Dexter,

If there is anything I've learned in the past year, it is NOT to take any government aid document at face value. When I first applied for food stamps, I got danced around and humiliated pretty good. I would have just slunk away if I had any choice. Now when I receive the 'we're stopping your food stamps because..." letter nearly every month, I just sigh and gird myself for the latest go round. I feel like I earn every single dollar I get in aid, aside from all the years I spent paying into it, just trying to unravel their latest screw up.

A few months ago I got a letter saying they were reducing my allotment, because there was a change in income. There wasn't, I don't have any income aside from what relatives have been loaning me pending (if) SSDI coming through. My rent went up so I was loaned 15$ more a month. I requested a state hearing and got a phone call from a worker, I explained the difference to her and she said, 'Oh ok, I see it now. Based on this, you really don't need to come for the hearing' She sent me a form for a conditional withdrawal of the hearing request. I was supposed to get a revised income/allotment statement within 30 days. It never showed up. I needed it to apply for reduced utilities. So on Friday (that must have been the day for screwed up 'official' mail, huh? I got one from the DMV as well) I was happy for once that there was a letter from them. At last. Nope. Nope. Nope. It was 'we're stopping your food stamps because you never showed up for your hearing and failed to provide income information'. The kicker is: the second page is a printout of my supposed income and etc. My name is on it, but the figures have nothing to do with me. They are for someone who gets child support, has employment and self employment income and a much higher food stamp allotment than I do. Whaaaaaaat? So my anxiety level is back up to the roof, I have to stay up in my chair tonight so I can start early in the morning what usually ends up being several days of trying to get someone to even pick up the phone much less be the person I need to speak to.

I am hesitant to completely dis the people who work in these social services agencies, but both the culture of the place I am dealing with and the procedural inefficiency I see amazes me. It isn't like the workers are doing anything particularly wrong (though there are a few I have encountered that I'd cheerfully see pilloried), and I don't expect deeply felt empathy from them, it's the way that they go about it. When notes are scrawled and stapled to files and no one seems to have the same grasp of the rules and laws, and procedures seem so clumsy and arcane; no wonder more than half the time the problem turns out to be that they mislaid the proper paperwork.

Ironically, looking for some guidance re: social services and how to navigate them without my head exploding is how I found this forum a few month ago. I lurked for a long while and registered a month or two ago and only last week got the courage to post. You guys do good work here.

So-Dex, my advice is: 1. Just keep punching redial on your phone until you reach the right person 2. Don't take no for an answer. Just politely keep after them. 3. Try to reach the worker who gave the 'yes' answer to elgibility. 4. Stress that you didn't understand the 'work-related' question. From what I have read of your posts, if not directly causative, it was very much was work related.

You are a smart person capable of sophisticated metaphor and analogy. Don't assume that these workers are. (Many may be, but not in relation to their jobs) In other words don't split hairs. If I were to encounter that question, this is what would go through my mind relating to my situation: depression and anxiety are illnesses, situational specifics can exacerbate them-- so even though I was in a situation at work where everything possible was done to drive me around the bend- it was [i]my[i] susceptibility that sent me around the bend.-- therefore 'No' is the appropriate answer. Wrong. I see too many shades of grey and with this kind of stuff, I've learned you need to keep it black and white and keep the complicated thinking out of it.

I hope this is of some help and best to you.