Welfare to Work Midterm Essay Example for Free

Welfare to Work Midterm Essay 1. President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) P.L. 104-193 on August 22, 1996. What are the basis and implications of this law? On August 22, 1996, President William Jefferson Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) (P.L. 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105) into law, thus fulfilling his campaign promise to end welfare as we know it. The PRWORA changed both the substance and administration of the national welfare system. The act eliminated the prior welfare system, which had been attacked for decades by policy-makers, the press, and the public for increasing government spending while making the poor dependent on government charity. The stated purposes of the PRWORA were to reduce welfare dependency and out-of-wedlock births and to encourage the formation of two-parent families. In line with these goals, the PRWORA required welfare recipients to work within two years of receiving assistance, and it put a five-year lifetime limit on the receipt of benefits. It also ended the entitlement status of welfare benefits. In addition, the act made other, less publicized changes to several social welfare programs, both restricting the availability of benefits (making it harder for disabled children to qualify for assistance, limiting eligibility for food stamps, denying welfare benefits to most legal immigrants) and strengthening programs that aid children (reorganizing and increasing funding for child care, toughening the enforcement of rules for child support). In addition to the acts primary emphasis on putting welfare recipients to work, the PRWORA also radically altered the way government delivers welfare benefits in three important ways: (1) Increased role of states. To fund welfare the PRWORA provided the states with fixed block grants called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) to fund welfare, totaling $16.5 billion annually over six years. Congress also included a provision in the act that would result in TANF funding cuts if the states failed to move a required percentage of recipients into the workforce and off welfare. Nevertheless, TANF gave states extensive discretion to design and operate their own programs. This transfer of authority from the federal government to the states is called devolution. Under devolution, states have many choices to make in shaping their welfare policiesncluding being more stringent than federal law requires. For instance, some states have chosen to limit the receipt of benefits to less than five years, to cut benefits to families with truant children, or to mandate that parents take parenting classes. (2) Increased role of local entities. The PRWORA allowed states to devolve their authority even further to counties, local governments, or even private entities. The private entities involved in welfare administration include a wide range of for-profit companies, nonprofit companies, and religious groups. As a result, welfare programs vary widely not only from state to state but also within local jurisdictions. This transfer of authority to private providers, an approach called privatization, has raised questions about accountability. In other words, some critics argue that PWROWA has made it more difficult for the government to oversee programs so as to ensure quality service to recipients. The accountability of for-profit entities is of particular concern, because the incentive to earn profits can lessen the quality of services provided. Critics also charge that privatization may cause private providers to lose their independent character as they become increasingly bureaucratic and reliant on government funding. In addition, there has been sharp debate over whether religious groups should receive government funding for delivering social services. Opponents charge that this violates the separation between church and state. Proponents hold that a spiritual approach to the delivery of social services is more effective than secular approaches. (3) Changes in the role of welfare workers. The work-first emphasis of the PRWORA has dramatically changed the role of front-line workers, those low-level welfare office workers who interact directly with welfare clients. Before the PRWORA, front-line workers focused on two tasks: (1) verifying whether applicants met objective criteria to become eligible for assistance, and (2) issuing checks in a timely manner. By contrast, under the PRWORA these front-line workers must perform a variety of tasks, including evaluation and counseling, designed to put people to work. As a result, they have a much bigger say in decisions affecting applicants than they had previously 2. What is the relationship between Aide to Families with Dependent Children AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Program (JOBS)? 3. What is the difference, if any, between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Welfare-to-Work Grant Programs? Explain in detail. PRWORA replaced AFDC with TANF and ended entitlement to cash assistance for low-income families, meaning that some families may be denied aid even if they are eligible. Under TANF, states have broad discretion to determine who is eligible for benefits and services. In general states must use funds to serve families with children, with the only exceptions related to efforts to reduce non-marital childbearing and promote marriage. States cannot use TANF funds to assist most legal immigrants until they have been in the country for at least 5 years. TANF sets forth the following work requirements in order to qualify for benefits: 1. Recipients (with few exceptions) must work as soon as they are job ready or no later than two years after coming on assistance. 