Most middle-class applicants are not interested in Medi-Cal, Social Services staff said -- they need food stamps and cash to pay the mortgage.
"They come in because they're at their wits' end. They're already beginning to lose things, and they want to make sure they can feed their children. This is really a last stop for them," said Carlos Perez-Carrillo, an eligibility supervisor in the Panaroma City office. "These are career people. You can tell by the way they dress. They have been working all their lives, and they're coming in here broadsided, just really confused."
Perez-Carrillo said caseworkers also are seeing more couples with children, workers from real estate brokerages and Circuit City trying to pay mortgages and avoid foreclosure in places like Sherman Oaks. Most of the middle-class families Perez-Carrillo has seen turned away are receiving more than $500 a week in unemployment benefits. When they get denied, they get upset.
" 'I've paid my dues.' That's what they say, 'and you don't want to help me,' " Perez-Carillo said. "I've been doing this for about 18 years, and this is the most difficult I've seen it."
If someone is denied benefits, caseworkers refer them to food pantries, homeless shelters and private charities and advise them to return in a month if their situation worsens. Often, they return and qualify, Perez-Carrillo said.
At her two-bedroom apartment in Oak Park, Sabey -- who until last month was a minivan-driving suburban mother with a good job -- said she's not sure what she should do next.
She has registered with five temp agencies, is studying for a bachelor's degree in psychology and has applied for everything from call center operator to restaurant hostess. No one's hiring for jobs that pay more than $25,000 -- too little to support her family.
She refuses to ask her elderly father, who has stomach cancer, for help. She said she is still seeking support from her estranged husband in court.
It was hard -- and humiliating -- for her to go to the government for help. She said she felt like a criminal as a Social Service worker took her fingerprints. As she waited for her name to be shouted like everyone else's, she wished they would just use those little buzzers like the restaurants she used to frequent. She cannot imagine standing in line at a food pantry.
"You start to question yourself and how you got here. I'm in this age group where I should be at the peak of my career, looking forward to retirement," she said.
Why, she said, can't Social Services be more flexible with people like her who almost qualify?
She has cut back on everything she can -- got her grocery bill down to $65 a week, her utilities down to about $40 by dimming the lights and taking fewer baths. Although she qualifies for federal assistance for her heat and gas, it will not start until April and won't pay if she gets cut off before then.
Sabey, who had a sheltered childhood and never before experienced financial distress, was surprised that the referral list she got from Social Services included a homeless shelter for single mothers. She had no idea such places existed.
"Why are we allowing single mothers to get to that point?" she said. "Why aren't we doing something?"
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molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
