Food stamp recipients scramble for food

There's a 5 year limit on getting welfare. Once that's over, it's over. They may still get food stamps and medicaid for a little while after getting cut from cash assistance, but that's it and it varies state to state. The 5 years is federal though, so everyone gets cut off after 5 years. If you have a child while on welfare, the child does NOT get added to the case for purpose of receiving benefits. The child gets added to paperwork as an additional household member, but no benefits gets added, with exception of medicaid depending on the state.

My ex-husband makes several thousand a month and only is court ordered to pay $32/week in child support. Why so little? Because he's a government employee and his buddies at first refused to make him pay a cent. Then they put in that little order. He lives in a 4-bedroom home in a wealthy area with his new wife and kids. He doesn't want to even have to pay the $32/week. He went nearly 6 years without paying a cent and ended up owing arrears. By child support guidelines back when it was first ordered, he should have been ordered to pay over $500/mo at least. Now it should have been higher than that since he makes about double.

Why are men like him allowed to neglect their children?

His visitation rights were terminated years ago due to violence. I left him due to his violence. He was allowed to attack me and his cop buddies would let him do whatever he wanted to me. Government looks after their own.

Men like him is why there are so many children without fathers.

I went through a lot with him, hoping he'd change at first. Then after he wanted to set fire to me because I left a little toothpaste in the sink, I wanted out so bad. I took a test rating the partner that a domestic violence place had to rate how violent the partner is and he was topping the chart. I hated him for so long because of what he did to me. There are a lot of men out there that want to hurt their wives. Love to beat them for the thrill of it. My ex didn't do what a lot of them do though. A lot of them will tell the woman he's sorry and send her flowers, etc. Mine would stand there and lie and say nothing happened. I'd have bruises from the beatings, injuries, it would have just happened, but he'd say he didn't do anything. He did a lot worse than just beatings though. And it took the birth of my daughter to get me to leave him for good because I kept hoping that he'd love me, but I didn't want him to harm my daughter any more than he had already. What kind of 'loving' father pepper sprays his newborn baby in the face? What kind of person would do that to a baby? And what kind of cop buddies would cover up for him as usual after he does it? I cannot type any more about this right now because it's really bringing up bad memories.

I went on welfare to get away from him. I had such extensive injuries from the beatings, I was having trouble walking. He used his connections to harass me and cause me to lose every job I'd get until finally no one wanted to give me a job doing anything. He used his connections with the court to have me court ordered to live within so many miles of him, in a small area where people had to drive 55 miles or more one way to get work sometimes. I had no car and no money to get a car. There was no public transportation other than a local taxi and it would've cost more than I would make to drive out of town and back each day to get work. Back then it cost $3.25 one way just in town. He even used his connections to keep me out of the local public housing and battered women's shelters. I was totally trapped. I went on welfare and got a whole $207/month in TANF and less than $40/month I think in food stamps. I ended up having to go to a community college and take out student loans and grants so I could have a roof over my head. My now ex-husband even went to the college and tried lying saying we were still living together to try and have my financial aid taken away! I didn't qualify for the financial aid when I was with him because he made too much money, and he knew that. He even wrote checks out to me like he had given me money and made copies of those checks. He showed them to welfare office to try and take what little welfare I was given away from me too. Of course he didn't have photocopy of a signature since I'd never signed them. He ended up failing with that too.

After I got my divorce years later (the judge kept refusing to give me my divorce until I finally got an out of town attorney who wasn't part of the local system to take my case), the judge was fed up with him because my attorney was threatening to have him investigated over the matter. The judge terminated his visitation rights which he wasn't using anyway (I kept insisting he pick her up in front of neutral witnesses if he would get her which he wouldn't. He'd attack me when we were alone) and removed the order that I remain within so many miles of my now ex. My lawyer told me to get out of town asap. Well, the next day his buddies from social services/CPS showed up having got an anonymous phone call that I was abusing my daughter. Their plan of action was to take her from me and give her to my abusive ex, thus overriding the judges order of terminating visitation rights. I had wised up by then after years of the system and immediately called my lawyer who put a stop on it. I also took her to pediatrician following day to document her condition. Then I had to stay in town for another couple months while CPS did their investigation. Stalking and violence continued. Finally, they closed the case because of state regulations regarding investigations and I fled the state leaving much belongings behind.

My ex still continues to use his connections to locate me when I move. He sometimes finds me again within days, other times a few months.

This small summary is a very shortened version of my 6 year long battle/ordeal with my ex and his legal system. Not everyone who gets welfare does it to get a free ride in society.

