Politics Welfare & Other Social Programs--What Reforms Are Needed?

I consider myself to be a moderate democrat, and I believe in some social programs (SPs) to help those who need help. The thing is I think that many SPs have grown way beyond their original intent and/or have outlived their usefulness.

To get things started (barely scratching the surface):

1. More thorough background checks are needed. I've known people who lied about their marital status (claimed to be separated, not living with their spouse, when in fact they were living with a working spouse), where they lived (claimed to be renting the house from their parents, when in fact they were living with their parents AND their spouse). All done to obtain more benefits.

The big downside to the above would be more bureaucracy to further clog the system for people needing immediate (not likely in the best of circumsatnces) help.

2. Stop, or at least revise, automatic increases for additional children. This would be a tough one because nobody, with the exception of a very few hard-nosed conservatives, wants children to suffer. But there are women, and men, who think nothing of bringing another child into the world because they know how the system works and know how to use (manipulate) it. I've known people who view their ability to have children as a right, who view welfare for those children as a right, and even use having children as a protest against "oppression."

3. Has Affirmative Action ran its course? Racist policies definately need to be addressed and corrected, but at some point I think what the individuals have done for them-selves should stand on its own.


Obviously I don't have the answers. Please share your thoughts. Add to the list.

 

I'm pretty bleeding heart liberal, I feel the social safety net isn't what it should be.

I'd make community college free and I'd include trade skills. High school just doesn't cut it, any more.
I'd go with social medicine. I'd have no problem with a dual private system, but simple healthcare ought to be a basic right.
The mental healthcare system needs to be tossed and redone. Our present system is embarassingly bad.

I'd have no problem with background checks for welfare or ADC; but both need to exist.

 

I'd like to see us go after the real welfare queens.
Start with the industrial farmers growing corn for the absurd ethanol program in this country.
Yeah, you know, the guys in Iowa who talk about how rugged and independent they are, and only want "limited government." Except for the part that sends them the big farm support checks, apparently.
Then we move on to corporations and billionaires that take massive handouts, like the NFL owners.
When you're done with that let me know I can supply more ideas.

 

Somehow we never have enough money to work on projects in our own backyard...

*cough* Global War On Terrorism *cough*

*cough* Perpetual Boogeyman *cough*

*cough* War Without End *cough*

*cough* Trillions Of Dollars Wasted *cough*

...

re: OP

I feel like the problem with welfare programs is that they're like military programs or law enforcement programs... government run money pits lead by smarmy asshole yes man sound bite G-rating jockeys that value quick, quantifiable results ("We bought things and passed them out!") over long term social gains ("Andre grew up in the ghetto and went to law school.") The bigger problem is that poor people are conditioned to want easy things over hard goals. That and Idiocracy lessons abound.

Dunno how you fix that.

...

Observation:

TFP is so American Liberal (TM) it hurts.

 

Make it consistent without the huge amounts of paperwork, part of the problem is that just to apply and keep qualifying is almost a full time job.
The less money that has to be spent on useless paperwork and bullshit bureaucracy the more that can be spent on the people.
The system needs to be overhauled, not to give less money to people but to make the system more efficient so it can give more people more money while costing less overall.

The only way we can address things like the huge difference in education levels is if we deal with poverty.
Dumping money into the schools doesn't work if we don't put money into the neighborhoods around them.
The Appalachians is a dead zone and has been for a very long time.
If you look where most of the welfare goes it's not into the cities, it's into areas like there.
We need to do things to revive those parts of the country.
--- merged: Oct 20, 2015 at 10:27 PM ---

 

Those absolutes, tho!

 

@snowy...a great explanation of TANF and representative of my experience, directly and indirectly, as well.

The Clinton-Gingrich welfare reform that created TANF out of the old AFDC had a noble goal to make "welfare" more than just a a cash payment program by limiting the length of time for cash payments and focusing as much on employment training and placement.

Initially it was working well in many states and not so well in others as a result of giving the states more flexibility. Some states took that "flexibility" too far and redirected the non-direct cash payment portion that was intended for workforce development (and child care) to fill unrelated budget holes. That was compounded when the federal govt, in 2001, started to renege on the commitment to supplement TANF with more funding for workforce training and development. And then the recession hit.

