(SB 303 Welfare Act)
MSU
MSW Program
Talking Points
Thesis Statement: HB 4388 should not be passed because it hinders parents and families who rely heavily on social security from receiving government support if they fail to send their children aged below 16 to school, which is something they do not have complete control of.
The members of the House of Representatives from Michigan have proposed the implementation of the HB 4388 to amend some sections of the Social Welfare Act. The bill’s proponents and sponsors believe that parents, guardians, and caretakers of children below 16 have the responsibility to send them to school.
However, the bill suffers from a lot of details that may have been overlooked during the course of its fabrication:
- Various organizations may get affected, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, the United States Office of Health Affairs, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the and Child Protective Services, among others. This change may force them to adjust to changes brought by the new bill and may even bring about further unfavorable changes not only to social security, but also to other aspects of the community.
- The amendments would give affiliated organizations the authorization to use the amended school attendance requirements to determine an individual or a family’s eligibility for the independence program assistance. This criterion is highly variable and uncontrollable; it is an unreliable basis for granting social services.
- It has been emphasized in this new bill that the organizations are given the legal authorization to prohibit families, with at least one member who is under the age of 16 and does not meet the government’s public school attendance requirements, from benefiting from any of the provisions under the Family Independence Program Assistance. This action would be counter-productive to the government’s main goal of providing free or affordable social services to those who need it, as those who apply for social service grants are often those who do not have the financial capability to send their children to school, even in a publicly funded one. According to the AARP Public Policy Institute (2011), 35.3% of the population depends solely on social security to alleviate poverty, and 8% of the total dependents are children.
- If passed, the government would be less efficient in doing their fundamental job: to provide services for its citizens, especially families, because this bill adds up to their burden as they can be ineligible to receive social benefits just because one of their children is not going to school.
- Recipients are at risk not being able to receive social service coverage just because of their inability to influence their children’s education-related decisions and behaviors.
- The enactment of the HB 4388 would certainly make the provision of benefits under the Social Welfare Act more restrictive and so these organizations should expect a fewer and smaller wave of beneficiaries coming to their offices, forcing the government to choose carefully who they will give the benefits.
Therefore, the HB 4388 should not be passed as it restricts the freedom of the people, especially families which are the basic units of society, to social services that are part of the government’s mission for building a better nation, because of a child’s capability to fulfill school attendance requirements.
References
AARP Policy Institute. (2011). “Social Security: Who’s counting on it?” Fact Sheet. AARP Public Policy Institute. http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/public_policy_institute/econ_sec/2012/Social-Security-Whos-Counting-on-It-fs-252-AARP-ppi-econ-sec.pdf
CIA. (2014). U.S. World Factbook. CIA.
Klein, J., & Rice, C. (2012). US Education Reform and Social Security. Stanford University Press.
Robb, J., Sibley, M., Pelham, W., & Foster, E. (2011). The Estimated Annual Cost of the U.S. Educational System. School Mental Health, 169.
Social Security Administration. (2012). Social Security Programs Throughout the World: The Americas 2011. Wiley and Sons.
The Michigan Legislature. (2014). House Bill 4388 2013. The Michigan Legislature.
