Quote:
A friend sent me the money to fix my car to get home via western union . Social Services found out and took away a chunk of my help plus now I owe them tons all because of someone who I thought was a friend sending me money( only a few hundred dollars by the way) to fix the car and get home.


I have worked in social services for 11 years. I was a caseworker for 3 years; then became a welfare unit supervisor and now, I work for the Welfare Fraud Division of my county.

I ASSURE you people that the quote I posted is pure bs (but I suspect you already knew that). If she was wired only a few hundred dollars to be applied to car repairs, that would be considered a cash gift at worst (depending on state reg's), not income. Only a portion of it would be applied to ONE month of aid and that would not cause her to owe a TON of money to the welfare department.

I have a funny feeling that a deeper investigation into this claim would net one of the following:

a) The person (could be female or male) who has no children
b) The person has a welfare case and is seeking to supplement the pitiful amount we allot (Yes, the allotments ARE pitiful)

Spam o'Meter waaaaaay off the charts.

Also - a GREAT resource in most cities for families in need is the Salvation Army. They are by far my favorite group and so much so for their battered women's shelters and homeless assistance programs, that for the last 8 years, they and the Unitied Way have both been my tax shelters of choice (via automatic donations from my paycheck so I never even notice anymore).