And as Martian pointed out as well, the stories of abusing the system are not reflective of the overwhelming percentage of recipients.
--- merged: Oct 21, 2015 at 12:36 AM ---
Findings from a recent report:

• The share of state and federal TANF spending used for basic assistance (cash welfare grants) has fallen significantly. At TANF’s onset, 70 percent of combined federal TANF and state MOE funds went for basic assistance for poor families. By 2014, that figure had plummeted to 26 percent. There is significant variation across states; ten states spent less than 10 percent of their TANF/MOE funds on basic assistance in 2014.
• States spend only about a quarter of their state and federal TANF dollars on child care and work activities combined. A key justification for block-granting TANF was to give states flexibility to move funding from cash assistance to work-related activities and/or supports (such as child care subsidies). States raised spending in these areas in TANF’s early years but didn’t sustain those modest increases. States used only 8 percent of their TANF and MOE funds for work activities in 2014; ten states spent less than 5 percent. States spent 16 percent of total TANF and MOE funds on child care; 15 states spent less than 5 percent.
• Core welfare reform activities thus represent just half of state and federal TANF spending. Child care, work activities, and basic assistance combined totaled 50 percent of TANF and MOE spending nationally in 2014. The share varied widely across states: eight states spent less than 25 percent of these funds on the three categories, while five states spent more than 75 percent.
• States use a large and growing share of state and federal TANF funds that formerly helped poor families meet their basic needs for other state services. In some cases, states have used TANF and MOE funds to expand programs, such as state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs) or pre-K, or to cover the growing costs of existing services, such as child welfare. In other cases, they have used TANF/MOE funds to replace existing state funds, thereby freeing those state funds for purposes unrelated to providing a safety net or work opportunities for low-income families.

How States Use Federal and State Funds Under the TANF Block Grant | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

 

There are some great posts here. I'll need to write a more detailed post later after reading the info in the links.

For now:

@Snowy, the fraud I mentioned was openly discussed by a co-worker. She went into great detail about how she and her sister were blatantly providing false information in order to obtain more benefits. And I've heard quite a few similar comments from other co-workers. How the system is unfair to single mothers will make a great discussion.

Clearly not everyone is committing fraud, but I seriously doubt the very small percentages of fraud being (under?)reported are accurate. One question (someone mentioned the difficulty in getting accurate data) is--How trustworthy/accurate is the data provided by the agencies in charge of the SPs? Even from the "Watch-Dog" organizations?

 

I think some of the reason for the fraud is the tiny amount of support provided (yes, there will always be con artists) but in order to survive people will come up with ways to game the system since that is all they have.
I do the paperwork for people with disabilities everyday.
These are people with proven disabilities who can't work due to things like TBI and they are getting $80 a month for food.
In AK $80 for one person might cover two weeks and that's stretching it.
I could see why two people would move in together and say they weren't for fear of loosing some of that money.

 

No doubt SPs fall short in many areas, which lead people who are normally honest to bend the rules.

One of the biggest complaints that I've read & heard about is how money and other less tangible benefits are cut if a person works. Is it as bad as some people claim, or is it what others call a "welfare myth?"

 

my opinion

this is a touchey subject for me



I think that to be on welfare or to get any kind of government assistance then you should be able to pass a drug test. I have to pass one to work, why cant they to get help.
I see people using wic cards to but beer, lottery, smokes and non essential things. now I know tht this partly lies on the responsiablity of the store at which they are doing it at and the store should be held accountable to some extenct.

I know quite a few people on welfare that don't work, but they have no ambition to work. they say that working at mcdonalds for example is beneath them. yes I have a trade, but if I lost my job today you can bet your ass that I would have one somewhere doing something within 2 days. I have a family to feed and responsibalities to my family and bills. nothing is beneath me as far as working. but that's just me. my work ethic is very strong

with the way the world is today there are too many freeloaders in the country because we ( strong word) have let it get to that point. and its like having kids or a dog, once they see you will give in they will keep doing it.

 

ok, so the other 95% goes to things like funding a war