Term Paper
Term Paper
Higher mortgage rates: the 30-year mortgage fix is likely to come to end with the result of increase in the mortgage rates. With the higher rate, analysts saying that it is manageable, as the housing clients (buyers) will have several techniques to mitigate some of the risks (Barker, 2004). However, with higher rates in place, the monthly payments will tend to increase rapidly in with increase to debt-to-income ratios. Secondly, there is the trend of higher rents. As reported, rents are going up at a rate that is greater than the prices of homes. Since most of the households rent and they have poor credit records, they do not have the capability to mortgage houses. With the trend of Generational purchasing trend where a lot of the young people have ventured into the real estate business more than the old, the implication of this is that they have a double role to play as buyers and sellers. This will limit the entry retired older people locking their positions in the market.
We have the Housing Voucher Choice Vouchers, which is geared to support the very low-income households, the old, and those with disabilities also to be owners of affordable, secure and clean houses in the private housing sector. We have Landlord Tenant Book programs which stipulate the roles and objectives of the two and what is anticipated from them in such a scenario of their correlation. Livable Homes Tax Credit (LHTC) is another program that gives clear taxation guidelines and requirements on the landlord should pay taxes. Lastly, there is the Community Housing Development Organization program which aims to ensure that the houses that are being constructed meet the required standards and it is the entitled to prove housing plans before construction commences.
Public Assistance Programs
Public assistance programs refer to the state programs that aim to help to needy people in the society. Not every person is qualified for government assistance, regardless of them meeting the poverty requirements. According to Popple & Leighninger (1996), “This is because the public support should be offered to the individuals who bear no responsibility for their state of being poor, such children, elderly, and the people with disability. Fit, aged adults who are employed and have no children are usually locked out and perceived as not eligible for most public assistance (pp. 89-90)”.
Cash and in-kind support are the two broad categories of public assistance. Cash assistance refers to the transfer of money from a state-funded program to a person, for example, a welfare check and it provided by the TFA-Temporary Family Assistance. For a person to be eligible for this, the household income has to be less that the TFA benefit for the size of the family. In the case of exemptions such as a caretaker relative who has been incapacitated, the adults I the particular family has to be involved in some work so as the household can obtain the befit.
On the other hand, In-kind assistance, on the contrary, is refers to the transfer of assistance to a receiver and does not involve money. They are essentially goods and services that are provided free of charge. Examples of such in-kind support include Food Stamps and Medical assistance, childcare, and housing care. The reasons for the issuance of this kind of assistance are that there is fear that the poor households are likely to misuse cash if they are given. Thus, it is important to provide goods instead of transferring money.
Programs covered Under OASDI
Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program (OASDI), also referred to as for Social Security. The program was established in 1935, through the Social Security Act. OASDI program channels are payments to those who have retired, surviving husbands or wives and children, and physically challenged employees (Topel & Rosen, 1988). Approximately 59 million of the US citizens obtain almost $863 billion of the Social Security benefits. About 165 million of employees are insured with the Social Security. Social Security is the primary source of income for several of the aged US citizens with a probability of nine out of ten people more than 65 years old receiving the benefits.
Under the state constitution, the employers are to deduct a 6.2 percent of each worker's salary as the employees’ OASDI contribution. If a person is under self-employment, the person pays the aggregate for both the staff and employer portion of OASDI. The state sets a maximum on the income that is supposed to be taxed for OASDI/Employer-Employee. However, the maximum amount payable experiences an annual fluctuation which proves not to be suitable for both the employer and the employee.
When a person is subscribed to OASDI, the person is subjected to a maximum annual earning of four credits. Credits are viewed by the on an employee's cumulative salaries and annual self-employment income. There is unpredictability in the earnings a person can get. For example, a worker can work a year round to obtain four credits or may receive enough payment for all four credits in a shorter duration.
Food programs that have been developed to help the poor
The Food Stamp Program, also referred to as SNAP- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program substantially reduced the poverty levels. With a targeted population of 46 million, the food program is one of the largest antipoverty mission. Nonetheless, the additional income it offers is not included in the records of the federal official poverty measure, an error that does not make it easy for officials to perceive the impacts of the policy and obtain a precise figure for the population that is below the poverty level.
Popple & Leighninger (1996) assert that “There has been a substantial increase in those who have enrolled in the program, especially after the recession. The stimulus package advocated for by the President and endorsed by Congress considerably increased funding for the program as a provisional relief for families who fell into the trap of the recession (p. 120)”. The program increased the income of the poor to approximately six percent almost to the line showing a less severe poverty situation. If the benefits were computed on the income of households with children, the outcome was that children below the verge grew by 11 percent nearer to the line. The program had the significant impact on the children since they are more prone to be less fortunate in the society and the constitute half of the beneficiaries of the program.
The poverty researchers have for a long time acknowledged the impacts of the program. The fascinating element of the research studies is how politicized the program becomes especially during the period of election. The studies show that during times of elections and increasing budget weights, social projects such as Food Stamps experience increased criticism from Republican representatives, who claim that the food programs create a type of entitlement society.
Consequence of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)
Since the endorsement of the PRWORA in 1996, studies show that it has resulted in more of positive effects. The objectives of the law were; to minimize the level of dependence, to lower the poverty level among the children, and to reduce the illegitimacy and foster marriage. The charter has shown good results in attaining the objectives (Popple & Leighninger, 1996, p. 179).
