Are we encouraging people to remain dependent?

Let's add to that list free contraception and taxpayer funded abortion.

To answer your question, yes, I think we are.

There is caps on some of them. WIC no kids over age 5
Food stamps I heard once you can only have it for 2 yrs, dont know if thats true or not
I know what Medicade and the free lunches is but for the rest I never heard of them.

No, it's no fun trying to live on those things. Bad neighborhoods, small homes, depending on how many apply, LEAP can be very little, Cash assistance is not enough to make life easy. Food Stamps is a program that keeps kids fed and makes the working poor able to concentrate on other bills, because TANF is not an option once you have a job. And it's not a lifelong program

Yes I do think that we are encouraging SOME people to remain dependent.
It is too easy to just not work, maybe have a kid or two and just collect benefits rather than work. It is too easy to blow off school and let someone else foot the bill. There are too many mothers on assisancs whose family tradition is to be on welfare and they teach their children the same thing.

There are some who need a helping had and should receive it. Some should get it for life and some most assuradly abuse the system.

I think this is true for some and not true for others. I have had conversations with several people who have commented that "They have a house, a new car, all the latest gadgets and no job. We are doing to bad now are we". I have also be poked fun at for working when I have a disabled child and can collect SSDI and I don't.

Years ago in PA every county was to have a local almshouse. The one locally was set up so that they had their own businesses and as a condition of the people living there to receive aid, they had to work at something. It varied by capability. Now if you were extremely disabled, of course you were exempt. I wonder whatever happened to the concept of doing what you can to earn things.

TANF = Cash Assistance (actually a 3 year cap on this at least in Ohio)
2 year lifetime cap, Idaho. 15 years ago the amount was less than $200. You could not have any income- CS included. And number of kids did not matter.
So IMO- we have taken steps towards eliminating the Welfare Mother.

HUD vouchers can be used in any neighborhood- IF the landlord accepts it.
The residences are inspected for habitability. Otherwise, again Idaho, there is no oversite regarding housing. You can rent a grain cellar as a dwelling. I don't see safe affordable housing as a bad thing.

We seem to forget, the working poor utilize many of these services. They are paying for these services through their paycheck taxes. Not everyone is just sitting on their bum waiting for someone to do for them. Many are trying to help themselves.

Anyone who is inherently lazy will stay on as many of these programs as possible, for as long as possible. They don't really need encouragement ~ just the availability.

Anyone who wants to work and hits a bad spot will use as little as possible, for as short a time as possible, and get back on their feet.

There are people who proudly and blatantly abuse the system, abuse the benefits, and who will never get off of them unless forced, and they make it hard for anyone who actually needs help.