2. Single parents are required to participate in work activities for at least 30 hours per week. Two-parent families must participate in work activities 35 or 55 hours a week, depending upon circumstances. 3. Failure to participate in work requirements can result in a reduction or termination of benefits to the family. 4. States, in fiscal year 2004, have to ensure that 50 percent of all families and 90 percent of two-parent families are participating in work activities. If a state meets these goals without restricting eligibility, it can receive a caseload reduction credit. This credit reduces the minimum participation rates the state must achieve to continue receiving federal funding. While states are given more flexibility in the design and implementation of public assistance, they must do so within various provisions of the law: 1. Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives; 2. end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; 3. prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; 4. and encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. Funding for TANF underwent several changes from its predecessor, AFDC. Under AFDC, states provided cash assistance to families with children, and the federal government paid half or more of all program costs. Federal spending was provided to states on an open-ended basis, meaning that funding was tied to the number of caseloads. Federal law mandated that states provide some level of cash assistance to eligible poor families but states had broad discretion in setting the benefit levels. Under TANF, states qualify for block grants. The funding for these block grants are fixed and the amount each state receives is based on the level of federal contributions to the state for the AFDC program in 1994. States are required to maintain their spending for wel fare programs at 80 percent of their 1994 spending levels, with a reduction to 75 percent if states meet other work-participation requirements. States have greater flexibility in deciding how they spend funds as long as they meet the provisions of TANF described above. Welfare recipients and certain non-custodial parents are going to work, gaining job skills, and receiving the temporary help they need to become economically independent through local initiatives supported by Welfare-to-Work grants from the U.S. Department of Labor. These outcomes have been a primary goal of Federal welfare policy since the enactment of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Act which ended welfare as an entitlement and set lifetime limits on an individual’s benefits. Additional welfare reform legislation in 1997 authorized the Department of Labor to provide Welfare-to-Work grants to help the hardest-to-employ, long-term welfare recipients get education, training, work experience, and private-sector jobs. These grants to States and communities are intended to provide welfare recipients with training, transitional employ ment, job placement services, and support services. Local communities have the flexibility to design programs that fit their particular needs. Approximately three-fourths of the $3 billion authorized for Welfare-to-Work was allocated to States on the basis of their poverty populations; the States are required to spend $1 of non- Federal funding for every $2 in Federal funds. Nearly one-fourth of the total funds were awarded competitively to local governments, private industry councils, or community-based organizations; 1 percent of the funds was awarded to Indian tribes, and 0.8 percent was set aside for evaluation. The Welfare-to-Work Initiative evolves to meet society’s needs, even though virtually all of the grant funds had been distributed by the end of 1999. At least 70 percent of grant funds were required to be spent on services to long-term recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and non-custodial parents. The remainder could be spent on TANF recipients who have characteristics associated with long-term welfare dependency, youth who have received foster-care services, and custodial parents with incomes below the poverty line. Eligibility criteria were simplified under the Welfare-to-Work and Child Support Amendments of 1999. Under related programs, Work Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work tax credits provide 4. How are the Welfare-to-Work Programs being carried out in the State of Mississippi? Temporary Assistance for Needy Families provides cash benefits to families once they have been approved for the program. The benefits can be used for any legal personal reason, such as rent, food, child care or medical bills. The benefit amount is determined by a familys monthly income and the size. In Mississippi, if a familys income does not meet the standard of need used for eligibility, the state itself may supply benefits. In 2011, the maximum state allowance for needy families was $110 per month for the first person in the program, $36 for the second and $24 for every additional person. Time Limit The federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act imposed new time limits for TANF. No state can offer benefits for longer than the federal limit, although they may be extended under certain circumstances for a limited time. Mississippi uses the federal guideline for TANF benefits, although the time limit in some other states is