Welfare Beyond Teaching: Caring for Children and Their Parents

Social welfare is a topic I knew very little about. When I received the assignment to write a paper on how I view welfare, how it has affected me, how it will affect me in the future, and what I should do about it, I didn't really know where to start. I come from a stable family: two parents, two sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who are all very close to me. My family was never hurting for money, we were always pretty well off, or at least I thought so. We would go on vacations and family outings. Frequently I was allowed to bring one of my friends. Those trips to Long Island were routine for me, but it was usually the first time out of Chenango County for my classmate. Now I can see my parents were always creating ways to offer experiences to the other children. Welfare was never really a topic that was brought up in my home life, so I just assumed that I was not affected by welfare. Probably nothing was further from the truth. Now I can see that my parents did things for others less fortunate than us, but they never made it obvious to us children what they were doing or why. As I sat through the first couple of classes, my views about welfare changed greatly. I quickly realized that I am affected by welfare, I always was affected by welfare, and I will always be affected by welfare. Looking back on my early school years I remember children who did not have the "nice" things that I had. I also remember other students who had much more than I had. I believe that when children are young, they look at each other as equals. It's true there were always your "best friends" but I don't ever remember telling someone that I would not play with them just because I had something and they didn't. As I moved to middle and high school, there were just people that I did not associate with. As I look back on those years now, I realize that those people whom I did not associate with came from different backgrounds than I did. I realize now that they were probably receiving some form of public assistance. As a prospective teacher I want to influence the views of children with respect to welfare. I want my students to realize that God made everyone equal. Everyone is special and everyone has a purpose in life. It should not matter what culture you come from, or whether you are rich or poor. In order for me to accomplish this change in my classroom, I need to first understand what welfare really is and the programs that are available through it. I have many questions about children and welfare and I know not all of them can be answered through this paper. Some of my questions include: * What is welfare? * What programs are available to assist families with children? * What are the implications for school-aged children whose families are on welfare and how does it affect their schooling? * What strategies can teachers use when working with these children? * Who are those on welfare? * What factors lead to poverty? I have learned that the New York Public Welfare Association is a partnership of local social service districts whose focus is on improving the quality and effectiveness of social welfare policies. As I research the various programs available through Social Services, I will focus on those that have a direct impact on school-aged children. I want to learn what these programs are, what assistance they offer, and how eligibility is determined. I will need to know this information so that I can offer assistance and guidance to the parents of children I may have in my classes. Having this information will also help me to understand what some of these families may be going through as they seek assistance. The New York State Welfare Reform Act that was signed into law in 1996 created the Family Assistance Program. Those eligible to receive assistance from this program must be households with a child under the age of eighteen (or under nineteen and regularly attending school) and living with a parent or other related adult. …