The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2196 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/02/20 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Nutrition Essay Did you like this example? Abstract This paper will attempt to encompass the Supplemental nutrition program, but specifically, fraud in this program. The author will detail the history of SNAP, give a description of the program itself, and then go onto analyze the program. From here, the paper will detail how how the program is exploited by fraud, how politicians present this epidemic in mainstream media, and if these claims are true. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" essay for you Create order Finally, the paper will provide an alternate to SNAP, analyze its strengths and weaknesses and compare this to the current program in place. The goal of this research is to try to discover if there can be an alternate to SNAP, or if it would be more sensible to patch the holes in the existing program. Keywords: SNAP, Fraud, Alternative, staple food The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Introduction The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a program that is designed to help people in the United States who at or below the poverty level. In an ideal state, the United States government will give a stipend to impoverished people, and they can use this money to buy food. But as with any bureaucratic program, there are a lot of holes in this program that would allow someone to take advantage of the American tax payer. The original intent of the program was to help out a struggling American get back on its feet, a helping hand in dark times. But today, instead of a hand up, the program is being used as a hand out. According to â€Å"Time Magazine,† SNAP, also known as â€Å"Food Stamps† is a $70 billion program that provides assistance to 44 million Americans. A government program this big is bound to have some holes that allow for the system to be exploited. This paper will attempt to provide a description of the program, detail the programs structure, how fraud is committed, how politicians use this as a platform, give an alternative to the program, explain its strength and weaknesses, and compare this to the existing program. The end of the paper will decide whether to keep the current system, or whether to move towards an alternative measure. What is the Supplemental Nutrition Program and how does one Qualify? As previously discussed in the paper, SNAP, or â€Å"food stamps† is a program that is designed to help those in need. The program itself is run by the United States Department of Agriculture, however, requirements vary from State to State, and for how many people reside in that household. For example, according to â€Å"benefits.gov†, a four-person household in the State of Florida has a maximum total income of $49,200 before taxes in order to receive benifts. Overall, standard requirements across the country require the applicant to be a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the state that you are applying for benefits from, and a Social Security number. According to the â€Å"Center on Budget and Policy Priorities†, the average household receives $253. This money is then distributed on an Electric Benefit Transfer (EBT) card and can be used like a debit card. According to the â€Å"United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition service,† EBT benefits can be used to purchase food for a household. Food can be classified into two categories; Luxury and staple. The staple foods include bread, foods fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry dairy, and seeds. Luxury foods include junk food, sodas, steak, bakery items, and seafood. T he benefits received can also not be used on things that are inessential to the household, such as pet food, paper products, or medicine. Retailers and SNAP However, it is not just people who need benefits that who have criteria to meet in regards to EBT. Retailers have to meet eligibility requirements in order to accept a customer’s EBT benefits. According to the â€Å"United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition,† there are one of two criteria that a retailer must meet. These criteria are â€Å"inventory of staple foods† and â€Å"sales of staple foods.† In order to qualify under the criteria â€Å"inventory of staple foods† the retailer has to have â€Å"three stocking units of three staple food varieties in each of the four staple food categories, including three stocking units of one perishable in at least two food categories† (United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Services). In order to qualify for â€Å"sale of staple foods,† the retailer has to have at least 50% of its total sales come from the sales of staple foods. It is important to mention t he retailer because they can commit SNAP fraud as well. What is SNAP Fraud? According to the â€Å"United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Services,† there are three kinds of SNAP benefit fraud. The first kind, is when SNAP benefits are exchanged for cash, or also known as trafficking. The second way to commit SNAP fraud, happens when someone lies on their application and receive benefits, or get more than they were supposed to. The third way fraud is committed is when the retailer has been disqualified from the program for prior abuse and lies on the application to get back in. Although these terms seem full of jargon, â€Å"Time† gives a couple of really good examples. According to â€Å"Time,† food stamp recipients in Ohio were selling their benefits to merchants in exchange for cash. Ever since the economy collapsed in 2008, there has been a staggering increase in benefit fraud. The most recent data, according to â€Å"Forbes,† SNAP fraud has increased 61%. What is most fascinating about this fact, is that 5% fewer people are receiving benefits. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that every cent on the dollar is being used fraudulently by members of SNAP. It is estimated by â€Å"Forbes† that annually $592.7 million was stolen in 2016, which is comparable to $367.1 million in 2012. â€Å"Forbes also estimates in 2016 there have been 963,965 investigations nation wide. Much like the statistic stated above, although the investigations have increased by 30%, the program cut spending by $8.1 billion in a four-year period. According to â€Å"CNN,† we should expect to see another $17 billion cut in 2019. What should be taken away from these statistics, is that the USDA is doing its job by cracking down on fraud. The Statistics These statistics were provided by the â€Å"Center on Budget and Policies Prioritie† article â€Å"SNAP is effective and efficient.† These statistics show people who were both over paid, and under paid from the years 1990-2011. According to the â€Å"Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,† over paid is defined as â€Å"benefits either went to to ineligible house holds, or went to eligible house holds in incorrect amounts.† As we can see by this graph, less than three percent of household were overpaid in 2011. Moreover, the article goes on to say that a majority of the time, overpayment is not done out of malicious intent, but rather, are honest mistakes by either the applicant, the application reviewers, or by the data enters. The United States Department of Agriculture has begun to put in safety net systems to make sure that all eligible households are receiving the proper amount, and ineligible households are declined from the program. Punishment for Fraud Depending on how much an individual fraudulently took, they can be charged with either a felony or a misdemeanor in the state of Florida. According to â€Å"Hussein and Webber Law Firm,† anytime a person uses less than $200 a month for twelve consecutive months, this individual will be charged with a misdemeanor in the first degree, which is punishable by a $1,000, a year of probation, or a year in jail. If an individual has taken more than $200 a month for twelve consecutive months, this individual can be charged with a felony in the third degree, which is punishable by a $10,000 fine, five years in jail or five years of probation. SNAP Fraud in Politics The past couple of years, SNAP has become the target of the republican party. In an effort â€Å"protect the American tax payer,† several politicians have made made the reform, or at least targeting abusers, of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program a part of their platform. As a result, the Obama and Trump administrations have aggressively targeted abusers of the program. The most recent statistics on fraud was published in 2017 by the â€Å"Uni ted States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Services,† which claims they used a â€Å"robust investigation process† which has lead to 849 stores being permanently removed from the program, and sanctioned 549. In 2012, 1,400 were permanently removed from the program. These statistics give credibility to their claim that they indeed have among the lowest fraud rate in federal programs. Anti-Obesity SNAP: An alternative There has been a vein of thought running through the Public Administration community which Craig Gurdsen addresses in â€Å"SNAP Matters: How food stamps effect Health and Well-being,† which is that SNAP leads to higher levels of obesity. The individuals who contend this point that by moving SNAP in the direction of anti-obesity, they can begin to eradicate fraud, and end a perceived problem of recipients of SNAP being obese. Logic would tell one, that you cannot make someone do something that they do not want to do. As Gurdsen notes, this program was founded to help end hunger in the country. Although he did find that SNAP had positive effects on obesity on a subset of the population, if this program was implemented, it would be likely that both poverty and hunger levels will rise across the country. People who receive the benefits would rather use the cash-like system to continue to buy what they want, rather than being constrained to fight the new criteria of an â€Å"anti -obesity† welfare service. American Harvest Box: An alternative According to â€Å"CNN,† Another reform to the program that the Trump administration has suggested is taking an approach much like â€Å"Blue apron† and providing â€Å"meal kits.