I just read the Huffington Post article about the mother who killed herself and critically wounded her children in the welfare office, after being denied foodstamps for the second time. This breaks my heart. The mom had to be desperate to do something like this.
Russ, that is what they said. It might be true but in my experience they probably lost it. My first visit to the health dept, they couldn't do the exam but had me do all the paper work. I had to go back in 1 week for the exam. When I went back, in 1 week, they had lost all that info(gov = lots of paper work) & I had to redo it. Of course that was 19yrs ago.
Not justifying shooting her kids but I can see how she could be desperate. I had family that was there for me and only needed gov help when I was pg with 1st baby.
The article I read said she had a history of mental illness, missed her scheduled return appointment, and had been reported to CFS for possible child endangerment/neglect (can't remember which off the top of my head) at least one time previously.
I have a GD down there that filed all the correct paperwork and was denied the first time because they said she wasn't a US citizen...they lost the paperwork. They lost the paperwork from a friend of hers also.
Exactly. Too many people out there believe they're entitled to the help, but act like the help's just going to magically appear for them. Missing appointments is a big deal when dealing with the welfare system. If you miss one, you're screwed. The case worker will look at you like you don't really care if you get the benefits or not. They don't know you from Sally or Dean or Amelia, so why should they care? They're just doing a job they're paid to do that they show up for.
While I feel for the family, the mother did not have to take the measures that she did. In my mind, she was doing it to prove a point to the system. I grew up a child on welfare, so I've seen all sorts of people do all sorts of things without thinking them through. This would be one of them.
I wonder if she went to any charities in her area for help? I know there are churches and other charities aside from the government that try to help in these situations. What a tragedy.
A tragic unnecessary deed. If the mother truly had mental health problems there are many reasons for not making the appointment, including paranoia and delusional thinking.
When I hear of things like this I automatically wonder if the medical system is as fault, either through not providing appropriate treatment, or appropriate assessment. But that is also unnecessarily harsh on them. Sometimes it just doesn't matter. No matter what you do, if a person feels their life is hopeless and so is their children's, they will do what they think they have to do to 'save' them from that life. And that was probably her thinking.
I wonder if it was somewhere along the lines of she didn't know anyone there and didn't have gas money or a way to get to the appointment. I know someone who missed appts in the past because she simply had no money for gas and no way to get there and no phone to call & let them know. It was a dire situation indeed.
I am the absolute worst bleeding heart case, but Im not ready to blame the system for this. Dale Grimmer, the childrens father, had tried to get custody of his children and had also reported the children's mother to social service out of concern for his children. She would apparently rather let her children live in dire poverty rather than let her ex have the kids?
I have no desire to speak I'll of the dead and I certainly hope this woman has found peace, but Im not ready to absolve her of this. Her children are dead because of what she did, not because of any failure of the system. The only thing I can fault the system for is for letting her keep her children to begin with.
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