Thanks guys
- How did you feel about drug testing as part of applying for government aid before reading the paper?
- How do you feel about drug testing as part of applying for government aid after reading the paper?
- What information did you find helped you make your decision?
- What information would you have liked to have seen included in the paper? (If any)
Historical
Background of the Policy
According to the
National Conference of State Legislature, “States have proposed drug testing of
applicants and recipients of public welfare benefits since federal welfare reform
in 1996” (National Conference of State Legislatures [NCSL], 2012). Later in
1999, Michigan launched a pilot
program that would require thousands of those applying for aid to take drug
tests to qualify for benefits (Meredith,
1999). It purposed that people already receiving benefits at specific
locations would be randomly tested and those who test positive need to go into
a treatment before they were able to collect welfare money, if they refused
treatment or to submit to the drug test then they would no longer be able to
receive any benefits (Meredith,
1999).
In 2009, over
twenty different states offered up legislation that would require drug testing
for public assistance programs and in 2010 at least twelve states had similar
proposals but none of these proposals became law because most of the legislation
was focused on random drug testing (NCSL, 2012). This was a problem because of
a Michigan court case in 2003, Marchwinski
v. Howard, which ruled that making welfare applicants take a drug test without
reasonable suspicion that they were actually using drugs was unconstitutional
(NCSL, 2012). So these policies usually met their end within a short amount of
time and offer little information as to how well it actually preformed in
cutting welfare costs.
Historically this
“War on Drugs” has been going on since the Reagan years when the office of
National Drug control Policy was created in 1988 as a response to what was seen
as a growing social problem. It held a strong emphasis on addressing the supply
side of the drug problem but there were also measures to address the demand
side here in the states that included prevention, treatment, and drug education
programs (Cummins
& DiNitto, 2007). These programs that were meant to decrease drug
dependence can still be found in new policy legislation regarding the purpose
and validity of drug testing Welfare applicants.
Problems
that Necessitate the Policy
The nature of
problem is that many people feel that their tax dollars are funding the drug
addictions of those who are on welfare, causing a call to hold those
accountable who are abusing the system. Drug testing is believed to be a way of
ensuring that only those who really need aid and will use it responsibly will
receive it. There is also the matter of the overall cost of welfare and the
concern of how to save money on this program that isn’t often seen in a
positive light by many Americans. Since government entitlement programs are
often under scrutiny for their spending, any way to reduce costs is seen as a
positive thing.
Also, many people
believe that drug use leads to other, more serious crimes which could be
avoided if we could eliminate the drug problems that effect the population.
However, the more problematic factor could be that “drug use somehow changes
the individual’s personality in a lasting way, making him or her into a
criminal type” (Hart
& Ksir, pp 41. 2011). Crime can also be a secondary factor of being under
the influence of drugs or to get money to obtain more drugs for their addiction
(Hart & Ksir,
2011).
A cause of the problem is that
there are people who misuse government funds and spend money that is supposed
to help them improve their quality of life. No matter what the actual number of
people who misuse funds is, both sides of the political spectrum can agree that
if the funds are not used correctly then they are not really helping anyone.
Another cause of the problem is that those who are addicted to drugs may have a
handicap when to comes to taking care of themselves. Without going through some
kind of treatment program before being given complete responsibility to manage
their own finances many resources could be wasted instead of going to those who
could use them more effectively.
This policy really
affects the poor who receive government aid and those who pay taxes and do not
receive aid. Many stereotypes are perpetrated by those who do actually use
their government aid to obtain drugs and this causes contention by pitting those
who perceive that their money is going to an unworthy cause against all who
receive aid. While many would agree that not everyone who is on welfare is
undeserving, they do bring relevant criticism that the policy is an ineffective
solution to the problem of poverty. This is a nation wide problem that every
American will need to deal with at some point in their lives.
Another population
that is affected by this policy would be those who are drug abusers. Many of
these policies have drug treatment programs that would greatly benefit those
who are looking to better their lives and receive help getting clean. This
addresses the idea that the government puts too much of our drug abuse control
fund into efforts that try to control the drug itself rather than into teaching
people how to live in a world where drugs will always exist (Hart & Ksir, 2011).
Since the election, there are now a few different
states that are implementing this kind of policy. In Utah they
are requiring individuals applying for cash assistance to fill out a questionnaire
screening for illegal drug use (NCSL, 2012). If they suspect that there is
reason to believe the person is participating in illegal drug activity then the
applicant must take a drug test. If the test is positive, the individual is
required to go through a drug treatment program and remain clean in order to
receive benefits or else the state will terminate benefits for applicants who
refuse to take the test (NCSL, 2012).
In Georgia
they are requiring drug tests for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families by
notifying Applicants of mandatory drug tests at the time of their application
(NCSL, 2012). The applicant is required to pay for the test and if it is found
positive they are ineligible for benefits for one month until they can retest
again (NCSL, 2012). If an individual with a child tests positive it does not
affect the child's eligibility for benefits because the benefits can be
transferred to go through a protective payee who must also pass a drug test (NCSL, 2012).
In Tennessee applicants
with test positive are ineligible for benefits for one year but they can
reapply after six months if they complete a substance abuse treatment program
and have two negative drug tests (NCSL, 2012).
