Welfare Flaws in California

The California Welfare System was created to help those with a problem.  But today the system has its flaws.  The welfare system was created to help those who were in need of help for a short period of time but, California changed that.  According to an article by Meg Whitman, California has 32% of all welfare cases in the United States but only accounts for 12% of the population.  We are one  of the 10 states that do not follow the federal guidelines that cut off welfare after the five-year limit is over.  Welfare recipients in California can continue to get the cash benefit as long as they want.  Because of this, people choose to stay on welfare rather than obtaining a real job.  This is a major problem in the state of California.  We lack the resources necessary to help people obtain jobs and leave the welfare system.  Whitman says in her article that if we become stricter with adult welfare applicants and enforce the job requirement stricter, then the caseloads would decrease and the problems will subside.  I agree that we need to change the system and I believe we need to reinstate the five year limit on the cash benefits. 

Another problem with the welfare system that was recently discovered was the use of the EBT cards in casinos and poker rooms along with cruises.  The cash assistance program requires recipients to work 32 hours a week but they are taking cruises and going on vacations and withdrawing money on the cruise ships with their EBT debit cards.  Young said that more than $69 million was withdrawn between April 2007 and October 2010. This went on for an astonishing 3 years before anything was done.   They stopped allowing withdraws from EBT cards on cruises recently.  Monitoring needs to be in effect on how money is being spent by TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients.

  

 According to an article by Jack Dolan, “California welfare recipients using state-issued debit cards withdrew more than $1.8 million in taxpayer cash on casino floors between October 2009 and last month.”  They are spending the money that is supposed to help their families in casinos gambling it away.  I cannot believe it took them over a year to find out about this problem.  The governor signed a policy that stops them from withdrawing the money at casinos.  We need to monitor things like this more closely so it doesn’t happen again.  

References:

Dolan, Jack.  California welfare recipients withdrew $1.8 million at casino ATMs over eight months.

                June 25, 2010. October 29, 2010.

     http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/25/local/la-me-welfare-casinos-20100625

Whitman, Meg.  Meg Whitman: California’s Flawed Welfare System. Jan 29, 2010. October 29, 2010.

     http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-231645--.html

Young, Susan.  California Cuts Off Welfare Debit Cards on Cruise Ships. Oct. 5, 2010. October 29,

                2010.

                http://www.travelagentcentral.com/california/california-cuts-welfare-debit-cards-cruise-ships

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Women, Infants, and Children WIC program

The Women, Infants, and Children program also known as WIC is part of the welfare system.  It is different than the Food Stamp Program in that it targets populations that are low-income and nutritionally at risk.

There are four criteria according to the Food and Nutrition Service Website that must be met to qualify for the WIC benefits. 

1.       Categorical

2.       Residential

3.       Income

4.       Nutritional Risk

With the categorical criteria there are certain rules for women, infants, and children.

Women -- pregnant (during pregnancy and up to 6 weeks after the birth of an infant or the end of the
   pregnancy)
-- postpartum (up to six months after the birth of the infant or the end of the pregnancy)
-- breastfeeding (up to the infant's first birthday)

Infants (up to the infant's first birthday)

Children (up to the child's fifth birthday)

With the residential criteria they must live in the state in which they apply.

With the income criteria with a family of four they cannot make more than $40,000 a year.  They automatically meet the income criteria if they receive or qualify for  one of the following: SNAP program, the TANF program  or Medicaid.

With the nutritional risk criteria according to the website:

“Nutrition risk" means that an individual has medical-based or dietary-based conditions.  Examples of medical-based conditions include anemia (low blood levels), underweight, or history of poor pregnancy outcome.  A dietary-based condition includes, for example, a poor diet.
At a minimum, the applicant's height and weight must be measured and blood work taken to check for anemia.
An applicant must have at least one of the medical or dietary conditions on the State's list of WIC nutrition risk criteria.”

Because they are of low-income many of the women may not be able to buy foods that are nutritionally valuable and then the children are born with a low birth- weight and need nutritionalhelp.  This is the most important criteria because without a nutrition risk then there is no need to apply for the WIC program.  

WIC is an important program that is part of our welfare system.  It helps women, infants, and children with their nutritional needs and also helps the women learn what foods are better for them and their children after they are no longer eligible to receive the aid.  Because of this I believe that all families that qualify for the food stamp program SNAP that have children under age 5 should participate in WIC so that they learn the nutritional value of food and do not go off buying non-nutritional food  for their children as they get older.

