Florida Department of Children and Families - Food Stamp Program review: Inability to reach the Florida Department of Children and Families 146

[protected] thats the number to interview line people

athe unemployment benefits have been exhausted and I still can't get medicaid or foodstamps! What a joke!

i was sent a notice to redo my foodstamps and i filed them on the 15 of feb and they did a phone interview and was told they had every thing the needed and them on the 3rd of march i got a phone call and answered the messages and call them and was told they needed a paper stating that i am in school so i rushed around to get it sent to them and went to stample and had it sent to them that night and now i have placed three calls to them about my food stamps and i was told on one of the calls i would have them in three days and i have placed two calls two to day and was told that it would be 7 more days til i get them i have a disable child in my home and working the dcf because my son teacher slamed him in to a wall at school and i am working with other agecny to get help and i still do not have my food stamps their tell me to call meals on wheels, 211 and i should not have to do that since i get food stamps from the state and i have no food and no food stamps eirther.

my experince is all to alike these. i have received no income except child support since august when i began applying. i have been hung up on, could not get my faxes sent it, could not get anyone on phones, when i did they did not follow up as they said they would and kept getting my applications denied for the technical reasons that were cause d by a dysfunctional system. very frustrating. now after months (i went into an office twice and showed to get help) have benefits but the EBT card does not work and can get no one on the phone to assist me. I h ave used the little income i have to pay bills to buy food so bills go unpaid and risk of utilities getting shut off repeatedly. no funds for house repairs and can't get assistance otherwise as i was self employed and own a house- just (its in foreclosure) the land of the rich i am afraid is the land for the rich.
there is a complaint site at: dcf.state.fl.us/admin/IG file a complaint- only way to change this system is to patiently perservere

to file an appeal: [protected] best and may everyone get the help they need

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IVE BEEN DISABLED FOR MANY YRS. WHENEVER I DID GET THROUGH AND TRYING TO BE AS PLEASANT AS POSSIBLE (SO NOT TO HAVE A MISERABLE PERSON HANG UP ON ME) THE PEOPLE WITH PERSONALITY ACTUALLY TOLD ME THAT HER OWN HUSBAND CAN'T CALL HER @ WORK! THEY DON'T GIVE YOU A REGULAR WORKER WITH AN EXTENTION ANYMORE LIKE THEY USED TO. AND I AGREE WITH ANOTHER BLOGGER AND THOUGHT THE SAME AS THEY DID, THAT THEY INTENTIONALLY MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO JUST GIVE UP AND GET A JOB ALREADY. I'LL ADMIT THEY'RE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ABUSE THE SYSTEM. BUT SOME OF US ARENT. I SEE PEOPLE COMMING IN TO FILL OUT APPLICATIONS CALMLY CRACKING THEIR GUM WITH BIG GOLD CHAINS ON THEIR NECKS! I PAWNED ALL MY JEWELRY ALONG TIME AGO. I HAVE NOTHING ELSE. ISN'T THAT WHO THE ASSISTANCE IS SUPPOSED TO HELP? WELL, ITS LIKE IVE SAID FOR YRS NOW. THE WORLD IS FULL OF IDIOTS & REPUBLICANS. HOW COULD YOU PEOPLE VOTE FOR HIM NOT ONCE BUT TWICE! (PERSONALLY IM JUST ABOUT AS CERTAIN AS ONE COULD BE THAT GOV. BUSH & ASSOC. FIXED THE FIRST RACE) BUT HE PUT THIS COUNTRY IN HELL IN A HANDBASKET AND GAVE EVERYTHING HE SOLD HIS SOUL FOR TO DICK CHEYNEY! MAY HE ROT IN HELL. L.LYNN FLORIDA

