This post is going to be a bit of a rant so please brace yourself. I don’t like talking about this subject very much because just the idea of having to rely on this crap annoys me so much! What subject you ask? The subject of having to get any type of public assistance! The only assistance that I ask for is food-stamps and medical insurance so I can make sure my children don’t go hungry and that they are insured. If I could be free of having to be dependent on this I would be so happy. I do not like having to rely on the insurance or food-stamps from them because of the hassle. I don’t see how people can live off this crap all their lives and when people apply for cash benefits it’s even worse because they don’t give you enough to live off of and they expect you to work a full-time volunteer job. I’d rather work a real job, but even then, with the scarce positions out there you would be lucky to get one that pays enough to care for you family, pay all your bills, and offers health insurance without being so expensive that paying for it will break you resulting in you scraping for change to keep your lights on!

My complaints about public assistance:

You have no privacy what so ever. They want so much information, it’s ridiculous! They ask for more info, than what the government asks for to get a U.S. Passport! When you go for an appointment they ask for not only your driver’s license, employment info, and social security number, but they want to know your bank account information including account numbers and balances, marital status info. If you own a car they want to know the make, model, license plate number, how much the car is worth, insurance info, and if you are making payments how much. They want to know how much you are getting paid in child support if you are even getting it. They need to know who lives with you as well, even if they aren’t your children or spouse. If you get a new job they know it and then they begin calling and requesting all sorts of information about your job as well, but when you need their help, they won’t even return your phone calls.

They cut you off at anytime without any notification. What I mean by this is no matter if it’s their fault or yours they will terminate your benefits without notice. Perfect example: I moved and changed my address with the post office, I also told my previous caseworker in person that I was moving in the next week the last time I had an appointment. I continued to get mail at the old address so I called my caseworker and left a message telling her that I moved, giving her my full address, and requesting a confirmation phone call. She never returned my call. A few months later I was down at child support trying to figure out why neither one of my sons fathers have paid any support in months (which is another rant in itself) and I am notified by the caseworker down there that my children and I benefits were being cut off that very day because I didn’t return a tenant/landlord form. I told her I never received a form like that and she then went on to tell me that the form was sent to my old address and returned stating that I did not live there. I told her that I changed my address with the post office as well as told my case worker in person and on the phone. She then claims I should’ve put it in writing and mailed it. – Basically trying to signify that it’s my fault our benefits are being terminated.

They do stuff when they get ready. I reapplied for benefits at the beginning of the month, well before Christmas. Tell me why I still haven’t gotten an appointment letter and we had to go through the holiday season without any food-stamps or health insurance? I do not think it is fair that my children have to be without health insurance! I sometimes ponder on what these case workers are getting paid to do because it shouldn’t take me to call Legal Aid to get help and if a form was needed wouldn’t it make sense to give me a call and alert me of the situation before terminating my benefits? I mean, that’s what I would do if it was me in their position. I wouldn’t want my children to be without insurance and I’m pretty damn sure no responsible parent wants their’s without it either! Those case workers don’t care about no one, but themselves and that paycheck that they get for doing the minimum!

Every time I have to deal with public assistance in Cleveland I have to call Legal Aid just to get results. I have so many journal entries complaining about them that it isn’t even funny. If my children good for nothing father’s would do their job I wouldn’t need food stamps or health benefits, but we all know that would never go down, even if hell froze over a thousand times and relying on child support to do the job is a total waste of time. Even SupportKids has failed to collect any support on my children’s behalf.