...Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Lindsey Holland Stark State College I myself am a Welfare recipient. Do I feel that it is discrimination by any means or any type of scrutiny to be asked to take a drug test to continue to receive public benefits? I guess you could look at it that way, but personally no. Until last month I also carried a full time job. I took a drug test to be able to start my job, and I was randomly tested to continue my employment there. Taxes were taken out of my paycheck, as they are for most people. These include Medicare and Federal taxes in which a certain percent is taken to provide public benefits for those whom are participants of Welfare. If I had to take a drug test to obtain and retain my employment, and had to pay out taxes, I think it would only make sense for those receiving the money coming out of my check to have to take a drug test as well. On the other hand, most jobs that require a drug test have a reasonable basis for doing so. Reasons like handling of food, operating heavy machinery, public interaction etc. Should Welfare recipients be drug tested? State Representative Sherman Mack R-Albany (“as Shuler has reported”, 2012 para. 21) explains that HB380 says that “the initial drug test be paid for by the state. If found to be an abuser, the individual would have to complete an education and rehabilitation program and take a subsequent drug test to show he or she is clean, at their own cost. Any participant who fails to complete...
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...Con Side Debate Summary Brittany Brock BCOM/275 January 15, 2014 Andrea Benjamin Should Welfare Recipients Be Drug Tested? Learning Team A had a discussion regarding welfare recipients. Should welfare recipients be drug tested? In view of the fact that every individual is entitled to their opinion, this discussion turned out to be a majestic debate. Some were against this while some were for it. Con Side of Debate There is a con side to this debate. Previously, part of learning team A felt that welfare recipients should be drug tested while some felt that they should not be drug tested. The con side of this debate has a little truth and a few logical points to the opinion stated as to why recipients should not be drug tested. Although Americans are drug tested for employment, applicants who apply for welfare should not be drug tested for government assistance. Why? Many feel that drug testing is unnecessary. By requesting a drug test, this can cause a conflict with society, which some people may think they are being stereotyped by the government. Some individuals felt that drug testing would be a huge hassle. This takes up a lot time. Drug testing for welfare approval can also be controversial because although you take a drug test prior to getting approved; recipients may decide to participate in drug use right after. Individuals could even try to get others to take their drug test. Individuals will other others applying for them...
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...deLacy Article Rebuttal Should Welfare Recipients be tested for Drugs? Author, David Vitter speculates on his beliefs that the testing of welfare recipients for drugs use is what America needs. He believes testing for drug user would “truly” help those in need of assistance from “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families” program renew welfare reform (‘Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested for Drugs?”.2011). Vitter base parts of his argument on the “Robert Wood Johnson Foundation” reporting in 2007 approximately 20% of TANF recipients report usage of an illegal drug at least once in the past year, and at least five percent admitted that they had a substance addiction, Vitter (2011). After I analyzing the reliability, credibility, and validity of the data used by the author, some information were withheld from Vitter’s writings of the “Robert Wood Johnson Foundation” also added that the use of drugs is not as widespread among TANF recipients as studies feared (Vitter, 2011). Vitter, also base parts of his argument on stats from the “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act saying it cut welfare money by 2.5 million dollars in 2002. Those numbers is the result of putting more people to work and found that more people are taking advantage of job training programs (Vitter, 2011). Vitter put this information in hoping that the reader will make the assumption that less money, so recipients have to go to work and the act is pushing people off welfare. Vitter use a form of logical...
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...parents are working to provide a better life for them. So why should we, the American population working hard hours give away our hard working money to drug users collecting welfare. Numerous people can argue and say that our tax money should be use elsewhere instead of giving it away. First of all, California has the highest amount of welfare recipients in the United States. One of the reasons is high is because California has a population of over 39 million people. Secondly, California does not require a criminal background or drug test for people needing...
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...Drug Testing: The Aid to Improving Our Welfare System By: Jennifer, Jacob, Kelsey, Mattie, and Devin Introduction Attention-getting remarks: Every single one of us in this class will one day have a job, and with that job we will be required to pay taxes. Have you ever thought about where the taxes we pay goes to and whether or not it’s going towards a helpful and productive cause? Thesis: Today we will break down the pros and cons of enforcing welfare recipients to be drug tested. Preview: Our group will inform you all about what welfare actually is, as well as reasons as to why some people believe it is a violation of their rights to be drug tested in order to receive welfare. More importantly, you will hear the opposing side of this issue, which is in favor of drug testing, along with reasons we believe it will benefit the welfare system. (First let’s get a better understanding of what welfare actually is.) Body I. Usually when one hears the word welfare, he thinks of public assistance. A. According to the welfare info website, welfare can also be characterized as a financial assistance to needy individuals, which is supplied through the taxes paid by the working society. (welfareinfo) 1. It also improves the quality of life and standards of living for the poor. II. Now that we all understand what welfare is, let’s look at the pros and cons of enforcing drug testing to receive this assistance. A. As said by Florida’s Governor Rick...
