What can you do?
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
October 22, 2010 1:54pm CST
My mother is legally blind and on dialysis for end stage renal failure. She does not work, so she survives on disibility, food stamps, and a bit of PA cash.. not that you can really call that surviving. Anyone who lives on a government income like this knows it's not enough to pay the bills with.
So, earlier this month her food stamps and PA cash did not come in on time. They were supposed to come in on the 7th. She called and called and never got any responses.. but her food stamps and money turned up on the 13th.
Needless to say, that is gone already.
Today she was supposed to get a bit more money from PA (she gets a bit for my sister then a bit for herself). Well her money is not there. She called and spoke to a supervisor who says her case worker has not finished her recertification yet because they're behind. Well my mother's recertification was back in August!
As I said, if you live on government assistance, you know how desperately you need that money to be there when you expect it to be. You have your bills scheduled around when your money will be in.. you have your food and other necessities rationed to get you until that day. So imagine what you'd do if your money wasn't there!
To make matters worse.. my sister's 16th birthday is on Monday, and now my mom can't afford to do a thing for her. She's never really been able to do anything for her birthdays.. so that makes it worse. It's not like she had a good birthday last year so can handle a bad one this year.
I tried to see if there is a complaint line for food stamps or DSS but all I found was to file a complaint if you think you've been discriminated against.. and that isn't the case here. It's just that my mother has a lazy social worker who probably doesn't give a dang because that social worker has dinner on her table when she gets home! How frustrating!
Has your Public Assistance money or food stamps ever been late? Have you ever filed a complaint against DSS? Is there anything my mother can do about this?
2 people like this
6 responses
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
22 Oct 10
I don't know your system but I do know one thing. If you mother has not receivd the money that she is entitles too then that is discrimination. I am serious about this. I would call your local political representative too and the Mayor 0 if you have one. Raise hell girl - raise hell
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
22 Oct 10
Some local television stations will take up your cause and help you get things straightened out.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
22 Oct 10
That is what I told her, to call the TV station, they have a section for "Your Stories". Trust me, our politicians don't give a darn.. right now all they care about is the election!
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
22 Oct 10
Call everyone Kat.Politicians will do something because they do not want to look bad in the mid term elections.
@AmbiePam (120533)
• United States
22 Oct 10
They canceled my food stamps twice before. And each time it was for recertification. I had done all the paperwork, even called the caseworker to ask if she had my info, and she said yes. The next month my food stamps were canceled. I called and she said the system had made a mistake. It took a full month to get them back. I don't know how I got by that month. The following year I didn't want it to happen again, so I hand delivered everything, called the worker to ask if she had the papers. She said she was looking at them as we spoke. Next month rolled around and my food stamps were canceled. I called, and once again they said there had been a mistake. This time it took two months to get them back, and my parents had to help me with food. And that isn't something your mom can do. Crazy thing is, it wasn't just one person screwing up my food benefits. Those two years were two different caseworkers.
I'm grateful for what I get from the government. I hate that I have to take anything from them. As most people do. But I get really frustrated when what I am being given suddenly is witheld. Like you said, you come to depend on the times and dates that the assistance is coming.
@AmbiePam (120533)
• United States
22 Oct 10
I forgot - e-mail your local congressman. Pyewacket gave me that idea once before, and I did contact him. His office got back to me within a week. It sounds like it may take a while for your mom's case to be resolved, so it could be worth a try. You could e-mail more than one, but I e-mailed the one I thought would be most sympathetic. Plus, I have no idea how many congressman your state has.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
23 Oct 10
I don't know a whole lot about politics.. I don't know how many congressmen or women we have either. I wouldn't know where to find them. I haven't heard back from my mother since before I started this discussion, so I don't know if she has gotten anywhere with her case. The last time it happened they said to check back after 6pm. The 13th her foodstamps where there in the morning, and her money was there after 6pm.. but it should have been there on the 7th. So maybe she was waiting to see if it would be there tonight. I haven't heard yet.
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
22 Oct 10
I have known of this happening in many states. I have also known of case managers who were overworked, and when someone quits, instead of them hiring a replacement, they just divide the work and layer it over to the current employees. It still does put everyone in a bind. I do not know of any complaint lines to call. I know that there are food banks and some independent community agencies that will pick upt the slack for a month in an emergency. You have to know the community. This would again be the job of her case worker to inform her. There should be a phone number to report abuse, neglect and exploitation, it should be an 800 number. Again, it takes you back to social services. I would talk to any local church that does food baskets and stuff like that for your sister.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
22 Oct 10
She works very closely with a woman from catholic charities who helps her out when need be. Which is the only help she can really get as she can't drive to food pantries or anywhere else.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
23 Oct 10
I don't recall my Mom ever having a problem with her disability or food stamps not coming to her. I do agree there has to be some explaination why on Earth they are 2 months behind! The worker has to have some sort of supervisor. I don't know if you call the county worker or just social services in general if you can get someone. You could try the department on Aging (I don't know how old your Mom is) but even if she isn't that old they should be able to give you an idea who you could talk to. Or even if there's some sort of Womens Crisis center that could be a place of ideas and support to help her get thru this time as well as advice on how to push things thru.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
24 Oct 10
She called and spoke to the supervisor who didn't seem to care at all. Department of Social Services does not have a main line to speak to anyone higher up.. you just get connected to the welfare division which is where my mother spoke to that supervisor. I don't even know if we have a department of aging.. it's not something I've ever heard of, but she's only mid 50's. She does work closely with a Catholic Charities lady.. so I hope she tells her these problems so that woman can help her out.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
28 Oct 10
All I can think of is maybe she could contact your local news station and see if they have one of those consumer advocate guys, or perhaps she could contact your congressman or city councilman or somebody. Especially since it's an election year, they want to be seen "out there helping their constituants"...
@bunnybon7 (50970)
• Holiday, Florida
22 Oct 10
this is terrible. if i were you, id go ahead and file under the discrimination. because it seems to me that whites are the minority these days. 
if she was black or anything else, she would already have it because they worry over what the blacks will do if missing their check etc. there must be some place you can complain about this case worker. also, you should ask for someone else to deal with your mom things. 
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
22 Oct 10
There's no reason for her to believe she's being discriminated. She's already tried filing for a fair hearing but they said since her recert is still "pending" there's nothing she can do. And she spoke to a supervisor who doesn't seem to care.
