Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients Act

Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients Act

This bill requires states participating in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and specified public housing programs to subject applicants to substance abuse testing or screening and to deny benefits for individuals who test positive for a controlled substance.

Specifically, states administering these programs must determine whether an adult applicant for benefits has been arrested for a drug-related offense within the past five years. Applicants who have been arrested for such an offense must be tested for at least one controlled substance and must test negative to receive benefits. Applicants who have not been arrested for such an offense must be screened (via an interview, questionnaire, or other instrument) for risk of substance abuse. Applicants determined to be at high risk for substance abuse must be tested for at least one controlled substance and must test negative to receive benefits. Applicants who are determined not to be at high risk do not have to undergo testing. 

Applicants who test positive for a controlled substance at any point during this process are ineligible for benefits for one year, until they complete a treatment program, or until they test negative for the substance, whichever is later. 

Family members and households of individuals disqualified from receiving benefits under these provisions may generally continue to receive support.

States that fail to enforce these provisions are subject to reduced federal funding for these programs the following fiscal year.