I HOPE THIS WILL HELP SOME OF YOU. IN MY FRUSTRATION I LEARNED THE PERSON IN CHARGE (THIS WAS IN SEMINOLE COUNTY THOUGH) BUT YOU GET LIVE PEOPLE ON THE PHONE THAT ARE NICE! MAYBE AFTER THEY GET BOMBARDED WITH CALLS FROM ALL OF YOU IT MIGHT CHANGE BUT HERE GOES. THE MANS NAME IS ~ DAMN I 4GOT HIS FIRST NAME ALL OF A SUDDEN BUT ITS: MR. GLICK. IM SORRY I CAN'T FIND MY OLD PHONE BOOK. WHEN I DO I'LL REPORT BACK. TO THE PERSON LOOKING FOR HER CASE #. IF YOU RECIEVE ANY CORRESPONDANCE FROM D.C.F. YOUR CASE # APPEARS EITHER UNDER PAYEE NAME, OR ITS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE BY ITSELF. USUALLY BEGINNING WITH THE #'S1107, OR ITS UNDER THE DATE OF SUBSEQUENT PGS OF ANY LETTERS. IF YOU HAVE NOTHING FROM THEM? SORRY!

i have found this number it is Jacksonville number, but heck it is a DCF number Nancy Dreicer, Regional Director
5920 Arlington Expressway, Jacksonville 32211
[protected]

I am having such a terrible time with this, every time I call the call center I get a recorded message that tells me all the lines are busy and then it hangs up on me! I have been through the stupid recordings like a hundred times with the same result each time. I have been on food stamps for a while, I'm disabled and rarely know where I am going to sleep from one night to the next and for whatever reason they cut off my food! I don't know what to do . . .

GOOD luck, , , Iam disabled, have a disabled minor child and a single parent I was on medicade for a year, , I need a organ transplant by the way, , , so I cant work, , my child gets ssi and I get regular disability, , , I didnt want food stamps, only the medical well after a year they put me on medical needy and, none of my docxs take that soooo, what am I gonna do now, , , the say I make to much money well, , ok run a house take care of a child and buy meds on 1200 a month, , , plus I cant even go to the docs now, , and I need so many test every week its not funny, , , the people hang up on you, , , the case worker I have lied to me, , , she called and left a message that they needed more info for my foodstamp app, well I never put one in I called her said I only redid my medicaid, , she said all of that was ok and just a month later it was all gone, , , The state of Fl, is the worst state there is, , , , I have been here 35 years and this is the second time I have needed help and both times its been BAD>>>>>

I have been trying for days to reach the [protected] for a deaf man who's did not get his stamps for April. he recertified 3/8/10, faxed the information asked of him.no stamps for
April.he has tried thru the TDD phone for the deaf. its always says all agents are busy, call later and hang up. this man has had numeral people call and can't get thru and when
you go to the local office in ft myers, can get no help. who can this young man call.just terrible. what can a person in this situation do.

Can people really take this crap? The thing to do is to hold a welfare mom party at the DCF offices where you live.!

These people are paid by tax payers. And they are only there instead of you because they know someone who got them in. So please, don't take crap from welfare workers or any gov. worker.

I vote for stores with my $$$. I should be able to hold local, state and national gov. workers accountable as well.

If a store treats me like crap, I never come back. e.g. KMart lost my business about 8 years ago. Apparently I was not the only one. They had to file bankruptcy when the economy was still booming, before even the country was in recession.

Same deal with me. I have never received my benefiets for March of this year. Received my Feburary emergency food stamps, but when i applied for Medicade in March, its somehow stopped my March benefits. I have received benefits for Apr, May and am eligible for June and July, but i guess they are just going to keep my March benefits. What did they do with THAT money. Have spend several hours on phone and actually got to speak to someone on the ACCESS phone systme twice and both times they stated that they see what the problem is and was going to turn it over to their supervisors to correct and i should have the money on my EBT card within 10 days. This was told to me TWICE, and as of yet... NOTHING. Tried calling last several days and went through the circle of options just to get the recording that due to heavy caller volume call back... WTF! I am in pasco county. Does anyone know anything i can do. If so please email me at dmcatlett@verizon.net THanks, David

I just was denied food stamps today for myself. I was over by $8.50! $8.50! I am unemployed, receiving unemployment, only pays car and roof over my head. Cant pay electric, can't by food. I have worked hard all my life, single mother of one who is just finishing first year of college. So proud, but cannot feel her when she comes home this summer. This really sucks

does anybody know how i can find out what my case number is? i cant do anything without it! i have been waiting for a month and a half to get my money and still do not have it.. when i call to see what my deposit date is they ask for my case number! so can anybody help me figure out how to get it please!

I agree with everyone. Something needs to be done about the "customer service". I am a single mother, and have applied 4 times to try to get foodstamps, and i have not received anything in the mail except 1 letter that said i had a phone interview. The letter stated the phone interview was on the 6th and I received the letter on the 9th. They closed my case and made me apply all over again. It does seem as if they want to discourage people so that we dont get the help we need and deserve. If I did not need the help from the state...trust me...I would not go through all this hassle for someone to butt into my life and several "workers" to be rude and unprofessional.

I have had benefits on and off since 2006. Back then it was easy to get information from them. NOW... it has taken me up to 3 days of calling to get a hold of someone.
Also, Since i am pregnant again, i needed my HMO changed to pregnancy medicaid and they told me they did it, but i went to 3 appointments just to get told my HMO is still showing up and they couldnt see me till it said Medcaid. When i called Department of children and families they finally told me why it keeps showing up to doctors as a HMO, caseworkers were switching people to pregnancy medicaid but forgetting to cancel out the HMO, i was not the only person this happened to. I am 15 weeks pregnant now and still have no seen a doctor because now they tell me it will switch in the system by August 1st. DCF needs to get on the ball here, they are not like how they used to be, or they just stopped caring.
and good luck calling with the appointment letters.. i found out what works, fax them saying u have called many times and can not get through, they will call you. it works for my mother-in-law a couple weeks ago!

I HAVE MANY PROBLEMS WITH DCF, I HAVE BEEN GETTING FOOD STAMPS FOR THE PAST SEVEN YEARS BECAUSE I IHAVE 2 CHILDREN AND MAKE ONLY 10 DOLLARS AN HOUR.

LAST MONTH IT WAS TIME FO MY RECERTIFICATION AND I HAVE BEEN DENIED 2 TIMES FOR THE REASON BEING THAT I HAVE RECEIVED A LUMP SUM. BUT I HAVE NOT
!

NO ONE EVEN CALLED ME TO VERIFY THEIR INFORMATION WAS CORRECT, THEY JUST DENIED IT AND CLOSED THE CASE, NOW I AM STILL FIGHTING TO GET MY FOOD STAMPS WHICH I REALLY NEED TO GET BY WITH MY 2 KIDS, AS I ONLY MAKE 10 DOLLARS AN HOUR.

Isn't it incredible that will all the complaints in the world there appears to be no effort in improving the system. The original posting was done in 2008. It is now July 2010. Here we are two years later and the system still sucks. What a joke to call the 800 number and be told that "Call volume is too high...try your call another time..." and then have it hang up on you. Real nice. So, let me get this straight... people are expected to get back on their feet doing things like trying to get a good job or going back to school, but in order to get assistance in the mean time you must spend hours (and many times, days) trying to get through to someone that can offer help? Ok - I'll quit my job so I can try calling in full time, oh yeah, and I'll be sure to spend endless resources driving to the office and sending faxes using money I don't have.

Oh, and one other thing... good luck getting dead beat dads to pay their child support. The FL court system is so screwed up, you will spend 10 times the amount of child support you 'might" get in court. I have heard more excuses from the FL court system explain why there is nothing they can do to help. Hmmm, I don't know... maybe try putting these people on lock-down. Suspend their drivers license, fine them, arrest them, garnish their wages. Self-employed dead beats should have their business license revoked.

