SC

Inside Nikki Haley’s “Welfare To Work” Scam

ANOTHER SOUTH CAROLINA “JOBS” FIGURE TURNS OUT TO BE BOGUS …  In a preview of forthcoming testimony about S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s embattled welfare agency, employees at the scandal-scarred S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) tell FITS that “welfare to work” gains promoted by the administration are completely illusory. As…

ANOTHER SOUTH CAROLINA “JOBS” FIGURE TURNS OUT TO BE BOGUS … 

In a preview of forthcoming testimony about S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s embattled welfare agency, employees at the scandal-scarred S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) tell FITS that “welfare to work” gains promoted by the administration are completely illusory.

As in phantoms of the governor’s overactive imagination …

Not only that, these employees are ready to explain publicly how the agency manipulates data to fool the public into thinking thousands of dependents are being “lifted up out of poverty.’

To recap: In October 2012 Seanna Adcox of the Associated Press (Haley’s go-to “reporter”) published an exclusive report touting these so-called “welfare to work” gains at SCDSS. Previously, The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier ran a glowing editorial praising Haley’s agency along the same lines.

“DSS Director Lillian Koller adjusted the focus of the agency’s staff, and since then the number of people who moved into jobs from welfare rolls has more than doubled,” the Post and Courier gushed.

“The staff is spending extra energy on behalf of those most likely to be hired,” the Post editorial added, saying that the agency’s job development specialists had “buckled down to persuade more employers to consider welfare candidates.”

Really …

Haley herself has touted SCDSS’ welfare to work gains as part of her “Jobs Governor” schtick.

“I have been beyond thrilled with the leadership Lillian Koller has been showing,” Haley said at a press conference last October. “What we are announcing today is that Lillian and her team at DSS have taken 12,298 people that were on welfare and put them to work.”

As of January 2014, Haley’s administration says that figure has crossed the 20,000 threshold.

“Lillian has, through good corporate partners that were willing to take them on, gone and said ‘You deserve better, and this is how we’re going to get you there,'” Haley added. “I want to one, thank her, and also thank the companies that were willing to say ‘Yes, we want to be a part of the solution, and not continue to complain about the problem.'”

One big happy success story, right?

Wrong …

The day after Haley’s press conference, this website quoted sources at the agency as saying Koller was “giving out false or padded stats.”

“She’s counting people who have been suspended from the program for a month or two, for not following some procedure, and then who reapply and are accepted in the program again,” the source explains.  ”It’s a totally manufactured number.”

Apparently, such deception was (is) just the tip of the iceberg …

According to multiple agency sources familiar with the procedures for “closing” welfare cases, there are multiple ways in which SCDSS is continuing to manipulate its data.

One of the most common methods involves applicants who already have jobs being approved for welfare benefits. One of these dependents, named “Jane,” reportedly applied for family independence payments last September and was approved the following month.

According to one of our agency sources, Jane “only applied for welfare because she needed child care assistance in order to keep her job.”

“She had the job before she applied for the benefits,” our source said.

Four months later the benefits stopped and Jane’s case was filed as a “DX” closure.

(Jane has since been back in the system, we’re told).

Another common “case closure” method is transferring dependents from the SCDSS dole to federal unemployment insurance – a cyclical “welfare-to-welfare” process that permits dependents to bounce back and forth between various welfare programs.

These are referred to within the agency as “UI” case closures.

Still other cases listed as “CX” closures are the result of the agency manipulating its child support system – another epic failure of Koller’s administration.

In shuffling these dependents back and forth between bureaucracies, SCDSS also neglects to acknowledge how many “closed cases” are tied to the same individual.

“Many – if not most – of the new cases we ‘close’ are repeat applicants,” one of our sources explains.

Meanwhile, many new “workers” who actually take jobs receive a significant portion of their wages from the federal government. In fact businesses pay only half of the $9.00/ hour wage most of them receive – while the feds pay the rest. Not only that, the government is picking up the tab for day care and transportation for these new “workers.”

Like we said … “welfare to welfare.”

