As I give this information we will be learning together because some of the politics is very interesting and mind numbing at the same time, simply because nothing ever seems to be easy anymore

Brief Background: The welfare system in the United States has been around even before specific programs and policies were put in place to help those who needed it the most. There used to be two groups of people who received government aid, the sick and disabled, and the able-bodied but unemployed. Before the Great Depression there was a program called the Civil War Pension Program where it assisted veterans of the war and there families. It wasn’t until The Great Depression hit that the history of welfare really started and the government stepped in to aid suffering families because it was estimated that one fourth of the labor force was unemployed during the worst part of the depression.  The sick and disabled would receive cash and the able bodies were given public service employment in workhouses. In the 1800’s social caseworkers (social workers) visited the poor so that they could learn moral and work ethic so that they could get back on their feet.

Current Reform, SNAP Benefits: President Ronald Reagan said “We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.” On November 1st 2013, there was a cut back on SNAP benefits (aka food stamps). For a family of 3 a total of $29 dollars is taken away from what they originally got. Considering that the benefits that family got from SNAP is not that much, it is a significant loss for a family. The federal government has let it up to the states to figure out how to tell the households that receive these benefits that a portion of it will be gone as well as not to expect it to be reinstated any time soon. In a recent article on MSNBC it was stated that even more cuts would be made by congress and of the 47 million recipients of SNAP benefits only 850,000 over the spread of 15 states will be affected by the reduction. A house hold would lose $90 a month. If theFarm Bill is passed it would mean that $8.7 billion would be cut over the next decade. There are certain states that are called “Heat and Eat” states, where house holds that qualify for electric benefits are assumed to be eligible for shelter reduction which automatically gives their citizens more food stamps. however, in other states for those who spend more than half of there benefit check on utilities and housing are eligible for deductions, but they have to provide proof by showing state agencies their housing and utility bills in order to be given more aid. With the $8.7 billion cut it would restrict “Heat and Eat” policies and open up more opportunities to give out food stamp aid to all those who need it.

Let me know what you think of this because this Civic Issue is a little harder to write about than I thought. I hope I explained it well enough. Below are links for further reading from the articles I looked at.

http://www.welfareinfo.org/history/

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3899