Should welfare for able bodied, mentally able people be a made to work program

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

like city or town street sweeping, garbage pickup, park cleanup and stuff like that.

or possibly even an education or trades program where grade averages have to be kept at a certian level.

or should we simply allow them a vacation

 

[Purrde Flower]

I think everyone who can work should work. It is difficult though sometimes to find a job.

 

[SweetCherry]

I'm not on welfare, but I am on disability. I'd love to have some sort of educational program offered here so I could be more self sufficiant and have a better standard of living for my children.

 

[Bob_Bytchin]

I know several military families that rely on food-stamps because the Army has not kept its pay-scale up with civilian equivalent jobs. Combine that with the loss in benefits over the years, and you have many families in a bad situation. Now, in a time of war, many two-income families have had to switch to one-income, which means that food stamp cases should be on the rise.

Yeah, make the bastards go to work.

 

[MissTaken]

like city or town street sweeping, garbage pickup, park cleanup and stuff like that.

or possibly even an education or trades program where grade averages have to be kept at a certian level.

or should we simply allow them a vacation

We call it "workfare." By and large, it has been a successful program, locally as many find that they can actually get a pay check for doing the same things without welfare.

IN addition to workfare, moving people from welfare to work requires transitioning time and assistance. Many jobs that they can be assigned to through workfare would not pay the bills at an entry level.

It is a good first step toward motivating some to work as well as giving them some skills and training, references and many people on workfare end up working for the company they have done their term with. Teh company gets a trained employee and the worker gets off welfare.

It does work...but not without gliches and downfalls.

 

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

I think everyone who can work should work. It is difficult though sometimes to find a job.

i do to, but there are those who will and do get on welfare for the easy way and know how to con the system.

those are the ones I am figuring should have a work for welfare program, generally public work with a bright orange contruction warning vest on with, I am a welfare lackey on the back to motivfate them to want a real job rather than milking the system.

there are those in my town who need or diserve welfare or disability due to real reason, but they barely get anything because roughly 75% in this specific town that are on welfare are perfectly able to work, and there are plenty of jobs for them at the present time. but they would rather drain the resources rather than allow those that need it get what they need.

The local paper last week, was stating a possibility that a majority of street repairs simply won't get done this year due to too many people on the system. to me that is sad when the town is finally gotten rid of the stagnent members of council and is finally starting to grow a little and then to see it stalled, or only the growth areas be taken care of because of abuse to the systemm.

 

[Guest]

Disabled or not - having a job raises the morale and gives a focus.

If asked, many of the people you are thinking of would beg to be able to earn a decent wage.

 

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

Disabled or not - having a job raises the morale and gives a focus.

If asked, many of the people you are thinking of would beg to be able to earn a decent wage.

afraid not in this particular town, I went to the "welfare" setion, an area downtown that is statistically 93% welfare reciepients by town records. I went door to door for 6 hours on a saturday asking the simple question if they would have a job today at the same money or 10% more than what they are making on welfare would they take it. out of 53 people that I got an answer out of 47 said no they would stay on the welfare. that frightened me, because that mindset will go into thier next generation of kids.

I am hoping that maybe what I am observing here and other communities are just coincidence to be the same just where I have been and no where else

 

[La Huesera]

I'm not on welfare, but I am on disability. I'd love to have some sort of educational program offered here so I could be more self sufficiant and have a better standard of living for my children.

The state I live in has Vocational Rehab. Depending on your house hold income, they will help with paying for some of college to all...including books, living expenses etc. You might check it out.

 

[Freya]

Ontario instituted workfare a few years back, amid much booing and hissing from the New Democrats, and welfare recipients. The theory is that they either need to get a job, or do a certain amount of hours of volunteer work to earn their monthly cheques. At the same time, they reduced welfare cheques significantly, making it fairly difficult for able bodied people to not work.

 

[Sillyman]

Generally, no. Welfare-to-work programs mean usually mean a way to get around minimum wage laws and poison the local labor market. It can also be damaging to people attempting to go somewhere in their lives by stealing their time doing pointless shit work.

 

[Guest]

 

[CatEyes]

I think it would help if welfare wasn't an all or nothing program. You can stay home and get everything paid for or you can get a job make $7 an hour, pay for child care and get nothing from welfare. Most people are going to stay home. If people are able to work, they should have to get a job. They should provide training, once the training is done they should have to get a job or welfare stops. For the first year or two they should still be given some sort of welfare to help them out.

I saw a story a few years ago, a mother was on welfare, her daughter who was in high school worked part time and saved a few thousand dollars to go to college. Welfare found out about it and said they had to turn over the money the daughter had saved. With the amount of money they blow why take the money this girl was going to use to go to college? Maybe she should just stay home and go on welfare.

 

[P. B. Walker]

like city or town street sweeping, garbage pickup, park cleanup and stuff like that.

or possibly even an education or trades program where grade averages have to be kept at a certian level.

or should we simply allow them a vacation

I would support such a program. However, I not sure about full time work... you at least have to give people a chance to find other work. And that's hard to do if you are holding down a full time job just to get welfare.

 

[Purrde Flower]

Sadly the welfare system is abused by people who know how to cheat the system. I have seen it done several time. Unfortunatly case workers are overloaded and aren't always able to catch everything.

 

[brunhilda]

The welfare program here has a 40-hour per week requirement. They have all kinds of things, like workshops and "job clubs" and stuff.
Most of it is probably a good idea (ya can't sit at home on your ass and collect it), but it seems to me that maybe they OVER do it.
How can you be out looking for work if you are in a week-long seminar to TEACH you how to look for a job, for instance?
I understand they also pay for certain kinds of schooling, vocational training, etc., if it can be completed in a certain period of time. I'm sure that you have to be actually attending and doing well in order to continue in the program.

 

[LadyG]

Ontario instituted workfare a few years back, amid much booing and hissing from the New Democrats, and welfare recipients. The theory is that they either need to get a job, or do a certain amount of hours of volunteer work to earn their monthly cheques. At the same time, they reduced welfare cheques significantly, making it fairly difficult for able bodied people to not work.

I was working at a hospital here, in the volunteer department. They'd come in, say I want to volunteer, I'd give them an application and they'd hand me a letter saying can you sign this to say I am volunteering here and it's 8 hours a week?

LOL..I'm not that stupid, considering that signature would get them a metropass and 4 months leniency with their worker.

I would tell them that they had to volunteer, 3 hours per day, one day a week for 3 months, then I'd give them their letter. Funny how many never came back for orientation! A few did though and those were the ones we tried to place in jobs within the hospital if they applied.

My friend is a Welfare Officer and she said you wouldn't believe how many places give out letters and then the people never come back.

bah.