Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2011 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Contact: http://www.heraldtribune.com/sendletter Website: http://www.heraldtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/398 Author: Kathy Silverberg, Former publisher of the Herald-Tribune's southern editions DRUG-TEST LAW UNFAIRLY TARGETS THE NEEDY Without doubt, it is the popular thing to do. Save the taxpayer money. Keep someone who is using illegal drugs off the public dole. Prevent the government from subsidizing the drug habits of people on welfare. To that end, Gov. Rick Scott has signed legislation that will require all those applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, to undergo drug testing, and to pay upfront for the test. If the applicant passes, he or she will be reimbursed for the cost of the test and, assuming all paperwork is in order, begin to receive benefits. A failure -- that is, evidence of illegal drug use -- will preclude the applicant both from a reimbursement for the test cost and from receiving benefits. At first blush, the plan sounds reasonable, but on closer inspection there are problems. First, there is the U.S. Constitution, which precludes the government from conducting random searches and seizures. It is not the same as when a private business adopts a policy of drug testing job applicants. Applying for a job is strictly voluntary. People can choose not to apply to companies that conduct drug tests. It is true that no one is obligated to apply for TANF support, but most who do have few alternatives. For a wide variety of reasons, people find themselves in need of help to feed, house and clothe their families. They lack job skills, education, family support. They are the progeny of a welfare culture that has known poverty for generations. And yes, some have resorted to using illegal drugs as an escape from the realities of their desperate world. In signing the drug-testing legislation, Scott said that it is, "unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction," and that the new law would offer an incentive not to use drugs. If his goal is to save money -- and if U.S. Department of Health and Human Services statistics, showing 9.6 percent of individuals in households receiving public assistance use illegal drugs, hold true -- the state will be paying to test more than 90 percent of those who apply for help. Incidentally, DHH reports that the percentage of illegal drug users in homes that do not receive public assistance is only marginally less, at 6.8 percent. There is no money provided through this legislation to offer any type of counseling for drug users. To the contrary, only an all-out effort on the part of mental health agencies statewide prevented the Legislature from implementing crippling cuts to community mental health services and adult substance abuse programs. For many of those addicted to drugs, it will take more than the threatened loss of TANF payments to release them from the grip of this dependency. In this day of mean politics, when those who are hurting most become an easy target for others who fear that a stagnant economy will erode their standard of living and their plans for retirement, the call goes out to cut the lifeline: Don't assist anyone who is chronically unemployed, anyone who can't claw their way out of poverty, anyone who has made poor choices in life and finds himself or herself in the downward spiral that is substance abuse. Americans, individually, are a caring people. They give more money to charity than any other nation. They volunteer their time for worthy causes, working in food pantries, serving in times of disaster, building homes, staffing libraries, tutoring children. The list goes on and on. So why has it become so popular for politicians to decry assistance for the needy? Indeed, there is room for reform. More attention should be paid to giving children and their parents the help they need to develop young brains for the important work that lies ahead. More attention should be paid to providing basic health care, including mental health counseling and support. Better housing options must be available if families are to bring up children in a healthy atmosphere. And yes, more attention must be focused on ridding poor neighborhoods of the scourge of illegal drug activity. The government cannot do it all, but it must stand ready to support agencies providing vital services, encourage community-based programs that are making a difference and provide a safety net when people fall through the cracks. It does not help to perpetuate stereotypes of welfare moms using illegal drugs while their children are neglected and abused. That happens, but far less often than those who support Florida's new drug-testing law would make it appear. And it happens in homes that do not receive public assistance. America is at its best when all people have a chance to live a reasonable life, free from the grasp of poverty and disease. That should be the goal of government and the people who seek elected office. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.