Few drug tests ordered so far for welfare users (Maine)

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http://www.centralmaine.com/2015/08/12/few-drug-tests-ordered-so-far-for-welfare-users/

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage hailed drug screenings for certain welfare recipients as a way to protect taxpayer dollars. But since the program was launched a few months ago, only a handful of recipients have been ordered to take tests and most people who have lost their assistance have done so because they failed to show up, the administration said.

The state in April began administering drug-screening assessments to recipients in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program who have been convicted of drug felony crimes, arguing that welfare dollars shouldn’t be enabling drug abuse. People who fail the screenings are then required to submit to a urinalysis.

However, just 15 recipients were scheduled for screenings through June, the latest month for which data was available, according to figures provided to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Access Act request.

Of those, 13 were barred from receiving benefits because they didn’t show up to take either the screening assessment or the subsequent urinalysis, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services said.

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