Pubdate: Sat, 19 Oct 2002
Source: Lansing State Journal (MI)
Copyright: 2002 Lansing State Journal
Contact: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/contactus/newsroom/letter.html
Website: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/232
Author: Kara Richardson

COURT OKS DRUG TESTS FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS

Michigan Could Resume Program Started In 1999

Michigan can resume testing welfare recipients for drugs, a federal court 
said Friday in a ruling that could have an impact nationwide.

Gov. John Engler will work with the Family Independence Agency on a program 
that will provide treatment to anyone who tests positive and could deny 
benefits to those who refuse, said Maureen Sorbet, FIA spokeswoman.

A pilot program in 1999 tested new welfare recipients for cocaine, heroin 
and marijuana use, but a judge stopped it. A 6th U.S. Circuit Court of 
Appeals panel on Friday reversed that injunction.

"We believe it's the right thing to do because substance abuse is a barrier 
to employment," Sorbet said.

Specifics of the program, including cost, haven't been worked out yet, she 
said.

Michigan was the first state to pass such a program, and many other states 
have been watching the case progress, the American Civil Liberties Union 
said Friday.

"It's setting a very dangerous precedent," ACLU of Michigan Executive 
Director Kary Moss said. "People on welfare are not criminals."

Robert Sedler, the attorney who sued the state Family Independence Agency 
on behalf of several welfare recipients and the ACLU, said he will appeal 
the case to the full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"It's been our position that the decision is inconsistent with existing 
law, because we are dealing here ... with the suspicionless testing of 
adults," he said.

Engler's spokesman Matthew Resch said the decision will keep Michigan 
positioned as a leader in welfare reform and get more recipients into the 
workplace.

Resch said the state's 60,000 employees must pass drug tests as a condition 
of employment.

Michigan's drug-testing program began Oct. 1, 1999. Five weeks later, U.S. 
District Court Judge Victoria Roberts halted it with a restraining order, 
saying it likely violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against 
unreasonable search and seizure.

But the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said Friday that testing 
welfare recipients for drugs is constitutional and based on a legitimate 
need for public safety.

"Here, the public interest lies (in) ensuring both that the public moneys 
are expended for their intended purposes and that those moneys not be spent 
in ways that will actually endanger the public," the appeals court said in 
its seven-page opinion.

The court also said welfare recipients should have a "diminished 
expectation of privacy," and that their privacy interests don't outweigh 
the state's interests.

Michigan League for Human Services spokeswoman Sharon Parks said the 
decision Friday stereotypes people because they are poor.

Also, the state will have to provide drug rehabilitation programs when many 
of those programs are being cut because of tight budget times, Parks said.

The 1999 welfare drug testing program was expected to cost $7 million, 
Parks said.

Resch said it's not about cost.

"The bigger question is what it will cost these families if we don't do 
it," he said. "I think the crime is allowing people to remain on drugs. If 
there's anything the state can do to help welfare recipients get off drugs, 
we need to do it."

According to the Welfare Information Network, a Washington, D.C.-based 
clearinghouse, states that have some form of drug-testing for welfare 
recipients include Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, 
New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oregon.

"It's clear that the Michigan case had a chilling effect, but some states 
have gone ahead and done it anyway," said Andrea Wilkins, a policy analyst 
with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Welfare facts (sidebar)

* The Family Independence Agency handled 68,761 welfare cases in September.

* The average Michigan family of three on welfare could receive $459 cash 
assistance and be eligible for $356 for food assistance monthly, for a 
total of $815.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens