COLUMBUS – A pair of Republican lawmakers in the Statehouse want to revive the idea of drug-screening welfare applicants.
Representatives Tim Schaffer of Lancaster and Ron Maag of Lebanon say their bill, due to be introduced Wednesday, will “combat the cycle of drug induced poverty.”
The measure would set up a two-year pilot program under which applicants for benefits through Ohio Works First will be screened using a technique Shaffer and Maag say is widely used in the mental health field to detect substance abuse issues.
If the initial screening suggests “a likelihood of dependency,” the applicant will take a drug test, the legislators said. If they fail, they will be offered free treatment while their dependents and children receive the benefits.
“This program will not be a means to deny benefits, but rather a means to identify those who need treatment. It will keep taxpayer dollars out of the hands of drug dealers, protect children, and get folks off of drugs and back on their feet,” said Schaffer, who introduced a similar measure last fall but it was set aside for further study.
Over 15,000 adults and almost 95,000 children in Ohio receive cash assistance, according to Democratic Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes of Akron, who was quick to criticize the proposal.
“Instead of pursuing common sense solutions to decrease drug use, this legislation resorts to an all too familiar pattern of demonizing people who are already struggling to make ends meet,” Sykes said. “Drug testing public assistance recipients has been shown to be ineffective and costly, while never addressing the root causes of drug abuse.”
According to Sykes, while Florida drug-tested welfare applicants, only 2.6 percent of them tested positive even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 9.4 percent of Americans used illegal drugs in 2013.
She says lawmakers would better serve Ohioans by focusing on issues like equal pay for equal work and quality public education.
Schaffer and Maag said their proposal was spurred on by a recent survey of Job and Family Service Department directors, non-profit organizations and OWF participants, which indicated that substance abuse and the inability to pass a drug test were the biggest barriers to economic independence and reduction of reliance on public assistance.