This policy is meant
to be a screening tool for welfare applicants so that those who test positive
for drugs are not allowed to receive government benefits for a period of time.
This would also reduce costs by disqualifying these who may use government aid
to fund a drug addiction because there is an expectation that there are a
disproportionate amount of people who are drug addicts on welfare compared to
the average population. As you can tell from the previous information this
policy has been implemented in slightly different ways depending on the state.
Rational
Policy Evaluation
The program goals
include first and foremost, cutting costs to the welfare program. The idea is
that since many of the poor are believed to misuse entitlement program funds in
order to supplement their illicit substance habit that we can use testing to cut
off these funds to them, in turn bringing down the overall cost of the program.
The second goal would be getting those who are believe to be an undeserving
portion of the poor off of government assistance. Drug crimes are seen as quite
appalling to the American public as it is reflected in our incarceration rates
of those who participate in them. Just over half of all federal inmates are
imprisoned for drug related offences (Cummins & DiNitto, 2007).
Those who were in
favor of this policy in Florida
were looking at the percentages of drug test fail rates and monetary savings to
show that this was an effective policy. However, over 2 percent of applicants failed the test while another 2
percent are not completing the application process for unspecified reasons, not
netting the kind of results that they were expecting (, ).
Some controversy
was created when it was discovered that the Governor of Florida, Rick Scott,
was the one who started the company, Solantic, back in 2001 that was contracted
to do these drug tests (Bender, 2011). Another non-target group that benefited
from this policy was the company itself.
Since it serves many people that are uninsured, Solantic stood to gain a
lot of money either way, either from reimbursement from the state of Florida
or from the welfare applicants themselves (Bender, 2011).
The actual cost of the tests averages about $30 per
person and if we take the same fail rate from Florida of 2%, assuming that
1,000 to 1,500 applicants take the test every month, the state will owe about
$28,800-$43,200 monthly in reimbursements to those who test negitive (, ). This compares with the $32,200-$48,200 that the state would save
annually on one month's worth of applicants who are rejected because they
tested positive (, ).
In one year the money saved on all applicants who
tested positive would add up to $40,800-$98,400 in savings for the cash
assistance program that is predicted to cost $178 million overall (, ). So sadly we do not see a great decrease in moneitary savings but there
is a possiblity that these findings indicate that drug use among those who
recive welfare is more of a sensationalized problem rather then a legitimit
epidemic.
There are variables however, including the fact
that not all of the applicants denied would
have collected them for the full year, applicants who fail their drug
test can reapply six months, the cost of staff hours, and they did not take
into account the other resources that would be spent on implementing this
program. The program could alos become very costly as well if it becomes a legal problem. The
ACLU has challenged the constitutionality of the program and is consitering a
lawsuit (, ).
An indirect cost
of the program is the legal aspect of requiring drug tests to these who are
receiving government aid. Much of the
conflict centers around the Fourth Amendment, which puts limits on what kind of
searches that the state can carry out. In 1997, the case of Chandler
v. Miller was brought to the Supreme Court which voted 8-1 to strike down the Georgia
law requiring those who were running or holding state offices to pass a drug
test because it was stated that drug testing was an unreasonable search (, 2011). Opponents to this policy are arguing that this
is nothing more then another way to strip the poor of their rights.
Another indirect
cost would be that the children of those who become ineligible for government assistance
will be the population that suffers the most, thus leaving them to a future of
poverty with no support to make their way out. We do see that some state
programs, like Florida ’s and Georgia ’s,
have taken that into account and provided ways for children to still receive
aid. However, not every state with this kind of policy has those same safe
guards in place.
References
Bender, M. C. (2011, April 14). Gov. Rick
Scott finalizes deal to sell his holdings in urgent care
chain
Solantic. Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved
from http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/gov-rick-scott-finalizes-deal-to-sell-his-holdings-in-urgent-care-chain/1163630
(2011, August 29). Drug
Testing the Poor: Bad Policy, Even Worse Law. Time.
Retrieved from
http://ideas.time.com/2011/08/29/drug-testing-the-poor-bad-policy-even-worse-law/#ixzz2EM4SWvfI
Cummins, L. K., & DiNitto, D. (2007). Chapter 10; Providing
social services: Help for
Children, the Elderly, and Individuals
with Mental Illness. In Social Welfare Politics and Public Policy (6th
ed.) (pp 400). Boston , MA ; Pearson Education.
Hart, C. L., & Ksir, C. (2011). Chapter 2; Drug use as a
Social Problem. In Drugs, Society &
Human Behavior (14th ed.) (pp 38-42).
New York , NY ; McGraw-Hill.
Meredith, R. (1999, May 30). Testing Welfare Applicants for Drugs. The
New York Times. Retrived from
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/30/us/testing-welfare-applicants-for-drugs.html?pagewanted=all
National Conference of State
Legislatures. (2012). Drug Testing and Public Assistance. Retrieved from
http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/drug-testing-and-public-assistance.aspx?vm=r&s=1
Welfare
drug-testing yields 2% positive results
Retrived from http://www2.tbo.com/news/politics/2011/aug/24/3/welfare-drug-testing-yields-2-percent-positive-res-ar-252458/?vm=r&s=1