shorter. TANF participants in Mississippi cannot receive help for more than 60 months, or five years. Eligibility Not all needy individuals qualify for TANF. Only families with children may apply, and the children must be deprived of one or both of their parents because of unemployment, absence or inability to perform their parental duties. In 2011, the family cannot exceed a maximum monthly income level or hold more than $2,000 in assets, such as real estate or cash. Mississippi rules also require that any parent or relative caretaker who takes TANF money because one or more of the parents are absent must assign support rights to the state and aid the state in obtaining child support payments from the absent parent, which may require legally establishing paternity. Work Requirements All adults who participate in Mississippis TANF program must meet the work requirements or lose their benefits. There are exceptions for women who are in their third trimester of pregnancy and have complications. You also do not have to meet the work requirements if you are the victim of domestic violence, in treatment for substance abuse, disabled, elderly or caring for a disabled household member or child under 12 months of age. Participants have 25 months to meet all work requirements before losing benefits. The program does help participants with skills assessments, developing an Employability Development Plan and job training. Vocational education, work experience programs, community service and job searches qualify as work activities for TANF. 5. â€Å"Promoting marriage and helping those with substance abuse were the secondary goals of the reform.† Referring to the US Welfare Reform in 1996, how was secondary goals achieved? In conjunction with supporting work, new policies deny assistance to people who do not work. The work requirements in TANF are stricter than those in AFDC, fewer recipients are exempted from them, and failure to comply with them can lead to financial sanctions. In addition, PRWORA limits nonworking able-bodied adults without dependents to three months of food stamps, and state General Assistance programs have declined. States have done less to achieve welfare reforms family structure goals—encouraging marriage, reducing the number of births outside of marriage, and keeping children in their own homes or the homes of relatives—than they have to promote work (chapter 3). Many states make TANF available on a fairly equal basis to families with single and with married parents, which reverses a longstanding bias in the welfare system against serving two-parent families and thereby possibly discouraging marriage. Twenty states have adopted family caps that deny additional benefits to adults who have children while they are on welfare. Another PRWORA provision strengthens the child support system, with the federal government developing a data registry to facilitate collections from working noncustodial parents, states being required to adopt new child support enforcement tools, and individual welfare recipients facing sanctions if they fail to cooperate with the child support system. 6. How successful was the 1996 Welfare Reform? Declining Welfare Demand In 1994, about 5.1 million families were receiving cash assistance from the government. Most beneficiaries have since been forced to leave the welfare rolls for low-paying jobs, following the 1996 welfare reforms. By 2006, USA Today estimates that 1 million more had been removed either because of failure to follow state rules, or they had depleted all the benefits allowed under time limits. At the 10th anniversary of the PRWORA, only about 1.9 million families were getting cash benefits: 38 percent were blacks, 33 percent were white and 24 percent were Hispanic. Between 1994 and 2004, the welfare caseload recorded an unprecedented decline of 60 percent. Working Single Mothers Of the families on welfare in 2006, unmarried women headed three out of four. However, statistics indicate earnings for the poorest 40 percent of single mother households doubled between 1996 and 2006. Statistics also revealed that about 60 percent of adults leaving welfare were employed at any given moment, according to the Brookings Institution, and that over several months, about 80 percent held at least one job. Rising Income Levels Between 1993 and 2000, the percentage of low-income single mothers with a job grew from 58 percent to nearly 75 percent, an increase of almost 30 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This was a direct result of welfare reforms. The overall income of low-income families increased by more than 25 percent over the period, and by 2006, child poverty fell significantly. According to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, welfare reforms have succeeded mainly because the presumption of government assistance as an entitlement has been reversed. The Knowledge Gap The University of Michigan argues that research on welfare reforms is too focused on poverty reduction rates, lower out-of-wedlock childbearing and greater family stability, while overlooking spousal abuse and child neglect. The university argues that poverty levels remain high among single mothers and their children and that welfare recipient faced impediments to stable employment. Similarly, the Employment Policies Institute suggests more research must be conducted in an effort to understand the relationship between minimum wages and welfare recipiency. The minimum wage research data is currently more focused on high school dropouts, with only limited attention paid to poor adults.

