Daughter fears jail time for not disclosing income while on SSI!!

[manbish]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

U.S. LAW

Please do not start bashing. Yes, I agree my daughter did wrong but I am trying to help her with the mess she got in. I need advice for m daughter who is completely overwhelmed with fear, guilt and is nearly suicidal over this. I have told her to look into getting a lawyer for low income but she is beside herself so trying to calm her.

Situation is she has active Lupus and is fatigued, in constant pain, and has been on SSI for 5-6 years now and very much needs it. She was out of country for 13 ears so SSI only option when they asked her to apply (dshs said she should be on as medical costs were not for a healthy person). She receives $733 SSI per month(and also food stamps) but has also been doing side jobs under the table and not reporting (most) of the income. Previously she earned over $1000 per month like a year ago but now only earns $220 per month from odd jobs. Again, not reported. She hasn't filed taxes in years as did not want a tax refund on top of benefits (and when her son lived with her, she had a dependent and could have had tax back)

So what is happening is 2 years ago they did a financial review. Now, this past Thursday, the did another one and she is worried they are going to check bank account.Last time they did review, it was considered closed at end of interview. This time however, it is not closed and they asked to check account electronically. They also asked when she was doing her review for food stamps. She is worried she is going to go to jail as 1. the review was just 2 years ago 2. questions seemed odd 3. the asked twice if they could verify income via her bank 4. case still under review 5. she did not declare income so was in the wrong.

She wonders if she calls SSI and states she is going to start working for her boyfriend (he offered her $150-200 per week to get her out of the system) and will try to move to Obamacare if SSA will then stop the SSI and hopefully stop any chance of going to jail if she ends the benefit now.

Her biggest concerns are:

1. Doesn't want to go to jail!!! She is sick with worry!
2. Without medical, she could get very sick and worried not affordable
3. Even with medical, she will have co pays and she takes a lot of medicine and sees man drs often so concerned about affording costs

Questions are:

What is likelihood case will still go for review if she stops SSI/food stamps tomorrow?
Can she go to jail?
If she just started living with boyfriend, but pays her own bills, does his income count towards her income?

Yes she messed up and didn't declare all income but has been trying to move away from SSI/WELFARE from sometime and after just moving in with her boyfriend, she hoped to make that move. Now she is fearful of jail, charges, a record and then on top of that, is she escapes that, not being able to seek needed medical because of prohibitive costs.

 

[LdiJ]

She is unlikely to be jailed over this but she might have to pay back some of the SSI she received. She also needs to inform them that she is living with her boyfriend. If she is not paying rent and utilities then that would reduce her SSI.

 

[commentator]

Okay, first of all U.S. Law is not a state. We would need to know the state as the states have many slightly different ways of dealing with this federal/state low income program. Based on her amount received we can make a few guesses, eliminate a few states that have supplements, but why not reveal it to us?

Second of all, I am terribly suspicious of spending a whole lot of time on this curiously poorly Englished post in which you describe, second hand at least, the situation of your poor daughter who is so afraid she go to jail and is in too bad a shape to talk to legal services for low income people herself.

In the first place, what you are telling us is not, cannot be accurate. For food stamps alone, they have checked her income many more times than twice, this anticipated check being her second. She is afraid they are going to check bank account. Really? Yes, they "ask to check bank account" and other financial information electronically every time you have any dealings with income based programs. And they may check and have been cross checking as long as she has been receiving income based assistance. By not filing taxes, and by reporting some of the pick up income, she may have done pretty well at getting away with her long term cash only pick up jobs on the side.

But they will have records on her going all the way back, and if there is any significant change in her level of savings, bank account amounts, etc. or if she gets turned in for fraud by someone, reported on some employer's tax records, etc. rest assured she will be one of the ones who is checked at great length. All public assistance programs have fraud units who check vigorously and have plenty of time to do so.

What she should do, of course is call and explain her change in circumstances to the "dchs" (whatever that is, I'm assuming human services is part of the name) the moving in with her boyfriend, etc. And then let them tell her what to do about this. I don't think her offering to "try to get on obamacare" is going to make much difference to them. They'll have to do recertifications, re-collection of much data proving income, residence and citizenship, etc. and review decisions on her eligibility, both past and present.

From the sound of what you are saying here, confused and removed from the situation as it is, it does not sound as though your daughter has yet been charged with any kind of welfare fraud yet. She's over the line, and it could certainly happen, but if it does, she will be given plenty of time to appeal and discuss before they take her off to jail. And legal services has plenty of experience helping people who have committed welfare fraud of all varieties appeal their frauds and overpayments. She can certainly get their advice during the process.

I'd like to point out to you that if they carted people off to jail immediately with no warning when they caught them committing public assistance fraud, they'd have no place to put the other criminals. Your daughter certainly isn't the first person lately to have thought of doing this. She wouldn't be the first person who discussed her change in financial circumstances with the caseworker I'm sure she has this week or even today. Since you can in your situation have no input into what she does, you'd best let her be the one who worries about her situation.

And I'm still not completely convinced this is a genuine post of inquiry from a worried mother. The complete lack of understanding of how the programs work and the complete "hit every stereotype" of the welfare fraud myths make me a bit suspicious. Please do not start bashing, hm?

Well, best advice. Tell her to discuss the change in circumstances with her caseworker. IMMEDIATELY. They don't give a rats patootie about her trying to "get herself off welfare" under the parameters you describe. If she is on SSI, this means she has been determined to be too seriously handicapped to work. She has some high medical bills. The providers and medical care personnel she has to deal with want desperately for her to stay on medical assistance so their bills get paid.

She has also been determined not to have enough work credits to get Social Security Disability. But she would be seriously disabled enough to do so. She has also been determined to be low income enough to need health care assistance and food assistance. She has qualified for SSI. It would be profoundly stupid for her to aspire to give up her benefits and her SSI based on having moved in with some boyfriend. She does need to report the changes in her circumstances and living arrangements as they occur and let the programs make the determinations. She cannot bargain with them as you suggest.

If she were to marry and permanently establish herself with this well to do person, she might still qualify for some assistance based upon her disability. The caseworkers will be glad to help her and explain these options to her. She can forget about "offering" to sign up on Obamacare, whatever you think that means, as a means of excusing herself for committing this fraud which you imagine has gotten her in so much trouble, maybe.

If they are going to catch her out for welfare fraud, they can do so, she has already committed it, it has been going on for some time, as you mention, it needs to stop, and they have the rest of all recorded time to review things in. But there's no need to sit around waiting for the knock on the door and the sound of the soldiers feet as they drag her away to jail. She'd have plenty of notification and time to get legal counsel before this happens.