The United States government acknowledges that all its citizens have a right to access the basic needs of survival including shelter, food and healthcare in order to live decent lives. To make this possible for the poor, the government established a transfer program known as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) which was later changed to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) after the 1996 welfare reforms (Moffitt, 2008). Through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 other welfare reforms introduced include increased state powers to provide benefits through the TANF; work requirements for people receiving benefits; conditions for reducing single motherhood though encouraging marriage and minimizing non-marital births and; introduction of lifetime time limits for those receiving benefits (Moffitt, 2008). Following these welfare reforms, states have put in place various welfare programs that offer different welfare benefits to residents. This paper will examine the welfare benefits offered in Alaska and compare them with those in Arizona with a view to giving a glimpse of the welfare status in the different states of the United States of America.
The state of Alaska provides welfare benefits to its residents through six major welfare programs namely: Medicaid; Chronic & Acute Medical Assistance; Temporary Assistance Program; Adult Public Assistance; Food Stamps and; General Relief assistance (Alaska Department of Health & Social Services, 2012). To begin with, the Medicaid program offers healthcare benefits which encompass paying medical bills for children, families, pregnant women, people with disabilities and the elderly.
Secondly, the Chronic & Acute Medi...
... middle of paper ...
...State of Arizona (2011), these services assist in family selection and placement as well as child supervision. Through this program, cases of child neglect are reduced.
Works Cited
Alaska Department of Health & Social Services (2012). Application for Services. Retrieved from http://dhss.alaska.gov/dpa/Documents/dpa/forms/gen50b-packet.pdf
Alaska Office of the Governor and Department of Health &Social Services (2011). Alaska State Plan for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program. Retrieved from http://dhss.alaska.gov/dpa/Documents/dpa/programs/atap/PDF/TANF_State_Plan_FY2010-2011_rev%206.2.11.pdf
Moffitt, R. (2008). A Primer on U.S. Welfare Reform. Focus, 26 (1), 15-26.
State of Arizona (2011). State Plan for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Retrieved from https://www.azdes.gov/InternetFiles/Reports/pdf/tanf_state_plan_august_2011.pdf
(June 2011). The AFCARS Report Preliminary FY 2010 Estimates as of June 2011 (18). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System.
In the summer of 1996, Congress finally passed and the President signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996", transforming the nation's welfare system. The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act sets the stage for ongoing reconstruction of welfare systems on a state-by-state basis. The combined programs will increase from nearly $100 billion this year to $130 billion per year in 6 years. Programs included are for food stamps, SSI, child nutrition, foster care, the bloss grant program for child- care, and the new block grant to take the place of AFDC. All of those programs will seek $700 billion over the next 6 years, from the taxpayers of America. This program in its reformed mode will cost $55 billion less than it was assumed to cost if there were no changes and the entitlements were left alone. The current welfare system has failed the very families it was intended to serve. If the present welfare system was working so well we would not be here today.
A review of family preservation and family reunification programs. (1995). Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/cyp/fpprogs.htm
Department of Homeland Security . "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process (Through Fiscal Year 2014, 1st Qtr)." 2014.
Programs like Unemployment, Medicare, and Social Security increase the number to roughly fifty percent. Granted that some of these programs are paid in programs, the number of people that are relying on government assistance is too high. In total, there are thirteen categories that fall under the title of Welfare (Federal Safety Net). These programs are put into place to provide things like cash, food, housing, medical benefits, social services, child services, and training. The main target of these programs is low-income Americans. Firstly, the unfair distribution of funds is a problem in more than one way. Individuals of families who are in real need may be receiving government assistance, but they would be getting more sufficient help if funds and resources were not so loosely spent. Another way in which funds are being unfairly distributed is the products and services obtained by recipients on welfare
It is a commonly known fact that a large percentage of Americans are living on and relying on welfare, which is a government program that provides financial aid to individuals or groups of people who cannot support themselves. Welfare began in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. There are several types of assistance offered by the government, which include healthcare, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment, cash aid, and housing assistance. The type of welfare and amounts given depend on the individual, and how many children they have. There are many people who honestly need the government assistance, but there are also many who abuse the privilege.
There are three aspects of the American Welfare System that includes social insurance programs, public assistance programs, and private or sector welfare. Each of these aspects
Welfare assistance itself is provided from monies managed by a federally funded program that provides health care, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment benefits, cash aid, and housing to citizens in need. It is categorized the governmental umbrella of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). According to Welfare Information, eligibility is determined by net income, family size, and any crisis situation such as: pregnancy, homelessness, or unemployment (2014). TANF also requires the recipient to obtain employment within two years of rec...
There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o...
States and localities became the primary authorities in regard to health and welfare benefits. While the states welcome the increase in policy flexibility, the rising costs of healthcare and welfare put constraints on state budgets. As a result, states and localities are being forced to become more creative. Although Medicaid continues to place an enormous fiscal burden on states, programs like Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have proven to be successful in terms of appropriately expanding benefits while reducing caseloads (Longest, 2010, pp. 30-33). States continue to serve as the primary distributors of social service benefits, but decreasing federal support, uncertain state economies, and the increasing need to provide long-term care to healthcare recipients are placing overwhelming burdens on states to maintain and expand existing programs.
Downs-Whitelaw, S., Moore, E., &McFadden, E. J. (2009). Child welfare and family services: Policies and practice, USA: Parson Education Inc.
Virginia Beach Department of Social Services. (2013). Child and family services state plan. Retrieved from
United States. U.S Department of Health & Human Services. Office of Child Care. Home | Administration for Children and Families. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
...ed that health problems and lack of affordable health care were barriers for many of the AFDC recipients to get off welfare. Clinton also wanted the states to play a wider role in the design of federal welfare programs. State and federal legislation now focused on personal responsibility, limiting stays on public assistance and imposing far more strict work requirements. These efforts to limit the federal role in services to the poor and to shift the responsibility to the states means that there are now fifty-one different welfare programs in the United States.
Temporary Aid to Needy Families also known as TANF provides aid such as income, child services, and social services to families in poverty temporarily (36 months max). TANF’s mission is to reduce the dependency of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and marriage. Medicaid provides health insurance and medical care for poor, needy or disabled people. Texas Supplemental