RestrictionsBefore Federal Aid?

By:Deborah Standard

• Welfare is the organized public or private social services for the assistance of disadvantaged groups.

• Aid could include general Welfare payments, health care through Medicaid, food stamps, special payments for pregnant women and young mothers, and federal and state housing benefits.

What is Welfare/Federal Aid?

Types of Assistance• TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy

Families

• SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

• WIC (Women, Infants, and Children)

• Cash Assistance• Medicaid• Section 8 Assistance

• In 1994, Caucasians made up 38% of all welfare recipients, African Americans 37% and Hispanics 17%.

Welfare Demographics

Whites 38.8% Black 39.8% Hispanic 15.7% Asian 2.4% Other 3.3%

Who gets Federal Assistance

Total number of Americans on Welfare4,300,000

Total number of Americans on food stamps46,700,000

Total number of Americans on unemployment5,600,00

U.S population on Welfare 4.1%

Total government spending on Welfare◦ $131.9 BILLION!!!

Welfare Statistics

More Statistics• In 2011, Americans spent over $950 billion in state

and federal funds on various welfare programs.

• A person can still make a monthly amount of $1,000.00 and still receive welfare.

• "Among the major means tested welfare programs, since 2000 Medicaid has increased from 34 million people to 54 million in 2011 and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) from 17 million to 45 million in 2011," says the Senate Budget Committee.

• "Spending on food stamps alone is projected to reach $800 billion over the next decade."

Cash assistance program with a maximum of 60 months of benefits within one’s lifetime

Average number of monthly applications◦ 306,684

Average number of application approved◦ 135,198

Average number of applications denied◦ 171,486

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

The average size of recipient household is 2.1 persons

Children make up 45% of food stamps

92% of SNAP households receive no TANF benefits

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

WIC is limited to pregnant women and children under the age of 5.

Participants receive vouchers that are good for only the purchase of specific food;◦ Cheese, milk, eggs and certain breakfast

cereals Some might also include peanut butter,

baby formula, baby food, bread, brown rice, fruits and vegetables and 100% juice.

Women, Infants, Children

• Drug testing will reveal recipients who are wasting taxpayers' money on drugs.

• Drug testing will require recipients to stay free of drug use, making them employable.

• Possibly save children who are in unhealthy home environments (47% of SNAP household have children)

Welfare Recipients SHOULD be Drug Tested!

http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/MENU/Published/snap/FILES/Participation/2011Characteristics.pdf Table 3.2

Save Tax Payer Money

Based on total government spending on Welfare

$131.9 BILLION

Even if the number of abusers were only 5% that could translate into a savings of $6,595,000,000.00

By using drug testing criteria:

* We could offer information on drug / alcohol programs, and expedite treatment

•Regain a productive • citizen

•* Restore families

•*Reduce social • dependency

Map of 2012 State Legislative Proposals

"If you have enough money to be able to buy drugs, then you don't need the public assistance, I don't want tax dollars spent on drugs.”

Of unemployed persons, 18.5% use illicit drugs

Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI) has an accuracy rate between 89-97%.◦ This can distinguish between drug users and

abusers, and can detect alcohol abuse. In 2011, America spent over $950,000,000

in state and federal funds on various welfare programs

The Department of Transportation implemented an industry-wide program of random drug testing; it effectively cut drug use rate almost in half, from 11.5% in 1988 down to 6.2% in 2004.

The bill is unconstitutional and stereo-typical.

If recipients fail drug tests and become ineligible for assistance, their children will suffer as the ending result.

The costs involved with drug testing (including employees to monitor drug tests and the drug test itself) would result in even more money from taxpayers and the states.

Welfare Recipients SHOULD NOT be drug tested!

These rates among welfare recipients were similar to national estimates derived from the NLAES survey .

Contrary to common characterizations of the welfare population as havingalcohol and drug problems, the results of this study indicate that small percentages of AFDC, WIC, food stamp, SSI, and Medicaid recipients are

•heavy drinkers (6.4% to 13.8%),•use drugs (3.8% to 9.8%),•dependent on alcohol (4.3% to 8.2%)•other drugs (1.3% to 3.6%).

These rates among welfare recipients were similar to national estimatesderived from the NLAES survey .

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1380660/pdf/amjph00521-0108.pdf

http://www.newser.com/story/144300/welfare-drug-tests-cost-florida-46k.html

Drug tests can cost anywhere from $35-$76◦ The cost of catching a drug abuser can cost

anywhere from $20,000 to $77,000 per person. For every 1,000 to take the test, the state will pay

about $28,800-$43,200 monthly”

Chemical drug tests cannot identify alcohol or prescription drug abuse, but rather only specific chemical for which samples are tested.◦ These cannot identify between occasional

substance users and substance abusers.

Drug testing is unconstitutional◦ The Fourth Amendment grants that every

individual “be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Because TANF benefits are so low (less than 1/3 the poverty level in the median state), children suffer even when only the "adult portion" of the benefit is eliminated.

Food For Thought

Works Citedstatisticshttp://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/ 

statisticshttp://save.lovetoknow.com/Welfare_Statistics 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/business_comparing_welfare_states/html/2.stm

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/files/govtsoclaw.html 

http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/09/census-data-high-immigrant-participation-on-welfare-rolls/ 

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/census-bureau-shocking-poverty-stats 

pros and conshttp://voicepopstar.hubpages.com/hub/Pros-and-Cons-for-Drug-Testing-Welfare-Recipents 

http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/testing-welfare-recipients-drugs.html 

http://ramblingsofaquietman.blogspot.com/2012/11/pros-and-cons-of-mandatory-drug-testing.html 

http://www.michaelshouse.com/blog/drug-testing-for-welfare-recipients-pros-and-cons/ 

http://myesoteric.hubpages.com/hub/Drug-Testing-Welfare-Recipients-Fair-or-Not 

pros and cons opposing view pointshttp://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010238286 

pros and cons opposing view pointshttp://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010238287 

http://motorgasm.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/breakdown-of-2011-u-s-federal-budget-78-5-billion-cut-from-military-fine-arts-and-unused-funding-for-federal-highway-election-reform-and-other-programs/

http://voices.yahoo.com/legal-ethical-issues-workplace-drug-testing-2635122.html?cat=17 

http://www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform/drug-testing-public-assistance-recipients-condition-eligibility 

http://www.cadillacnews.com/news_story/?story_id=1798269&year=2012&issue=20120121

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-17/welfare-food-stamps-drug-testing-laws/53306804/1 

http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/testing-welfare-recipients-drugs.html 

charts of welfare spendinghttp://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/over-100-million-now-receiving-federal-welfare_649589.html 

http://www.myheritage.org/news/how-the-governments-misleading-poverty-statistics-drive-welfare-spending/ 

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-welfareblack.htm 

http://theobamacrat.com/2012/06/19/update-welfare-recipients-which-race-gets-more-benefits/ 

welfare statisticshttp://www.ehow.com/about_4675101_welfare-statistics.html 

http://www.examiner.com/article/welfare-monies-used-for-sex-alcohol-tobacco-and-guns 

facts and statsisticshttp://www.ncsacw.samhsa.gov/resources/resources-research.aspxNational Public Radio sourcehttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125387528

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMRLXIvCXbE

http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/drug-testing-and-public-assistance.aspx

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1380660/pdf/amjph00521-0108.pdf

http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-someone-receiving-welfare-be-drug-tested

http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/MENU/Published/snap/FILES/Participation/2011Characteristics.pdf

http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/2012/01/Census_2010_SNAP_Data.pdf

should welfare recipients be testedhttp://www.usgovernmentspending.com/welfare_spending