First, concerning the drop in the dependence, since the sanctioning of the reform, there has been a reduction in the number of the caseloads, by close to 50%. There ae people who claim that the decrease of the dependence is as a result of a stable and robust economic state of the country. Conversely, in the previous 50 years, no prior economic boom caused a considerable drop in AFDC caseload. It is Welfare restructuring, not economic environments that have resulted in the vast reduction in the level of dependence. States with good economic status have not experienced a greater reduction in caseload (Padgett et al., 2006). On the contrary, reduction in dependence is directly and sturdily related to the objectivity of state workfare guidelines.
In the case of reducing poverty, critics of the Welfare Reform argued that the reform would put subject several children into poverty. In reality, the rate of poverty among children has reduced significantly since the endorsement of the reform. It is historical how the black child poverty level and the general poverty state of children in single mother households are currently on the lowest level in the American history. States with great workfare systems have tended to have more rapid declines in child poverty than have states with mild work requirements.
Child Protective Services
Child protection in the history of U.S can be distinguished into three periods. The organized child protection is the period that extends between the colonial eras to 1875. The second phase extended between the 1875 and 1962 and experienced the formation of the growth of the organized child protection by the assistance of the non-state child protection bodies. The modern and the last era were marked in 1962; in which the child protective services were state-sponsored.
Popple & Leighninger (1996) notes that, “the reasons for child protective services are attributable by the personal, relational societal aspects that result in the risk of child abuse and neglect (p. 234)”. Despite the fact that the kids are not accountable for the harm imposed on them, some traits have been realized to elevate their risks of being abused. Thus, when we talk about the formation of child protective services, the factors that result to these are the risk factors that the children experience.
First, there are individual risks such as the special requirements of children that may put the burden on the person giving care to the kid. Such kind of special needs are disabilities, mental health concerns, and chronic physical disorder. Parental lack of understanding of the requirements of a child, important child abuse cases of a parent, and parental features such as young age, single parent, and low household income are some of the factors that have resulted in child protective services. Violence and disorder in the family’s society as a whole could also lead to protective services.
Child protective service are geared towards protecting the children from being abused or abandoned, to offer a healthy growth among the children. Through the protective services, families are positively involved in emphasizing the strengths of the families in doing right to the kids. Also, the services can offer a stringent platform for establishing mutual partnerships with other related service providers.
Types of Child Mistreatment
Ill-treatment on a child can be put into four categories; physical, emotional, sexual abuse and abuse. A child can be mistreated regardless of age, gender, religion, and or socioeconomic background. To begin with, physical abuse involves any form that is associated with bruises, scratches, and fractures, which are as a result of hitting, burning or anything that causes injury to the child (Depanfilis, 2005). Physical abuse or abuse can be because of parental or guidance fabricated signs that inflict sickness to the child.
Emotional mistreatment, on the other hand, refers to the continual emotional mistreatment of a child for example to instigate serious and persistent impacts on the emotional growth of the child. These may constitute telling a child that he or she is useless, not loved, or given value and attention only if he or she attains the requirements of another person. Also, imposing improper growth anticipations such as interaction more than what the child can contain, overprotection, limiting a child to explore and learn is a form of emotional abuse. This is also not limited to misuse or corruption of a child. Emotional mistreatment is regarded to be the most type of mistreatment among the children.
Sexual mistreatment refers to compelling or enticing a kid to be involved in sexual activities such as prostitution if or if not the child knows what is taking place. It can be in form physical contact and penetrative involvements such as rape (Trupin et al., 1993). Sexual abuse can also be in the form of staring at a child in a sexual way. It is inclusive of the use of photos, books or any audio-visual content.
Lastly, neglect is regarded as the continual failure to attain a child’s basic physical and or mental requirements that certainly result in the severe impairment in the healthy growth of a child. Neglect can take place during birth. After conception, neglect can be held in various always such as exposing the child to physical and mental risk, not meeting the academic requirements of the child and much more.
Cultural Myths in the U.S regarding those who receive Public Assistance
It is surprising how people have perceptions of those individuals who receive government assistance. First, there is the misconception is that welfare payments are expensive. In the real sense, the welfare assistances are modest and productive regardless of the persistent critics by the politicians who are conservatives (Popple & Leighninger,1996 , p. 134). The other myth is that those who receive the welfares benefits are not hard workers. Before a person can take advantage of the welfare, the beneficiary has to work before he or she gets paid. For a single parent to make use of the welfare, he or she is required to work for thirty hours on a weekly basis for the person to be an eligible subscriber.
Also, it is perceived that those who benefit from the welfare are the immigrants who got to the country without proper channels and that the beneficiaries use the payoffs to sustain their drug habits. The other myth is that the government assistance is not useful in helping to help people elevate themselves from the poverty status. On the contrary, increasing funds for the welfare programs significantly aid in improving the livelihood of the citizens.
References
Leighninger, L., & Popple, P. R. (1996). Social work, social welfare, and American society.
Barker, K. (2004). Review of housing supply. Final Report (Norwick, HM Stationery Office).
Topel, R., & Rosen, S. (1988). Housing investment in the United States. The Journal of Political Economy, 718-740.
Padgett, D. K., Gulcur, L., & Tsemberis, S. (2006). Housing first services for people who are homeless with co-occurring serious mental illness and substance abuse. Research on Social Work Practice, 16(1), 74-83.
Depanfilis, D. (2005). Child protective services. Child welfare for the twenty‐first century, 290-230.
Trupin, E. W., Tarico, V. S., Low, B. P., Jemelka, R., & McClellan, J. (1993). Children on child protective service caseloads: Prevalence and nature of serious emotional disturbance. Child Abuse & Neglect, 17(3), 345-355.
