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.