Welfare System

I under the assumption that a certain income level, or rather a certain non-income level pushes people to get placed into the government welfare system. Well we all know that income is not the only factor that makes one eligible.

Is the welfare system designed to help those in need or help those filled with greed?
I have come to the conclusion that this system was made for a certain group of people and not for others. I will use myself as an example.

I have custody of my niece. It has been this way for going on over 4 years now. I have a college education. With the degree to prove it. Well during the time that my niece had first come to live with me, she was an infant, I had no childcare. I was not even offered any help. She was just placed with me and I was supposed to survive. Now technically if things were supposed to have been done correctly, I would have gotten help through foster care supplements until I was able to find daycare. Well that did not happen.

So to make a long story short, I had no help for almost six months. And the state left an infant in my care, while I was a full time student. Yes I managed and graduated on time, but I think some help would have been better than none in this given situation. At times I felt like I was being set up to fail because I wasn't getting pointed into any directions for help.

Now I graduated from school and my niece has been in daycare for a little over a year, with a childcare subsidy. But because I graduated from school was about to enter into a graduate program I was told that I could not receive childcare subsidy for working on anything above a bachelor's degree. I mean what kind of bull is this.

Now after I get that little statement I think that the system is set up to help those that can not complete high school, or either the case workers are that jealous because there are some people out there trying to go somewhere and they can't leave their dead end job. I mean if I'm wrong, I'd like to be made aware of it. To tell me that I can't get daycare because I furthering my education sounds fishy.

Let's ad another twist to this. After finding a graduate school to attend and opting to stay out of work for a year, I go to apply for the childcare subsidy once more. This time I am told that if I don't attend a school in the county or work in the county in which I am applying, then I don't qualify. WHAT IN THE WORLD??!?!

So I'm looking for a job and attending graduate school and I still can't catch a break. This is how the systems is broken down; I need childcare to secure work or go to school but I can't get childcare if I don't work or attend school. If this doesn't sound like a rope-a-dope scheme then I don't know what it is.

Child support is one of those lose-lose situations. Many people don't file for child support and if they don't they won't get any help from the absent parent without it and on the other hand there is no guarantee that the person needing the support will get it even if an order is filed. Or the absent parent is automatically labeled a deadbeat parent. I mean I know of some situations in which the child would be better off with the absent parent rather than the one with sole-custody.

I will use a relevant example. Say you have a child and the absent parent sends payments directly to you, but say you are receiving other help from the state, well the state can file for child support against that absent parent without your permission. In this case the state gets paid for the child support cases that are filed. If you ever look at a child support order, the state get an amount every month that a check or wages are gotten from the absent parent.

In my case I'm supposed to be receiving child support, but this is why I am not, the little work first check that I am receiving each month, needs to be paid back. Therefore any child support that I am supposed to get, I will not ever see it because of back pay that is owed. And one month I had my hope up because I got a statement that stated I was to get this set amount outside of what the state had taken, but guess what I didn't see it. I think that either they were playing with my emotions and that was a typo, lost the check, or more likely took the check.

Now in my case I'm supposed to get child support from both parents because both parents are absent and neither are making an effort to take care of their child. But will there ever come a time in which both parents are working in which they can send support my way? It is a shame but I don't think that it will ever happen. Too bad that most people figure that men are the only one's needing to pay child support. But since I am a semi-firm believer in equality I think absent mothers should get the same treatment. But this is because I'm basing this of the last 4 grueling but enlightening years of my life.