Works cited:

Food and Nutrition Service Website: Women, Infants, and Children.

                http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/

 

Food Stamps

Food stamps are a big part of the welfare system.  The new name for the Federal Food Stamp program is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program aka SNAP.  There were about 33,489,975 people receiving food stamps in the 2009 Fiscal Year.

Who is eligible to receive food stamps through SNAP?  Everyone who lives together and purchases and prepares meals together is grouped together as one household according to the Food and Nutrition Service website.   

There are restrictions to those eligible for food stamps.

·         The household must not gross more than $2000 dollars a month.  

·         Those receiving SSI and TANF benefits do not count the money received as income.

·         They cannot have more than $2000 in resources such as savings accounts, and values of cars.

There are work requirements for those applying for food stamps.  Those between the ages of 18 and 50 anddo not have any dependent children can get SNAP benefits only for 3 months in a 36-month period if they do not work or participate in a workfare or employment and training program other than job search says the Food and Nutrition Service website.

There are problems with the food stamp program.  According to an article by Rebecca Moore, some problems with food stamps are: fraud, misconceptions, difficult paperwork, employer involvement, and ineligibility.

Fraud problems: there are two primary forms of fraud; submitting false information on applications and trafficking (buying and selling food stamp benefits for money or unauthorized items).  Getting rid of the paper food stamps will stop the trafficking of the food stamps.  Fraud from submitting false info will always be a problem.

Misconceptions: people believe that food stamps are for the uneducated and the poor but in reality it is there to help those who are working that need a little more help putting food on the table.  Many people will not apply because they feel ashamed.  We need better information out so people do not feel ashamed to ask for help when they need it. 

 Difficult paperwork: The process of filing forms needs to be shortened as well as the number of pages in an application.  The SNAP Program needs the renewing process to be simpler by making the applicant update information rather than fill out a whole new form.  Ineligibility is also a problem those who have a car worth over $4800 are not eligible even if the car is paid off or they are making payments.  A car counts as an asset and without a car the person may not be able to get to work so selling it would give them temporary money but a loss of transportation.  This rule needs to be modified. 

Employer involvement: many people do not want their employer or other employees to know that they are receiving food stamp benefits.  The employer must fill out a job verification form.  Since these people are working we should create a form that just says income verification and not say what it is for so that those in need will not feel ashamed when they ask for verification.

We need to change the program so that everyone is comfortable and able to receive these benefits if they need them.

Works Cited:

Food and Nutrition Service Website: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

            http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/eligibility.htm#employment.

Moore, Rebecca.  Problems with Food Stamps. Sept. 11, 2009.

            http://www.ehow.com/about_5374987_problems-food-stamps.html

TANF: Temporary Assistance For Needy Families

                The government assistance program  known as Welfare, does prove to help those in need, but also has its flaws .  The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was created in 1996 and was created to help families become self-sufficient. This program is a part of Welfare. TANF is a cash assistance program with a maximum of 60 months of benefits received within one's lifetime.  Most recipients are required to spend a minimum of 30 hours per week in various work readiness activities, including  holding a job, applying for jobs, or participating in job training.  According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, between 2008 and 2009 the number of recipients for the TANF aid had increased by almost 400,000.  The number from March 2009 to March 2010 has increased by almost 400,000 and is continuing to rise.  TANF is considered the strictest of all public assistance programs and most people who are receiving food stamps, Medicaid, or rental assistance do not qualify for cash payments through TANF.

                 

According to a study by Altman, the largest problem associated with TANF is that its own rules are effectively holding recipients back from gaining a postsecondary education, due to the lack of time or incentive to get a better job.  There is a “catch-22” of choosing between a job that could potentially lead to financial independence, and the benefits held in TANF leading to a sense of helplessness and a lack of empowerment.  Many recipients would rather keep the low paying jobs and receive TANF benefits, than looking for higher paying jobs and losing the benefits.  Also, many recipients cannot afford to receive higher training or education because TANF requires them to work 35 hours a week.  According to Lens, the TANF program no longer helps with transportation to work, and many single parents have to find child care.

              

 The TANF program was intended to help the recipients become self-sufficient; however  it forces them to stay below the poverty line to receive benefits.  We need to create a program that allows them to go to school and work and have child care so that they can improve their lives.  

Works cited:

Altman, J., & Goldberg, G. (2008). Rethinking Social Work’s Role in Public Assistance. Journal of   

          Sociology & Social Welfare, 35(4), 71-94

Lens, V. (2002). TANF: What Went Wrong and What to Do Next. Social Work, 47(3), 279-290 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/

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