Public+Policy+-+Welfare

Type in the content of your page here. Anthony Rost Govt 2302 Welfare Everyone has heard of the word “welfare” before and in America it even used to be treated as a bad word and to some extent still does today. The reason for that is that welfare goes against some of our American beliefs and ideals. In socialistic countries welfare is well known and widely used. Most everyone in a socialist nation has at one time taken advantage of their governments’ role in welfare. In a socialist country that heavily relies on welfare for the citizens, usually quite a bit of public services are subsidized by the government such as healthcare. In America the welfare system is different. First of all, welfare was neither wide spread nor well-known before the Great Depression. The government soon saw that there was a problem. There were many families and individuals who were either un-employed, had a low income or was too old to work and provide for themselves. That is when the government decided to put forth legislation that would help the public. Their answer was the Social Security Act of 1935. Among many public and social services that this bill was designed to help, it was also intended to create new social services and welfare programs for Americans to take advantage of. Modern day examples of welfare include: Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps and government subsidized welfare checks to individuals with low-income who have children. Although it has been increasingly difficult since the start of the welfare program to actually get welfare benefits a significant amount of Americans take advantage of the program today. While the average time a person is able to take advantage of the welfare system can run from a couple of months to well over five years the welfare program never seems to run out of willing participants. While some Americans believe the welfare system is a vital tool in helping America to battle poverty, others believe that it gives those on the welfare program the wrong idea about the welfare system. For instance, if a person if on the welfare system and been in the program without complication for some time, that individual might not be obligated to try to follow a career path as to not burden the welfare system. Some also believe that this just gives way to more poverty in which case just creates a circle of poverty that is hard to get out of. The Welfare Reform Act of 1996, signed by Bill Clinton, which was more formally called the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, made the availability of Welfare even narrower than it had been in previous years. First of all, the bill set new limits and terms on availability and eligibility of individuals and families. In some cases, for a family to be eligible for welfare, they would have to, at the very least, be involved in some type of work activities. These work activities could be arranged from vocational education programs to community service. The bill also made it almost impossible for illegal immigrants to get any type of welfare help from the government. Ever since the Act was put in place there has been a significant decrease in the participation in the welfare system by the fastest growing cultural group, Latinos. Another example of changes made by the Welfare Reform Act was that everyone on food stamps was subject to re-certification requirements that were stricter and also made individuals subject to disapproval of help depending on their current situation. Even though large strides were made to make the welfare system fairer and more perceptive to scandals and individuals trying to take advantage of the system, it is still not as hard to get welfare help as some government officials would like. Many individuals and families that find themselves below the line of poverty can still find help through non-profit organizations that are founded just for the specific purpose of helping the poor and needy. Most of these companies can be found just by opening up your nearest phone book. If you are able to get access to the internet, there are even more opportunities and chances for those looking for help to find it. Among these, possibly the best cure to get out of poverty, are organizations that can quickly and effectively find jobs for those who found themselves either short changed by the welfare system of unable to qualify for welfare benefits. A significant number of these organizations deal with the elderly and the disabled who are unable to work and are not allowed to remain on the welfare system for as long as they would like. The organizations also deal with families with several children who are below the poverty line and are unable to provide and take-care of themselves. A large number of these organizations are committed to the general welfare of children and has helped children for many years to escape poverty and get a better education which can even mean for some young children the ability to go to college and receive a degree, something that was not thought possible by the children before. Ever since the Signing of the Social Security Act of 1935, the government has put more and more regulation and restrictions on the Welfare program. Regardless of the intention of the government, it appears as though some of their attempts to better the general welfare of the nations’ citizens have come short. While the first purpose of the welfare program, which was to help needy families in the time of the great depression to hopefully get back on their feet and make the economy strong again, the future consequences were not foreseen by the bills’ original signers. The welfare system, arguably, had a large impact on the country, whether it is good or bad, the only thing to do know is to ensure the welfare system is closely regulated and watched to make sure that the American taxpayers’ money is not wasted on those who wish to cheat the welfare system.