Drug tests for welfare recipients?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Drug tests for welfare recipients?
37
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 2:47pm

Do we give up our privacy when on the dole? Should welfare moms who have a drug problem be identified? What are the ramifications of random drug testing of the poor or unemployed?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/STATES_WELFARE_WITH_STRINGS?SITE=WBBMAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

States consider drug tests for welfare recipients

Want government assistance? Just say no to drugs.

Lawmakers in at least eight states want recipients of food stamps, unemployment benefits or welfare to submit to random drug testing.

The effort comes as more Americans turn to these safety nets to ride out the recession. Poverty and civil liberties advocates fear the strategy could backfire, discouraging some people from seeking financial aid and making already desperate situations worse.

Those in favor of the drug tests say they are motivated out of a concern for their constituents' health and ability to put themselves on more solid financial footing once the economy rebounds. But proponents concede they also want to send a message: you don't get something for nothing.

"Nobody's being forced into these assistance programs," said Craig Blair, a Republican in the West Virginia Legislature who has created a Web site - notwithmytaxdollars.com - that bears a bobble-headed likeness of himself advocating this position. "If so many jobs require random drug tests these days, why not these benefits?"

Blair is proposing the most comprehensive measure in the country, as it would apply to anyone applying for food stamps, unemployment compensation or the federal programs usually known as "welfare": Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Women, Infants and Children.

Lawmakers in other states are offering similar, but more modest proposals.

On Wednesday, the Kansas House of Representatives approved a measure mandating drug testing for the 14,000 or so people getting cash assistance from the state, which now goes before the state senate. In February, the Oklahoma Senate unanimously passed a measure that would require drug testing as a condition of receiving TANF benefits, and similar bills have been introduced in Missouri and Hawaii. A Florida senator has proposed a bill linking unemployment compensation to drug testing, and a member of Minnesota's House of Representatives has a bill requiring drug tests of people who get public assistance under a state program there.

A January attempt in the Arizona Senate to establish such a law failed.

In the past, such efforts have been stymied by legal and cost concerns, said Christine Nelson, a program manager with the National Conference of State Legislatures. But states' bigger fiscal crises, and the surging demand for public assistance, could change that.

"It's an example of where you could cut costs at the expense of a segment of society that's least able to defend themselves," said Frank Crabtree, executive director of the West Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Drug testing is not the only restriction envisioned for people receiving public assistance: a bill in the Tennessee Legislature would cap lottery winnings for recipients at $600.

There seems to be no coordinated move around the country to push these bills, and similar proposals have arisen periodically since federal welfare reform in the 1990s. But the appearance of a cluster of such proposals in the midst of the recession shows lawmakers are newly engaged about who is getting public assistance.

Particularly troubling to some policy analysts is the drive to drug test people collecting unemployment insurance, whose numbers nationwide now exceed 5.4 million, the highest total on records dating back to 1967.

"It doesn't seem like the kind of thing to bring up during a recession," said Ron Haskins, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "People who are unemployed, who have lost their job, that's a sympathetic group. Americans are tuned into that, because they're worried they'll be next."

Indeed, these proposals are coming at a time when more Americans find themselves in need of public assistance.

Although the number of TANF recipients has stayed relatively stable at 3.8 million in the last year, claims for unemployment benefits and food stamps have soared.

In December, more than 31.7 million Americans were receiving food stamp benefits, compared with 27.5 million the year before.

The link between public assistance and drug testing stems from the Congressional overhaul of welfare in the 1990s, which allowed states to implement drug testing as a condition of receiving help.

But a federal court struck down a Michigan law that would have allowed for "random, suspicionless" testing, saying it violated the 4th Amendment's protections against unreasonable search and seizure, said Liz Schott, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

At least six states - Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Virginia - tie eligibility for some public assistance to drug testing for convicted felons or parolees, according to the NCSL.

Nelson said programs that screen welfare applicants by assigning them to case workers for interviews have shown some success without the need for drug tests. These alternative measures offer treatment, but can also threaten future benefits if drug problems persist, she said.

They also cost less than the $400 or so needed for tests that can catch a sufficient range of illegal drugs, and rule out false positive results with a follow-up test, she said.

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Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 3:21pm

Once again, we're between the proverbial rock and hard place. Let's say mom keeps coming up positive for pot and loses her benefits. What happens to the children?


There is absolutely NO way to get people off of welfare using negative approaches. It HAS to be positive. You HAVE to educate. You have to make these people WANT to do better.


There is this knee-jerk reaction in this country that putting the screws to welfare recipients is going to make them 'straighten up and fly right'.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2009
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 3:25pm

Drug test for unemployed people?

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 3:44pm
What if a mom tests positive for crack?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 4:46pm

Until we force "sperm donors" to pay for their kids we will have Mothers on

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 4:56pm

What if the donors are behind bars?

Do we get donors college degrees, pardons, a home, work placement, energy assistance, food stamps and free food, until they are ready to handle things? We do this for women, why not men?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 5:04pm

I don't know if you mean they are in jail for failure to pay or for other crimes.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 5:11pm

Many children have fathers in prison. How should we treat those men?

Why would we be sexist and punish men, while protecting women, for the same action (being unable to provide support for children)?

Why not educate men, get them college degrees. While studying, why not provide them a home, food stamps, cash, phone, TV, energy, maybe a car. We do this for women who don't provide support for their kids.

Once fathers are educated with good jobs, they'll be able to step up and start providing support.

I've read in this thread that jobs at McDonald's are too demeaning for welfare moms. Yet somehow I also seem to read that even more demeaning jobs are to be inflicted on men. Why would we be sexist?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 5:50pm

I want to know what state provides all that you assunme?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 6:18pm
Connecticut.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
Thu, 03-26-2009 - 6:34pm
I just called my cousin's wife.

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