DC Department of Human Services

A short time ago, a woman from DHS called me and asked to review the details of my income from Social Security. She seemed to be having difficulty in understanding the information that I was giving her. I repeated the information slowly and clearly. She accepted what I gave her, or so I thought. This past week, I received a letter from the Department indicating that my SNAP benefit would be reduced drastically. I read the letter and saw that all the financial information was VERY incorrect! The amount of gross income was twice what I receive. The net income was a figure in dollars and cents. Social Security NEVER makes payments that include fractions of dollars; they always round the amounts to be whole dollars. It was obvious to me that someone just made up the amounts that I received that are baseless. I called the Department and told the person who answered of the errors. She asked me to hold, so I did. Another woman with a very belligerent tone of voice came on the phone and said that I claimed that I receive BOTH Social Security Disability Income and Social Security Retirement Income! First of all, I never made such a claim. Secondly, Social Security does not pay Disability and Retirement together; Disability is paid until retirement age, after which Disability is no longer paid and Retirement is paid instead. The woman refused to admit her mistake, insisted that I told her that I receive both even though Social Security does not pay both together, and then slammed the phone down. That woman deserves to be fired at once! Purposely recording incorrect financial information for the purpose of slashing my benefits is criminal. I know better than to call again because she is probably making sure that I suffer damages. I truly have no idea what to do except to file for an administrative hearing and to demand the woman's name and address to file a civil lawsuit against her for slander.