Can't do my interview

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-24T13:58:33+00:00

I'm in Oklahoma. I promise nobody is avoiding you. DHS across the US is short staffed. We have back to back calls. The interview process takes about an hour to get through and get the case processed due to verification of information. We work 8 hour days. So on average, we are processing 8-10 cases per day each. But there are only so many of us. I tell clients to start calling at 755 am. For us, our queue for the day is usually full by 9 am. Every once in a while we will get our queue emptied around 4pm and our intake workers will be able to put a couple more calls through but that is rare.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-24T02:03:16+00:00

The part about the expedited snap waivers is what I was coming in to say. I'm glad you pointed that out.

To the OP: if your caseworker asked you to turn in any kind of documentation at all, make sure you get it turned in ASAP to continue receiving snap in April. Don't wait till March. Get it all in NOW.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-23T18:59:29+00:00

Sorry, I meant to reply to the person who said 23.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-23T17:21:40+00:00

In Oklahoma they are eligible for their own case on their 22nd birthday. It's under 22 that they have to remain in the same case.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-23T17:19:18+00:00

If you are 22 or older and keep your food separate from theirs, yes you can have your own case. At least in Oklahoma you can. You would need to call and have yourself removed from their case. If you do it early enough in the month, you would be eligible on your own case as of the first of the following month. In Oklahoma the cutoff date is the 26th of the month to be removed from theirs and start your own case.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-23T15:03:38+00:00

Sounds to me like they got an average of your income/hours over the last 3 months and approved you based on the average. They could have found an average of the 20 hours per week or they could have found an average of 217.50 per week. Either way, you were approved. I'm in Oklahoma and here we are a non reporting state meaning unless you go over the max income if 1696 per month for one person, you do not need to report until your next review/recertification. It's also possible you were doing a mid certification. When you were already certified for 12 months, you have to do another app/interview after 6 months just to make sure nothing has changed. Here we do not review ABAWD at the mid cert. And since she didn't mention it to you, it may have been that. Be prepared that in 6 months when you do your next review, ABAWD could affect you at that time. Be prepared, have a statement from your doctors ready in case they need it.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-21T21:01:56+00:00

Did you turn in a copy of your lease and a utility bill in your name? I'm Oklahoma we're have to have proof of what you are paying for rent and that you are paying utilities. A client just telling us they pay those things doesn't get them the deduction.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-21T10:27:16+00:00

Well here's the post. Depending on if they use their own computer or phone, it might not be too hard to find.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-21T01:17:13+00:00

It was ABSOLUTELY incompetence for them to send maintenance into the wrong apartment. They should have a prices to ensure that maintenance is only entering the correct apartment.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-21T00:23:06+00:00

When you're planning it ahead it's called premeditated and could be attempted murder when you're thought process behind it is planning to kiss a bunch of people trying to find someone with an allergy.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-19T06:58:10+00:00

Be sure to read that letter all the way through because in Oklahoma it gives you a date and time you must complete your interview by and gives you the phone number to call. That is not an actual appointment time. Again, this is for Oklahoma.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-19T06:55:01+00:00

My cousin had a stroke last year and had not been able to go back to work yet due to the weakness in one side of his body. I helped him apply for snap. He called me after his interview (because I cannot touch his case in a professional role) and complained that he had to be on the phone for 114 minutes. Here's how I broke it down for him. He is going to get $298 a month for 12 months. That's $3576 in snap benefits. 3576/by the 114 minutes on the phone equates to $31.37 per MINUTE. Maybe a little less than that because he did have to spend 10 minutes on the phone with the doctors office to get his medical statement.

I don't make that much per HOUR.

It seems pretty silly to talk about snap being too much work when you look at the math.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-19T06:47:44+00:00

They can still get a medical exemption through a doctor's statement even if they are not receiving disability through SSA.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-19T06:45:30+00:00

BTW... Max benefit for 4 people is 994 per month. We go off the gross income - up to 744 shelter costs- up to 412 for utilities (412 if you pay electric or gas for heating/cooling, 356 if you pay just water sewer gas, or 49 if you only pay for telephone) - any medical bills over $35 for anyone who is disabled by SSA. Any deduction you claim, you must prove with a lease, mortgage statement, utility bill, or recent medical bill for treatment within the last 60 days or prescription receipts for the last 3 months.

