by eliminating recipients who are abusing drugs and manipulating the system. They will no longer receive benefits from the government, thus saving the taxpayers money. A great advantage that
Drugs are being use all over the world from young teens to the elderly with no way of preventing them from harming others and even themselves. How do these people get jobs with these drug addictions or massive consumption of drugs? That’s where drug testing comes into play. Drug testing is a test given to people for many reasons such as for jobs, abuse of substances,and even just a parent suspecting their teeager is using it. But with these test there are many positive but also negative effects that come from drug testing.
At household levels, the drug users usually divert the income meant for the family’s upkeep for purchasing drugs (Barnard, 2007). Also, junior members of the family who abuse drugs tend to commit crimes that may force the relatives to pay for the expenses. The living standard of the family is; therefore, affected leading to unnecessary suffering.