I highly recommend that everyone impacted by this should contact the Governor's office using whatever means possible (phone, email, snail mail, front door).

http://www.flgov.com/contact_governor

Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
Jeff.Kottkamp@MyFlorida.com

Contact the Governor or Lt. Governor
Office of Governor Charlie Crist
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL [protected]

Telephone:

¦Citizen Services Hotline: [protected]
¦Executive Office of the Governor Switchboard: [protected]
[Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time]

Fax: [protected]

For individuals with hearing loss or speech disability:
[protected] (TTY)

I too agree with all of the post listed here. Everytime I recertify, I have to wait longer than the 30 days, or they don't get my information correct; then I am denied. If you can get through to the supposedly "customer service" line, they still can't help. They will tell you anything to get you off of the phone. They know that you probably won't get through again today. I think it is ridiculous. Maybe they should give me a job and I might not need food stamps. I am sure I can do a better job than many of the CSR's they already have.

I agree with some here and shake my head in disbelief on others and there reasonings. My situation is I am a single father of my two children and there 5 year old brother. My daughter is on SSI due to a rare medical condition. DCF took my children and there brother from my ex and her BF (boys biological father) due to several police visits for domestic issues between mom and BF. After the 8th complaint someone at the BSO decided enough was enough and Childnet (contracted with DCF in Broward County) was called and the children were removed. That was August 2008 and just last month after spending almost two years of my life and every cent I had I finally got full custody of all three children. The crap that I had to go through just to get custody was beyond belief but that is another story. This story is about trying to get my childrens medicaid switched from Ohio back to Florida as well as any assistance I may qualify for. I say back because the children were born and raised here but when I got temp custody I took them to Ohio. Unfortunately I had to return to Florida because the Judge wanted to see the children. Didn't want to see them for the whole time until last month but what the heck I did what I had too, including hiring a separate lawyer just for the children in case Florida was trying something funny. My story starts with the end of that and me applying for medicaid, cash assistance and food stamps on this new system that Florida uses called myaccess. For over a year I have not been able to work full time because of conditions set upon me and my children. I was ordered that only I and no other could take any of the children to doctors and since my daughter required many visits it made it impossible for me to hold full time employment. Now I am unemployed and in Florida and have been denied medicaid, cash assistance and food stamps because DCF says that I never sent them everything they asked. I did send it to them and they realized that after the dreaded 30 day mark but when I call the interview number all they tell me is they are sending an email to the case worker which of course I asked for that persons name and number and "BIG" surprise they are not allowed to give that to me. The CSR on the phone today told me my best chances are to reapply. I asked well what do I do if this happens again? Re-reapply...So now school starts tomorrow and my children can not attend because I can't get them the yellow physical form or the blue shot record form since I do not have the money and the doctors who have been the childrens doctors for almost all there lifes will not even see them unless the insurance is taken care of first. Very frustrating and I really don't expect anyone here to even offer advice let alone read this but I guess sites like this is probabaly made up by the very people we are complaining about so we have a way to vent. I guess what made me write more than anything else is the dead beat dad comment before mine. Just because you're a man doesn't mean you're a dead beat. The children's mother is a dead beat too. It makes me wonder if my problems I am having is related too being a man.

I have not read every complaint on this board but, ... I dont have to. I am a single mother of two and just moved to florida in march of 2010. I have accepted what i thought was going to be better job (and therefore better life) but, things are much more expensive here. Anyway, long story short, I have been waiting to get approved for foodstamps sind I moved down here... its now August, its been 5 months of fl dcf denying me... for different reasons everytime i call. one time the cs rep says you didnt give us the right paperwork so fax it and ill fix the account, so i do. then i call to verify they get the fax and a diff rep says, o we have the right paperwork from before it was our mistake, i fix the account. and then nothing changes. i have been able to get a hold of the customer service reps almost everytime since i figured out how. you have to call the toll free number and when the system starts giving you options press "2" then she will give you more options.. just dont press anything and it will transfer you to the cs dept. if i says they are busy and hangs up call back immediately and do the same thing. press "2" then wait. most of the time i only have to do this two or three times to get put on hold. there has been a few times where i had to keep calling about 10 times but got through eventually. when you do talk to someone... if its possible.. record the conversation.. if not get the persons id number and if they have to ask for a supervisor.. get their id number too. its a very frustrating system but i found the best way to stay on top is to call them every other day... we shouldnt have to but, if you want help you gotta be pro active. im still waiting to get foodstamps but i just sent in all the information they said i needed plus extra. i faxed it, sent it by usps, and i also sent the paperwork certified so they cant tell me they never got it (which was many of their excuses). i will be calling everyday to see if they got it and ask if its all that they needed AND I WILL BE RECORDING THE CALLS! i suggest you do the same

