Family #5

Family #5

I am a 26 year old mother who has made some very questionable decisions in my life. I had my first son at the age of 17 and not being very knowledgeable of protection and all the risks of unprotected sex I proceeded to have four more children within a 9 year span. The father of my children has disappeared, leaving me in financial disarray. I never graduated high school but was fortunate enough to receive my GED at the age of 22. I work sporadically because none of my employers could work around my hectic schedule. I am currently receiving medical insurance and food stamps. I have been receiving public aid for 4 1/2 years and the limit for assistance is 5 years. I plan on visiting public aid to see if I can get an extension on my assistance. I also have to resolve a complaint filed to DCFS because my son had bruises on his arm. The good news is I plan to make a difference in my life. I have an interview with the WorkFare program and I pray it goes well.

My first goal is to go to DCFS and clear up the complaint filed on my son. I want to prove this is a false accusation because I take very good care of my children. I also do not want this on my record. My second goal is to schedule and complete my interview with WorkFare. This will allow a better income and a better life for my children and I. My third goal is to attend the Day Care Action Council in hopes of enrolling my children. This will not only benefit my children and their education but allow me to work more often. My fourth goal is to go to public aid and get as much information I can about my services and how I can extend them. If I can not extend my services then I want to find out what services I can benefit from. My fifth goal is to find out more about the section 8 housing program. I want to see if I qualify and how soon can I receive it. My final goal is to see if I can receive WIC along with my current food stamps. And find out which of my children are eligible. Since all of the offices I plan on visiting are in the same building I will try and complete my goals swiftly.

I went to the DCFS office and the caseworker would not see me because I had no paper work with me. So I went back with the birth certificate and social security card but again he would not except it because it was not sealed meaning it was not legal. I later returned with the documents sealed and finally spoke with a caseworker. I explained my situation and provided proof that my children are well taken care. I had written letters from people who have witnessed me with my children, and I brought their medical records, but he proceeded to tell me that the process of deleting this from the records would be a very long process. And if I wanted to do this I would have to start from the beginning. So I basically wasted my time going back and forth. The long process would ruin my chances of making it to the interview and all the other scheduled appointments I had to complete. I scheduled my interview at the WorkFare and when I got there and asked to see my interviewer they said she called in sick. Now I would have to reschedule and hope it would work out next time. I attended the Day Care Action Council and it was closed. I was never told it would not be available to me. When I went to the public aid office the woman that helped me did not provide enough information for me to get a clear understanding. I began to fill out some paperwork and she told me she should would be calling me shortly. I went to section 8 to ask about their housing program and the line was extremely long. I waited and waited and they were unable to take care of me because of