Social Programs of Kennedy/Johnson and Reagan/Bush Administration

Kennedy's philosophy on indigence marked a major intellectual change for policymakers. Previously, well-being had been reserved for that segment of the population that was too old, too adolescent, or too physically incapcitated to work: "Welfare now went to the less(prenominal) than totally deserving who were expected eventually to work" (Berkowitz and McQuaid, 1988, p. 205).

The Kennedy boldness believed that one of the major contri scarcelying causes of impoverishment was a deprivation of skills. Also, dependency on public welfare created a flagitious cycle which diminished the motivation of the poor and perpetuated a grow of poverty. To address these issues, policymakers developed job training programs for the poor (e.g., the Jobs Corps, the propinquity Youth Corps, etc.) and programs that helped instill positive values in young people. Acknowledging the necessity of providing to a greater extent coverage for low-income families, the Kennedy government also created the sustenance Stamp program and endowed states with the power to include unite couples (with unemployed heads of households) in the AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) program. In addition, Congress passed a measure that added a rehabilitation services component to AFDC. At the time of his assassination, Kenne

Lyndon Johnson stepped into the void created by Kennedy's assassination determined to carry out the battle against poverty. not only did Johnson fulfill Kennedy's legacy, the new president became a strong, personalised advocate of public welfare assistance. As Johnson announced in his plead of the Union address to Congress in 1964: "This court today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America . . . Our aim is not only to relieve the symptoms of poverty, but to cure it, and above all, to prevent it" (Rank, 1994, p. 16).

Johnson's war on poverty resulted in sweeping legislative changes. In 1964, Congress passed the scotch luck guess. This Act was the most impressive federal accessible welfare strategy since the New Deal.

Among the new programs the Economic Opportunity Act established were Medicare and Medicaid, Head Start, and the Elementary and Secondary Act (federal funding for shoal districts based on their proportion of low-income students). In addition, programs for jobs and job training were established. In total, Johnson's Great Society hatchway resulted in forty-four major programs at a monetary value of about $200 billion per year; these programs provided aid to more than 50 million people (Barry, 1990, p. 108).

President George Bush divided Reagan's philosophy on public welfare. In his own State of the Union address in 1992, Bush also quoted Franklin Roosevelt's denunciation about the narcotic tendencies of welfare. In addition to focusing on the economy to aid individuals in overcoming welfare dependency, the Bush administration added the following elements to its social welfare strategy: "George Bush forceful the importance of volunteerism from the private community, as well as the supposition of empowering the poor through policies such as tenant management, school vouchers, and enterprise zones" (Rank, 1994, p. 21).

Goldstein, E. (1996, Spring). What is clinical social work? Looking fanny to move ahead. Cli
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