Ms. Fahle
English 112
15 Jul 2013
When Help Turns to Abuse
I can remember the conversation as if it was yesterday. While in a grocery store walking in the grocery aisle, I overheard a woman talking to another woman and her husband. The part that caught my attention was the young lady saying, “I can get you the cheese, milk, and eggs with my WIC, and all you have to do is give me the money when we leave the store.” I knew this wasn’t right, so I made sure I was at the check-out counter to see if what I overheard was true. To my surprise, the young woman paid for things using a check like piece of paper and waited for the couple to leave the store. In the parking lot, I witnessed the young lady giving the couple the bags that she left the store with and they handed her some cash. For this and many other reasons I would like to propose that people that receive this state appointed assistance should have a time limit on how much they can receive.
Doing research on the assistance that is afforded to individuals, I learned how and why these programs were implemented. For instance, the WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) program was established in 1968 after a group of physicians described to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and also the USDA that young women, often pregnant, came to their clinics with various ailments that were caused by lack of food. Those doctors would prescribe the needed foods, with prescription acting like a food voucher (Women, Infant and Children.gov). In this new day and age the program isn’t respected like in the past.
The purpose of the program has taken a turn for the worse. Where the program gives women a chance for a better nutritional way to feed their family, some take the route of scamming the government. Per the conversation I overheard, I use it as my main point on why there should be a limited amount of time placed on this for both women and men. Right now women can receive