So what benefits can I apply for anyway?

Ok, there are basically two agencies that administer most of the "welfare" or public assistance benefits in Florida:

The Social Security Administration oversees Social Security Retirement and Survivor benefits, as well as the two programs this blog is concerned with, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Social Security Disability (SSD). These programs are for people too sick to work and provide a check and a medical benefit.

SSI is a welfare program, and is for people who didn't work and contribute (paid sufficent taxes) to quailfy for an enhanced benefit. It has limits for a household's resources, pays a pitiful flat rate to every SSI receipient, and comes with Medicaid, which is administed by whatever state authority is in place.

SSD is "earned" in that you have to be working and paying taxes and not be a deadbeat to get it. It pays you based on what your income was when you were working, and just like a retiree, you'll get Medicare after a spell.

Now, both of those programs are a bitch to get, most of the time. You have to be disabled for at least 12 months, or will die within a year to get them. The bitch of the matter is it takes forever to get them, mostly becuase of all the lazy fuckers who have ADHD or Fibromyalgia or are bi-polar, or basically have some other totally bullshit reason why they don't want to work.

That's right, the system is jammed by a bunch of slack-ass malcontents who want a check for nothing. Those who are truly disabled have to wait through 180 statutory days while the staff at the office of disabilty determinations goes through and seperates the chaff from those that are truly disabled.

OK, in addition to Social Security benefits, the states offer foodstamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF nee AFDC), and Medicaid. Unlike Social Security's benefits, most people can apply for at least a few of the state benefits.

You may or may not quailify for Social Security benfits, state benefits, or a combination of the two.

I'll be focusing on the state benefits, in particular the benefits as they pertain to what's available in Florida, however most of the rules are similar, if not identical across the states due to federal regulations.

Another year without raises for DCF rank-and-file

Yep, Florida Govenor and possible GOP Veep Charlie Crist stiffed the eligibility staff at DCF again this year. The past few years, the state offered a "bonus" of $1000 to workers in lieu of an actual raise, so in a sense, this is nothing new to the staff.

This year, no raise, no COLA, no "bonus." Nada. The good news is they'll probably freeze healthcare expenses, the bad news is that the average worker at DCF is either looking for another job, or is vested in the state retirment system, and is working just hard enough not to get fired.

What this means to applicants, providers, and agents is that what was already a faulty and broken system just became a pool of quicksand, and it's the folks who need the benefits that'll sink- and with the economy in the state it's in, it figures to be quite a few more folks (see the chart).

Rather than continue to beat up DCF constantly, I'm going to spend the next few posts answering questions about the application, and some of the more complex rules for the programs.