Throughout this course, and through my own personal experiences as well, I have come to understand that there are incredible nuances and difficulties when it comes to navigating the world of public assistance. While, in its essence, it’s a service designed to make the lives and experiences of the less fortunate much easier, it often creates nearly as many issues as it strives to solve. Understanding the difficulties that arise is crucial to a career in this field, and I sought out a firsthand experience in order to gain more appreciation for this struggle by filling out an pplication for government benefits.
In the following paper, I seek to discuss my feelings and thoughts about filling out this application and the subsequent implications, as well as consider the challenges that those in need of benefits may face, and how social workers could use this information to improve the process for all who need it. In this experience, I found the application process for government benefits to be arduous, confusing, and in some instances quite upsetting. The website for this process is fairly straightforward, but that is an opinion I am able to have after ears of continuous work with computers and internet browsers.
It was clear to me that those who do not have experience with computers could have definitely struggled with this process, even despite the informative “how-to” pages provided on computer and internet use. Navigating to those pages alone could be a very daunting task. My experience filling out the application was not too difficult because I had a fairly straightforward scenario to apply for: single parent with one income and two children, no existing benefits of any kinds or extenuating circumstances. Just from my observatory as well as necdotal knowledge of family situations, I know it’s rarely that simple.
I could imagine families having many more members, some that live in the home in varying intervals, having a variety of complicated and unreliable sources of income, and having any number of situations that would complicate the application. I also couldn’t help but wonder, while beginning the application, what if I didn’t have an email address or phone number? These are some of the first pieces of information asked for to begin the application, and I believe many of us take access to such luxuries for granted. I could also envision how difficult it could be to apply for or receive benefits if the applicant was homeless.
It would prevent quite a few obstacles, in both the applying for and receiving of benefits, that would deter a population from pursuing it altogether. I took great care to use empathy and imagination to envision a life in which I would need to be apply for benefits for myself and my family. The scenario in which I filled out this application allowed me a deeper understanding of what many parents may experience when attempting to fill out this application. The week that I was working on this paper, my parents were out of the country and I found myself the sole care-taker of my seven- year-old sister.
After a long weekday of school and studying, I then had to pick up my sister, make dinner, give a bath, help with homework, and prepare for bedtime before sitting down at nearly 10:00PM to begin this application. After being awake for more than sixteen hours, I found that sitting down to stare at a computer screen was an incredible strain on my eyes, and frustrating after the long day I had. I did not intend for it to appen this way, but I realized then that many parents would be filling out this application after working or going to school and then taking care of their children all evening.
It was clear to me then how easy it might be to get frustrated easily and give up on this application, especially if there was no guarantee that it would be worthwhile and benefit the family. Emotionally, I experienced a lot of things while filling this out. I do not come from money by any means, and I struggle financially to cover my education as well as living costs. I have been lucky enough to find a way to feed myself through my lace of employment for little to no cost, and if it had not been for that development I would have most likely applied for food stamps by now.
The feelings of fear and shame when it comes to not being able to support yourself are far-reaching and painful, and I can only imagine how much that pain is magnified when there are children depending on you for their well-being. Contemplating a life in where I could only work to make ends meet, without advancing in any way, and being unable to provide my children with the opportunities they deserve is truly harrowing. I could definitely understand feelings of tubbornness or shame in having to “resort” to government benefits for things as necessary as food and healthcare.
I believe many parents have a deep sense of responsibility to provide for their children, and not being able to-to the extent of needing external assistance-could be a very embarrassing and overwhelming experience. Another aspect of this application that I found to be frustrating, and to some extent invasive, was the phrasing and depth of the questions in the application. Many parts of the application are repetitive, and ask very explicit questions about family members, income, etcetera.
While I did not immediately take offense to these questions, as the application continued I realized that people who may be sensitive or defensive about the state of their family or their income could become easily upset or feel uncomfortable disclosing this information to such an impersonal service. It may even prompt them to emotionally face the truth of their scenarios, when many people tend to fall back on the habits of denial and avoidance when it comes to difficult issues. While completing this application, it was easy to see a magnitude of ways in which people may face difficulties hroughout the process.
I mentioned the emotionally- and physically-draining circumstances of filling it out above, but I cannot stress how critical I think this is. Working class parents are often exhausted by the end of the day, with not enough time to complete everything they need to, let alone something as time-consuming and frustrating as this. There were many parts of the application that were worded in confusing ways, and I could easily see how many people could misunderstand what was being asked. Many people may not have the necessary information or documentation necessary for ompletion, or even something as basic as a reliable phone number or home address.
I believe there is always an opportunity to learn more about an experience, even when we may think we know everything there is on a subject. Because I had been considering applying for FoodShare previously, I thought I had a pretty good sense of the program and what it provided. I did not know, however, the extent to which the other programs provide benefits to the public. I knew of FoodShare and BadgerCare, but was unaware of the other services available, specifically family planning. I was specially pleased to see that our government is continuing to offer such services when they are threatened in many parts of the country.
I also believe it is vital that a social worker be intimate with this process, and many others, for a few reasons. It would first provide them the intimate knowledge that no pamphlet or FAQ guide could offer, and this would in turn allow them to thoroughly and correctly answer any questions or concerns a client may have about the application process. It also would allow them to understand how time-consuming and confusing it can be, especially for populations that are not iterate-with either reading or computers-and direct them to resources that could assist with the process.
Detailed knowledge of the process could also allow a social worker to offer personalized advice and assistance to those they work with, knowing what their strengths and weaknesses might be and how that would line up with the skills and information necessary to complete the application. Overall, I found this experience to be enlightening, as well as humbling. I had not realized how complicated applying for government assistance could be, or the emotional and psychological toll it could take on the head of a struggling ousehold.
It was easy for me to visualize the many ways that this process could be incredibly difficult for many people, and how intimate knowledge of this matter could be crucial to a social worker in order to assist their clients in the specific ways they need. I can also envision ways in which this process can be adapted for people of all backgrounds and ability-levels. Finishing this assignment, I find myself grateful for the opportunities I am afforded and even more motivated to improve the lives of those who may be disadvantaged in as many ways as possible.