This isn't nearly as bad as we'd be lead to believe, actually. If you take the figures from item #24 here: www.fns.usda.gov... and apply the population of the United States from whatever census stat you wish to use (unlinked because I accidentally closed the window, just search your favorite search engine for the official year to year population numbers) you get the data I used to determine this:

Currently:
9.1% of the population recieve some manner of food stamp assistance

In 2005 that number was 8.9%

In 2000 that number was 6.1%

HOWEVER

In 1995 that number was 10.1%

In 1980 that number was 9.3%

This appears to be a very cyclical number. As far as how much they're getting and the comment about the HUD rent increasing alongside earnings increases, welcome to the same scenario that is playing out with every working family that isn't recieving aid. Leases go up by a certain percentage every year as well... at least they did prior to this year. This year, for the first time in several years we have an actual home buyer's market and rent/lease rates may decrease a bit. Those small 3-4% raises the average middle class worker gets every year independant of performance raises are called "cost of living" increases for a reason... they're expected to be used to pay higher rent and higher food/energy bills.

I would agree that there should be an additional adjustment made to increase the amount some are recieving, but that increase should come from eliminating some recipients who are getting assistance they don't deserve.

I'm sorry but I loathe the welfare system in its current form. Not because it's a bad idea, but more so because of those whom take advantage of the system. It seems to me, that once a family gets on welfare there is little to no incentive to get off of welfare. I can understand the fact that people sometimes need help and I see no problem in helping, but you can't help someone forever, eventually they need to help themselves.

Unless I'm missing something, this lady gets a bit over $300 a month to help feed herself and her two children? Even with the rise in food prices that seems more than an adequate amount of money to feed three people.

Which one? I can agree that the American welfare system is pretty hopeless in terms of how little help it offers as compared to other civilized nations.



There are plenty of people who take advantage of the US welfare system but they are mostly larger corporations and individuals who exploit the state contracts to supply various people's with various services. The individuals who most need the help frequently don't get much of it and if a tiny majority of the truly poor abuse it we may rightly ask why they have lost hope in trying to make it on their own in such resource wealthy country.



Beside the fact that it never provides enough to cover basic needs leading to most children on welfare being undernourished as compared to those in the middle classes? Why would people attempt to get on welfare when they already work long hours and can't make it despite being on welfare as well? Are that many Americans just so stupid that they just can't manage their money and properly feed their children? Aren't you just basically trying to tell us that 10% or more of Americans are at any one time too stupid to care for themselves on their children?



And if the system are set up in a way that prevents them from either helping themselves of discovering how to help themselves? Isn't that like blaming the Germans who could thrown into jail for not wanting to take part in the Nazi economy for 'failing' to help themselves? Where does morality and personal responsibility come into this if it's in your opinion just about making it? What are we supposed to tell our children about the immoral things we are forced to do to make ends meet?

As to your worries about people being on welfare forever there are only one type of American that has been and that is the corporate head. No other type of American citizen has received anything like the handouts and long term insurances they have.



Food is not thing that bankrupts you. Children get sick, they have to go to school, utility bills need paying and if you have anything left after the rent you car will pick the opportune time to break. Fact is most Americans ( and in fact a good proportion of working people everywhere) live paycheck to paycheck and missing even a few days of paid work, to say nothing of losing your job, will mean serious ( if not serious as compared to starving people in Ethiopia) problems the next month. It's not that American citizens are dumber than Europeans but simply that they have less security when it comes to health care and being unemployed which in parts leads to some of the social problems that are not widely seen in Europe.

Stellar

I have a suggestion,

Spend her 300 bucks a month in food stamps on "staples", meat, flour, rice, ect.. instead of twinkies and fruit rollups. Go into a grocery store and see the CRAP that the modern parent buys their family. Most if it is not nessicary and creates little Cartmans. I for one am stocking up on canned goods of all kinds including spam. Also rice, beans, ect. I donated and donated to help those in need till I began to notice we were suddenly the ones in need and I make a decent living. Just shopping smart and healthy can help these people afford their food. Oh and birth control can too.

Coshy (and everyone else), there is a very strict, federally mandated time limit for adults who receive welfare benefits:
Lifetime limit of 60 months, and during any given 5 year period, no more than 24 months of benefits.

In Louisiana (my state), the only time limit applicable to Food Stamps is the soon-to-be-enacted "able bodied adult" policy, which will limit benefits to no more than 3 months in a 36 month period....the policy will apply to individuals who are:
18 years old but not over 59
not disabled according to SSA criteria
do not have a child under the age of 18.

Rangnarok: birth control! Oh my, if I mentioned that to clients, I would be charged with discrimination...what I DO is ask each client to ponder the same question when they apply for welfare benefits:
"Does your life get easier with each child that you bring into this world?"...and I leave it at that.



Ezzi








[edit on 19-5-2008 by ezziboo]

I'm in Louisiana also, ezziboo. This sort of scares me. It almost invites people to keep on producing children to receive benefits! It might cut a few people out, but I guess time will tell with this one! I did mention the WIC program as well in my earlier post, and combined with Food Stamp program, some of these people do pretty darn well!