Men Claim Calif. County Spurns Homeless

Even if someone has good cause not to fulfill the work requirement, the men say, the county still sanctions them and denies them aid for 30 days.

The county requires people who apply as "unemployable" to have their disability status verified if they were recently treated by Kern Medical Center, but not if they received treatment from any other medical facility, according to the complaint. If people cannot get their disability status verified, they are forced to apply as "employable" even if they are unable to work.

Kern County has no screening process to identify applicants with disabilities and does not require its staff to "provide reasonable accommodations to General Assistance applicants and recipients with disabilities in order to assist them in meeting program requirements," the complaint adds.

Mills says he became homeless in 2009, and was living at a homeless shelter, eating at soup kitchens, and seeing a psychiatrist every month for his disability. When he found out about Kern's General Assistance program more than two years later, he says, he applied but was told by a Department of Human Services worker that he would qualify only for a $34 hygiene voucher.

Despite the worker's "discouraging statements," Mills says, he returned to fill out an application for rental assistance. He says one question asked if he was "under doctor's care," and since he did not understand that this included psychiatric treatment, he marked "no," causing his application to be processed as "employable."

Though he later did apply as "unemployable," with verification of his disability from his psychiatrist, he says, the county claimed he never applied for the General Assistance program. When he insisted that he had applied, the department told him he had been denied because he failed to do a work search, that he could not appeal the denial, and had to reapply.

Mills says he applied again, and during the two months when that application was pending, he was granted supplemental Social Security aid, so Kern told him "he was no longer in need of GA [General Assistance]."

Bowen tells a similar tale. He says he became homeless in 2012 and was living with friends and eating at soup kitchens when he applied for General Assistance.

"He applied for GA about three different times, but he was denied verbally and in writing. He was told he was denied for different reasons each time such as living in a transitional housing program that provides food, living with his friend, or because he was not found 'unemployable," the complaint states.

After trying unsuccessfully to apply as unemployable, Bowen says, he applied as "employable" and asked to waive the third-party verification documents for good cause since he had no doctor to verify his disability. When the department again denied his claim, he says, he appealed, and the hearing officer told the department to process his application as "employable."

"He is still trying but has had difficulty completing the additional activities that are required to obtain any GA benefits as an 'employable' applicant. His first inquiry for GA began around September 2012 and he has been attempting to obtain financial assistance for food, hygiene products, clothing and transportation for over a year," the complaint states.

Kern County Human Services Director Cheadle did not return emails seeking comment.

Bowen and Mills seek a court order forcing Kern to give them retroactive relief, a declaration that the county is violating its state-mandated duty to care for its poorest residents, and an injunction preventing the defendants from denying relief to Bowen.

They are represented by Richard Rothschild with the Western Center on Law & Poverty, of Los Angeles.

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