Welfare Reform

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Welfare Reform

"The U.S. Congress kicked off welfare reform nationwide last October with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, heralding a new era in which welfare recipients are required to look for work as a condition of benefits." http://www.detnews.com/1997/newsx/welfare/rules/rules.htm. Originally, the welfare system was created to help poor men, women, and children who are in need of financial and medical assistance. Over the years, welfare has become a way of life for its recipients and has created a culture of dependency. Currently, the government is in the process of reforming the welfare system. The welfare reform system’s objective was to get people off the welfare system and onto the job market. The hope was to move people from dependency to self-reliance. This new system has been termed as workfare.

Opposition to the new welfare reform system has occurred. Some believe that, "participation in a welfare-to-work program might create new problems for children by adding strains to family life or by exposing children to poor substitute care arrangements

for policies that design welfare-to-work programs that pursue the dual goals of economic self-sufficiency for families and healthy development of children." http://www.cyfernet.org/welfare/roleextprog/current.html.

"Welfare policies aimed at improving family circumstances for both children and parents must not make the error of focusing solely on parents; if the intention is to enhance the immediate and long-term development of both generations within the nuclear family, then policies must differentiate between youth and their parents."http://www.cyfernet.org/welfare/roleextprog/four_themes.html.

These issues have b...

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...d other Contributing Factors on Public Opinion. [ONLINE] Available: http://excellent.com.utk.edu/`mmmiller/jpr525.thompson.html [1996, Fall]

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: A New Approach to Welfare Funding. [ONLINE] Available: http://www.beaconhill.org/BHIStudies/TaxCredit.htm [1995, December]

Helping Welfare Recipients Stay Employed. [ONLINE] Available: http://www.nga.org/Welfare/EmploymentRetentionEmployed.htm

Serving Welfare recipients with Learning Disabilities in a Work First Environment. [ONLINE] Available: http://www.nga.org/Pubs/IssueBriefs/1998/9807281Learning.asp [1998, July 28]

Welfare and its Reformation to Workforce [ONLINE] Available: http://www.maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/eres/docs/eres/POLSC111_SHERRILL-TIEN/PoliSci%20Web3/13/00)ject.htm

Welfare Reform: Myth vs. Fact [ONLINE] Available:

http://www.urban.org/news/events/npc/myth/htm.

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