Public Assistance
By hersheyskiss
@hersheyskiss (761)
United States
May 12, 2008 8:30am CST
Please tell me how you feel about this...Do you feel it is fair to give a person on public assistance a police record through an error that is committed by a caseworker, which means that now they will not be able to really find a good job due to background checks, but they are required to?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@sisterjinx (1135)
• United States
12 May 08
I guess it depends on what you mean. I don't think it is ever fair to give someone a police record based on misinformation or a mistake. However, some people do not take responsibility for their own actions. If there was something this person could have done differently to avoid the situation then they might need to just accept it and move on. If it truly is a mistake then there should be legal means to reverse it. I don't believe that the law is infallable and I don't trust social workers for the most part so I can see where the two mixed together could cause a serious issue.
@hersheyskiss (761)
• United States
12 May 08
Well i know someone that thi happened to and the worker put in wrong information and this gave the person an overpayment in services and she was unaware of it since she could have no way of knowing what she would receive. Then months later they tell her she is guilty of fraud be cause of the overpayment...she said how could that be possible because i gave you all the information. they said she received more than she was entitled to and she agreed to pay it back but then they also told her she would be charged for fraud and she could not understand this but now has a police record and can not get jobs because of the theft on her record. Whenever anyone sees the theft on her record she does not get the job. I think that is not right but its the law and if you dont have money to fight it then it goes against you.
@sisterjinx (1135)
• United States
12 May 08
Wow. This sounds wrong. I can see them having her pay it back but if the file shows that she never gave them any wrong information then there is no fraud. She needs to get in touch with one of those free legal assistance programs because there is something not right about that.
@ducky685 (38)
• Canada
12 May 08
i am on disability, same deal as social assistance, and i am right now fighting because i gave them all of my information and updated them when i moved. but now they are telling me that i have an overpayment of almost 800$ since november. i can not get a straight answer out of anybody. so from now on i am going to recieve 100$ less then i normally recieve. my worker did tell me that if it doesnt get sorted out that i would be charged with fraud and go to jail. how is it my fault when they screw up??
@hersheyskiss (761)
• United States
12 May 08
See that is exactly what i mean...that is not your fault and now you have to pay for it, i dont mean with money but with your reputation and that is not fair because you did nothing wrong. It is not fair...
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
21 Oct 09
not at all hershyskiss that caseworker who made the error must in all conscience and by mandate of law make this right at once.how dare she be so careless? that is not fair,it is not just. she is committing a real injustice. a wrong. she should be fired to be honest.
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
12 May 08
Man. I know ALL ABOUT bureaucratic screwups. I say no. NOT fair!
Maggiepie
