My daughter returned to her group home last Wednesday. Since that time various staff have told her that her food stamp balance was zero. (All the group home residents have it. Even if they have a part time job, they receive something.)
Thursday my daughter was very sick and gave her nasty housemate a short list of groceries. Staff and the nasty housemate refused and came home with nothing for my daughter. By Saturday she was still sick and staff were still saying she had zero food stamps. I had to go to the store and spend MY money and buy her what she needed. By evening the Team Lead aka House Manager finally got back to her and told her she didn’t have a food stamp card at all.
Lies, lies, lies. Today I picked up my daughter and we went to public aid to get the truth. Yes she has a decent monthly benefit put on her card the 1st of EVERYmonth. Which meant that last Wednesday she had food stamps. And what else did we find out? Her card had not been used for 5 months! That’s a lots of food stamps. So that means that they have been lying to her for months saying she had used hers up by mid month.
So I dropped my daughter back at her program and went home. Then I made a call to the Director. I’m sure they are tired of hearing from me. But you know what? Too bad. Someone who knows the system had to help her. The Assistant Director was still in a meeting. (They always are, they do it to stall.) He called me back. I let him talk to see how far down the hole he was digging would go. Turns out pretty far. He claimed her card was inactive. Not true. He claimed they had spent weeks trying to fix the situation. Also not true. It doesn’t take weeks. I know someone who last month got their card activated in 20 minutes. Every time he said something and I replied, I waited, didn’t say anything to see where he was going next. I asked if the card could be misplaced, how could it not have been used when my daughter was being told every month that she had no food stamps for the last 1 or 2 weeks of the month. He got indignant and say no, no, no way could it be lost. Really? Why so indignant? Eventually I reported staff who had lied to my daughter and who refused to allow her to buy food. I also complained that my daughter’s special diet restrictions list was ripped off the kitchen wall and they were buying food she couldn’t eat. There was one really long pause after that one. Apologies, apologies. He will definitely speak with staff. Then he has the nerve to thank me for again doing their job. He actually says “thank you for doing our job”. How about pay me every time I do their job? How about give me a gift card? A grocery gift card for all the times I had to buy my daughter food because staff was lying to her and wouldn’t let her buy groceries? How about even just a Thank You card in the mail?
So now I’m wrecked for the entire rest of today and tomorrow. I’m on pain pills, lying down and icing. I can’t do sitting for very long, and sitting in bad waiting room chairs is just torture.
I feel bad for other housemates whose families aren’t getting involved at all. When my daughter tells me about them I do point them in the right direction, give them a note about where to call.
Nasty housemate update: Thursday night she was screaming my daughter’s name and staff all night long. My daughter felt safe because of the lock on her door. She was exhausted from being sick and fell asleep quickly. She was woken up periodically by screaming, but she went back to sleep.
Hoping my daughter feels better today. She missed 3 days of work. Wednesday she goes to her PCP.
•••••UPDATE: My daughter called me and woke me up (she always does) to tell me that the Team Lead called her and scolded her for having me contact the Director. She proceeded to say my daughter was WRONG, that my daughter DOES NOT HAVE A LINK CARD AND AHE HAS NO FOOD STAMPS. She better slow her roll because she’s flying off the handle with faulty information. Apparently the Director forwarded my email to her asking what’s up with this, and apparently had not informed her that my daughter has a card and a monthly benefit. My daughter corrected her, I do have a Link card, Team Lead says no you don’t, and my daughter says we went to Public Aid and got the FACTS. I fired off an email detailing the conversation and asking if he informed the Team Lead and all staff about her Link card, AND reminding them that even if there is no Link card they cannot refuse to take clients grocery shopping.
•••••UPDATE #2: Still no shopping trip today. My daughter went to the doctor and was put on a very limited diet. Crackers, broth, decaf tea, water with lemon, G2 because she is very dehydrated and he wants the reduced sugar Gatorade. There was only 1 can of broth in the house, nothing else. I spoke with the Team Lead who lied, lied, lied. Claimed she never told my daughter she had no Link card, etc. Also claimed my daughter didn’t say she needed these items. Also not true. She claimed she would get what my daughter needed, but would not commit to when my daughter would get the items. Will she have them for lunch, for dinner, or later? I asked several times and she changed the subject every time. I am fed up. I asked for reimbursement for the groceries I bought last week. We’ll see how that goes. I could really use the money.
Happy New Year!
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