NOTICE: When Good Will Collides with Federal Regulations – Reader-submitted

wic offc lkwdThe following was submitted by a Lakewood resident. I went to my regular WIC appointment, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But towards the end of my visit, the nutritionist noticed a note on my account and excused herself for a moment.

I waited and waited for several minutes wondering what was going on.

Finally, two supervisors showed up and notified me that I was disqualified from WIC for a year for abusing the program.

I almost fell out of my seat! How on earth did I abuse the system? I pride myself in my honesty especially when it comes to these things and I couldn’t imagine what I had done enough to disqualify me as an abuser! If anything, I am outspoken against abusing or cheating the government to make an extra buck.

The supervisor then pulled out a paper which contained an internet post with my name, and I recognized it right away.

A few weeks prior, I had noticed that I had some extra WIC food that was due to expire shortly and I didn’t want it to go to waste. There was no way I was going to use it before the suggested date, so I innocently posted it on a public site for anyone that would want it to contact me.

Apparently it is against the law to distribute your WIC foods to the public, particularly for sale but even for non-sale. The WIC food is from federal money and officially owned by WIC, and the law is that if you have extras that you won’t be using then you need to return it to the WIC office and they will place the extras by needy people.

Of course I hadn’t known this and assumed it was oaky to publicly distribute it, but I had violated the law by posting it and now had to suffer the consequences.

I looked at the supervisor feeling extremely humiliated, and worse, that they think I was cheating them.

I asked if I could defend myself, as I wanted so much to explain that this was a huge misunderstanding and completely not intentional abuse, and they allowed me a fair hearing in which I’m still awaiting my verdict.

With so many of us being helped by the government programs, we must be aware of what is and what isn’t allowed.

My post was reported by many people who obviously had felt that I was abusing the system. I shudder to think how many people I may have caused to assume Lakewood residents are dishonest for no good reason.

Remember, your actions make a difference and will be noticed. It’s important to know the law. Ignorance is NOT bliss.

A Fellow Lakewooder.

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9 COMMENTS

  1. It is very important to follow all the rules and to know them thoroughly. I had freinds tell me to do something and instead of listening to them, i contacted professionals who advised me not to follow their advice. My freinds were upset because it made alot of sence to them, but i stood my ground and as things developed i remained in good standing. If i had followed their well intentioned advice i could have been in big trouble. Good rule of thumb is trust but VERIFY and VERIFY again. Dont ask the neighbors they DO Not run the programs and they are not cpa’s
    ask the people who run the programs what is and isnt in the rules. Then you’ll avoid any difficulties. Always do things by the book.
    It works.

  2. While I feel this woman’s frustration and embarrassment, still, I can’t help but wonder. It should be obvious that you are not allowed to distribute such funds to others whatever the reason may be that you are not using said funds. At least from a moral stand point, this money is for your use if you are found eligible, is is not free money, it is not yours to do with it what you will. Many T’zdakah (Charity) organizations will tell you that as well, ‘if you are not using the funds give them back so someone else can use it’. I think this woman should have used better judgement.

  3. To JBW
    She was not giving away funds. These were extra foodstuffs that she had bought at a grocery with WIC coupons. Was she supposed to bring it back to the store? I am POSITIVE that the WIC office doesn’t have the inclination or manpower to handle all of the food that would be returned by honest people. But of course we will punish a fine upstanding citizen because it is easier to throw her out than weed out the habitual abusers of the system that know how to game the system.

  4. jbw, it’s not funds, it’s perishable food and if it’s not given to someone to use it will just go into the garbage and the government’s money will be wasted. Still, they have to make the rule to prevent people from SELLING the food which is a different thing altogether.

  5. Even ,let’s say, you have few extra items from WIC that you will not use.(sometimes it happens, when kids are not in the mood for whole wheat bread for example.). Why post it on public site , or even mention that it’s WIC food? Most people have neighbors , friends that you could share with . ofcouse this person was not planning to abuse the system, but simply didn’t want food to go to waste. Hopefully they will be able to explain this by fair hearing and continue to receive the program, which is very helpful in our days. Hatzlocha to the person who submitted the letter.

  6. Why is anyone posting anything about extra food on the internet? Is this person using Twitter, Facebook or any social media?
    Never use or post anything on social media!! It’s like getting undressed in middle of Route 9! I know it’s popular, but that doesn’t make it any less shortsighted or stupid!

Comments are closed.