alaska and arizona welfare benefits

The federal and state governments introduced numerous healthcare programs to ensure that all American citizens had basic necessities such as food and schooling. The majority of them are open to residents who follow the qualifying requirements, which are dependent on considerations such as residence, age, disability, salary, and household size. Individuals who meet the eligibility criteria have the same basic benefits in both state and federally funded public assistance services, including Medicaid, General Relief Assistance, Chronic and Acute Medical Assistance, and the Head Start Federal Welfare Program. While all states have the same type of federal aid, qualification criteria, and specific amount given varies from one state to another. The comparison is critical in providing insight regarding the welfare benefits that people residing in the two states of Alaska and Arizona have access. A range of reforms have been adopted to ensure that people from poor backgrounds are able to connect with relief assistance. Currently, the state of Alaska has the highest number of people under public welfare assistance programs. In addition, Arizona equally offers the welfare program to the people. After the Congress passed reforms and laws, different states have employed varied welfare programs.

Keywords: welfare benefit, temporary assistance program, federal aid, household.





Comparison of Welfare Benefits in Alaska and Arizona

Introduction

The states of Alaska and Arizona stand out with regard to the welfare programs they run. However, there are notable similarities and differences, between welfare programs in the two states. In both states, the federal government provides the usage of five major programs: Medicaid, Temporary Assistance Program, General Relief Assistance, Chronic and Acute Medical Assistance, and Adult Public Assistance.

Other programs of concern are Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Head Start Federal Welfare Program, the School Breakfast Program (SBP), Head Start Federal Welfare Program and the Alaska Weatherization Assistance Program (AWAP). The current reforms on welfare ensure that eligible candidates have the requirement to be notified of changes in programs and to receive a fair hearing in case the Division of Public Assistance takes legal action, without an agreement with the recipient.

There exist such differences as the funds given to beneficiaries, eligibility requirements, and the number of state-funded programs. The objective of the paper is to discuss the welfare programs in both Alaska and Arizona, followed by a comparison of both. Welfare programs in Alaska and Arizona continue to play a critical role in ensuring the provision of basic needs to individuals.

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: Max Head Start Program Benefits paid yearly by State and Household Size:

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 recipients on welfare benefits in 2007, while the number dropped to 7,316 in 2008. In Arizona, the numbers were 88,235 and 88,781, in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The rate of unemployed residents in Alaska was 6.2% in 2007, and 3.9% in Arizona the same year.

The following year, the rates of unemployment in Alaska and Arizona increased to 7.2% and 6.1% respectively, indicating an addition of recipients of welfare benefits due to lack of a job. Furthermore, the number of food stamp recipients in Alaska by 2007 was 56,112, while in the following year; the number had increased by 3.5%.

Similarly, Arizona experienced an increased number of food stamp beneficiaries from 2007 to 2008 which equals to 21%growth from 606,973 to 734,403. The statistics are essential since they provide data on people who have been able to access relief assistance. Further, the information indicates the extent to which the food stamps have been able to impact on the people.

Table 2: Welfare Benefit Comparison between Arizona and Alaska

Activity

Alaska



Arizona

2007

2008

2007

2008

Recipient

7,974

7,316

88,235

88,781

Unemployment rate

6.2%

7.2%

3.9%

6.1%

Increase in Rate of employment

6.3%

1%

3.7%

2.2%

Food stamp recipients

56,112

58,075

606,973

734.403

Source: Washington Post (2011)

Conclusion

This article has critically examined the benefits of welfare programs in both Alaska and Arizona and in conclusion the article posit that both the welfare programs in Alaska and in Arizona help residents with low income, disabilities, or other needy conditions, meet basic needs. They follow up from those adopted at the Federal level with reference to Medicaid, Temporary Assistance Program, General Relief Assistance, Chronic and Acute Medical Assistance, and Adult Public Assistance, Head Start Federal Welfare Program and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Head Start Federal Welfare Program, the School Breakfast Program (SBP), and the Alaska Weatherization Assistance Program (AWAP). The projects give finances to poor families with children. Not to mention, they are essential to promote the overall housing standards of the people. Both states rejoice in welfare benefits funded through the Federal Government. Other notable health plans in Alaska range from Low Income Home Energy Assistance, School Breakfast Program, and the Alaska Weatherization Assistance Program. While Alaska offers cash benefits to children only for up to sixty months, Arizona extends the programs to some elderly people as well. Overall, the adoption of the welfare programs by the states of Arizona and Alaska has been vital in uplifting the livelihood of people with a low income. Despite the differences that exist, both states have strived to ensure that people access relief to improve their circumstances. Thus, the welfare relief programs have been instrumental in boosting the quality of life of people in both Alaska and Arizona.



References

Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. (2015). “Women’s Legal Rights Handbook”. New York:

Department of Education & Early Development. (2017). Alaska Head Start. Retrieved from; https://www.benefits.gov/benefits/benefit-details/1896.

Hopkins, K. (2016). Alaska Has the Highest Rate of Welfare Recipients in the U.S.Retrieved from https://www.adn.com/economy/article/alaska-has-highest-rate-welfare-recipients-us-census-says/2014/09/04/.

Washington Post (2011). State-by-State Welfare Assistance. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/25/us/20090126-welfare-table.html.