DHS TO TEST CLIENTS FOR DRUG TENDENCIES

"It's not meant to be punitive. It's meant to be helpful" --DHS Director
Howard Hendrick

The link between substance abuse and welfare is so strong that the state
Department of Human Services soon will give each new client a written exam
to determine whether they have a tendency to abuse drugs or alcohol.

If the exam shows a such a tendency, the client will be required to give a
urine sample for drug analysis. If they test positive, they must go through
treatment and counseling -- or lose their benefits.

The written test also will be given to welfare clients who aren't following
their prescribed plans and eventually may be used for those who are
recertified for benefits from the Temporay Aid to Needy Families (TANF)
program.

"It's not meant to be punitive. It's meant to be helpful," DHS Director
Howard Hendrick told commissioners at their monthly meeting Tuesday.

Hendrick said he recently traveled the state, asking field workers what
their problems were. Over and over, he heard about drug and alcohol abuse,
he said.

In at least half the cases in Tulsa county, workers said, substance abuse
was the root cause of keeping people on welfare or abusing their children
and spouses.

Thus, a policy was born -- and the vehicle for that policy is a
psychological test created by the Sassi Institute in Bloomington, Ind.

A sample test provided by DHS showed 67 true-false questions, including: *
Most people would lie to get what they want. * Much of my life is
uninteresting. * I break more laws than many people. * I frequently make
lists of things to do. * I guesss I know some pretty undesirable types.

The test also asks its takers to rate between "never" and "repeatedly" the
answers to questions like these:

* Had drinks with lunch? * Become depressed after you sobered up? * Taken
drugs to improve your thinking or feeling? * Gotten into trouble with the
law because of drugs?

The Sassi Institute claims its tests are 93 percent accurate and "are
effective even when clients are unable or unwilling to acknowledge relevant
behaviors."

Deann Gattis, executive director of the Exchange Club Parent-Child Center
in Oklahoma City, said she supports testing provided it is accurate and
done in the spirit of helping.

Though most of the parents she works with do not show signs of drug abuse,
Gattis said the stress of a life on welfare is enough to drive some clients
to drugs, drinking, overeating and other addictions.

"It would surprise me if they weren't doing more drug screening for more
people going on TANF." Gattis said. "And getting them some help, if that is
a problem that they have, is not a bad thing."

But is it right? asked Michael Salem, a Norman attorney for the American
Civil Liberties Union.

Salem speculated that such a test forces clients who ask their government
for help to incriminate themselves.

He also questions whether the tests are an invasion of privacy, or whether
they give clients due process before cutting off benefits.

"The alternative is, you give up your human dignity or you take a hike,"
Salem said. "It does say a lot about the kind of government we have."

Hendrick said the program is another component in the plan to get welfare
recipients back to work. Drug counseling and treatment will be combined
with job training -- all must work together to get some of the tough cases
off the public dole, he said.

Drug screening will take effect in March.