A Better Welfare System :: Work Job Employment Essays

A Better Welfare System I do believe people should have to work or get an education while receiving benefits. Nobody should get to get a 'free ride' through life! Nobody pays my way through life, I have to work for what I get. That quote is the word of a twenty-two year-old female who holds down a full-time job, pays rent, and taxes. Some, like her, may feel contempt toward welfare recipients who do not work for their benefits. The welfare system is a program for citizens who need assistance. but it should be considered a privilege, not a free ride. Everyone wants-or professes to want-to "end welfare as we know it," even though the welfare system is still thriving. The new program on the market, Workfare, is a reform tactic that will get recipients into the work force and eventually off benefits. It's is four a.m., and Jenifer Beack is getting her two children ready to go to day care until they are shuttled off to school. Then Jenifer heads to Roseville, Minnesota, to her job as a Customer Support Specialist at Allina Clinic Equipment Services. It's a hectic schedule for this single mother to maintain, but she's willing to do it. A couple of years ago, Jenifer, in her third year of college, was on welfare. She was struggling with full time school.. part-time evening job, and trying be a mother to her baby girl. It was when a friend told her about STRIDE (Success Through Reaching Individual Development and Employment,) a subdivision of Workfare that she began to see a way out. STRIDE, encourages recipients to see welfare as temporary assistance. emphasizing employment as the goal. Lynn Ransom, Case Manager with PIWC 5 (a branch of welfare), went out of her way to help Jenifer with anything she needed. PIWC 5 provided financial assistance for day care, car repairs, gas money, clothing, books and classes. Lynn helped Jenifer develop a resume, fine tune her interviewing skills, and select an interview wardrobe. What PIWC 5 asked for in return was a goal sheet which helped Jenifer develop reasonable goals to work toward. Lynn and Jenifer met on a regular basis to monitor progress. After graduating with a degree in Psychology and Speech Communications, Jenifer landed the job at Allina. Jenifer stated, "Lynn has been so wonderful. She's been there not only through financial struggles, but personal ones too.