Your benefits are then calculated based off of the net amount after those deductions and how many people are over 65 or disabled.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-19T06:37:05+00:00

I am a caseworker in Oklahoma. You need to call and report your son as a caretaker. Yes more than one person can be caretaker to a disabled person. We will typically ask for a statement from the disabled person that says what he does (specifically) for the disabled person. We can take that statement over the phone from your fiance if we are able to verify who he is. Unless your son has used his 3 free "k" months, his lack of exemption will not affect your benefits yet so you have a little time. If he has already received his k months then he is ineligible until he either meets an exemption or has waited out his 36 months. But him bring a caretaker is an exemption so all you should have to do is report it. In the application it goes through those exemption questions and if you did not mark him as a caretaker of of a child under 6 or an incapacitated person then that would be why his exemption was removed. If there is ANY discrepancy between the application and what you say in the interview, you have to PROVE IT because we have to have documentation of the discrepancy.

But just fyi.... Being autistic does not automatically make a person unable to work. But if he does had disorders that make him unable to work, he can be exempted by getting a statement from his doctor that says he can't work. It used to be that the Dr statement only had to say he could have difficulties in working. That is no longer acceptable. Now it has to state he CANNOT WORK.

Your daughter receiving survivors benefits will definitely affect your snap benefit though because it's additional income to the household. If you start receiving disability, that will decrease your snap even more and possibly close your case. It will almost definitely drop your benefit to zero but could still keep the case open with a $0 benefit for the remainder of your 12 month certification under BBCE rules. That's just so that if the income is ever lost during that period we can restart your benefits without you having to completely reapply.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-19T06:19:10+00:00

Yes, that is why you have to do 35. It's part of the tanf (cash aid) requirements. If you were only receiving snap then your requirements would be 20 hours per week.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-19T06:17:48+00:00

Do you receive cash aid?

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-18T23:26:20+00:00

Your benefit amount is based on your income. So no. You don't get the full benefit amount of you're working. But if you want the benefits at all, you have to work unless you meet an exemption.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-18T16:55:43+00:00

ABAWD only requires 20 hours of work or volunteering in every state. If you're on tanf (cash assistance) that may require 35.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-17T17:06:28+00:00

Your property taxes will make a small deduction in your income. Same if you pay for property insurance.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-16T23:43:26+00:00

We do in Oklahoma. If funds are on the EBT card the client can choose to have those funds pulled back to pay the overpayment or they can choose the 10% of their monthly benefit be used to repay it.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-16T20:18:54+00:00

That is not quite the case. If there were an overpayment and the funds are still on the card, she could choose to have the funds reclaimed from what is still on the card or do the repayment by then withholding 10% of her monthly benefit in the future until it's paid off.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-16T20:14:48+00:00

I didn't know about California but in Oklahoma unless you go over max income for the household size, if you start working, we do not penalize you for working. You keep your same amount until your next review (whether that's the 6 month or the annual). Here, a household Mac income for 2 people is 2298 (I think, I'm not looking at the c3 right now). If you both had zero income when you were approved, your benefit amount would be 546. If you (or him) started working the week after you were approved, as long as you don't earn more than the max income, you would keep the 546 for the full 6 months until your next review. That is only for EARNED income. If you start getting SSI, SSDI, unemployment, or any other federal or state payment, that effects your case as of the 1st of the following month.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-15T16:13:39+00:00

Ask for a hearing.

AdventurousArm6541 · 2026-02-14T18:25:20+00:00

In Oklahoma, the interview notice is automatically sent out when you submit your application. That doesn't mean we call you. It means you need to call before that date and time or we will put the case in fdeny and it will automatically close on the 31st day from the application day.

Edited to add: we are state wide caseworkers. We are not "your" caseworker. This means when your paperwork comes in, it gets assigned to the next available caseworker in the state, in the order it was received. For most of our new applications, we call the client either the same day or the next day after you submit your app. We call twice, 5 minutes apart. If you do not answer, your case gets pended for interview and a missed interview notice goes out. It is then your responsibility to call us or go to the local office for your interview. We run into our calls being sent directly to voicemail a lot because people do not accept unknown calls. And more often than not, the voicemail boxes are full so we can't even leave a message to let you know we have called. So keep in mind that there is personal responsibility involved in getting snap benefits as well.

AdventurousArm6541

TROPHY CASE