Ch 4

In Chapter 4 it discusses the question why welfare? Rhonda is a white woman with a son and a father that comes around once a month to help out but does not pay child support. She moved from a trailer to an apartment with subsidized housing. She does not talk with the neighbors because she thinks they are criminals and have no interest helping them selves. Even though she is on the welfare system she thinks differently about someone else that is on it. Rhonda feels that she has only been on and off of welfare for four years and the people she know have been on it for 8-12 years and they do not care to get off of it. She wants a better life and only goes on it when she tries to find more work. She is trying to go to school and make things better while her child is sick from lead-paint poisoning. I feel that she should be on it from time to time because she is trying to make a difference in her life. What I think the system should do is have welfare counselors that come to your house once a month and physically checks the employers businesses to see that you physically are trying. The only proof you need now is a list of places you have sent your resume to. The government does not do any more than check that you wrote down these places. And actually they do not do that for everyone. My mother is on Medicaid because of cancer not being able for her to work. I think she should be on it and not because she is my mother but because of the circumstances. I feel that these are examples of people in need and that every applicant should be monitored closely so that our taxes and money are going to the right places. I do not completely disagree with the system but I think with strict stipulations, half the people would not be on welfare.

I think there should be other ways in our system today so that people can make better decisions. For example people that do not have a GED they should be able to go for free so that those people could try and find work. Also people should be on welfare only for a certain amount of time like a couple of years not a decade. That way if we had welfare counselors helping people get jobs, and get their GED's there will be a higher rate of success and not more taxes being distributed to them.

As Saccome states, many people can find jobs but not sitters to watch their children. Then they try to put them in child care and what ends up happening is all their money goes to the child care. Also there are not after school activities in the neighborhoods so that the kids can stay at school longer while the parent is working. Instead the neighborhood are more troublesome and bad behavior is promoted because then you have you kids on the streets causing trouble. I think Saccome is trying to let us know how hard it really is and to not make judgements when you really do not have the research and answers of how and why people are on welfare.