i appieled in auguest my 3 kids got food stamps but for me it says i dident met technical requirments and also that i have lump services what does that mean?

I am a mother of four with Stage 4 Metastic Breast Cancer. I applied for food stamps last year and got them about a month later. This year, when time to recertify, I missed my deadline by one day because I was in the hospital. Because of that, they closed my case. That was in July. I requested a review and was told it would be thirty days. That was 67 days ago. This morning when I called, AGAIN, she told me to just reapply because no ones even looked at my review request yet. I started crying. I explained that literally, my children eat breakfast and lunch at school and I struggle every night just to provide them with dinner. She said there was nothing she could do, no supervisor I can contact but urged me to apply again. I should hear something in 30 days. Why is there NO ONE that can help me?

I totally agree with everyone . I applied last week and received benefits *expidited* only to keep receiving letters after letters stating that i missed this and that deadline when in all actuality I faxed everything to them with the exception of proof of loss of income because i havent worked for over a year and no longer stay in that state. I log onto my access && apparently they've received absolutely nothing :/ This is horrible my father received benefits in georgia and their customer service is outstanding . You can always reach your case worker which is the total opposite of florida dcf . I am extremely dissappointed as to how they handle their business . Its Ridiculous but I suggest that you call [protected] and ask them for the local number in your area. I got the local number for mine but just as the toll free number they're "busy" go freaking figure . . . hmmmm but i guess on the bright side its somewhat progress

I agree. Florida's food stamp program is the worst I have ever seen. Poorly managed, and not maintained. You do not physically see anyone, you have no contact with a caseworker, let alone the name of your caseworker. When you call the ACCESS number, they cannot give you any information. You speak to NO ONE unless you go to the office, and the only face to face contact that you have is with the receptionist, who knows nothing as well. They have totally botched up my application. My last name is wrong! I havent used that name in almost 20 years! I know I filled out the application right. Do they have monkeys for caseworkers? I am totally peeved! The US Department of Agriculture runs the Food Stamp Program, and when I contact them...IF I CAN...they will get an ear full. I could be anyone...the office never asked for identification from any of my household members! We were eligible for emergency assistance, and it took over a month to receive ANY assistance! We received one month of assistance. When I call the toll free number to check my balance, (my food stamps were due on the 11th) they are not there. When I go on line, it states that my benefits are due on the 18th. Today is the 18th, and they are STILL NOT THERE! Any mail correspondence comes almost a week late. This is an abomination. I am a political science major, attending school, with a disabled son, and an unemployed spouse. There is plenty of room for fraud, which can cost the taxpayer dearly. I am certain that the US Department of Agriculture, who never intended to starve people with this program, would not think too highly of the way it is run here in Florida. While I don't think that Florida should be given any federal funding for this program, as it currently stands, I realize that it is dependent on their support. What a waste!

I agree with a lot said DCF has no real point of contact and when they do answer no one is very helpful, they send you in the mulberry bush and then your issues are unresolved, it is sad they they are suppose to be there tp help the people and before you get help you get frustrated and furthermore there is a ctach to everything that is not stated to you when you do get benefits.

I was denied food stamps. I was recieving them for like a year with no problem. They told my girlfriend to send in 4 pay stubs. SHE DID. And they are now saying she only sent in to.
I counted them there was 4. I dont really know how to track that sort of stuff down but its there word against ours. So now we have to go hungry for a month or 2 before we can even start
getting ebt again. I couldnt believe it. No one even called us to tell us this they just deny you. Is this where our tax payers money is going to? Our governor really needs to step up and have a chat
with the DCF cuz this is terrible.