† What the administration dubs â€Å"American Harvest Box,† includes canned good and cereals. Considering the constraints that the institution faces, this is as realistic of an alternative where the government distributes food is going against. This American Harvest Box the idea of â€Å"staple foods† which allows the individual to buy nutritious food, and instead would deliver the box of food to the door of the recipient. When this idea is given some thought, it is easy to see how terrible this idea is. The recipient would go from receiving benefits to buy nutritious foods, to receiving food which Jill Filipovic calls â€Å"canned sodium saturated goods.† If the administration implements this, sure it would solve a short term problem of ending fraud and extortion of the American tax payer, but the long term implications are much scarier than the current implications. Much like the anti-obesity reform, it is possible to see an increased level of poverty, but also the level of obesity would increase because of the content of the food being distributed. Besides this, because it would be a large government-operation, it would be possible for the food to go bad, and to still be distributed. Although this is the mo st feasible option to end the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, it is still not a good reform. Final decision After considering the anti-obesity program and the American Harvest Box, the choice is clear. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, with all of its flaws, is the best option. Even though there is a problem with fraud, the United States Department of Agriculture has implemented new investigative techniques, and has announced new programs that would allow for States, such as Massachusetts to communication with the headquarters in Washington DC, and communicate with other states. â€Å"Communicate† in the Context of the previous sentence means to exchange information regarding potential fraudulent occurrences. With the Anti-Obesity program, there was in fact a positive relationship between Obesity and receiving SNAP benefits, but to change the entire program because of a subset of the population is unreasonable. There are certain needs that an individual needs that cannot be catered to if they have to abide by a certain standard of food under the program. There is a similar problem with the American Harvest Box. This program would deny people the freedom to buy t heir own food, and would instead give them a box food that could have gone bad, regardless of their health conditions, such as allergies or high blood pressure. While both of these programs have potential, you cannot deny the allure of freedom to buy the foods that you need. A potential way to fix the problem in the Supplemental Nutrition assistance program, is to only allow chain retailers to use benefits, instead of anyone who meets the minimum requirements, because most cases of fraud come from small stores. Another way to fix the problem, is to create a wider safety net around the application pool, by making sure both the date entered, and the application is reviewed properly, and entered into their system correctly, to make sure that households are neither receiving more benefits than they need, or receiving less benefits. Conclusion To conclude, the problem of fraud is not as wide spread as it once was. Under previous administrations, the United States Department of Agriculture has been given the tools necessary to end the exploitation of the tax payer.

Failure Of A Hospital Or Healthcare Facility - 1449 Words

In the last 25 years, Pennsylvania alone has had 8 major disaster declarations by FEMA — or one event every three years. When a hospital or healthcare facility suffers a loss of power, community trust is compromised and consequences can be disastrous. †¢ Nursing home resident mortality rates skyrocketed 218% after Hurricane Gustav in 2008 in Louisiana. †¢ During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the backup power system failed at one of New York City’s premier medical centers, forcing evacuation of all 215 patients. †¢ Power outages during Katrina left Memorial Medical Center without power and inside temperatures of over 100 degrees, forcing a doctor and nurses to hasten death for critically ill patients. Join UGI, GE and healthcare facility†¦show more content†¦In fact, by adding a 1-megawatt CHP system, a hospital can save up to $700,000 annually through increased efficiency. Also known as cogeneration, CHP generates electricity from an on-site engine and heats and cools the hospital or medical facility using waste heat from the engine. CHP systems vary depending on the size of the hospital and its needs, but the reliability, efficiency and sustainability of the system is constant, because the system does not rely on the traditional power grid. When the grid does go down, hospitals with CHP serve as dependable islands of power, ensuring critical operations are uninterrupted and offering refuge for emergency workers, displaced people, and patients evacuated from medical facilities that lack power. Discussions — and decisions — about CHP purchases belong in the C-suite, because the discussions revolve not just around technology, but around the health system’s vision and mission and the ways that CHP will help the health system achieve its strategic goals and objectives. Enhances operations A Combined Heat Power (CHP) system enhances a hospital or medical facility’s operations by: †¢ Ensuring that in a disaster, the hospital still will have the power and heating or cooling it needs to ensure continuous patient care and uninterrupted use of important medical

