what happened to my grandson's food stamps

[destinconcierge]

Our family has never taken state support, however, my daughter is a single mom, working and striving to get her son's father the pay the child support he owes. She has been a year without support, going through the ever so slow court system. She was eligble for $213 in food stamps until last month. Now she gets $30 a month. That is nothing! We do not want to rely on state support, but until the father lives up to his obligations, what is she to do?

I have tried to find something on the internet about this but have not found anything. Can anyone tell me why the state of Florida cannot feed the kids!

 

[Matt J]

That really is a bad situation.

I would strongly encourage you to contact some local charities such as Caring and Sharing or Catholic Charities. If anybody has any other ideas please post them.

Unfortunately with the state budget cuts it probably won't get better.

 

[Geo]

Our family has never taken state support, however, my daughter is a single mom, working and striving to get her son's father the pay the child support he owes. She has been a year without support, going through the ever so slow court system. She was eligble for $213 in food stamps until last month. Now she gets $30 a month. That is nothing! We do not want to rely on state support, but until the father lives up to his obligations, what is she to do?

I have tried to find something on the internet about this but have not found anything. Can anyone tell me why the state of Florida cannot feed the kids!

Hi. I sympathize with your daughter's situation and am in no way giving the deadbeat dad a free pass...

All that said- I think the first thing your daughter should do is realize that support from the father is not the only means to her end. She will be empowered by this...

What if this guy was dead? What if she got pregnant under odd circumstances where there was no way to get in touch with the father. Would her life be over because there was no father to "live up to obligations"?

I gather I will be vilified for this reply but I'll take the heat because I think you need this tough love. Pls do not confuse me as someone who does not care. If I did not care I would ignore this and go to sleep...

Think outside the box.

When I was single I dated a self made single mother. Great gal with no college education or help from her daughter's father.

She needed to stay home and raise her baby. SO she went to the local YMCA, got certified in infant CPR, took out a free ad in the newspaper offering affordable daycare to other moms. In no time she was making more money than she knew what to do with. Last time we spoke she had 3 girls working for her running her business. She was looking for a hobby...

One example...

I KNOW your daughter doesn't have to count on the state or baby's daddy...

It IS that easy...

There were many before her in tougher situations and there will be many more after...

2 cents. Boy, I am nervous about what comes back but lemme have it...

G

 

[Matt J]

Geo,

This sounds to me like someone who made a comittement and then welched on it, thus leaving a single mother in a bad situation probably overnight.

As for the father being deceased the child would be eligible for Social Security benefits until 18.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

Our family has never taken state support, however, my daughter is a single mom, working and striving to get her son's father the pay the child support he owes. She has been a year without support, going through the ever so slow court system. She was eligble for $213 in food stamps until last month. Now she gets $30 a month. That is nothing! We do not want to rely on state support, but until the father lives up to his obligations, what is she to do?

I have tried to find something on the internet about this but have not found anything. Can anyone tell me why the state of Florida cannot feed the kids!

What does her caseworker say is the cause of the decrease?

 

[sunspotbaby]

I don't know how old this child is, but $30.00 will buy a can of formula that will last a week, or a pack of diapers... That's about it!
What does she do for childcare while she works?
This is why I quit a good job, because I couldn't afford the childcare costs. It's so hard to find here and quite expensive if you do find it. I didn't apply for any
state supported programs, because honestly dealing with the Dept. of Families & children is a nightmare, plus my husband probably makes "too much."
Making ends meet is still very hard though.

 

[Rudyjohn]

Geowicky,
Excellent post. It's something for everyone to consider at some point in our lives. Not an actual quick solution at this moment for this young single mother, but still helpful. It can be done.

.

 

[Geo]

Geo,

This sounds to me like someone who made a comittement and then welched on it, thus leaving a single mother in a bad situation probably overnight.

As for the father being deceased the child would be eligible for Social Security benefits until 18.

SWGB,

Agreed on both of the items...

But my point doesn't change. The sooner the young mother (and the poster) stop looking for and expecting help elsewhere the sooner they can both start to work toward a better solution...

My mom worked for $9/hr. at a Whitehall Jewelers in 2004. One day she took a leap of faith and quit. She started a house cleaning business for the wealthy in St. Louis and makes 3 to 4 times that net...

No college education. Just a great attitude and hard work...

 

[ShallowsFuzz]

Our family has never taken state support, however, my daughter is a single mom, working and striving to get her son's father the pay the child support he owes. She has been a year without support, going through the ever so slow court system. She was eligble for $213 in food stamps until last month. Now she gets $30 a month. That is nothing! We do not want to rely on state support, but until the father lives up to his obligations, what is she to do?

I have tried to find something on the internet about this but have not found anything. Can anyone tell me why the state of Florida cannot feed the kids!

My question is, does the father work and what kind of income is he bringing in?

 

[scooterbug44]

I thought the justification for passing the recent farm subsidies bill was that it included items like food stamps that are unfortunately needed even more in the current economy.

BTW, I'm all about the "bootstraps" ideology, but there are also times when a major change in your circumstances means you need a temporary helping hand. My aunt went on welfare after being divorced and was a single mother who couldn't get $ from her ex (don't think she ever got it all BTW). The short time period after her divorce is the only time in her life she has gotten any type of government assistance - that's why we have programs like that.

Being rude about how someone should have thought about $ before they got pregnant, shouldn't have to depend on a man, or saying they could just go get a job is not helpful - especially since the original post mentions that she is working.