Preview

Unit 9 the Welfare System Human Services and Social Policy

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2048 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Unit 9 the Welfare System Human Services and Social Policy
The Welfare System
The Welfare System

Instructor:
Dr.Michelle March
HN300-01
DUE: 12/20/2011

Instructor:
Dr.Michelle March
HN300-01
DUE: 12/20/2011
Franklin Moe, Jr.

Human Services & Social Policy

Franklin Moe, Jr.

Human Services & Social Policy

To understand the “Welfare System” one must know its history. The American welfare system has changed dramatically over the past 80 years. A 100 years ago, families, local communities, and charities; typically religious based, served as the safety net for those who had fallen on hard times. The Great Depression of the 1930s would see a change in social policy with the passing of President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” establishing Social Security and Aid to Dependent Children (ADC.) Thus was born the American Welfare System. The U.S. welfare system stayed in the hands of the federal government for the next sixty-one years. Many Americans were unhappy with the welfare system, claiming that individuals were abusing the welfare programs by not applying for jobs, having more children just to get more aid, and staying unmarried so as to qualify for greater benefits. Further expansion came with the Johnson’s administration in the 1960s with the establishment of Medicare, Medicaid, Public Housing, and other programs. During the Reagan presidency it was claimed that mothers with infants should not be allowed to become dependent on the welfare system, and that providing assistance for children under one year of age constituted such “dependency” The welfare system remained relatively unchanged till 1996 when President Clinton signed a sweeping welfare reform law that is still a hot topic of public controversy today. When Clinton was elected he had the intention of changing the welfare system. In 1996 the Republican Congress passed a reform law signed by President Clinton that gave the control of the welfare system back to the states. Conservatives claim a dramatic decline in welfare



References: www.welfareinfo.org Schaeffer, H. L. & Simmons, E. D. The development of an unequal social safety net: Journal of Sociology and Welfare, Sep 2009, vol. 36 issue 3, p179-199 www.policyalmanac.org/social_welfare/index.shtml Chambers, D. E., & Wedel, K. E. (2009). Social policy and social programs: A method for the practical policy analyst (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson www.voices.yahoo.com/welfare Rote, S. & Quandagno, J.: Depression and Alcohol Dependence among Poor Women: Before and After Welfare Reform: Social Service Review; Jun2011, vol 85 Issue 2, p229-245, 17p.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Social welfare policies and programs are enacted to help those who are in need of assistance. These programs don’t always have the outcomes that policy makers had wanted. There are power imbalances that occur in society today and one can see the negative impact this has on social welfare policies.…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wedel, D. C. (2005). Social policy and social programs: A method for the practical public policy analyst 4th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.…

    • 1552 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The original idea of the United States Social Welfare System that was prompted in the 1930s due to the Great Depression, was that it would be a temporary program used to help those who recently became unemployed to get back on their feet. In a recent article by Hope yen of the Huffington Post, "Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream." If you look at it more closely 114.8 million families as of 2010 depend on welfare compared to 4.5 million families in 1996. The United States government should restructure the existing qualifications and regulations for any current and future dependents seeking assistance from government-funded programs due to the increasingly high rate of chemical dependency, financial instability, and fraud within the programs.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This research of annotated bibliography provides coverage in regards to history of social welfare and the individuals impact both social and economically. The addition of the research will incorporate the roles of social workers in the human service field in assisting clients. The research will include questionnaire survey conducted in performing advocacy for child welfare. The research will demonstrate social policies concerning child support and health care polices.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Welfare is nothing new to the citizens of this country. It is a concept that arose over a century ago. Welfare was made famous by Bill Clinton, in 1996, and it has brought up much controversy. Arguments suggest the welfare system is highly abused by its members while others believe it is the answer to the nation’s poverty. Although the welfare system is state regulated, many people believe it is taken advantage of by underserving people. Often, people with nasty habits, sale their food stamp cards for extra cash, cigarettes, and drugs. Most of the time, these people have children that have to go without because their parent puts their government assistance towards unhealthy addictions.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Welfare Reform Act is better known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, this was created by former President Clinton. Clinton vowed to stop welfare, he wanted it to be someone’s right not just a privilege to receive aid. Clinton wanted to help the needy people who actually needed help, but many people were angry with the changes that it made. Clinton did not think that people’s reactions would be so negative, but they were. Medicaid did not change the way that they it provides coverage to members, but it changed how many people it covered. Clinton did not want to continue seeing his country become dependent on the assistance, he wanted to increase the employment rate. There were too many children that were living in poverty and Clinton seen a cycle that he knew he had to break.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today in America, there are thousands of Americans are welfare for different reasons. Whether people lost their job and can’t afford their necessities, or possibly they don’t have motivation to get a job and want to live off the government’s money. It could be that there is a single mother of two children who simply can’t afford the necessities for her children and herself even with a job, or maybe their handicapped or they are older and aren’t healthy enough to work and provide for themselves. Welfare is a program created by the government to improve the financial situation of people in need. Many people today in America who are on welfare are abusing the program, whether they don’t find a job and continue to stay on welfare for years, or spend money on drugs or something not needed instead of paying bills and buying necessary items. Other programs like Medicare and food stamps, to the elderly or the people that really need this help, are getting denied because they don’t qualify but yet they are barely providing for themselves or they can’t provide. Some of these programs that the government has created are not working the way they were meant to.…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The United States welfare system has been full of flaws since it was created. Some presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have pushed for some kind of welfare reform. In Regan’s “Welfare Reform” speech he called for a “reshape of our welfare system so that it can be judged by how many how many Americans it makes independent off welfare.” (President Ronald Reagan speaks on welfare reform). From when he started running for office, he was not a firm believer in the welfare system the United States was running. Reagan also believed that if changed were not made it would create “a permanent culture of poverty as inescapable as any chain or bond” (President Ronald Reagan speaks on welfare reform). Even liberals, such as former President Bill Clinton, believed a reform for welfare was necessary. His most known contribution to the welfare reform was the “passing of a sweeping reform bill in 1996” (The Clinton Presidency). Clinton came up with a welfare reformation bill which was considered his biggest contribution to welfare reform than any other president in the last decade of the twentieth century. The “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act” that Clinton passed “ required welfare recipients to find jobs and aimed to move poor people off welfare and into the work place” (The Clinton Presidency). Attempts to…