The Academic Support Center Education Essay Free Essays

The bulk of pupils in universities fail to recognize merely how many people struggle with disablements that affect so many facets of their day-to-day lives. When it comes to a pupil ‘s instruction, larning disablements are normally what come to mind, but the truth is that disablements can run from physical, to mental, emotional, and/or psychological damages. Although it is hard to achieve the exact figure of university-level pupils with disablements, a recent survey in the United States showed that â€Å" about nine per centum of all undergraduates in higher instruction study holding a disablement, a per centum that has tripled in the last two decennaries. We will write a custom essay sample on The Academic Support Center Education Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now † ( Clark-McClendon, and Grant ) While that may non look like much of the undergraduate population, it is merely just that a university has resources available to them. The University of California, Riverside, has a section called the Academic Support Center ( ASC ) , which is devoted to assisting pupils with disablements, so that they can hold an equal chance in their instruction as any other pupil. I think the Academic Support Center is an highly helpful and of import resource for pupils with impermanent and lasting disablements. Not merely does it diminish the limitations that are imposed by a pupils ‘ disablement, but it provides them an equal chance to larn. Although the ASC is where most of the services are offered, the first topographic point to travel for any pupil who is looking for the available services is the Services for Students with Disabilities Office ( SSD ) . The SSD staff is at that place to help pupils and explicate to them the general information about all the services that the ASC provides, every bit good as the needed paperwork and certification that is needed in order to be accommodated by the ASC. The ground that the SSD is the first halt is because the staff there are trained professionals, who after a audience with the pupil, will find what academic adjustments will let the pupil to entree UCR ‘s educational chances. All the adjustments are specifically modified to run into each pupil ‘s disability-related demands. Students are required to make full out the â€Å" Student Data Sheet A ; Request for Accommodations † signifier, where they must supply information about their disablement and the list of adjustments that they are bespeaking. Along with that, the pupil must supply the SSD with authorised certification of their disablement which has to be certified by a accredited doctor, psychologist, or larning disablements specializer. Although this is a slightly long and boring procedure, it is highly of import because the disablement must be legitimate and the SSD staff must do certain that the information given to them is valid and non something that is made up. Besides, even though there is a batch of paperwork required, a positive facet is that it is normally merely a erstwhile process that is typically done a hebdomad or two before a pupil ‘s initial one-fourth starts. One of the grounds the ASC is every bit successful as it has been is due to the experient staff that are organized and are ever at that place to assist with the demands of the pupils. The staff is made up of the manager, Marcia Schiffer, who has her maestro ‘s in instruction, Rebecca Aguiar, the ASC Coordinator, and Sharon Kasner, the ASC Assistant, who does the clerical work. They are really helpful with organizing pupils ‘ agendas in footings of test-taking, work outing any struggles that may happen between any category times, and puting up assignments with pupils so that they can discourse anything that is needed for the adjustment for each pupil. All of their services call for utmost organisational accomplishments because there are a big figure of pupils and the ASC offers many services that need speckless coordination. In an interview with Sharon Kasner, she tells me that â€Å" the academic support centres occupation is to level the playing field for pupils and we are non here to set anyone in more of an advantage. † When asked if her occupation was nerve-racking, she said, â€Å" it is nerve-racking at extremums, but every bit long as we stay organized and hold pupils up to certain deadlines, like passing in signifiers a hebdomad in progress, it is non as feverish. † In my sentiment, the staff is making a great occupation in esteeming the demands of the pupils and supplying a comfy, contributing environment where there is equal privateness for each pupil and everything is unbroken really confidential. Many may inquire why the handiness of these services is critical to those with disablements, which is why there have been many Torahs that apply to pupils of all ages. The American ‘s with Disabilities Act ( ADA ) of 1990 and subdivision 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act explain in item why it is necessary to hold such Torahs to enable the rights of pupils with disablements. Harmonizing to these Torahs, â€Å" University academic adjustments and support services are non intended to rectify, but instead to supply pupils equal entree by cut downing the negative impact of their