There are so many mothers with children that need help for the Welfare Programs. The student researched programs that were needed for single mothers. North Carolina has Medicaid for Pregnant Women. Medicaid for Pregnant is only for Pregnant Women. It covers any services needed to bare a healthy child. This is prenatal care, Childbirth and parenting classes, and family planning. The student researched services that can be given to a mother that is unemployed and has no money coming into the home to help pay bills such as rent and light bill. There is a program here in North Carolina called work first. Work first is Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which pays a certain amount of money to do volunteer work within the community. The pay is not like a regular job but it is some cash for the mother to pay a few things. WIC is for Women, Infants, and Children. Some call this program the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program. This is for low income families to provide the children and child baring mother with the food they need to stay healthy. Food stamps some places call it Food and Nutrition Services. These services are only used to purchase food for low income families. A student from Ashford University researched and examined the history of social welfare policy. The Student wanted to see how the social welfare policy pertained to the population of single mothers in North Carolina. The Student wanted to discuss the need for help concerning the wellbeing of their child and children. There are many mothers that need help with income, food, and formula. The student found that there there are many services and programs available in North Carolina there are an A to Z Comprehensive List of All Programs and Services for North Carolinians at http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/sitemap/services-atoz.htm#A. Some example of the services provided is Medicaid for Pregnant Women, Work First, WIC, and Food and Nutrition Services.
The student found that there are laws that have been passed and programs put into place that have either helped or restricted their access to care and support. There are many mothers that need help with income, food, and formula. The student focused on The Food and Nutrition Service was created to insure that there is no American hungry. The student researched programs that were needed for single mothers which included Medicaid for Pregnant Women, Work First, WIC, and Food and Nutrition Services.
There has always been a dispute or debate in the history of welfare in the United States. There are many nations in the world that offer welfare assistances and some of there systems applies to all the people in the nation. Here in the United States there have always been problems, determines what welfare will offer and who will qualify for the assistance. There were changes made to the welfare system here in the United States back in the 1990’s. The Government wanted to decrease the number of people getting specific assistance and they wanted to limit the welfare benefits to certain people. “Social welfare policies in countries throughout Africa, and higher orphan prevalence countries in particular, in order to examine how current recipients either include or exclude populations made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, poverty, and other household shocks”. (Dixon, 1987, pg. 72) Knowing the status of the people in Africa, most likely everyone receives help for welfare. When it comes to welfare the issues are difficult to resolve and are controversial and political. “Almost seventy years after the formation of the welfare state, debate continued about who deserves and who does not deserve benefits.” (Thulo, 2006, pg. 169) The government continues to make changes on the policies of welfare to this day.
It is important to understand the history of welfare in the United States and the laws that were developed, in order to gain full knowledge of the way the welfare system works this day and time. There has been many acts passed that helped the population of mother’s and Children and there were some that affected them. In the 1950’s the debates and disagreements begin about welfare. “Critics began to assert that the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program had made welfare a way of life, rather than simply short-term assistance, for many in the program.” (Noble, 1997, pg.103)
The most significant piece of welfare legislation was the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. This law was a 30-year debate. This 30-year debate was to determine if the government programs and assistance were effective. The main purpose of this act was to move people off of welfare and give them a certain amount of time to be in the welfare programs. With this act they did not seem to care what happened to the families ones the benefits were cancelled. Did they think this would force people to find jobs? The real question is will people take personal responsibility versus assistance? There were still mothers that needed help with food if they did not make enough wages or if they can not find employment. In the 1950s and early 1960s many states also passed so-called "man in the house" (Noble, 1997, pg.177) This was a rule that if a woman moved a man into her home she was no longer eligible for welfare benefits this restricted the population of single mothers in the welfare system. This must have been created before thinking that even though there is a man in the how the total household income maybe low. This was stopped because of the FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT, it was established to make sure that the government treated everyone with similar situations the same. In the 1960’s President Johnson declared the “war on poverty" introducing programs such as “Head Start, the Job Corps, food stamps, and Medicaid funded education, job training, direct food assistance, and direct medical assistance.” (Noble, 1997, pg.192) ) President Nixon developed the SSI, also known as the Supplemental Security Income program for the elderly, blind and disabled.
During the 1970s the “workfare” was established to let people work public service jobs to pay off the government benefits. This was used to help people gain independence. During the 1980’s there were 40 states setup programs called welfare-to-work, which provided education and training. There are laws that have been passed and programs put into place that have either helped or restricted their access to care and support. Some examples of laws and programs are Rehabilitation Act of 1974, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination Act, and the Food and Nutrition Service, which will be used for this case. It is “Assured that the departmental compliance with federal and District statutes, regulations and policy governing programs and operations of the Department of Human Services; and serves as the liaison with all audit and law enforcement agencies from within and outside the government. All functions are performed at the state level.” (Noble, 1997, pg.230)
The Rehabilitation Act of 1974 was discovered to help take positive steps to employ qualified disabled workers; this means stopping discrimination against disabled persons in the workplace. I f people felt discriminated against they could file a complaint under the Rehab Act. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was for the "equal protection of the laws". This was for denying equal protection always bans the use of racial, ethnic, or gender. The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 stopped discrimination to people receiving federal financial assistance programs based on age. The Food and Nutrition Service was created to insure that there is no American hungry. “The federal Family Support Act of 1988, directing all states to phase in comprehensive welfare-to-work programs by 1990.” (Noble, 1997, pg.276) This act was to direct all stated to provide, job training, and job placement programs for all people on Welfare. This was a unsuccessful Act only 1 of five people actually enrolled and took advantage to this assistance. Two ways human service worker can be an agent of change on their behalf is to not discriminate and treat the person who wants help for the welfare program as an equal. If a mother walks into a human service office seeking help the worker must show apathy and respect the person as a individual who needs some assistance. The mother should not be treated as a person taking advantage of the program if she provides the documentation needed to get the services that she is requesting. The first time that I stepped into the Human Services office seeking assistance I remember and will never forget how they treated me. The turned their noises up and treated me like I was trash. I remember the work had an attitude when I asked questions. It was hard for her to believe that I had two children and never went to them for help. I told her that I had a great job, but I was laid off and I needed some help. Mothers and children can be better severed if the workers determine if they need help according to their income and considered their expenses.
In conclusion there is a deep history in the Welfare policy. There has always been a dispute or debate in the history of welfare in the United States. There are so many mothers with children that need help for the Welfare Programs. Single mother’s and their children needs Medicaid for Pregnant Women, Work First, WIC, and Food and Nutrition Services for the social welfare program. There have been a number of laws that has been passed to help single mothers and their children. There have been some laws that have restricted the single mother population including the “Man in the house rule”. Two ways human service worker can be an agent of change on their behalf is to not discriminate and treat the person who wants help for the welfare program as an equal. This will make the mother’s feel more comfortable, because I know that I would have during my visit to the human services office.

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