Comparison of Welfare Benefits in Alaska and Arizona (Essay Sample)

Comparison of Welfare Benefits in Alaska and Arizona
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Comparison of Welfare Benefits in Alaska and Arizona
Welfare benefits have been controversial throughout US. history. For the motive that colonial period, authority’s welfare coverage has pondered the belief that the indigent are accountable for their poverty, articulated to the principle that governmental benefits are a privilege and no longer a right. The welfare programs emerged during the reign of President Franklin d. Roosevelt who strongly fought for the interest of the common citizens. The increased unemployed rate in United States and financial depression were among the factors that led to emergence of welfare programs. The welfare programs included benefits such as hospital treatment (Medicaid), public housing, meals stamps, and supplemental safety earnings.
In the recent welfare reform act, the federal government financed the three main welfare programs in the USA underneath the social security act of 1935, Medicaid, and useful resource to families with established kids (AFDC). The Law clearly outline that the following class of people should be beneficiary of welfare programs; the aged, disabled, and unemployed workers and their dependents. Therefore, this article will bring an insight of welfare benefits and a comparison of welfare benefits in the Alaska and Arizona states within the United States.
Discussion of the Health Benefits
Out of the need to ensure that all the citizens have access to basic needs, the Federal Government created a transfer program to make sure all people have food, shelter, healthcare, and receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).In Alaska, this program is known as Alaska Temporary Assistance Program (ATAP), which assists parties with a low income along the state and national governments allocations for children’s medical bills among other relief assistance.
The federal program plays the following roles in society: assist needy families’ access relief, prevent and minimize out-of-wedlock pregnancies, encourage the formation of two-parent households, promote job preparations, work, and marriage as a way of reducing dependency. The federal program does not allow residents to acquire public support for more than 60 months. However, people who reside in remote homes, where unemployment affects more than half of the adults, are exempted from time limitations.
In order to be qualified for ATAP, one must: be a resident of Alaska, have children below 19 years of age, be pregnant, have low-income level, or soon-to-be employed. According to the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (2015), temporary-basis assistance helps families find work. Recipients are required to find employment within 24 months after receiving their first benefits, and people who fail to develop workable family sufficiency plans are penalized.
In addition to the ATAP, there are several other welfare benefits Alaskan residents can qualify for. The most common are the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the School Breakfast Program (SBP), and the Alaska Weatherization Assistance Program (AWAP). Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program assists people in low-income households with home energy bills by meeting the costs.
The Federal Government funds the LIHEAP project, thus helping residents stay warm during the cold winter months. Further, the Alaska Weatherization Assistance Program helps insulate homes for low-income people. The project targets the elderly, somebody with disabilities, residential high-energy consumers, households with unbearable energy bills, and families with children. It is implemented to conserve energy and to assist residents with insufficient means to pay for high utility costs.
Thus, reduce risks of health and safety problems, such as illness and eviction, one must be in dire need of financial assistance relating to energy costs. It offers bill payment assistance, weatherization, energy-related repairs, and energy crisis assistance. The School Breakfast Welfare Program is a non-profit breakfast fund given to schools and domestic healthcare institutions to access breakfast. The US Department of Agriculture (USAID) Food and Nutrition Services at the federal level administers it. The federal educational branches monitor this program at the state level, while rural school feeding authorities regulate it in learning institutions.
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally-funded meal assistance program that provides nutritional balanced and low-cost lunches to all children in day schools. The welfare gets funds from the federal government and operates in public, non-profit private schools, and residential childcare institutions.
Comparison of Welfare Benefit Programs in Alaska and Arizona
Temporary Assistance Programs have been implemented in both states to help needy people meet basic needs. The focus is to ensure efficiency in service delivery. In both states, the program is designed to offer cash assistance to low-income families with children that one may help the families to achieve self-sufficiency. Recipients of temporary cash benefits in Alaska and Arizona have a 60-month benefit limit. Yet, both states have established differentiation measures between adults and children, where a child getting TANF benefits can receive another 60 months as an adult.
Table 1: Head Start Program
Household Size

Alaska

Arizona

1

$15,060

$12,060

2

$20,290

$16,240

3

$25,520

$20,420

4

$30,750

$24,600

5

$35,980

$28,780

6

$41,210

$36,060

Source: Department of Education & Early Development (2017).
To promote school readiness of children below the age of five, Alaska and Arizona have adopted the Head Start Federal Welfare Program where children from low-income families can be assisted in developing their memory capacity, and social/emotional enhancement. Head Start ensures there is a proper learning atmosphere that encourages child growth in areas such as literacy and language.
This program was designed to help and create meaningful child-parent relationships and promote a good family well-being. Additionally, the program in both states helps toddlers, infants, and pregnant women living below the federal poverty line access a decent life. The program can enroll a maximum of ten-percent of children from households that live below the poverty line and can serve up to 35% of additional children from families whose income exceeds the poverty threshold.
Nevertheless, both Arizona and Alaska have limited access to funding for the programs, and there may be insufficient space to take care of all eligible children. While the Head Start Welfare Program is administered in similar ways in both states, there are notable differences in qualification requirements and the amount paid per year, as demonstrated in table 1.These figures indicate that the maximum Head Start Benefit in Alaska is higher than that in Arizona.
According to statistics on welfare-benefits comparison in the US states by the Washington Post (2011), Alaska had 7,974 r...