Human services legislation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human services legislation - Essay Example overty level was increasing at a rapid rate, which made the Johnson administration to come up with a program that would be run by the government to try and reduce the poverty level. The legislation worked out well because the poverty level was greatly reduced over time to a lower level. Expounding on the war on poverty will paint a clear picture on the impact and benefits of the legislation. The war on poverty is a legislation that was pioneered by United States president Johnson Lyndon in a state address. Johnson proposed the legislation in response to the rising poverty rates. The proposal allowed the United States congress to pass the economic opportunity act which then instituted the office of economic opportunity to oversee the local application of funds aimed against poverty. Johnson believed in increasing the government’s roles in reducing poverty and bettering education and health care as strategies of reducing the poverty rates. Johnson had an aim of not to cure the symptoms of poverty, but to cure it and above all, to prevent it. During Johnson’s administration hearing before the select committee on poverty of the committee on labor and public welfare, President Johnson decided that the United States was not going to put up with the increasing poverty rates anymore (Zarefsky, 1986). The notion was that prosperity alone was not going to get rid of the increasing poverty rates. Johnson emphasized that the war on poverty would create job opportunities, and also lead to planning and organization of resources, to break the cycle of poverty in communities. The main social problems were poor education and health care, lack of job opportunities, poor transportation and urban problems. According to Phelps, this is why President Johnson found it more convenient to curb those social problems in order to fight poverty in a more orderly manner (2014). This is especially because poverty is related to issues such as lack of education, jobs, proper healthcare