Concentrated Poverty

Drug Testing for Applicants
The United States adopted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in
1996, which gave individual states the authority to drug test welfare recipients. Drug
testing in order for potential recipients to receive welfare has become an increasingly
controversial topic. Richard Hudson, a Republican from North Carolina claims he
pushes for drug screening as a matter of "moral obligation" and that testing should be
enforced as a way for the United States government to discourage drug usage. Others
claim that ordering the needy to drug test "stereotypes, stigmatizes, and criminalizes"
them without need. States that currently require drug tests to be performed in order to
receive public assistance include Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma,
Tennessee, and Utah.
Demographics of TANF Recipients
A chart showing the overall decline of average monthly TANF (formerly AFDC) benefits
per recipient 1962–2006 (in 2006 dollars).
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