Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on welfare reform
Welfare policy in the United States cram
Essay on welfare reform
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay on welfare reform
Welfare reforms are changes in the operation of a given welfare system. Changes to welfare policy did not transpire until the 1990’s, the most recent changes have been the Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and food stamps. It was during the 1930’s that welfare programs were implementing additional welfare benefits, this included Supplemental Security Income. S.S.I allowed citizens who are aged or disabled the ability to receive monthly checks. The funds for these checks is taken from the United States Treasury to ensure a standard nationwide rate. Medicaid is the largest government welfare program that provides benefits other than money for anyone in need. The program was enacted in 1965 as n amendment to the Social Security Act
of 1935. It starts with a state receiving federal money if it furnishes additional financing and administers a medical program for the poor that reaches federal standards. States have the ability to establish their own methods of factoring an applicant’s income to determine whether the applicant qualifies for aid. Medicaid was designed to make the quality of private medical care available to the needy. The federal government provides food to those in need through the use of the Food Stamp welfare program. This program has been the most significant food plan in the United States since 1964. Individuals or households can exchange the food stamps at authorized stores like money. Some states use electronic banking cards, to make the process of using food stamps easier. The federal government pays for the amount of the food stamps received, but the state pays for the process of determining who qualifies and for distributing the stamps. The 1930’s was a time of economic depression, which made welfare assistance difficult on the financial resources of the states. The New Deal policies initiated the federal government to enact several programs similar to the Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and food stamps to further help those in need. This showed signs of progress until word spread that these programs created a dependency on the government. They discouraged citizens from leaving the welfare programs and finding employment, many fearful of losing the quality benefits.
Hays found that initially most welfare workers were optimistic and even excited about the changes. Most workers felt that the Act represented real progress and allowed for positive changes which would positively impact the lives of their clients. Hays spoke to one welfare who said that welfare reform “offered the training and services necessary to 'make our clients' lives better, to make them better mothers, to make them more productive.'” But as she was soon to find out, welfare reform, while it did have a positive impact on the lives of some welfare clients, made the lives of most clients more difficult, not to mention the stress that it caused for the welfare workers who had to deal with the often confusing and illogical new rules.
There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o...
In the summer of 1996, Congress finally passed and the President signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996", transforming the nation's welfare system. The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act sets the stage for ongoing reconstruction of welfare systems on a state-by-state basis. The combined programs will increase from nearly $100 billion this year to $130 billion per year in 6 years. Programs included are for food stamps, SSI, child nutrition, foster care, the bloss grant program for child- care, and the new block grant to take the place of AFDC. All of those programs will seek $700 billion over the next 6 years, from the taxpayers of America. This program in its reformed mode will cost $55 billion less than it was assumed to cost if there were no changes and the entitlements were left alone. The current welfare system has failed the very families it was intended to serve. If the present welfare system was working so well we would not be here today.
Welfare is a federally funded program that provides health care, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment, cash aid, and housing that is under the umbrella of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). Per Welfare Information, eligibility is determined by net income, family size, and any crisis situation such as: pregnancy, homelessness, and unemployment. TANF also requires the recipient to obtain employment within two years of receiving help (2014). A majority of the monies that support Welfare come from taxes paid by the working class and donations from private companie...
The history of welfare goes all the way back to the roman empire when the first emperor gave citizens food that could not afford it. Then, social welfare was enlarged in china the song dynasty government supported many programs that made retirement homes, clinics and the welfare system for the poor. In 1601 the first welfare systems in europe that provided food for the poor. This system then moved its way into bigger countries such as germany and great britain. This expanded to the United States in the time of the Great Depression when president Roosevelt introduced the New Deal that focused on public spending projects instead of cash payments. The Social security act was amended in 1939.
What exactly is Medicaid? Medicaid is the largest health insurance in the United States, and it services many low-income families. This government health program is state regulated and varies among states due to having their own guidelines. Medicaid was signed into law on July the 30th, 1965. Medicaid’s guidelines come from the old Welfare law. “Medicaid has never matched that of food stamps, for which eligibility standards are linked to financial need alone. As Smith and Moore explains, the federal government, using its extraordinary demonstration powers under section 1115 of the Social Security Act, has allowed states to experiment with “decategorization” over the years, but Medicaid’s statutory bar against coverage of poor adults remains perhaps its most obvious failure” (Rosenbaum). Regardless of the many faults of this programs design, Medicaid helps close to 60 million low-income families in the United States. The people it helps would include: pregnant women, young children and their parents, the disabled, and the elderly, and other members of society that have low income. Medicaid is involved in many pregnancies and newborn care from a financial standpoint. It allows parents to have medical care for the child while in a low-income household. Medicaid has a huge impact on each states health systems and is used in a wide variety of ways.