Blaise Pascal :: essays research papers fc

The French mathematician, theologian, physicist and man-of-letters, Blaise Pascal is a mathematician who has a reputation that rests more on what he might have done rather than what he might have actually done. Pascal has devoted a considerable amount of his life towards the devotion of religious exercise. Blaise Pascal was born in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne. Which is now known as Clermont-Ferrand, on June 19, 1623. And he died in Paris on Aug. 19, 1662. Pascal was the son of the president of the Court of Exchequer. After Pascal's mother died in 1630 his father who also had a scientific reputation moved to Paris in 1631 to pursue his own scientific studies, and also to continue his children’s education. Pascal had displayed an exceptional amount of academic ability therefore he was kept at home to ensure his academic stability. Pascal had a natural desire for the science of constructing figures and determining the proportions between their different parts. He soon discovered that the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles. By the age of fourteen he was admitted to the weekly meetings of Roberval, Mersenne, Mydorge, and other French geometricians; from which, ultimately, the French Academy sprung. At sixteen Pascal wrote an essay on conic sections. Blaise Pascal with Pierre de Fermat, they invented the calculus of probabilities, which laid foundation for Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz's calculus. In 1647 Pascal invented calculating machine, which made him one of the fathers of the Computer Age. Later he developed the barometer, the hydraulic press, and the syringe. In 1653 he had to administer his father's estate. Pascal's other important scientific contributions include the derivation of Pascal's law or principle, which states that fluids transmit pressures equally in all directions, and his investigations in the geometry of infinitesimals. Around this time he invented the arithmetical triangle, and in conjunction with Fermat created the calculus of probabilities. Pascal died at the age of 39 in intense pain after a malignant growth in his stomach spread to the brain. His most famous work is the Pensees (Thoughts); a set of deeply personal meditations in somewhat fragmented form on human suffering and faith in God. "Pascal's wager" expresses the conviction that belief in God is rational: if God does not exist, one stands to lose nothing by believing in him anyway, while if he does exist, one stands to lose everything by not believing.

Dramatic Techniques in “Oedipus the King” Essay

Sophocles was one of the most celebrated playwrights of his time, writing more than 100 plays to captivate and delight his ancient Greek audiences. Today, although only seven plays remain, his work continues to be enjoyed, evoking a variety of emotions and passions from his meaningful and disturbing tragedies, proving that he revolutionised the face of drama. One of Sophocles most legendary plays, Oedipus the King, demonstrates his outstanding writing skill, by the number of techniques he incorporates, such as dramatic irony, symbolism and his usage of the Chorus. Dramatic irony is a prominent device used in many tragedies. It allows the audience to feel a sense of privilege and engagement in the play and develops an alliance between the dramatist and the spectators, so that mere curiosity is not the only aspect keeping the viewers interested. Such tragedies containing dramatic irony include Othello, Romeo and Juliet and Time in the Conways by J.B. Priestley. In Oedipus the King, everyone in the audience knows from the beginning that Oedipus has killed his father and married his mother, not only from the prologue, but due to the fact that the basic story of Oedipus was a well known myth of the time. The tension of the play, then, builds up from Oedipus slow but foreseeable advancement towards this horrifying self-knowledge. Watching Oedipus fate unfold, the audience associates with the protagonist, vividly sharing the horror of the reversal he suffers and recognising the command that fate has. By relating with the audience, Sophocles accomplished the catharsis that Aristotle thought was so essential. One scene in particular illustrates an obvious example of dramatic irony, when Oedipus is addressing his people about the plague they are suffering. And while you suffer, none suffers more than I. You have your several griefs, each for himself;But my heart bears the weight of my own, and yoursAnd all my peoples sorrows. I am not asleep.