Respond to two of your classmates’ posts.

Lashendra’s post:

The right to an adequate standard of living for health and well-being is a fundamental human right. I believe that people should be provided with the necessary resources in order to provide for their families as well as themselves. ‘The expenditure necessary to buy a minimum standard of nutrition and other basic necessities and a further amount that varies from country to country, reflecting the cost of participating in the everyday life of society.’ (Human Rights Center, 2013).  However, I do feel like there should be a limited amount of time that certain assistance is given for them not to become dependent on the assistance.

Many people are embarrassed to receive any form of welfare assistance because of the stigma associated with it.  As a young, teenage mother, I was a recipient of TANF or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Because of my age, I was unable to work, go to school, pay for childcare and provide the necessities for my child. Although, I had a great support system, there were somethings that I wanted to and needed to take care of on my own. For myself, this program gave me the push and the start that I needed to be able to afford the simple things.  The TANF program provides grant funds to states and territories to provide families with financial assistance and related support services. State-administered programs may include childcare assistance, job preparation, and work assistance (DHHS, 2019).  According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities or CBPP, because TANF’s goals are so broad, states have used their TANF funds for a variety of services and supports, including: income assistance (including wage supplements for working-poor families), child care, education and job training, transportation, aid to children at risk of abuse and neglect, and a variety of other services to help low-income families.

Having policies and criteria in place for eligibility, I think this eliminates or decreases the chances of people taking advantage of this benefit and limiting it to those who are really in need. Although there isn’t any stipulation as to how the money is spent, this isn’t funding that is given away freely. States must require a recipient to engage in work activities and must impose sanctions (by reducing or terminating benefits) if the individual does not meet the requirements without good cause. I think that the time limit of 5 years should be reconsidered and shorten because I believe anything over a year or two at the max, people become laxed and dependent and complacent. I also think that illegal immigrants should be able to participate in this program. Most are coming here with nothing at all. If anything, I think the funds should be used at minimum to help with gaining citizenship. The TANF program allows for individuals to get on track and be able to live with some comfortability, relieving the stress of not being able to provide for themselves or their families.  

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2020). Policy Basics: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/research/family-income-support/temporary-assistance-for-needy-families (Links to an external site.)

Human Rights Center. (2013). The Right to An Adequate Standard of Living. MAYA. Retrieved from http://www.humanrights.is/en/human-rights-education-project/human-rights-concepts-ideas-and-fora/substantive-human-rights/the-right-to-an-adequate-standard-of-living

Pouang’s post:

 I think that the adequate standard of living should extend to all Americans under our constitution. There are plenty of programs in place to help people in poverty like SNAP and TANF, these are made available to people who qualify which means you are in a certain wage bracket. I believe in America we have the system in place properly, and it works fine until people abuse it. I believe that people on these programs should be monitored and checked in on though, these programs are in place to help in times of need not for a long term use by the same individuals, I know in the instance of unemployment they ask if you’ve been putting in resumes as a standard to stay on the benefit, however some people just put down yes and don’t need to provide proof, I think a follow up to these companies to see you are doing your part is in order to keep your benefits. A lot of these programs are great until misused and I think if everything worked properly  the level of assistance we currently have is adequate. 

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). (2020, March 16). Office of Family Assistance | ACF. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ofa/programs/tanf