“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”~ Anne Frank
Things have been peaceful here for a couple of days now. She is working a temporary job today. She is laying sod making $9 an hour. She is going to need every penny she makes. We got her probation stuff taken care of and she is having to pay thru her nose. She has to pay for her court ordered drug rehab. She has to pay for her minimum of twice a month drug tests. She has to pay to see her probation officer. She has to pay her fine. These fees come to over $300 a month. In addition she is required to work a job and provide for her family. That is also court ordered. So let's see how does that work out? Say she gets a job for $6 an hour( that is high pay here in the fast food industry, one of the very few places that will hire someone with felony drug conviction) That is $240 a week providing she works full time, which is rare in any place now it seems. Taxes will take about $50 of that, leaving her with $190 a week, times 4 that is $760 a month, minus her fees of $363 a month, she has $397 to live on. Brook loses her medicaid because her mama is working. Brook has asthma. Her medicines cost between $75 and $400 a month. So what is a person to do? Luckily for my daughter she has us. What of the ones that do not have support? What happens to them? Why do they make it where the ones on probation are almost guareenteed to fail and become repeat offenders?
Check out needymeds.com for Brooks meds. There is a chance she can get them free.
ReplyDeleteCan your daughter quailfy for food stamps? In NC if she claims to keep her and her daughters food seperate from yours then they look at her income and not yours. Even if she doesn't you can use her food stamps to help with Brook.
Kathy
This makes me SO ANGRY. We are spending billions and billions of dollars on a stupid war, and people in our own country do not have the medical care they deserve. Did you know that in England heroin addicts can pick up their methadone at the local pharmacy, and still work regular jobs, have good lives? When drugs are decriminalized, it leaves us free to help the people ensnared with them. People condemn socialized medicine, but until everyone can get the medical help they need--including drug rehab--the glaring absence of it will hurt our whole country. Drug abusers don't belong in jail, anyway. they belong in rehab. We need to de-criminalize drugs....and my DH the pharmacist believes this with all his heart, as did most of his pharmacy instructors. The war on drugs won't work, just like prohibition didn't work.
ReplyDeletehugs to your whole dear family.
love, Kas
Thank God your daughter has you to fall back on. And thank Him again that Brook has you too! The fact that American citizens are going without medical attention and the drugs they need to survive just makes me so mad...look at my journal Cleste, I am going to write about it there tonight....because this has hit me hard , my husband may die from a quirk in Medicare!
ReplyDeleteOh my ! I know that worries you so much. You know, I wondered where your daughter was and all but didnt want to be nosey. I pray that she doesnt fall into that trap again. Bless her heart. ANd bless yours !
ReplyDeleteI hope she is very greatful for you and I am sure she is. Hope things ease up for you soon. Paula
ReplyDeleteThis situation pissed me off so bad; I had to take a few days to respond. You are so right, it is aggravating and frustrating. Drug convictions should be dealt with differently than criminal convictions. Period. I was on food stamps the first time I attempted school full time in 93-94, and technically, I did not have enough money to pay my rent. I had to hide the fact that I received student loans, because those loans are how I paid the rent. However, if I had admitted to the loans, the $66 in food stamps and possibly the Medicaid would have been reduced or taken away. During the Christmas break, I worked a $4.25 an hour job and instead of allowing me to get out of the hole, it was simply subtracted from my benefits. It sends the message if you attempt to work and it is not work that makes enough to totally be off benefits then it is better to just not work at all.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, when my brother was 18 back in 1969, he was caught up with two older men, (one my mother’s lover) and the two 30-40 year old men and my 18 year old brother robbed a restaurant. My brother received 5 years, he was out in 2 ½. Anyway, I was young so all I thought about was how great it is that he did his time and was finished, until in 1990 I asked him to join the Navy Reserve with me. His first question was could he join with a “felony.” I found out he could not vote either. Here was/is a man that has worked at the light company since 1973 until present, never gotten in trouble ever again, that is 31 years later and still cannot vote or join the military. By the way, he hung out with them because they all did drugs.
Anyway, I am thinking of your family and wishing them well!