SC Lawyer Fail

[Smapti]

My state uses an EBT card system for WIC now so they can go to different stores to find different items ... but I do understand the SC's frustration. The list of WIC items for my state can be very oddly specific - these two flavors of this brand of juice, etc.

Speaking of frustration, the state just changed a whole bunch of the eligibility rules for us here. 46 oz. bottles of apple juice and pineapple juice used to be eligible - now the only 46 oz. juices you can get are tomato or V8, which weren't eligible before. For 64 oz. juices you used to be able to get apple, grape, or pineapple only - now you can get a whole bunch of weird juice blends. You can't get Life cereal anymore, but you can get Rice Krispies now.

I did find it amusing, reading the new handbook, that the listing for beans specifies that they cannot be used to buy coffee beans, refried beans, vanilla beans, or jellybeans. Meaning that at least one SC somewhere has tried that and complained to the state about it to the point that they had to put it in the book.

How does using an EBT card for WIC work? Seems to me that it'd complicate things, since with the paper check you can verify what the customer's allowed to buy against the listed items on the check.

I'm not sure it so much a "nobody carries it" thing. It might be more a case of "nobody carries the specific one she wants".

Well, it's pretty rare for a WIC check to specify 1 quart of lactose-free milk up here - a user who needs lactose-free usually gets a gallon. I assume there are some stores that carry it in quarts - we don't, presumably because it wouldn't move fast enough.

The typical check we get will read something like this:

* 1 gallon 1% milk
* 1 dozen eggs
* 1 pound cheese (any kind except American cheese)
* 16 oz. peanut butter OR 16 oz. dried beans
* 36 oz. breakfast cereal
* 64 oz. fruit juice
* 32 oz. whole grains (bread, tortillas, dried grains, etc.)

We also get checks for $X worth of fruits and vegetables, and some specifically for baby food or formula. Sometimes, based on the needs of the client, there'll be things like canned tuna fish or almond milk or whole milk or soy cheese (the last one for families that keep kosher, mainly), but those are a very small percentage of what we handle.

[Mr Hero]

It's what SCs do.

If you're a sucky customer, you lie to get what you want. It's what you do.
If you wanna save money on car insurance...

[Mental_Mouse]

Lactose-free milk certainly does exist, from several brands including Lactaid (the braind-name for lactase pills). But it does cost almost double what regular milk does (about the same as soy/almond/etc milks), and I wouldn't be surprised if it was hard to find outside of the cosmopolitan areas where I've lived. Whether WIC covers it, is up to WIC.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Lactose-free milk certainly does exist, from several brands including Lactaid (the braind-name for lactase pills). But it does cost almost double what regular milk does (about the same as soy/almond/etc milks), and I wouldn't be surprised if it was hard to find outside of the cosmopolitan areas where I've lived. Whether WIC covers it, is up to WIC.

And what is avilable will vary slightly from state to state, IIRC.

Our state allows for lactose-free milk, but it's only our store brand, which is less expensive than the national brand.

And no, we cannot allow for substitutions. Our store risks losing their WIC eligibility for that.

As far as sizing goes, I've not seen a voucher that called for a quart of milk. I've seen them call for a half gallon, but that's been 20+ years ago. Usually we see quantities listed by full gallons.

[Sparklyturtle]

When I worked in a military commissary I dealt with WIC coupons. People didn't read what was actually printed on the coupons; I had people try to buy Sunny Delight (orange and other fruit flavored drink mix) instead of orange juice and Captain Crunch instead of whole grain cereals. When I pointed this out I was told, "My kids won't eat those." Well, I had to follow the rules.

Re the quarts of lactose-free milk: Unless the coupon actually said "quart" she could have gotten a half gallon. Just for the mental exercise I looked at the WIC list for a few western states, and none of them specified "quart" sizes of milk. In fact, in Oregon you can buy acidophilus milk with WIC but in Washington you can't.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Sounds like the issues with the milk tokens that the supermarket, and sometimes the petrol station, deals with regarding SCs. This is what they are. We've had people demanding other products than the few that the tokens cover, including sweets, chocolate, crisps, bread, meat, alcohol and cigarettes, none of which are included. It even states on the token itself what you can buy with it, yet this doesn't seem to deter the chavettes who try to use them to buy forbidden products.

[Monterey Jack]

I had people try to buy Sunny Delight (orange and other fruit flavored drink mix) instead of orange juice and Captain Crunch instead of whole grain cereals. When I pointed this out I was told, "My kids won't eat those."

