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Introduction A social welfare program is a program that provides assistance to needy individuals and families. The types and amounts of welfare available to individuals and families vary in different countries, states, and regions. In the United States, the federal government provides public assistance through several social welfare programs. Mississippi is one of the red states that has been referred to Welfare Queen. According to a recent study, Mississippi is number two on the top ten list for receiving federal benefits. Programs provided by Mississippi include Mississippi Head Start, Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid, Medicare, Low Income Energy Assistance Program, School Breakfast and Lunch Program, Special Milk Program, Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC), Summer Food Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistant for Needy Families (TANF), Unemployment Military Spending Programs, Farm Subsidies and Mississippi Weatherization Assistance Program. Many Mississippians also receive Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) which are federal programs. The above mentioned social/welfare programs are essential to produce a productive and healthy society in Mississippi; however, these programs are in need of a reformation to better service the citizens of Mississippi. Social welfare programs were created to assist families temporarily, yet these programs have transformed into assistance for three to four generations. Being a social welfare recipient has become a life style for many American families. In an effort to reform the current Mississippi Welfare/Social Services program, a survey was conducted to identify weak areas within the program. As a result of the survey, the Mississippi Welfare/Social Services Reform Group 1 developed a plan to decrease the abuse of welfare/social services by 25% and increase the welfare/social services for elderly citizens by 15%. In addition, the plans are to reduce teen parenting by 25% and increase non-custodial child support payment by 15%. After implementing the outlined plans, the Mississippi Welfare/Social Services Programs will be more effective for the citizens of Mississippi.

Statement of the Problem Social Welfare is governmental establishment of economic assistance to persons in need. Assistance is the key word in that sentence. Many, not all, of social welfare recipients look at the system as more than assistance. In todays society social welfare recipients look at the system as a right giving to them for living but the social welfare was not set up to be that way. The system is supposed to help achieve self sufficiency. Our group has decided that the current social welfare program is not implementing an acceptable economic assistance program based on the ethics values that we learn in this class. Social workers are not doing a good job. The current system is being abused in many different ways. In particular the abuse causes a decrease for funds to cover senior citizens social welfare assistance. Some of the service departments such as child support enforcement are understaffed. Our group deliberated on the ethics of the management and training of the social workers. Social workers are not abiding by an appropriate code of ethics. The social workers have the primary responsibility to help people develop independence and become more productive citizens. They are not helping people help themselves. Some of the social workers, not all, engage in unethical behavior by giving a recipient of government assistance more aid than they qualify for or give aid to a citizen that does not qualify. There is a need for better social workers to better serve the citizens of Mississippi. We as a group concluded that the section of the program known as SNAP with the newly implemented Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is one of the most abused programs of our social welfare program. A lot of funds from the government aid are spent on this program. However, this program is not the only program being abused. Many recipients are practicing unethical behaviors to continue or begin receiving benefits. The government aid program needs to cut down funds spent in some programs to increase funds for other programs such as social security, and Family and Child Care. The senior citizens of Mississippi do not receive enough from social welfare programs. Our group has decided to reduce the abuse to increase the budget for senior citizens. Many non custodial parents do not support their children at all. A lot of non custodial parents have been placed on child support but are not paying it. Some of them are not paying because the case has never been completed. The cases are just placed on file while a single

parent struggles. The staff that enforces Mississippi child support is understaffed. They need help. We as a group feel like the government of the state of Mississippi fails to meet the ethical standards of society dealing with teen pregnancy. Mississippi has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the United States and has been at the top four consecutive years. Mississippi needs to develop programs that will help prevent teen pregnancy. Most teen moms receive some form of assistance. This assistance creates a false feeling of independence. It is a trap to keep the government in control and maintain statistics to keep a poor social class status in existence in the state of Mississippi. Cutting down teen pregnancy will help decrease funds needed to cover social welfare programs. Our social welfare program boils down to ethics. Right now in the state of Mississippi, our social welfare programs do not follow an effective code of ethics program. The leaders and top management of these programs are distracted by some common root causes of problems. They are trying to meet deadlines and keep a job. They have to get back to focusing on the root causes of individuals need for assistance so they can help Mississippi decrease the amount of tax dollars spent funding social welfare programs.

Purpose of the Research Study As a group, we chose to research Mississippis social welfare program because we felt that the current system is being ran unethically. We have studied the statistics on areas in Mississippi as well as the United States to compare the number of people receiving welfare along with their gender and race. Mississippis welfare system is being abused tremendously. We feel that it is time for changes to be made. Based on our research and surveys, we have devised a reform that will focus more on social welfare services as a whole instead of just the benefits that it has to offer. Many of the issues that we researched are seen day to day in many households and in the system itself. Mississippi welfare system needs to gain more control of its clients. The system also needs to gain more control of the workers. The purpose of our research was to see how we can help fix some of the issues that the system has currently. We have composed four goals that we feel will be of benefit to the system. The four goals we developed are problems we feel need to be addressed immediately. According to our survey results others agree as well. During our research we brainstormed on ideas and solutions that would get down to the root cause of the problems in the system. We wanted to figure out ways to get the system back to its original purpose which is helping people help themselves.

Research Questions
.
Welfare recipients stay on the system forever. Social welfare recipients sit at home and collect benefits while everybody else works to support them. Social welfare recipients continue to have children to stay in the system. Social welfare recipients are lazy.

Once a person gets in the welfare system they stay on it as long as they can intentionally.

Social Welfare system needs stricter requirements.

Some say that social welfare services are abused a lot.

Elderly should receive more benefits from social welfare services.

Welfare assistance helps with(Check all that apply)

Job placement Rehab programs Teen pregnancy prevention Money managing skills A better future without assistance Not sure

Social welfare recipients should be doing community service work since so much of tax dollars are spent on them instead of building up Mississippi.

Most welfare recipients are minorities.

Most single mothers receive some form of social welfare service.

Social welfare programs need to focus on __________ to decrease needed assistance.

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Family wellness classes GED Programs Neither will help decrease

Some social welfare programs should require drug test. Its unfair that a person will spend taxpayers dollars supporting bad habits.

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The time limits on social services are too long and they should be shortened. Most social welfare services require the absent parent to be placed on child support. Many custodial parents are not receiving any child support. Something needs to be done about this issue.

Social welfare programs should put some focus into requiring the absent parent to(Check all that apply)

A lot of social welfare recipients are dishonest on applications to continue receiving benefits.

Attend parenting classes Serve prison time(not paying child support) Attend job placement programs Lifestyle changing classes

I receive assistance from one or more social welfare service and I

Will continue to use the service long as I can Work towards my own independence Lie to keep receiving even when I no longer need them I wish I did receive assistance I do not receive any assistance right now

I receive assistance from one or more social welfare services because(Check all that apply)

I am a single mother My spouse and I are having hard times I am avoiding getting a job Family members suggested I should I lost my job Do not receive

Some believe that most people who receive assistance have family members or parents who have as well. They believe it is a ripple effect

Social welfare services should be appreciated instead of abused.

Some say there should be more social welfare services to help college students without children.

With the teen/single parenting rate rising in Mississippi social welfare services will not be able to assist with the needs of everyone who would normally qualify in the future.

Survey Results

SA
1) 11 22% 2) 10 20% 3) 7 14% 4) 23 46% 5) 7 14% 6) 9 18% 7) 25 50% 8) 28 56% 9) (86 Responses) a. Job(19) 22% b. Rehab(7) 8.1% c. Teen(8) 9.3% d. Money(10) 11.6% e. Better (13) 15.1% f. NS(29) 33.7% 10) 5 10% 11) (59 Responses) a. Teen(26) 44% b. Family(7) 11.9% c. GED(12) 20.3% d. Neither(14) 23.7% 12) 8 16% 13) (92 Responses) a. Parenting Class(24)27% b. Prison(19) 21.3% c. Job Placement(24)27% d. Lifestyle Change(20)e. Non(2) 2.2% 14) 14 28% 15) 12 24%
22.5%

SD
11 - 22% 9 18% 6 12% 2 4% 5 10% 6 -12% 3 6% 0 0%

A
11 22% 14 28% 19 38% 18 36% 13 - 26% 18 36% 12 24% 14 28%

D
12 - 24% 9 18% 11 22% 3 6% 18 36% 12 24% 7 - `14% 1 2%

N
5 10% 8 16% 7 14% 4 8% 7 14% 5 10% 3 6% 7 14%

4 8%

14 28%

13 26%

14 28%

7 14%

10 20%

8 16%

17 34%

3 6% 4 8%

13 26% 15 30%

8 16% 9 18%

12 24% 10 20%

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16) 26 52% 17) 24 48% 18) 21 42% 19) 1 2% 1 2% 2 4% 9 18% 2 4% 10 20% 4 8% 14 28% 6 12% 10 20% 9 18% 11 22%

a) b) c) d) e)

Will Con(2) 4% Gain Ind.(8) 16% Lie(1) 2% Wish I did(9) 18% DNR(30) 60% 5 10% 2 4% 17 34% 17 34% 12 24% 6 12% 8 16% 13 26%

20) 8 16% 21) 12 24% 22)

a) Single Mother(8) 16% b) Hard Time(0) 0% c) Avoid Job(0) 0% d) Family Sug.(1) 2% e) Lost Job(1) 2% f) DNR(40) 80% 0 0% 4 8% Male 14 -28% 18-25 32 64% Married 7 14% 0 29 58% HS/GED 16 -32% White 8 16% 13 26% 18 36% Female 36 72% 26-35 10 20% Single 41 82% 1-2 15 30% Some College 17 -34% Black 31 62% 36-40 2 4% Divorce 2 4% 3-5 6 12% Assoc 11 -22% Other 1 2% 41+ 6 12% 3 6% 3 6% 2 4% 10 20%

23) 32 64% 24) 15 30 % Gender Age Marital Status Kids Grade Level Race

Bachelor 5 10% NA 10 20%

Masters 1 2%

Objectives of the Research Study Objective 1: Decrease the abuse of welfare services by 25% by the year 2015. (Q#4) SA- 46%, A- 36%; (Q#18) SA- 42% ,A- 20%;(Q#23) SA- 64%, A- 26%

Our first objective is to decrease abuse of social welfare services. The services are appreciated by some recipients. On the other hand, there are a lot of recipients who abuse the services. What do we mean by this? Some recipients fabricate facts to continue receiving assistance from the services. Some recipients have no intentions of ever getting a job or bettering themselves. The only thing they are willing to do is whatever it takes to stay in the system. Some do not utilize what they are receiving well. For example a person has HUD, a job and SNAP but is still having trouble paying their utility bills. There is clearly a bigger issue in this scenario. All the abuse will not stop completely, however we do have a good solution to reduce abuse gradually. We believe that hiring better social workers would solve a lot of abuse issues. All recipients have contact with a social worker at some point. Each recipient has their own social worker for each service. The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human wellbeing and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the professions focus on individual wellbeing in a social context and the wellbeing of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living. The mission of the social work profession is rooted in a set of core values. These core values, embraced by social workers throughout the professions history, are the foundation of social works unique purpose and perspective: service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, and integrity competence. If social workers really valued these core values and followed by an effective code of ethics they would pay closer attention to their clients. They would recognize some forms of abuse and address it. After doing so if a client does not respond by correcting the addressed issues and concerns then consequences should then be enforced. There are already rules and regulations in place. The rules are just not being followed. Instead of really helping a recipient, many social workers just type in required information and updates into a computer. They are more focus on just meeting the requirements to keep their job. Most people agree that a lot of

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social workers are rude. They do not take the time to evaluate people and help them work towards helping themselves. According to a study given to three groups of women of the ethnicities Black, White, and Other, there social workers are not really helping a lot with things such as: finding a job, help with child care, help in getting training or education, and alcohol and drug treatment. We need to hire social workers who are passionate about people and their well being. Objective 2: To increase service for the elderly by 15% by 2016. (Q#8) SA- 56% ,A- 28%

Our second objective is to increase service for the elderly. Elderly being treated like they are dying and useless is not uncommon. An elderly is a person over 60 according to recent research regarding elderly services. Our programs work to assure quality of life and continued independence for the state's older citizens. says Mississippi Department of Human Services. Many Mississippi residents disagree with that statement. There are a number of services just for elders including: Transportation; Information; Assistance; Outreach and Local Focal Points; The Older Adult Nutrition Program; Mississippi Medicare Assistance Patrol Project; Senior Community Service Employment Program; Homestead Exemption; Division of Aging and Adult Services Volunteer Program; and Family Caregiver Support Program. Some of the other more known services provided to some elderly people are Medicare, SSI, and SNAP. However, with all these available services studies show that older people are not participating as much as other demographic groups. Some of the reasons include barriers related to mobility, technology, and stigma, to widespread myths about how the program works and who can qualify. Many senior citizens are not aware of all the services available that they are eligible to receive. The rules are different for an elder person; it seems like when it comes to SNAP in particular. In fact, in a FY 2009 study the average monthly SNAP benefit for each person over the age 60 in the program was $102 a month. Elders have been known to receive as little as $16 in SNAP benefits, which is the minimum benefit amount. There are a lot of abuse cases toward elderly as well. Senior citizens and especially the frail elderly need to have loving, caring social workers, volunteers and caregivers that help them feel safe and cared about. These people should also be responsible for helping the elderly be knowledgeable on all services available to them. They should make sure they know all the rules

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and regulations of any service they choose or are recommended to receive. If some of the abuse of social welfare services from the younger recipients can be decreased and the child support laws can be enforced properly there would be more to give to the elderly, which leads to our third objective. Objective 3: To increase non-custodial parent child support payment by 15%. (Q#17) SA- 48%, A-4%

We do understand that some of the non custodial parents just need a little help and guidance. A Social Welfare Reform Committee will be formed to handle issues like this. By creating a job placement program for them we hope to eliminate any excuse for not being able to make payments. The child support payments will be deducted automatically each pay period. This way some of the money given out through the TANF work program for child care and other things can be placed back in the system for circulation of dollars. Some of these parents are just lost. They have no parenting skills and have not been exposed to any form of help to fix this problem. To fix any problem you have to figure out the root cause of it. For this reason we will conduct parenting sessions. The goal of this session is to gain personal knowledge of the non custodial parents. Instructors will help them identify their weaknesses that are preventing them from being proactive parents. These sessions will increase parenting skills by teaching the participants the significance of being there for their kids financially, emotionally, and physically.

Another way to increase payments is to organize and put together a group of law enforcers whose main focus is child support. The Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Enforcement is dedicated to providing the best possible services, including the following: Location of noncustodial parents; Establishment of paternity; Establishment of orders for child support and medical support; Collection and distribution of support payments; Enforcement of child support orders; Review and adjustment of orders; and Working with child support programs in other states to collect child support. The Mississippi Division of Child Support Enforcement is the state-run child support enforcement office for Mississippi. The services of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) are required by federal law and funded by the federal government and the State of Mississippi. Statistics show that the caseload total is too high for the number of full time equivalent staff. The laws are already fair and in place for child support for the most. Our

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solution is simply to help the number of staff enforcing these laws increase. Hiring more workers in the Mississippi Division of Child Support will reduce the caseload for caseworkers. If the non custodial parent doesnt abide by the law then prison should definitely be the ultimate consequence. The option of job placement and parenting sessions will be offered before an actual arrest takes place. Some non custodial parents do know better and are just being absent parents because the law allows it. These types of people are the kind we will not waste much time on. To have a child and not take care of it should be a crime. For every crime there should be a punishment. A broken family is the cause of so many broken individuals and it is also one of the main reasons for needed assistance. Objective 4: Decrease teen parenting rate in Mississippi by 25% (Q#24) SA- 30% ,A -36%; (Q#11) Teen-44%

Our fourth objective is to help decrease teen parenting. Teen parenting rate is rising. Most teens are single mothers. Many may end up receiving help from some form of welfare services. The system can set them up for a trap. There is a TANF program which promotes work. There really isnt a service to promote secondary education. We want to keep young girls out of this trap. To do this we must get to the root of the problem. With so many young girls who become teen moms growing up fatherless or playing mom themselves to younger siblings instead of being kids themselves this will be a hard and ongoing process. Mississippi has to work together to accomplish this goal. Mississippi is number two for highest teen pregnancy percentage out of 51 states. Teen moms have the highest low birth weight babies. This fact causes a higher need for social welfare services. The teens are still children themselves so of course they need help. That is why the system as a whole needs to get back to helping people improve themselves. There needs to be programs in the schools to help accomplish this, programs in the community, and churches. We need to utilize some programs we already have such as Ronnie Musgrove Just Wait, which was created to help prevent teen pregnancy and the Big Brother Big Sister mentor program. A positive role model in these girls life will help them develop self esteem, and self discipline. Just one good person can teach and expose a person to things that will help them the rest of their live. We want these girls to be educated on the consequences of teen pregnancy, STDs, and emotional scars from being sexually active prematurely.

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All these objectives will help improve the Mississippi Social Welfare program services. Hiring better social workers is the key to a big turnaround with these programs. Elderly have been getting left out so they need a voice to speak for them. Mississippi has so many absent parents and kids born out of wedlock so child support definitely needs reforming. To help our teens before they become teen moms will help decrease the need for social welfare services. Social welfare services simply need to get back to their roots. They were not designed to stay and depend on for survival. They are supposed to help create better more productive citizens. Getting back to the roots will help these services be more effective for Mississippi citizens.

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Objective 1: Decrease the abuse of welfare services by 25% by the year 2015. Planning Studies have shown that the abuse of social services in the state of Mississippi has become a major issue. A social welfare reform would be of great benefit to this dilemma. In order to achieve a decrease as large as twenty-five percent, actions must be implemented within the Department of Human Services, meaning, better social/case workers. Therefore, there has to be an effective ethics program for case workers. A new ethics program will start immediately. The new program will not be too complex to understand. Organizing Caseworkers must be aware as well as knowledgeable of all company polices and expectations. Potential caseworker hires will go through a training course program. These courses will be taught by Human Resource Management. There will be a Social Worker Hiring department that deals specifically with the hiring and firing of case workers. This department will be composed of head HR as well as retired case workers. Retired case workers will be able to recognize specific skills needed to be an excellent case worker. The background of the case worker will play a large role in the hiring process as well. Implementing The Social Worker Hiring department will hire all new case workers. They will perform background checks on each potential hire. Observations of the potential hire in their natural environment will be included in the hiring process. This department will make sure that the ethics program has been implemented before officially hiring the case worker. The training courses will include hands-on ethical dilemmas, and behavioral simulations taught by well experienced personnel of Human Resource Management. During training they will be required to learn the code of ethics, code of conduct, and statement of values. The potential hires will have behavioral simulation and hypothetical scenario test that they will be required to pass. Ethical standards will be enforced daily. Controlling Human Resource Management must ensure that the ethics program is being followed throughout the entire Department of Human Services daily. They will also meet ethical standards as authority figures. This will show that the ethics program is t be taken seriously. Human Resource Management will keep record and file of all course assignments. They will decide rather each potential hire meet the requirements to obtain an actual position as a caseworker. The Social Worker Hiring department will make all final decisions in the hiring process. All potential hires must pass the background test and meet ethical standards when observed in their natural environment. The social workers will continue to be evaluated by Human Resource Management if they are hired. Those who abide by the ethics program will be rewarded for by things such as bonus and public recognition. Those who do not abide will receive the proper consequence. The ultimate consequence is being fired.

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Objective 2: To increase service for the elderly by 15% by 2016. Planning Social Service programs for the elderly should assure quality of life and continued independence for able body senior citizens. These programs should also help provide support and necessities to the frail senior citizens to assist in assuring quality of life. The elderly need more contact with social workers then most demographic groups. Our plan is to help elderly first and foremost be aware and knowledgeable on the different services available for them. We have several solutions to put more money in circulation within the services that can decrease benefits for the elderly. The abuse of elderly has to be decreased also. Organizing For this objective we will come up with a way to get all social workers to schedule all participants for a one-on-one. Experienced Human Resource Managers will come up with guidelines for the social workers to properly assist all elders. One thing will be getting social workers to tell senior citizens all necessary information and to keep track of all there information so that none gets lost. We will shift more money to the elderly by accomplishing Objective 1 of our plan. Our third objective will put non custodial parents to work to place more dollars in circulation. Social workers will be required to do regular home visits. Implementing Experienced Human Resource Managers will be responsible for enforcing, and educating the social workers on the proper policies, expectations, relevant laws and regulations as well as general standards. The social workers will also be informed on available resources, support systems, and personnel who can assist them with ethical and legal advice. After being properly trained the social workers will be more beneficial to Mississippis senior citizens. These social workers will then make sure they determine the personal needs of each participant during their one- on- one. After the needs are determined participants will be informed and get a clear understanding on the services they need to participate in. The social worker will assist with filling out all paperwork. During the social workers home visits the senior citizens will be thoroughly examined by a caregiver if frail or just observed by social worker if able body. All info will be recorded and filed by the social worker. Achieving Objective 1 will cut abuse so that will place more money to spread to the elderly. As a result elderly can receive the proper amount in benefits and services, for example receive more than $16 from SNAP. By developing an incentive child support payment program there will be more money to spend in other areas because less will be needed in some such as TANF. Controlling To control this goal, social workers will be evaluated once a month. The evaluations will be to make sure all files are being kept, to make sure the participants are up to date and receiving the proper services from the programs they participate in. Social workers will be recognized and rewarded for good work. There will be a system of consequence in place as well for social workers who are not meeting standards. Voice calls will be made to frail elderly and interviews will be conducted to able body elderly to get feedback on proper treatment from the services and social workers. (See Objective 1 and 3 controlling section)

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Objective 3: Increase non-custodial parent child support payment by 15%. Planning Increasing child support case workers to match the caseload will help accomplish this goal. Develop a program to educate non-custodial parents on the importance of financial support and money management. Form partnerships with existing employers to create employment opportunities and incentive support for non-custodial parents that qualify. Create a law enforcement department for non-compliant parents of child support payment. Organizing The Social Welfare Reform committee will fund salaries of additional case workers who will join the Mississippi Division of Child Support Enforcement. The committee will sponsor money management seminars as well as sponsor parenting seminars. A job fair will be hosted for non-custodial parents only. The committee will partner with several different employers to match the salaries. The law enforcement department will focus on arresting non-compliant parents. Implementing The new case workers will work within the Mississippi Division of Child Support Enforcement. Money Management Seminars will be held monthly. These seminars will teach proper money managing skills that will help the parents be better financial providers. Parenting Seminars for the non custodial parents will be held once a month. These seminars are to help the parents understand the importance of being involved in their kids life emotionally and physically. A job fair will be sponsored twice a year to offer employment opportunities to non custodial parents. The committee will partner with employees to match salaries that will be paid to the non custodial parents participating in the work program. A percentage of the non custodial parents check will be automatically deducted by the Administrative Agency. The deducted funds will be disbursed to the custodial parents as a child support payment. The amount paid will be filed and deducted from the owed balance. The police will handle non compliant parents who refuse to pay child support after all other options are offered. Those who are arrested will go through the same process as any other person who commits a crime. If they have to serve jail time the will have to work in jail. 75% of the money earned will go to the administrative agency to be disbursed as child support payments. Controlling The Administrative Agency will be responsible for deducting child support payments. A mandatory attendance to parenting and money management seminars will be enforced. During the first year, job activities or issues will be reported weekly. During the second year, there will be monthly reports and every six months for the third year. The fourth and fifth year all employment activities will be reported annually. Any non compliant parents will be arrested and sentenced to jail time.

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Objective 4: Decrease Teen Pregnancy rate in Mississippi by 25% Planning Obtaining this goal will help so many girls from falling into the welfare trap and being labeled as a statistic. The key to obtaining this goal is to start as early as possible installing values in all young girls. To do this we must educate young girls on teenage pregnancy and the consequences of teenage pregnancy. We will have programs that provide mentors for young girls. A mentor program in all schools with a high single parent rate will be mandatory. Assist young girls in being knowledgeable and aware of safe sex. Organizing We will require that all schools began programs that are designed just for girls. Parents from the community and school staff will help make this possible. All schools need to begin participating in the Watch Dog program. Mississippi already has mentor programs like Big Brother Big Sister we just need to utilize our mentor programs that are already in place. We will have Sex Education teachers in middle school and high school. This class will be required for a credit needed to graduate in all high schools. Implementing Mississippi will begin taking recognition of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. There will be programs at all high schools and middle schools as a part of this recognition. Teen moms will be the speakers at most of these programs as well as women who are good role models. The men who are a part of the Watch Dog program at each school will speak also. These fathers are involved with their kids school more than the average dad. Programs like Galloway Elementarys Girls Rock Night will began in all elementary schools. Girls will do things such as dance, sing, and walk the runway. Positive women from the community who are successful will speak at these programs. These programs help build a healthy self esteem early. All mentors will be caring, loving women of integrity with positive values, morals and a positive self worth. These women will help their mentees develop characteristics such as self discipline, a positive self worth and self esteem. The Sex Ed instructors will be responsible for teaching things such as: consequences of teenage pregnancy, unsafe sex, and prematurely being sexually active; and knowledge on contraceptives. Controlling Begin recognition of February being Teen Pregnancy Prevention month. Suggest to parents and guardians to know their childrens friends and their families. Keep up with statistic studies for Mississippi teens. There are a number of studies performed by different people such as National Vital Statistics System. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A teenage pregnancy committee from the Mississippi Department for Health and Human Services should keep up with these records. Each year the results will be looked at and compared to the previous year.

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Budget Analysis Yearly Balance Newly Hire Social Workers for each Department TANF/SNAP HUD MEDICAID/MEDICARE CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT CHILDCARE SECTION 8 FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICES W.I.C ` New Human Resources Dept. Quality Reviewer (To review the
cases after the interview is done

Workers*Salaries($)

100*50,000=5,000,000 100*50,000=5,000,000 100*50,000=5,000,000 100*50,000=5,000,000 100*50,000=5,000,000 100*50,000=5,000,000 100*50,000=5,000,000 100*50,000=5,000,000 100*70,000=7,000,000 100*50,000=50,000,000

Training Process Ethical Training Licensures Seminars/Job Fairs/Education Parenting Seminars Job Fairs Sex Education Class Resume Paper Money Management Seminars Girls Night Rock Entertainment Food/Refreshments 880,000 1,000,000 500,000 5,000 1,000,000 500,000 80,000 25,000 2,000,000 800*500=400,000

(Guest Speakers funds are included within the specific program)

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Equipment Speakers Microphones Transportation State Owned Vehicles Gas Office Supplies Computers Pens Copy Paper Notepads Tape Recorders (To record the interview ) Printers Ink 1,000,000 2,000 4,000 5,000 18,000 10,000 5,000 12,000,000 18,000,000 20,000 25,000

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Closing Remarks The social welfare program is an excellent program and our country would not be the land of opportunity without it. The social welfare program was designed to the help the needy and it does that. However, the program has been abused, certain groups have been underserved, others have neglected their responsibilities and while others have inflicted undo stress on the system untimely. The Mississippi Social Welfare system is in dire need of reconstruction. In this project, the Social Welfare Reform Group has identified four areas that need reformation and developed a reform plan of action. In outlining steps to reform our system, our first obligation is to decrease the abuse of welfare services by 25% by the year of 2015. The first step of action would be to hire better social workers. A Social Worker Hiring Department would conduct more thorough interviews to choose the most qualified prospects to be a social worker. These workers will focus more on helping clients better themselves, find jobs, and getting an education. They will help their clients with core issues. Programs such as drug and alcohol treatment will be offered to clients that need this form of help. These are ways to help guide individuals away from welfare assistance and towards self sufficiency. Our second objective is to increase services for the elderly by 15% by 2016. We plan to do this by training social workers in sensitivity as well as being informative. Many elderly miss out on different programs that are designed for the elderly because of lack of mobility, and understanding. Our social workers would see to it that our elderly do not go needy due to lack of transportation or awareness of available services. They will also make sure the elderly are not being abused. The third step of our plan is to increase non-custodial parent child support payments by 15%. We would first create a job placement program in hopes of eliminating any excuse for not paying. Also we would put into place parenting sessions to make sure parents understand why their support is needed financially, physically, and emotionally. Another alternative to increase payments is to organize a group of law enforcers whose primary focus is aggressive collections. There will be harsher punishments for those who are repeat offenders to emphasize the seriousness of payments. Our last objective is to lower the teen pregnancy rate in Mississippi by 25%. Too often are children getting pregnant and neither parent is ready for parenthood. This leads to broken

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homes. We believe that it is imperative to attack the root cause of the problem. Therefore, we would go back to aggressive education on pregnancy and STDs to our youth. We will promote abstinence and the importance of waiting by recognizing Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. We will have several different ongoing programs to help young girls develop a high self worth starting in Elementary School. As a result of the proposed changes to the Mississippi Social Welfare System, Mississippi will no longer be called a Welfare Queen. Mississippi will fall out of the top ten list for receiving federal benefits. Lastly, Mississippi will be known as the most improved state in terms of receiving federal benefits. The complete proposed plan shall be implemented by January 1, 2016.