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From Think Progress<\/a><\/p>\n Tennessee’s first year of drug testing welfare recipients uncovered drug use by less than 0.2 percent of all applicants for the state’s public assistance system.<\/p>\n The state implemented the testing regime in the summer of 2014, adding three questions about narcotics use to the application form for aid. Anyone who answers “yes” to any of the three drug questions must take a urine test or have their application thrown away immediately. Anyone who fails a urine test must complete drug treatment and pass a second test, or have their benefits cut off for six months.<\/p>\n In total, just 1.6 percent of the 28,559 people<\/a> who applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits in the first year of testing answered one of the three screening questions positively. Out of the 468 people who peed in a state-funded cup, 11.7 percent flunked the test.<\/p>\n You can read the rest of the article <\/span>HERE<\/span><\/a><\/strong>. In an earlier <\/span>Think Progress<\/span><\/a><\/strong> article, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arizona were examined for the costs-benefits of their programmes.<\/span><\/p>\n As state legislatures convene across the country, proposals keep cropping up to drug test applicants to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, or welfare. …<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Proponents of these bills claim<\/a> they will save money by getting drug users off the dole and thus reduce spending on benefits. But states that are looking at bills of their own may want to consider the fact that the drug testing programs that are already up and running haven’t seen such results. …<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The drug-testing regimes in the seven states all differ slightly, but the lack of effectiveness is widespread.<\/p>\n In 2011, Missouri adopted a law<\/a> to require screening and testing for all TANF applicants, and the testing began in March 2013. In 2014, 446 of the state’s 38,970 applicants were tested. Just 48 tested positive.<\/p>\n The budgeted cost for that year’s testing program was $336,297. And, according to numbers provided to ThinkProgress by a Missouri Department of Social Services spokeswoman, the first three years of the program will likely cost the state more than $1.35 million, including start-up costs. …<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In 2011, Florida passed a law<\/a> to require every single applicant for TANF to pass a urine drug test, at his or her own expense (not just those for whom there was a reasonable suspicion). In four month of implementation<\/a>,108 out of 4,086 applicants tested positive at a cost of $118,140. Applicants who tested negative would be reimbursed by the state. A federal courtstopped the requirement<\/a> as a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s “unreasonable search and seizures” clause in 2013 — a ruling upheld<\/a> in December<\/a> by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The three-judge panel noted that Florida had “not demonstrated a more prevalent, unique or different drug problem among TANF applicants than in the general population.” A 2012 Georgia law<\/a> like Florida’s, was revised in 2014<\/a> to include a “reasonable suspicion” requirement. A spokeswoman for the Georgia Division of Family and Children’s Services told ThinkProgress that the program is “currently on hold, pending a case in the U.S. District Court.” Its ultimate result could determine the constitutionality of the requirements in other states.<\/p>\n Read the rest of the <\/span>ARTICLE<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to see how the other states fared.<\/span><\/p>\n Too many states are seeing drug testing as a panacea for high welfare costs. Unfortunately, the costs far out weigh the benefits. And the causes of job loss or welfare assistance are not uniquely the fault of applicants. But in addition, there are other costs like the affront to a person's dignity. I can remember the first time I had to go on Unemployment benefits. I stood at the counter, dressed as if I were going to work, in full blown panic attack mode, shaking like a leaf in a strong wind. I had to fill out papers but I could not write. With no one at home to assist me, the clerked filled it out as I mumbled answers to her questions. My face was beet red, my legs like jello. I finally signed it but the signature didn't resemble my usual signature. Had I been required to "pee in a cup", I think I would have totally lost my mind.<\/span><\/p>\n Is it right to ask people to "pee in a cup" when they are already down, especially when the testing lacks effectiveness?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From Think Progress Tennessee’s first year of drug testing welfare recipients uncovered drug use by less than 0.2 percent of all applicants for the state’s public assistance system. The state implemented the testing regime in the summer of 2014, adding three questions about narcotics use to the application form for aid. Anyone who answers “yes” […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16534\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The High Costs And Few Rewards In Each State<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
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