(Lines 51-54)Oedipus relates that he suffers from the fact that his people are sick, however, the viewers know its double meaning, that, although he does not know it he suffers from another type of sickness- that of being contaminated with the crimes of incest and murder, and actually, in the end  he does suffer from the shame of his people, therefore carrying their grievances. Dramatic irony increases a sense of suspense among the audience as they wait for the inevitable, foreshadowing what is to be the climax of the story; that destructive moment of realisation which is the basis of most Greek tragedies. However, apart from their base knowledge of the Oedipus legend, the audience is unaware of the order and particulars of the play, therefore a medium is needed to relate between the audience and the drama on stage. In Greek theatre this comes in the form of the Chorus. The major roles of the Chorus are to commentate and to react fittingly to the events onstage. They provide the audience with clarification and reinforce the morals of the play, reacting in a way the ideal spectators should react. The Chorus in Oedipus the King are wise Theban elders who long for stability and composure among their society, advising Oedipus to Be merciful and learn to yield in order to keep peace between himself and Creon, and in lines 875-894 they essentially exclaim that man should not try to rebel against fate, law or the gods. They also tend to keep the continuity and urgency of the play alive by summarising and foreshadowing particular events; Why has the Queen, sir, left us in such deep passion? / I fear some vile catastrophe will out†¦ The Chorus is also a tool Sophocles used to influence and control the audiences reaction because the Chorus were, in terms of status, personality and attitudes and values, very similar to the audience therefore they felt implied to feel how the Chorus was feeling. In this respect, the spectators were taking part in the play since the Chorus represented their voice. In Oedipus the King the last words are spoken directly to the viewers by the Chorus; a final summary and confirmation of tragedy, they state that all men are to be wretched until the day they die. In this tragedy the Chorus is a symbol of the common ideologies of the time and other symbols aid in giving meaning to the drama and allowing viewers to delve deeper into the plot. Symbolism is a method of revealing ideas or truth through the use of symbols. In Oedipus the KingSophocles uses symbolism in a number of instances, proving his great ability as a playwright. As mentioned, symbolism gives depth to drama, and although symbolism may not have been evident to the  ancient Greeks when viewing the play, on reflection these clues may have come known, revealing a whole new outlook of the play. In this particular tragedy sight is a consistent symbol throughout the text and it occurs both literally and metaphorically. In the beginning, clear sighted Oedipus sees only what he wishes to and is blind to the grave truth of his past (and future). He seems to pity Tiresias physical blindness more than he marvels at his gift, treating it as a significant disability and using it against him. Living in perpetual night, you cannot harm me, nor any man else that sees the light. Consequently when Oedipus comes to know of the truth he blinds himself in order to escape the shame of his children. As soon as this happens we see a change in his character; he becomes more modest and although the chorus thinks only of the hurting Oedipus must be in- Foulest disfigurement that I ever saw! O cruel, insensate agony!(lines 1298-1300) -Oedipus makes no mention of physical pain. Another symbol is that of a crucial decisive moment in the play, the three cross roads where Laius is murdered. The symbol of the crossroads shows us how although Oedipus was destined to a certain thing he did have some free will- if his character had allowed him to stay calm in the situation with Laius, Oedipus may have been better off. A further symbol is Oedipus swollen feet and his name. The link between Oedipus name and his ankle is vital because it proves that Oedipus was the child that was left to die and therefore the one whom the oracles prediction was made to. It also gives a lasting physical proof in the form of his limp that he has had from birth. In addition to this feet are a symbol for humans in this play-the Sphinx riddle demonstrates this, therefore the meaning of Oedipuss swollen feet could also describe his flaw as a human being. Through the study of some of the techniques Sophocles engaged in his plays, his aptitude and flair as playwright has become apparent and have most definitely helped his plays succeed throughout history. Dramatic irony kept viewers interested in the plot and increased suspense, symbolism gave depth to the plot and the Chorus developed the plays ability to universalise, by enabling the audience to relate to the feelings of the Chorus and the protagonist. When it was written it was, in the opinion of Aristotle, one of the greatest tragedies. Today, although attitudes and values have changed,  it has the same effect and it is still said to be original tragedy from its universal techniques and morals.

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