Drug testing welfare recipients

Over the last few days I've seen some people on FB join the group "Making drug tests required to get welfare."

To tell you the truth I used to feel that way and a few years ago I may have joined the very same group. Over the last few years though my point of view has changed. I think a large part of it was from working in an elementary school in a low income district. Many of the students there came from families who were on welfare. Many of them also had drug and/or alcohol addicted parents.

For the first time it really occurred to me that withholding welfare from a person who is addicted to drugs isn't just hurting that person it's also hurting their children. What I wish more than anything is that these children didn't have drug addicted parents but unfortunately that's not the case. The kids shouldn't be punished for their parents wrong doing. They have no control over their environment. They're basically prisoners in their situation until they are either old enough to get out or until things finally become bad enough that someone finally comes along to rescue them. Unfortunately, many kids live in those borderline type families where things are bad but not bad enough for an overloaded child protective system to take them away.

It sounds easy to say "well child services should remove them from the home." It's not that easy. You remove them and then what? Send them into an already overwhelmed system? Bounce them from foster home to foster home where the situation may not be any better than what they were take away from? Put them in some type of orphanage that will also cost the government a ton of money? It would be cheaper to just give the family the welfare money in the first place and possibly extend free counseling and help for the addiction.

I'd like to see more help offered instead of less. Maybe then the cycles of poverty, drug addiction and abuse can finally be broken. I really don't understand why we as a society turn our backs on those who need it most.