OK, so I tried getting recertified cause my benefits expired. After going thru several people trying to get everything done in time, I got notification that I was denied. Now, today, I go online to make an income change and see if we qualify and see that someone there, not us, but someone there, quadrupled mine and my husbands income every two weeks, its no wonder we got denied. Can you spell SCAM!

So now the calling game begins again!UGGGGGGGGGG

It sucks that when you need help the most you are forced to put up with horrible attitudes, name calling and a system that is completely broken.

Here is what I've learned in the past 9 months of trying to navigate this awful system. If you need to speak to a real person here is what you do. Call [protected]. If it tells you everyone is busy and to call back, hang up and redial until the automated call system answers. Wait until the language options are over and press "2". Then press "2" again. You do NOT have to wait and listen to all your options and to all the crap about the website. Wait a minute and it will transfer you. At that point it will either hang up on you again or put you on hold. If it hangs up, you just have to repeat until you get put on hold.

Once you are on hold it generally takes 15-30 minutes to get a live person on the phone. If you are ready with your case number OR social security number and are polite they are generally polite back. Not always but most times. If you can't get someone on the phone and you need help go here http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/access/CPSLookup/search.aspx and look up your local community partner. It will give you the name and local phone number of someone in your area that should be able to help you. I had to go and talk to someone twice before my original application was approved. It took over 2 months of calling and faxing. Just keep with it.

I have had the same experience. I have never had assistance in my life, untill 6 months ago. My husband is in constuction, and work is little to none. We applied for our family and were approved, however, when it came time to re-apply, they asked for Proof of Child Support Payout. I tried to call them to say no one in our household pays out child support? No answer, busy, disconnected. Shall I go on. So I faxed a letter explaining as such. Wiated 3 more weeks, to be denied, the reason...They stated my 1 yr. old daughter did not meet citizenship requirements. Mind you she was born 5 minutes from the office. What a joke, as if you don't already hate having to ask for help, they make it as hard as possible, or even immpossible to get. Thanks fo rmothing FLORIDA!

I am a single mother of 2 one of which is handicapped and lost my job October 16th 2010. I applied for foodstamps and still nothing. They say I need to submit my last 4 paystubs and I did that several times. In my account it says they received the papers and still no help. I finally just received my first unemployment check. I am starting to feel that if I was of another race or country I may have them by now. I am a white non hispanic female my worker is spanish. I would like to know what majority of races is having problems getting help.

@Where is my help
There is no majority race having problems, the DCF is inept and useless across the board with no discrimination.

i have had all these problems too. i have been hung up on, spoken very rudely to, not been told CORRECT information. everytime i call i get someone telling me something contrary to what i was told yesterday, by your fellow co-worker! getting thru is awful. if anybody here has dealt with the call center you know that the only best time to call is straight up 8am. i didn't have to wait but 5 min. when i asked to speak with a supervisor she said that it was a bit early and noone might be in thier office yet. are you kidding me! so by the time the get their happy [censor] in for the morning you cant even get thru to the call center! i waited once for 30 min to get a complaint number, she gave me a number that was dicconnected or no longer in service. so i called back and had to wait another 30 min. to get the correct number. i am not glad to see all these posts but i am glad that i am not the only one. i have been on f.s. on and off for 2 years after me and my husband lost our jobs- after working all of our lives. so i think we have paid enough into the system to pay for my kids food now when i need it. just because this is a state service does not mean we need to be treated badly. customer service should be a priority - not how rude can they be! i do believe that they do these things so that people will just give-up, because there are some that do. here are 2 customer complaint numbers i have gotten in the past few days. you will get a machine but someone does call back. i got a call back the next day. [protected] and [protected]. we have to keep complaining. altought i doubt it does any good.

**and to those of you who write in your nasty little comments about people on welfare, yes, there are those who live off the system and milk it for all it is worth, but there are many of us who have worked for 10, 20 years and have lost our jobs due to the economy. instead of telling people to get a job, which i would if there were any, why dont you say a little prayer for the kids who go hungry to to your states incompatance! and also pray that you dont ever lose your job so that you dont have to go thru what we do!

I just got a denied on my foodstamps I'm a father of two kids on unemployment but, I don't qualify if I don't qualify who does. Then when you call up there all you get is please call back later All I got to say I hope you the State of Florida can sleep at night knowing you let us down. GO TO HELL!

My family and I moved to Florida six months ago. We were both unemployed at home in NY after our place of business burnt down and was not reopened. My husband works hard here and I'm a college eduated stay-at-home Mom because apparently a bachelor's degree doesn't get you a job anymore! I applied for food stamps 2 months ago and was denied because they didn't receive my husband's paystubs, although they received everything else that was faxed at the same time as the stubs. Ok fine, faxed them 3 more times before they were received, but apparently my case has never been reopened. I called in November hundreds of times and everyone I spoke to said my caseworker had 30 days and that I would know by December 5. Well, of course, December 5th has come and gone. I called that morning and spoke to someone who said it would be taken care of that afternoon and my online account would be active (it disappeared when I was denied for not having the paystubs) so I could check the status of my application. Fat chance! I've called 30 times already this morning in 30 minutes and cannot get through. These people need to start doing their job, better yet, I'll take their job!

well i have a horror story also. i applied for food stamps and medical in september when i moved form Pennsylvania for my self and my 4 children. I received the stamps in oct but three of my children were denied medical.my 8 year old daughter and myself was approved
while my 17 year old pregnant daughter, 16 year old son and 6 year old son were denied. i spent the entire morning every day trying to find the reason why my children were denied for 4 months.
now my daughter is in her 3rd trimester and is uninsured. i finally talked to somebody that tells me i am missing income info from PA. i asked how can i be getting food stamps if i am missing info and re faxed the same info i faxed in september
and demanded my daughter a medical card and a legit reason for 4 months of the run a round only to get my food stamps to get completely off as a response. now i am a working class single parent that need help only until i get my work mans comp claim approved from PA. WE NEED HELP! i tried everything from talking directly to a worker, filing an appeal, calling the state complaint line. and no response from anybody
they will not let anybody file an appeal they kept telling me i will have a worker call you back to discuss the denial. UNBELIEVABLE! I AM GETTING NOWHERE!

i have to say how greatful I am for the previous post...they have helped me sooo much in my frustration of my stamps being cut off...i called the numbers that were posted and within an hour my case was solved and will recieve my stamps tomorrow! thank you Brian!

Hey, well I am a mom and I have three kids. I have never gotten foodstamps from Florida and my husband has worked his whole life. We lived in Kentucky for awhile and when he got laid off there we got benefits immediately and we actually talked to someone in person none of this faxing and phone calling business. Florida is a big disappointment. They don't pick up and when you leave messages they never call back. These people shouldn't have these jobs since they don't do them. I have had all my information accpeted, except that my caseworker for a month hasn't updated my status. I don't know what to do.

The Florida Department of Children and Families' ACCESS website should be disabled as well as the ACCESS toll-free number. It is at an expense to tax payers to maintain the website and the toll-free number and both, especially the ACCESS toll-free number, are practically useless. There is not any contact or email address on the website to assist one if you have a problem other than the listed ones. You can not reach a live person at all on the 800 number. This long-standing issue needs to be brought to the attention of our law makers as it is a gross misuse and mismanagment of tax payers dollars. I actual feel the the FDCF is intentionally making it as difficult as possible to receive assistance so that perhaps people will be discouraged and not apply or give up. I do not pop out babies every year to stay in the system, I don't sell my foodstamps for money or drugs, I'm just a single mom who's husband left and I'm trying to take care of my 2 children the best I can. I don't want help forever, I just need a little help right now. What in the world is wrong with our system!