Social Assistance General: Info & Help

i SJ: Saint John, New Brunswick  Shopping, Classifieds, Jobs, Real Estate & Rentals, Discussion, Deals, Flyers, + more!

Click here to visit the forums main page -- iSaintJohn.com - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada online!
Click here to visit the forums main page -- iSaintJohn.com - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada online! See all recent posts Post a new ad / message Enhanced Features  Helpdesk
Business Advertising Sign-Up (Free!) Search
iSaintJohn Home Forums Home Contact Us Site Rules Terms of Use Privacy Statement
 
Visit the upgraded front page of iSJ for more info!

Free Saint John Visitor's Guide

Search the web:

 


Go Back   Saint John Classifieds & Forums > General & Local Discussion > General: Info & Help


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-31-2012
missday missday is offline
Member (100 to 500 posts)
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 484
Angry Topic: Social Assistance

Social Assistance

I received a letter in the mail today saying that any tax money I get back this year will be going towards my debt with social assistance. My story is this ...3 years ago I was on assistance for a little under 9 months. The only reason I was on it in the first place was because I was stuck with no Job to go back to after my maternity leave ran up because the place I worked for closed down. I was a single mother with no other options, I lived on my own.

My daughters father and I broke up he moved out of the granny suite I was renting so I was in a rough situation so I sucked up my pride and went to see if there were any options for me until I found work. I went on assistance while I tried to find work and day care for my daughter who at the time was 11 months old and daycare for that age is hard to find let alone very expensive. I spent countless hours on the job bank looking for work emailing my resume as well as taking them into places without any call backs.

I am 27 years old and have been working since I was 15 and have never had that hard of a time trying to find work it was the worst time of my life. When I did happen to find a job I went to my worker and told her and then was told I qualify for daycare assistance which I thought was great. Finally things were looking up so I enrolled my daughter into a daycare so I could work and that was that I was finally free of being on welfare and back out working and I could afford to have her in a good daycare because of the program otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford $160 a week for child care.

After a month of working I get a letter on my apartment door stating that a person from assistance would be visiting my home the next day for a routine inspection. I thought that was strange seeing how I was now working and no longer getting welfare and never had any visits while I was on it. The next day this women that wasn't even my worker and didn't know my situation at all or me at that shows up comes into my living room and started asking me questions about how long I lived there and if it was just me and my daughter that lives there I told her the truth that It was only me and my daughter that lives there and that her father has came over to see his daughter at times and has been there to watch her when I had to work evenings. She then asked me on average how often did he come over I said probably once a week sometimes twice because I at the time would have rather her be home then be at his parents’ house where he lived. She asked me if he ever stayed the night I didn't lie I said he has a few times if I had to work really late and he was there watching his daughter he would fall asleep by the time I got home so I didn't think it was a big deal to just let him stay on my couch ( I was not in housing) So I wasn't aware it was a problem and it wasn't like it happened often and he was in college at the time so making him get up at 1am and drive 30 mins home seemed a little drastic seeing how he was helping me out as best he could he didn't pay child support at the time because he was going to college and had very little income from unemployment. After that she left.

A week later I went to pick my daughter up from daycare and the daycare provider advised me that I owed them $160 for the week instead of the $60 I normally paid because assistance contacted them and told them I no longer qualify for the program. I called my worker and asked what was going on she advised me that they received a call from someone saying that my ex was living with me so I no longer qualify for daycare assistance and that was why a worker was sent to my house to check it out but the worker that came to my house literally walked from my door to my living room sat on my couch and didn`t go any further so as far as I’m concerned that is not checking anything out and if she did go through any rooms in my home she would only of found me and my daughters things because we were the only two that lived there. I told her that he does not live with me but she began to basically call me a liar and I am far from one! I ended up hanging up on her because I was furious.

That week I received a letter in the mail saying that I owed $9000.00 to social assistance for the little under 9 months I was on it and if I ever needed to go on assistance again they would take 10% of what I received from them back to pay it and I left it at that because I was so angry at the fact that I didn`t do anything wrong except look to them for help when I truly needed it and I was being treated like a liar and a scammer so I figured since I would never go to them for anything again I wouldn`t have to worry about them taking 10% of my assistance check because I SURE AS HELL would NEVER be on it again!

I ended up having to quit the job I was at because I no longer could afford that daycare and had to take her out of it and had no one to look after my daughter when I worked days luckily a family member had an opening for a job at their work and I got on there a month later and I ended up finding a babysitter that only charged $25 a day and didn`t make me pay for days she didn`t have to go. I have been working ever since and have never received anything from them saying I owe them money until now 3 years later they decide that they are going to take my tax money that I get back as well as my gst! I am still a single mother that lives on her own nothing has changed I get by pay check to pay check work 40 hours a week and I am being forced to pay back money that I was rightfully entitled to seeing how I`ve paid taxes for the past 13 years! How is this even fair!

They say they received an anonymous call and that's the only proof they have. I find it funny that very few people knew I was on it because I was ashamed to be on it I had it direct deposit because I didn't feel comfortable to have to get a check cashed and feel like I was being judged but had no choice I was stuck and none of the ones who knew would ever call in a lie like that. It really makes me wonder if this happens often to honest people that need a little help but yet the ones that are actually abusing the system seem to get everything handed to them and somehow get away with worse than what they are accusing me of! I also voluntarily left assistance on my own once I found a job on my own that paid enough for me to support my Daughter, pay my rent, car insurance and daycare. I just feel so frustrated with this whole situation to the point that I could break down and cry.

I just don’t understand why 3 years later they would bring this up knowing that they have no real proof and me knowing it is not true! Is the government that hurting for money that they are going to start taking peoples tax returns for something that has never been proven years later? Shouldn’t they have to take me to court and the so called person who called this in to testify? I could really use some help I have never been in any kind of situation like this in my life or any trouble at that if there is anyone who has been in a situation like this and could share some helpful info it would be greatly appreciated. Sorry this post was so long I wanted to provide as much info as I could....
Thanks
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:07 PM.



iSaintJohn.com - The premier classifieds+discussion site for the Saint John region of New Brunswick (Canada), including the Kennebecasis Valley (Rothesay, Quispamsis, & area), Grand Bay-Westfield, Hampton, St. George, St. Martins, Belleisle and the Kingston Peninsula, Sussex, Brown's Flat, Darlings Island, Blacks Harbour, Chance Harbour, St. Andrews, and all surrounding areas. Residents of other areas of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and anyone else with an interest in the general region, discussion forums, or classifieds are welcome to also post and participate.

Classified ads include real estate, rentals, garage & yard sales, carpooling, childcare services, job postings, cars, trucks, boats, bikes, clothing and accessories, computers, electronics (including satellite equipment for Bell, Starchoice, and Free-to-Air), game systems (Nintendo, Sony PlayStation, Xbox, etc.), furniture, jewelry, sports equipment, household goods, tools, and more!


Google



 
GammaWaveInternetSolutions
Copyright © 2023 GammaWave Internet Solutions Inc.
All rights reserved. Forum Rules | Privacy Statement | Terms of Use
If you have any questions, please Contact Us.