    • 1233 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    There are approximately 67,891,000 Americans receiving government assistance, that is roughly 21% of the American population using some form of welfare. (Statistic Brain) While situations may arise, and people need help, the welfare system is now being used as a crutch rather than a stepping stone to becoming independent. The government should place more conditions on the various welfare programs. People all across the country are now abusing a system that was put in place to help people survive in a time of need. Welfare was created in the 1930s following the Great Depression to provide people with some assistance while the economy was at a low…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the 1930’s the face of welfare has been shaped multiple times with many different types of reforms. These reform were made in an attempt to reduce the number of people who depend on government assistance, and to help those people get back on their feet and function in a normal society. Some reforms that were major in the beginning steps of welfare were The Welfare Reform Act of 1996, the (PRWORA) Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, and The (TANF) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. “In 1996 a welfare reform act was passed” (U.S Welfare System 2). “The welfare Reform act was a catalyst needed to begin this new era of welfare benefits and provision” (U.S Welfare System 4). As a result of this reform employment rates of recipients soared and caseloads dropped dramatically, But looking at the bigger picture this paved way for such a dramatic change in the society and how the government helped the people of the United States. Following this…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 had three main purposes and several different opinions on whether they were going to work or not. The main purposes of the Welfare Reform Act were to reduce welfare dependence and increase employment, to reduce child poverty, and to reduce illegitimacy and strengthen marriage (Rector, R., & Fagan, P. F., February 6, 2003). Due to the abundance of opinions and opposing facts it is hard to tell whether or not which positive and negative facts are true when it comes to how effective these purposes were after the Welfare Reform Act was implemented.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Seccombe, Karen. "So You Think I Drive a Cadillac?": Welfare Recipients ' Perspectives on the System and Its Reform. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1999. Print.…

    • 1580 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Welfare in America is one of the top issues that America faces today. Americans face a problem because instead of giving welfare benefits to people who truly need it, the government is just handing out money to anyone who ask for it. And in return it does not help the other problem America faces which is poverty. Federal funding welfare began during the the Great Depression in the 1930’s. The government created the system to help out families and individuals who have little income and who needed help. The benefits were known as forms of healthcare and food stamps. Welfare is a great program that assists many people. Although the systems motivates people to not nor even search for a job. Once people get dependent on welfare they now depend on…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The debate over Welfare has been a hot topic in the U.S for many years now. Welfare in the U.S. started long before the government welfare programs that we know today. Welfare started in the early days when the U.S. colonies imported the British Laws. The laws made were established for those unable to work because of their age or physical health and those able to work just unemployed. When the Great Depression began, nearly 18 million elderly, disabled, and single mothers already lived at the bare subsistence level. Welfare does not benefit everyone, but who does it benefit? Welfare is meant to help the unemployed and also help is extended to the poor through programs that include Medicaid, called the Woman, Children, and Infants Program. Welfare…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Public Welfare

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The US welfare system stayed in the hands of the federal government for the next sixty-one years. Many Americans were unhappy with the welfare system, claiming that individuals were abusing the welfare program by not applying for jobs, having more children just to get more aid, and staying unmarried so as to qualify for greater benefits. Welfare system reform became a hot topic in the1990's. Bill Clinton was elected as President with the intention of reforming the federally run US Welfare program. In 1996 the Republican Congress passed a reform law signed by President Clinton that gave the control of the welfare system back to the states.…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics