You know...I've been thinking about this post and my response to it. I have determined that I *might* be a little jaded in my attitude.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I had to remove 5 children from a home from a mother who was 24 years old. She could not care for these children at all and that is why they were removed (one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do was take kids away from their parents). These children had no clothes, no toys, no nothing. The house was a pig sty with rotten food piling up and bugs all over everything. It was a 2 bedroom apartment with the mother in 1 room and the 5 kids piled up in a small room.
I would like to think that a free contraceptive would have helped prevent this, but it does not.
Here is what I generally see, and this is why its a sore subject with me:
There is a mother...we'll call her "Shellie". Shellie receives $500 a month welfare. Her rent is $70 per month. All of her utilities (including phone bill) are also paid for by the welfare system. She receives food stamps, so her food is paid for. A community group has given her clothing to wear so she purchases no clothing from her $500. Shellie has a drug problem and she refuses any type of free treatment. She spends about $300 a month on crack. She has no job, nor have the desire to work. If she gets a job, her $500 a month is reduced and her rent goes up. There is no incentive to get a job because the welfare system 'punishes' her for gaining employment.
Shellie sleeps with a guy down the street. She knows this guy has 4 kids by 3 different women (that she knows of) and he does nothing to support those kids. Shellie believes that her relationship with this man will be different than those other women.
Shellie gets pregnant and has a little boy. Because Shellie now has a child, her welfare check goes up to $700 a month. Her rent drops down to $60 a month. Instead of purchasing clothes for the child, Shellie now has an additional $200 a month to spend on drugs. She also receives an additional amount of food stamps.
Shellie has realized that she can now make a profit. Shellie gets pregnant again and has a girl. Her welfare check goes up to $850 a month. She also receives additional food stamps. Her rent is now down to $48 a month. She now has even more money to spend on drugs.
Shellie has another kid...Now she is pulling in $1000 a month, rent is $38 a month...more food stamps and more welfare.
Her 'man', as it turns out is a local drug dealer. He has no 'employment' yet drives a Lincoln Navigator. He 'stays' with Shellie frequently but she still has to pay him for her drugs. They do not tell Housing Authority that he is living there as it would violate her lease.
Shellie goes on to have a total of 5 children. Her drug habit has become such that even with the now $1700 a month in welfare checks, hundreds of dollars in food stamps and other allowances and a $28 a month rent, she cannot afford to clothe her children...her money goes to drugs and supporting her 'man' (even though he is a drug dealer and has his own income). The children are hungry, have no clothing except for a few hand-me-downs from the Salvation Army.
Now, an a$$hole like me has to come in and take her children away from her because she cannot care for them. When I get there, she is not at the house...just the 5 kids including an infant. Shellie arrives 1/2 hour later and tells me that 'This is F***ed up' because she will now lose most of her welfare money, food stamps, and her rent will go back up. That is the first thought she has about losing her kids...not about seperation of mother/children...not about where her kids will go, but where her money will come from. Her 'man' will also be pissed that she doesn't have the money coming in, so now she is worried about where she will get her drugs from.
I can absolutely, 100% guarantee you that giving shellie free rubbers or pills will NOT fix that situation at all...and this is the reason I agree that providing them for the poor is a waste of tax dollars and resources.
Stop punishing people for getting a job, and stop rewarding them for having more children. Put that money to get Shellie off of drugs, help her get a job, and reward her for getting a job instead of rewarding her for having children.
So, as I said, I am probably skewed and somewhat bitter in my previous response and I hope that what I see daily indicates why I am the way I am and why I said that.
) I deal with more families on welfare who live in the housing projects (what I would classify as poor). Unfortunately, drugs/alcohol play a large roll in the mix. If we were talking about a more simple problem, then IMO contraceptives would be more beneficial, but society's ills are much deeper than giving out condoms.