disablements. † ( â€Å" Student Special Services † ) The services at university degree are available to give pupils equal entree to an instruction, every bit good as giving pupil ‘s entree to larn and/or achieve success. Although the ASC provides many services while assisting do up for the effects of a pupils ‘ disablement, the university itself does non alter any acad emic demands to suit a pupil. The ASC provides a broad scope of services depending on the disablement type. Test taking adjustments, note-sharing services, Communication Access Real-time Translation ( CART ) , the usage of a computing machine with altered package, and gestural linguistic communication translators are the most widely used services that the ASC offers. What each pupil is accommodated with has to make with the type of disablement. Learning disablements, for illustration, frequently affect treating information, memory, reading, and ciphering. Examples of adjustments that the ASC provides for pupil who have specific larning disablements include, note-sharing, audio taped categories, excess test times, computing machine ‘s that read inquiries, spelling and grammar draughtss. Mobility damages can be the consequence of many different things including intellectual paralysis, scoliosis, spinal cord hurt, or amputation of a certain limb. The most common adjustments for pupils with mobility damages inc lude trials in electronic formats, a note-taker, or even computing machines that are equipped with particular devices like address input, an alternate keyboard, or even Morse codification. Students with mental disablements frequently struggle with psychological upsets such as, major depressive upset, multiple personality upset, generalized anxiousness upset, or station traumatic emphasis upset. Very frequently, these upsets affect the day-to-day life of pupils and interfere with their academic advancement, therefore pupils with these conditions frequently require note-taking services, a recording of talks, extended clip on assignments and trials, and a non-distracting, quiet puting for assignments and trials. For pupils who are deaf or difficult of hearing, the usage of a comparatively new engineering called the Communication Access Real-time Translation ( CART ) is available and arranged through the ASC. CART is an instant interlingual rendition of the spoken word into English text, which is performed by a captionist ( the CART newsman ) , utilizing a stenotype machine, a laptop, and real-time package. The text is displayed on the proctor of the computing machine or other device for the pupil. The captionist sits beside the pupil, during category, and types out the professor ‘s talk for word, while the pupil reads it on a laptop computing machine. For pupils who prefer gestural linguistic communication translators over the CART service, the ASC can set up that every bit good, every bit long as the pupil gives the staff at least a hebdomad ‘s notice. Through experience and observation of the services provided by the ASC, I believe that most pupils greatly benefit from what is available to them. Not merely are the services up to day of the month with the engineering that is out to suit each pupils needs, but the service is easy accessible as good. The testing suites are broad and are set-up to suit a upper limit of three pupils at a clip, but it is really rare that more than one pupil is in there at one time. The testing suites are comfy and are really contributing to a proving environment as there are seldom of all time any distractions. It may non be easy for some pupil without disablements to understand why it is highly of import for the services of the ASC to be available to those who do hold disablements. Since there are many different disablements, there are many different factors that affect a peculiar pupil. The force per unit area of timed, in-class, tests/exams could show troubles to some pupils. The clip force per unit area in a testing state of affairs, for illustration, otherwise impacts pupils with certain larning disablements and/or pupils who have a difficult clip treating information because they frequently need more clip to understand the inquiries and come up with the replies. Besides, to pupils with sight damages, pen and paper proving turn out to be about impossible to take. Last, composing an essay or taging a scantron on an test is frequently non possible for those who are physically handicapped. For illustration, pupils with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ) have trouble prolong ing attending in certain undertakings and frequently fail to complete school assignment. Although one may believe that this is due to oppositional behaviour or failure to understand stuff, it is non. Therefore, extended clip during trials and drawn-out deadlines for certain assignments would merely be just to them. It is apparent that the ASC is really good to many pupils, professors, every bit good as the community and universe in general. We all know and recognize that people with disablements and disabilities need to foster their instruction every bit much as possible and the ASC makes that possible. This makes more chances for people with disablements to acquire better occupations out in the â€Å" existent universe. † How to cite The Academic Support Center Education Essay, Essay examples