Was Welfare Reform the Right Approach to Poverty? Similar to a majority of children I grew up with in my neighborhood, my family had welfare. I, however, was not fully aware of the fact that what we had was any different than anyone else until my early teens. Food stamps, now referred to as the EBT card, is a center of controversy much like the selling of food stamps for cash was, years ago while growing up. Discovering that we were on welfare, and that we received handouts from the Government, became a secretive and embarrassing thing in order to ensure my sister and I to not get picked on within school. Today, neither I nor my younger sister use the Government for assistance in that way. Reading both of these viewpoints brought up valid arguments, however I feel that if I didn’t grow up on assistance from the Government, then it would be harder for me to decide who I side with. I feel that both viewpoints, one over the administration background and its shortcomings, and the other more detailed in what the Government has done to help the new system along, are extremely valid and if they could just both come together on a common ground overall, the outcome could be actual improvement. Menicmer’s account of Leoterra Clark’s life and struggle through the welfare system has a common theme within the Government. The Government has a mindset on doing what is most advantageous to and for the Government and thus the Government will ensure that everything is taken care of for everyone. Or at least this is the thought process I have viewed. Through this process some individuals get lost in the shuffle of things and when this occurs people do not see them as another human being trying to survive, but instead a burden on society and what America is supposed to mean. For the poverty stricken, the elderly or anyone else who must live off welfare for their daily activities through life and continuous progress, it seems as though it is a vicious circle that continues through a pile of administrative ups and downs. I recall different moments while growing up and reading the events of Clark’s life, that were similar to my mother’s. My mother worked 40 to 60 hours weeks up until she passed away at 49 from acute bacterial pneumonia, at a fast food job that needed to cut her hours to 30 sometimes 25 because she had medical problems. She attempted to get a better job, however due to the medical issues she had, some of the jobs didn’t accept her. She was afraid to have a doctor bill and refused to go to visit a doctor and have a bill to answer to, due to not enough hours at work to pay for the bills. I was her second child, while her first she had at 17 years old and was forced to give her up for adoption by my grandfather, but to family members. As her second child, she got pregnant with me while going to community college, mine and my younger sister’s father, 10 years her senior, although a man who worked, was in and out of mental institutions throughout his whole life, was abusive to her and an alcoholic. And contrary to the poverty stricken norm, they remained married, although separated for the last 10 of their 30 year life together, and he was around when he wasn’t in jail or a mental hospital. In short, I remember the day my mom called me to tell me that her food stamps were going to be cut down to $93.00 dollars a month for her and my younger sister, 14 at the time. By this time I was in the Army living thousands of miles away and 19 years old making half as much as I did when I was home helping my mom pay the bills. I worked three jobs during high school to help maintain the home, bills and vehicle I used to drive myself and my mother to work. The car I purchased while working 60 hours a week and going to school half time during senior year of high school was driven by me since my mom never drove before or owned a car. This background isn’t to support a sorrowful feeling about my upbringing, rather, to give a valid claim that people exist like Clark every day and while as a child I didn’t understand why my parents couldn’t be like other parents, as an adult I understand more and hope Clark’s daughter will see the whole picture as well.
I lived the poverty stricken life, the welfare life and have seen the backward paperwork rollercoaster the administration wants to have completed. There are people who cheat the system, who get by with lying and scheming to get a little more. However, while trying to put a hold on those people, it inevitably causes others who may actually need it to fall by the wayside. I agree with Menicmer’s viewpoints.