Abuse of Government Assistance - Report Example

Abuse of Government Assistance Introduction Public assistance from the Government is prevalent in every part of the globe. Several sections of the economy suffer in terms of work, income, education etc. that is then taken care of by the Government. In USA, the Government has certain organizations under it to take care of its programs. Most of the time the subject of welfare is looked over and the funds is not dispatched to the people who need it. The welfare system in the country is totally mismanaged, which makes the welfare system corrupt. The Government Assistance recipients should be denied benefits if their education, economic, or social status does not improve within 18 months. I. Government Assistance Program The assistance program in USA covers all the areas of public service utilities. The Government helps the citizens in every aspect of public service like Insurance, child support, education, grants etc. Several departments have been organized to take care of the separate fields of assistance. The bureaucratic structure of the Government has made the implications of the assistance programs tough and rigid. This in result has made most of the organization mismanaged. II. Eligible Recipients The eligible recipients of Government aids in USA are given to poor families with children and individuals who are old or disabled. The individual must be a citizen of US and must have a social security number. An individual also be required to comply some work requirements in order to receive the grants. However, for single mother the work requirements are exempted. (Wisegeek). The requirements of receiving a grant are such that the structures can be modified and can be used to suit one’s needs. This leads to further mismanagement with people not deserving the grants receiving it. A. What is the assistance Program The assistance program involves providing welfare to the citizens of the country in terms of financial and non-financial benefits. The Government looks to assist the general people in the country in all aspects like taxes, crime etc. The most important part of the government assistance is providing financial aids to the needy. The US government provides financial grants to the people who are in need of them but the system became corrupt when undeserving people began to ask for it by faking the government. The food stamps provided by the US Government, with the help of which food can be procured from the stores are used by people irrespective of their economical and social status. There are instances of getting financial aid by providing wrong information to the Government. There are genuine candidates who need it for the whole life like in the case of mental patients. (Government assistance is temporary). About 4 million people were assisted by cash aid and 37 million food stamps were issued. This means that 13% of US population receives grants and aids. A combined amount of $21.5 million was used as cash-aids in 2009. (Wolf). But, most of the funds do not go to the deserving candidate due to the rampant mismanagement. B. Requirements for Government assistance. The Government assistance is provided to poor families having children. The cost of education of these children is taken care of by the Government. The forms of financial assistance for students are providing loan for overseas studies, Scholarships, School Breakfast aids etc. (USA.gov).These types of assistance proves that the Government gives high priority to education. The financial assistance provided to the students is done using separate bodies. The financial assistance does not reach the deserving candidate at most of the times and is exhausted in the way. C. Employment of the recipient of the assistance A person receiving benefit has to provide a proof of employment to the Government. This is for persons who do not fall under the minimum wages criteria where by earning a minimum wage a person is disqualified to receive financial assistance. A person receiving financial assistance is provided training so that he can be employed for a job. The above facilities are for a person who is interested in improving his or her situation. The system appears to be socially viable but if it is analyzed minutely, various drawbacks can be seen. Some people work very hard and earn just more than the minimum wage. Employers in the country pay their employees according to the stipulated wages system. Thus, practically people who do not work at all receive the benefits. Therefore, the system rewards the non-workers of the society while it penalizes the workers. Some people take benefit by claiming aids though they are physically stable. Thus, a lot of funds are mishandled like this. (Gilman) D. Progress of the Recipients From the start of the program of providing financial aids and grants, many people have benefitted by the initiatives of the Government. Welfare officers of some states like New York and Florida maintain that the system has worked exceptionally well. Millions of people benefitted and went back to the workforce. (Wolf). The design of the system is such that the recipients are not eligible to receive the aids for a whole life. For example, when a child of a single parent starts working, the aid from the Government stops or the amount is lessened. This is due to the assumption that the family has now attained a minimum level of development. Similarly, in the case of students, unemployed youths etc. the financial aids stops when the goal is attained, that is, when the person attains the required level of development. However, practically, the system does not work this way. Some people have made the financial aid from the Government as means of earning money. They continue to receive the financial aids of the Government by faking some information. For example, a single parent who has an employed child can fake the Government by telling that they have no relation between them and continue receiving financial aids. These kinds of practices are widespread all over the country where millions of food stamps are illegally used and financial aids are wrongly dispersed. E. Government Housing Assistance The Public housing scheme has been successful in the US where a certain group of people is provided housing under the system of lease. The amenities provided in these houses are well developed because they come in the hands of the Department when there is a default in payment of mortgage loan. Deposit has to be made in the HUD Department and a monthly rent has to be paid from which exclusions are made according to the number of dependents and elderly people. Women are given more preference than men to some extent because there is more exclusion for single mothers. The assistance is for practically for the whole lease period. The same theory of mismanagement applies here as well as the criteria for getting the house is the annual income. The annual income is faked by people to gain access to these cheap sources of house. (HUD’s public housing program) Conclusion The US Government introduced various programs of assistance and financial benefits to different sectors of the economy. However, most of the people started abusing the facility to get cheap sources of fund. The fund and aids did not reach the people who deserve them the most and were used by the undeserving candidate instead. Most of them made it a means of livelihood making the motive of introducing these schemes useless. The only way that this process can be stopped is by denying the benefits of assistance if their status does not improve within 18 months. References: 1. Gilman, Stephanie. A solution to Welfare abuse. Associated content.2nd May, 2007. Available from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/226760/a_solution_to_welfare_abuse_a_call_pg2.html?cat=17 (Accessed on 30th January, 2010) 2. Government Assistance is temporary. Socyberty.18th December, 2008.Available from: http://socyberty.com/issues/government-assistance-is-temporary/ (Accessed on 30th January, 2010) 3. HUD’s public housing program.HUD.gov. Available from: http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/topics/rental_assistance/phprog (Accessed on 30th January, 2010) 4. USA.gov. Government benefits, grants and financial aids. Available from: http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Benefits.shtml (Accessed on 30th January, 2010) 5. Wisegeek. Who is eligible for welfare in the United States, n.d. Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com/who-is-eligible-for-welfare-in-the-united-states.htm (Accessed on 30th January, 2010) 6. Wolf, Richard. Welfare rolls up in 09. USA Today, n.d. Available from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-01-25-welfare-rolls_N.htm (Accessed on 30th January, 2010) Read More