Adriana came to Catholic Charities for help applying for MediCal and CalFresh benefits. Her husband and three children had just moved to Stockton from Chicago. Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks, her husband left her and the children in their new home and returned to Chicago to start a new relationship. He agreed to pay the rent and utilities and give her $500.00 monthly instead of child support. Adriana was desperate to make ends meet and needed help to apply for food benefits. Shortly afterward, she realized that $500 a month was insufficient to purchase adequate food for her family and cover other household expenses.
During her appointment with the CFO Staff, she asked many questions about the verification required and how she would submit proof for her living arrangements since her husband was paying for everything. Her concern was that her husband would get notified and stop all help if he knew she was applying for benefits. The Staff helped her write an affidavit detailing how the rent was being covered. The application for MediCal and CalFresh was submitted on her behalf, including the affidavit. Soon after, she was interviewed, and the worker questioned her more in-depth about covering her expenses. After a while, she was notified by the Human Service Agency that her case was being referred to get an investigator since the Eligibility Worker was unable to verify her income. This scared Adriana. Although she knew she was not lying, she did not want to upset her husband and risk him stopping all help. The Supervisor called and scheduled an appointment so the Investigator could come by. Adriana reached out to our agency to get guidance since she had never experienced something like this. The Staff realized this was a rare case and had never experienced this before. A call was made to HSA, and we are still trying to reach someone. The Staff met to discuss the case and figure out how to help Adriana. The following day, a call was made to Adriana to get an update, and she explained that an Investigator had stopped by in the morning as she was returning from dropping her two older children at school. She came into the home and asked her to allow her to see around. Her youngest daughter was home sick, and she let them go in. They checked the closets, rooms, and drawers, questioned her about the toothbrushes in the bathroom, and looked around. The Investigator verified that the husband did not live in the home and wrote the findings in the report. Adriana was so taken aback by the whole process, and it scared her. She asked the Investigator to withdraw the CalFresh benefits from her application because she didn't want to get into trouble. Since her daughter was sick, she decided to continue with the MediCal process because she wanted to take her to see the doctor.
We contacted the HSA office and spoke to our contact person; he explained that the EW made several attempts to verify Adriana's income. However, they weren't successful. That's why the Investigator was called in. The Investigator's finding report was sufficient to get her benefits approved. However, since she withdrew the CalFresh benefits, she was only approved for MediCal. He also explained that the investigator would return to do another walkthrough during recertification. We called Adriana to share what we learned about the situation and advised her to reply for CalFresh benefits. She was grateful that we were able to help her through the process and be able to provide her with information. Although the outcome was not positive, Adriana understands her situation is rare and may require additional steps to verify her income. She can now make an educated decision in the future if she ever decide to apply for benefits.
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