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...Should drug testing be mandatory to receive welfare? Americans face tough challenges in life, and some may have to apply for financial aid for federal or state funding through rough times such has lost of job or current job not providing enough money pay the bills. Those who do receive assistance, should they be drug tested? There are several Americans who will agree with the drug testing because they feel their tax dollars are being wasted on those who do not qualify for assistance. The welfare program is there to help those in need. The ones that are suffering due to lack of employment or lay off should be receiving the assistance. There are several families out there struggling but the parents are causing their struggle because of drugs. Many people decide that drugs are more important than their families because they are so addicted to the drug. If drug users can afford to pay for their drugs, than why can’t they also afford their own food? A person should put their own life and safety and as well as their family before they purchase any drugs. If they decide to buy drugs, than they are not in much need for TANF, food stamps, or any other federal or state assistance. If they take a drug test and fail the test, the state should have their own laws and take action for the safety of the family. This could mean more children in foster or shelters due to the parents lack of judgment of what is important. One in six Americans are relying on government anti-poverty programs...
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...Drug Testing Welfare Recipients: A Wise Choice Robert Denson ENG1420 Mr. A. Hewlett 10 February 2015 The national welfare system was created in 1935 to provide federal aid to the elderly, disabled and qualifying single mothers during the Great Depression (Costly, 2015). Public housing assistance, the Food Stamp Program and Medicare are examples of state programs available to assist families in need. Welfare, undoubtedly, is an essential source of assistance for many under privileged families. In recent years, some states have enacted drug testing for welfare recipients. This action has raised the question if it’s unfair search and seizure, other words, unconstitutional (Fourth Amendment to The United States Constitution, n.d.), or does it really discourage suspected drug abuse Many Americans agree there needs to be a reformation to the Welfare act and how the assistance should be utilized by its recipients. Opponents argue that the children will bear the brunt of the drug testing policy and it will cost more than it saves (Drug-Testing & The TANF Program, n.d.). The children depend on the adults to receive the benefits on their behalf, but when those benefits are being traded for drugs and/or cash to purchase drugs, there is no benefit. Discontinuing benefits to individuals who test positive for illegal substances would allow those funds to be returned to the state and federal budgets. In return, those unused funds will aid in balancing the state’s budget and...
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...Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients "I'm not downing the welfare system; I just believe that it should be reserved for emergency situations, like people losing their jobs because of the economy and the disabled." Ranee brings up a point that many Americans agree with. The modern welfare system began during the great depression and has grown ever since. Many Americans have become concerned that the welfare system is hugely abused and a majority of the money goes to drugs and alcohol, and that welfare recipients should be drug tested in order to receive benefits. While this seems like a logical idea, many argue that testing them would cost more and can be unconstitutional to the welfare user. Drug testing should be required of welfare users. Primarily, Ranee...
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...Welfare Drug Testing COMM/215 Welfare Drug Testing Welfare was originally designed to help out poor families in need. Throughout the years, there have been issues with people taking advantage of the system. The government has made efforts to try to help welfare recipients to get a job instead of seeing welfare as a lifestyle. The next step government should take is to drug test welfare recipients. If a person has enough money to get his or her drugs; he or she should have enough money to support their family. It is unfair for us tax payers to support other people’s family and addiction. It is clear that drug testing welfare recipients would benefit not only the system, but also recipients themselves, and tax payers. One of the first benefits the system would get by drug testing welfare recipients is decrease the number of people who take advantage of it. I personally know people who get all the government help they can without having a real need. I had a coworker whose husband would sell their food stamps in order to get his marijuana and other drugs. My coworker had 5 kids and would get about $800 worth of food stamps, plus WIC, plus section 8, and plus cash aid. She made sure she only worked enough hours not to go over the low-income limit requirements. Of course hours where available for her, but why would she get tired and work more when she can get more money by not doing much? And just like her, there are many people who do this. I think if a person is healthy he...
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... Persuasive Essay Welfare was originally designed to help out poor families in need. Throughout the years, there have been issues with people taking advantage of the system. The government has made efforts to try to help welfare recipients to get a job instead of seeing welfare as a lifestyle. The next step government should take is to drug test welfare recipients. If a person has enough money to get his or her drugs; he or she should have enough money to support their family. It is unfair for us tax payers to support other people’s family and addiction. It is clear that drug testing welfare recipients would benefit not only the system, but also recipients themselves, and tax payers. One of the first benefits the system would get by drug testing welfare recipients is decrease the number of people who take advantage of it. I personally know people who get all the government help they can without having a real need. I had a coworker whose husband would sell their food stamps in order to get his marijuana and other drugs. My coworker had 5 kids and would get about $800 worth of food stamps, plus WIC, plus section 8, and plus cash aid. She made sure she only worked enough hours not to go over the low-income limit requirements. Of course hours where available for her, but why would she get tired and work more when she can get more money by not doing much? And just like her, there are many people who do this. I think if a person is healthy he or she should have no problems getting...
