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GOAL NUMBER TWO: REDUCE THE HARM CAUSED BY THE "WAR ON DRUGS"

OBJECTIVE: ENCOURAGE “FAMILY VALUE-FRIENDLY” POLICIES AND FAMILY UNITY THROUGH TREATMENT AND SUPPORT SERVICES, NOT PUNITIVE RESPONSES

Rationale: According the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, studies have found that 10-20 percent of welfare recipients have a substance abuse problem.¹¹⁰ Experts acknowledge that substance abuse is widely under-reported.¹¹¹ 

The 1996 federal welfare reform law (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families - TANF) denies welfare benefits to women convicted of a drug felony since August, 1996 and give states broad authority to drug test women on welfare. Ironically, women on welfare receive their health care through state Medicaid programs that provide little or no coverage of drug treatment services. At the same time, women on welfare must meet strict work requirements and time limits. Many women will not achieve the transition from welfare to work until the welfare system provides access to drug abuse treatment.

The GAO estimates that substance abuse is a key factor in at least three quarters of the foster care cases in the U.S.¹¹² Women with alcohol and drug abuse problems should not be presumed to be unfit parents. Rather, public policy should help women keep their families together while accessing drug treatment. In fact, treatment outcome studies suggest that women who are allowed to have their children with them in residential programs are more successful than women who are separated from their children.¹¹³ 

Recommendation 1: Repeal section 115 of the TANF and Food Stamps benefit programs, and reform welfare to help rather than penalize women struggling with drug abuse problems.

Congress should pass welfare reform that allows states to help women with felony records move toward healthy and productive lives through the TANF program. Currently, section 115 of the Welfare Reform Bill (also known as the Gramm Amendment) places a lifetime ban on TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and Food Stamps benefits for convicted drug felons. Recently, the Justice Policy Institute issued an analysis¹¹⁴ of the impact of this provision. It concluded that this provision will:

• Disproportionately impact women and minorities, since women are the overwhelming majority of adult TANF recipients, and minorities systematically receive greater arrests and convictions for drug crimes. In California, the disparate impact is even more striking because single male drug felons can currently receive state General Assistance benefits, while mothers convicted of a drug felony cannot.¹¹⁵ 

  

• Increase costs of state foster care, since mothers with criminal records have difficulty in obtaining work and will be less likely to be able to provide children with a stable income and housing, many more children will wind up in foster care.

• Increase costs to the criminal justice system, because “without any support services for ex-drug offenders immediately after their release from prison, we can expect recidivism to sky rocket. That means more and more taxpayers dollars for law enforcement, the legal system and prisons, more property loss, and more victims.”¹¹⁶ 

• Decrease treatment opportunities, since many residential treatment programs depend on welfare programs to help defray the cost of room and board.¹¹⁷ 

• Increase harm to children, since in addition to the financial loss of placing children in foster care, there is the huge emotional loss the children face by being separated from their mother and dropped in an overburden foster care system.

In essence, states should not be allowed to tie welfare benefits (cash assistance, Medicaid, food stamps, or other aid) to drug convictions or involuntary submission to drug screening. Rather, Congress should fund welfare-to-work programs that provide drug treatment and services to women.

Furthermore, congress should pass a specific exemption to TANF work and time requirements for women with drug abuse problems, similar to the one granted female victims of domestic violence.

Recommendation 2: Fund alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs that work with women and their children.

Maintaining family unity and social support networks are often key aspects of a person's recovery from addiction, and this “family value-friendly” factor should be at the forefront of substance abuse programs. This means treatment programs should be easily accessible, preferably located in the community. Child care services should be provided so women who are the primary care giver are able to attend treatment programs without having to find child care.

While a person with a substance abuse problem may be unfit to have custody of children, that is not always the case and should not be presumed. Programs like foster care and child protective services should work in concert with alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs to enable women to obtain treatment without losing custody of their children. Furthermore if separation is absolutely necessary, efforts should be made to reunite women with their children once treatment is complete.

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¹¹⁰ Gerstein, D.R., Johnson, R.A., Larison, C.L., Harwood, H.J., and Fountain, D. (1997). Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment for Parents and Welfare Recipients: Outcomes, Benefits and Costs. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
¹¹¹ Woodward, A., Epstein, J., Gfroerer, J., Melnick, D., Thoreson, R., and Willson, D. (1997 Spring). "The Drug Abuse Treatment Gap: Recent Estimates." Health Care Financing Review. Vol. 18, No. 3. p. 6.
¹¹² Drug Strategies. (1998).
¹¹³ Drug Strategies. (1998). citing DeLeon, Ed. 1997 - three relevant articles
¹¹⁴ Rukaiyah Adams, David Onek, and Alissa Riker. (1998). Double Jeopardy: An Assessment of the Felony Drug Provision of the Welfare Reform Act. Washington, DC: Justice Policy Institute.
¹¹⁵ Ibid.
¹¹⁶ "Deny Aid to Those Who Need it?" (August 7, 1998). The Des Moines Register. Pg. 8.
¹¹⁷ Legal Action Center. (1996). A Fact Sheet for Policy Makers - Welfare Reform: Implementing Drug Felony Conviction Provisions. Washington, DC: Legal Action Center.

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