In today’s America, there are many people who would either be disgusted at the very mention of Welfare or be highly grateful for its existence. I believe that in order for welfare to be more effective in America, there must be reform. From the time of its inceptions in 1935, welfare has lent a helping hand to many in crisis (Constitution Rights Foundation). However, at present many programs within the system are being abused and the people who are in real need are being cheated out of assistance. The year after the creation of welfare unemployment was just about twenty percent (Unemployment Statistics). The need for basic resources to survive was unparallel. Today, many people face the same needs as many did during the 30s. Some issues with
Welfare assistance itself is provided from monies managed by a federally funded program that provides health care, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment benefits, cash aid, and housing to citizens in need. It is categorized the governmental umbrella of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). According to Welfare Information, eligibility is determined by net income, family size, and any crisis situation such as: pregnancy, homelessness, or unemployment (2014). TANF also requires the recipient to obtain employment within two years of rec...
Implemented (along with Medicare) as a part of the Social Security Amendments of 1965, Medicaid’s original purpose was to improve the health of the working poor who might otherwise go without medical care for themselves and their families. Medicaid also assisted low income seniors with cautionary provisions that paid for the costs of nursing facility care and other medical expenses such as premiums and copayments that were not covered through Medicare. Eligibility for Medicaid is usually based on the family’s or individual’s income and assets. When the ACA came into effect in 2010, it began to work with the states to develop a plan to better coordinate the two ...
Since the Welfare reform law was introduced in 1996 it has impacted American society greatly. The new welfare policy, named the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), replaced the Aid to Family and Dependent Children (AFDC) program; they have five known differences that only affect the ones who need the assistance. Critics argue that the TANF has negatively impacted the society while some argue that it has not. Linda Burnham, author of “Welfare Reform, Family Hardship & Woman of Color,” asserts that “welfare reform has increased the hardship faced by many women leaving welfare for work and their movement into low-wage jobs, exposes them to higher level of housing insecurities, homelessness, food insecurity, and hunger.” She also argues that women of color “are especially vulnerable to the negative impact of welfare reform” (38).
In 1965 President Johnson signed both Medicare and Medicaid programs into law (Nile, 2011). According to Medical news today, “Medicare is a social insurance program that serves more than 44 million enrollees as of 2008” (MediLexicon International Ltd, 2011, para2). It cost about $432 billion or 3.2% of GDP, as of 2007(par2).Medicare is broken down into parts, Part A is hospital Insurance Part B is medical Insurance, and Part D is Medicare prescription drug coverage (medicare.gov). Like we previously stated Medicare is a health insurance for people who are 65 and older, people under 65 with certain disabilities, and people of any age with End- Stage Renal Disease. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program of medical assistance for low income persons (Benefit.gov). It is administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) and Illinois Department of Public Aid (IDPA). Medicaid serves about 40 million people as of 2007; it cost $330 billion, or 2.4% of GDP, in 2007.(par.2) “In Illinois you may be eligible for Medicaid if you are a child, pre...
Welfare has been a safety net for many Americans, when the alternative for them is going without food and shelter. Over the years, the government has provided income for the unemployed, food assistance for the hungry, and health care for the poor. The federal government in the nineteenth century started to provide minimal benefits for the poor. During the twentieth century the United States federal government established a more substantial welfare system to help Americans when they most needed it. In 1996, welfare reform occurred under President Bill Clinton and it significantly changed the structure of welfare. Social Security has gone through significant change from FDR’s signing of the program into law to President George W. Bush’s proposal of privatized accounts.
Medicare was designed for beneficiaries sixty five years and older and enrollees who are permanently disabled and are unable to work. Medicare benefits are applied for at the Social Security office, where proof of eligibility is required. Medicaid however is health care benefits for those who are low income and do not have insurance through their job (Medicare.gov, 2008).
Medicare and Medicaid are programs that have been developed to assist Americans in attainment of quality health care. Both programs were established in 1965 and are federally supported to provide health care coverage to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, the disabled, and people with low incomes. Both Medicare and Medicaid are federally mandated and determine coverage under each program; both are run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency ("What is Medicare? What is Medicaid?” 2008).
Some people abuse kids, some people abuse drugs, but the worst kind of people abuse welfare. The definition of welfare is the statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote the basic physical and material well being of people in need. Meaning the government gives this money to people in need for their daily basic necessities. The idea of welfare started during the great depression, then Franklin D. Roosevelt passed the social security act, which established a number of programs designed to provide aid to various segments of the population (“Welfare Information”). Welfare was made to help people in a poor, physical, and/or mental state because they cannot work. Although the economy and country improved, people got used to being unemployed.