They will when it's a choice between that and a bowl of NOTHING for breakfast.

[wolfie]

In fact, in Oregon you can buy acidophilus milk with WIC but in Washington you can't.

So what happens in Washington if someone on WIC is eligible for milk but is lactose intolerant?

[dalesys]

So what happens in Washington if someone on WIC is eligible for milk but is lactose intolerant?

Mary's Little Lamb in the wolf run... Sheep outta luck.

[notalwaysright]

So what happens in Washington if someone on WIC is eligible for milk but is lactose intolerant?

I must have found a different list, because this one has options for that.

[Sparklyturtle]

So what happens in Washington if someone on WIC is eligible for milk but is lactose intolerant?

According to what I read (the flyers put out by the individual states) every state allowed lactose-free milk. Oregon was the only one that specifically named acidophilus milk as being allowed. Aside from that, I don't know what happens.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

According to what I read (the flyers put out by the individual states) every state allowed lactose-free milk. Oregon was the only one that specifically named acidophilus milk as being allowed. Aside from that, I don't know what happens.

IIRC here in North Carolina, the WIC client has to go back to the local office w/their unused vouchers and have those updated. Usually the caseworker is aware that the client is lactose intolerant but sometimes mistakes can happen.

And I do recall vaguely that acidolpholus milk is available but I think that's only in special circumstances. Not something that most stores carry now but I recall one of my aunts keeping that in her fridge and that was back in the 70s. I know my store doesn't currently carry that one AFAIK.

Or at least I don't recall seeing price tags come down for that particular item. Might be in the set in some of the larger Litter Box stores but not mine.

[Captain Neon]

I'm sympathetic to people that are really trying to make a go of it but are on hard times (husband out of work and actively looking, etc.), but have little patience for people that game the system. My father worked for a guy and he and his wife agreed to divorce (she still lived with him and their day to day lives didn't change) so that she could go on WIC (she was now destitute with no support) and could use Section 8 to pay her husband rent for the space she now "rented" from him for her and their children.

I know a minister that had a big part of his salary classified as a housing allowance and transportation allowance so that their household income would be low enough for them to qualify for WIC and food stamps. Next year, the shyster convinced his buddy, the board chairman, to plead for a pay raise because he supposedly made so little that his wife and kids were on WIC and the whole household was on food stamps. His actual compensation package was more than I make in two years, and I know that my family doesn't qualify nor would I even think of applying for food stamps or WIC.

[Sapphire Silk]

When I worked in a military commissary I dealt with WIC coupons. People didn't read what was actually printed on the coupons; I had people try to buy Sunny Delight (orange and other fruit flavored drink mix) instead of orange juice and Captain Crunch instead of whole grain cereals. When I pointed this out I was told, "My kids won't eat those." Well, I had to follow the rules.

My answer to people like that is always, "Who's the parent?" If you put healthy food in front of a kid, they'll get hungry enough to eat it. If that's all you ever buy, they learn to like it. I suspect the parent was eating cereal more than the kids.

I'm sympathetic to people that are really trying to make a go of it but are on hard times (husband out of work and actively looking, etc.), but have little patience for people that game the system. My father worked for a guy and he and his wife agreed to divorce (she still lived with him and their day to day lives didn't change) so that she could go on WIC (she was now destitute with no support) and could use Section 8 to pay her husband rent for the space she now "rented" from him for her and their children.

I knew a gal in North Dakota who tried something like this. I was doing a clinical rotation with the social worker at the public health department, and this chick was complaining that the state wouldn't give her more money for her third andfourth kids. The SW told her, "We know who the father of this one is and he's the same as the father of your last one. It's his job to support those children." Apparently the father was living with the mom in Section 8 housing, which was against the rules because they were not married. He wasn't working, either. He'd quit a job at McDonalds because "it just wasn't for him" while staying up until 3am playing video games with the older children. She was on the verge of losing her housing over this loser but it was the systems fault not hers. Ugh.

His actual compensation package was more than I make in two years, and I know that my family doesn't qualify nor would I even think of applying for food stamps or WIC.

There's nothing morally wrong in getting SNAP or WIC if your family actually qualifies. With the retailers using these programs as part of their compensation programs, many people have no choice.

But this minister is a low down scum taking advantage of the system

[Aria]

They will when it's a choice between that and a bowl of NOTHING for breakfast.

Judging from my sister's kids, at first they'll have nothing. But if the same bowl of cereal just keeps getting pulled out every morning... I think eventually they might get the message.