I went to apply for food stamps and was denied because i had a drug convection in 1999. I don't understand why i am banned forever when other people can get them if they have a feloney but i can't. what makes one crime worse then the other. do they want people who want to change their ways around to go back out to crime so they can make money to eat because our country can't help us. We feed forein countries but deny are own.
2007-07-04 18:00:00 · 12 answers · asked by highhopes1225 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
It's the law not the DHS. Drug offenders are more likely to repeat offences than any other ex-criminal except sexual predators and it sounds like you have not re-offended, but the law was passed for the above reason.
Only a change in law will change it. My heart goes out to you.
2007-07-04 18:09:23 · answer #1 · answered by rumbler_12 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would appeal that or keep trying. UNLESS the conviction was for using stamps to buy drugs..they can't deny you stamps. Contact the main supervisor. go to the state representative, congress, anyone who will listen. The DHS gets a bonus at the end of the year for every person they get "OFF" the system. (they will deny that though) . They don't care. They will sit on their butts all day and twiddle their thumbs rather than trying to help people who really need it..read my other post about them cutting my stamps $20 because I moved in with my mom to save money. I make $623 a month and get $15 in stamps.. my expenses are over $600 a month.. they don't care.
2007-07-08 15:12:08 · answer #2 · answered by chilover 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason is....a felony is a black mark on someone's record. Basically, conviction of a drug charge is not good in any respects, but especially when trying to get food stamps. A majority of food stamp fraud is committed largely in part due to addicts "selling" their stamps for their drug of choice. The government sees it as you could afford the drugs, you don't need the stamps.
It is not that the Department of Human Services is unfair. The point being is you did a bad thing...sorry. They cannot be sure you will not go sell the stamps for your fix. (I am not saying you will). The rules and regulations are there to protect people...just remember, if you got off the drugs, you can get the employment to get through this without the stamps.
The only thing I can tell you is to try to get the conviction expunged off your record. It may be impossible, depending on the drug you were convicted for. Don't let this get you down, let it make you more determined to get by without them...
2007-07-05 01:18:00 · answer #3 · answered by forensicschick1615 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Department of Agriculture, which manages the food stamp program, has to follow Federal law. That law bars convicted drug offenders from food stamps, as well as other assistance like housing.
2007-07-05 01:12:15 · answer #4 · answered by desertviking_00 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The DHS is unfair like every other government agency designed to help the needy - Social Security for example. I haven't applied for foodstamps, but I remember when I was in the Veteran's hospital facing major surgery. I had a social worker assigned to help me get temporary SS Disability payments. He did this all the time. He said, "We're going to file your application, and it will be denied. Then we're going to file it again, and it will be denied again. Then we will file it again, and this time they may approve it, or they may not. If they don't, we'll file again and again until they do. That's the way the system works."
Most people will give up after the first of second application, and every time they do the government saves that much more money. And many people who apply for such benefits may not be sophisticated enough to know how to keep applying, or to know that they need to do so. And every one who quits trying means the government saves money. It sounds cruel, but that is the way the system works. If you think that's bad, the tricks insurance companies use to cheat you out of your rightful benefits make the government look like guardian angels.
The point is, don't take "no" for an answer. Keep applying. If they say you're not elegible, ask them what part of the legal code makes you ineligible, and look it up on he internet. I researched the Federal Code when my disabled step-son was told by SSA that he had to pay back over $25,000 in benefits. Scared him to death. Turns out he didn't have to pay it after all. In our appeal we quoted the code & referenced the exact paragraphs that said he didn't have to pay. They backed off and "forgave" him the debt. It can be done.
Keep them honest. And pray that the Republican party fails in their attempts to eliminate benefits for the needy altogether, like welfare and foodstamps.
2007-07-05 01:19:21 · answer #5 · answered by Don P 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I went last year and applied for food stamps. They told me no, since I made too much money the year before that. I had a heart attack and was unable to work, or get help.
What did I do? I got better, and went and got another job. BTW, my former employer terminated me while I was on the cardiac step-down ward. I was not eligible for FMLA. That was not fair.
Life is not always fair, you better just get used to it and go on with your business.
2007-07-05 01:17:27 · answer #6 · answered by Edward B 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's not the Dept of Human Service, it's the law. If you don't like the law, then get out and vote. Of course, you gave up that right when you committed a felony...
2007-07-05 01:05:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
thats a new one to me.
Food stamps is for people who need them I thought.
I have a family member applying for general relief, but they are kinda bouncing from one home to the next.
They give him food stamps and a bus pass.
Id try to contact your city representatives office, and ask them if you can be pointed in the right direction.
They might have better knowledge of the resources available to the needy....at least they should!
Good luck to you
2007-07-05 01:04:20 · answer #8 · answered by writersbIock2006 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Because they are a government agency and all government agencies are evil. They don't have any real rules to follow. They do whatever they want to. You just talked to the wrong person. Had you talked to someone else, you would have gotten the food stamps.
2007-07-05 01:10:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
ewww, change your ways huh? you mean get food that other people work to pay for? Uhhhhh how bout you get a job or something, you can't even afford to feed yourself so obviously it's time to bust out the help wanted ads...
2007-07-05 01:08:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