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...Drug Testing Welfare Applicants Whitney Robinson Ivy Tech Community College Jill Kelly-Koren Abstract This paper will explore online articles and websites that have information about welfare benefits. The websites will cover how much money people receive in benefits each year, how many states already passed a bill to drug test, and other states trying to start drug testing. All the positive and negative things of drug testing welfare recipients will be listed and given proper reasons. It will include why it is a good thing that each person starts getting drug tested and some of the faults of drug testing. The audience will learn how welfare assistance works and help them decide their opinion on the topic. Drug Testing Welfare Applicants There was a saying during the Great Depression that “It used to be when a man was down on his luck, he went west. Now, he goes on welfare (Besonen).” In the 1930’s there were programs created to give the masses suffering from a protracted economic collapse some form of relief (Besonen). These programs were intended to be temporary relief for a person without a job. These programs included Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment relief, and more. Since then there have been many medical advances in the world and people live a lot longer than they used to because they can get the help that they need. More than 40 million people in the United States are receiving Welfare Benefits as of this year. These benefits include food stamps...
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... Karwatsky Freshman Seminar, Per. 1 23 October 2014 The Welfare System The United States is one of the many countries that has a welfare system. This program is both beneficial and a disadvantage. Some people abuse the welfare system simply because they do not want to work. If a person applies for welfare, he/she should be anonymously tested for drugs and alcohol. Welfare generally refers to government programs that provide needy people with money, medical care, food, housing, and other necessities (Garfinkle). There are many different types of welfare programs. A common welfare program in Pennsylvania is known as SSI. This is a program that supplies people who are disabled to work. Food stamps are also a well-known...
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...receive welfare from the government. States have proposed drug testing of applicants and recipients of public welfare benefits since federal welfare reform in 1996. It began to pick up speed in 2011. At least 18 states introduced proposals or had carryover bills that would require drug screening or testing for public assistance applicants and/or recipients in 2014.This has actually passed in some states, but it has been difficult for some to pass this. Unsurprisingly, there is an outrage by those who receive welfare. There are those that say that if you can be drug tested for a job, you should for welfare because you are still receiving money, like you would in a job. I think that the most reliable resource available to learn more about the implications of this law would be by reading the proposed legislation. Being aware of what is being done and said will highly help. Just standing on the sidelines and not actually acting is what can make the effects worse by doing nothing. Also, by having a meeting or some type of communication between the head of the organization and the senator that is proposing this legislation to help clarify any issues and even help to improve on the legislation that is being proposed. Other reliable resources could be other agencies that have dealt with similar laws in their areas, and how they coped with implementing this if it does pass into law. In the beginning of 2014, Florida recently tried to pass a bill to have all the recipients tested...
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...argued why welfare drug testing is not beneficial of our countries time and money. I discussed the reasons for why welfare drug testing shouldn't be allowed anymore. The reasons are its a tremendous cost and its being wasted with tax payers money, it is unconstitutional, and children should not have to be involved with their parents' addictions. I arranged my essay with different argument tactics to display my argument. I used many different examples to display my stance on the issue such as, its unethical, and its a waste of tax payers dollars. However I came up with solutions to solve this problem. One...
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...Testing Legislation The subject of our debate is whether or not public assistance recipients should be required to pass a mandatory drug test as a qualifying standard. There are currently twenty seven states considering some type of legislation this year that would require anybody wishing to receive public assistance to pass a drug test in order to do so. While on the surface this type of policy seems to make sense in order to regulate where a state uses its funds, there are many who see this practice as unconstitutional. The controversy surrounding the legality of this proposed legislation centers around a U.S. Supreme court ruling that states that searches conducted without reasonable suspicion violated safeguards set forth by the 4th amendment. It categorized random drug testing as an unconstitutional search under this ruling except in cases where there is a “special need”. It is this “special need” classification that seems to be the sticking point for both sides of the debate. Those who favor the legislation say the fact they are applying for public assistance qualifies them to be legally tested for narcotics while the people that oppose it argue the opposite. Another point of controversy has been the overall cost effectiveness of the program in states where it is already in effect. In Florida currently two percent of all people tested as a requirement to receive public assistance have tested positive for drugs. The ninety eight percent that passed are fully reimbursed for...
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