Nikki Haley claimed in her 2014 State of the State address that her administration has taken more than 20,000 South Carolinians on welfare and put them to work. That claim – like previous job figures touted by Haley – is patently false.

And in the few instances in which new jobs are to be had – taxpayers are subsidizing a huge percentage of the bill.

No wonder the governor’s office is working overtime attempting to manipulate the investigation into this agency …

Pic: Travis Bell Photography

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55 comments

Rocky March 26, 2014 at 10:49 am

You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. That and if you want to get people off welfare – create an environment that fosters job growth. Instead of focusing on big companies in populated areas – try getting some medium size or smaller manufacturing plants located in more rural areas. How are you supposed to get people in Hampton or other rural areas off welfare if they can’t get a job that pays more than $8 an hour.

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Smirks March 26, 2014 at 10:55 am

The big companies have more money to bribe with.

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Rocky March 26, 2014 at 11:27 am

Well and all companies want people who can read – and if at all possible, most of their teeth.

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euwe max March 26, 2014 at 11:53 am

Education is a federal government plot to keep Southern states stupid.

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Rocky March 26, 2014 at 12:00 pm

No, they do pretty job on their own.

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 12:03 pm

Oh, I thought they were stupid because of *outsiders* not because of geography or the tragic flaws of common philosophy!

Rocky March 26, 2014 at 12:15 pm

Or a retarded school system set up that ensures wealthy enclaves receive the best education, whilest the poorest areas remain learning in third-world schools? I dunno – just maybe? Take a drive down to Swansea. I remember reading essays by freshman at USC as a graduate student – I thought I was reading essays by 3rd graders.

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 12:25 pm

The yellow trickle down theory pioneered by Reagan.

JJEvans March 26, 2014 at 12:37 pm

I still put the majority of the blame on the parents. Stupid parents raise stupid kids. Genetics ensures that some people will never rise above mediocrity. Sad but true.

Rocky March 26, 2014 at 12:45 pm

Actually I can agree to part of that. Stupid parents in front of the TV.

All In The Family March 26, 2014 at 2:49 pm

Lol. Good one!

Jackie Chiles March 26, 2014 at 12:17 pm

Actually, the biggest reason the South looks so stupid on standardized tests is because it has higher percentages of minorities and minorities traditionally perform poorly on standardized tests. Example: Whites in South Carolina score 1022 on the SAT (old scoring method) while Pennsylvania whites scored a 1017. Blacks in South Carolina scored an 833 while blacks in Pennsylvania scored 819. The reason PA has higher SAT scores is it has a smaller percentage of blacks that make up the SAT test takers. In South Carolina, 24% of the SAT test takers were black while that figure was 6% in PA.

http://lesacreduprintemps19.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/sat-participation-scores-by-state-and-race.pdf

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 12:24 pm

Actually, the biggest reason the South looks so stupid on standardized tests is because it has higher percentages of minorities and minorities traditionally perform poorly on standardized tests.
——–
If the white people are so fucking smart, why don’t they put the minorities to work selling weed?

Jackie Chiles March 26, 2014 at 12:25 pm

Good question.

Cops have the best weed March 26, 2014 at 2:41 pm

They do in a round about way. Whenever a minority gets arrested for some minor drug charge, they financially support all the white people working in government to support their prosecution, jail stay, & probation-some of that money comes from the dealers, some of it comes from taxpayers.

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 5:43 pm

White people are indeed, the master race. Their solutions to endemic problems are genius!

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 12:24 pm

Actually, the biggest reason the South looks so stupid on standardized tests is because it has higher percentages of minorities and minorities traditionally perform poorly on standardized tests.
——–
If the white people are so fucking smart, why don’t they put the minorities to work selling weed?

Casey at bat March 26, 2014 at 12:31 pm

Now and then you knock one out of the park.

Get ready for the PC crowd to hammer you down, but well done anyway.

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 5:46 pm

Minority intelligence – the scourge of South Carolina. White man’s solution? Cut funds for education! End the public school system.

Trolling the pacific March 27, 2014 at 9:30 am

Do you ever tire of mis-characterizing people?

euwe max March 27, 2014 at 1:53 pm

I’d have to engage in it to tire of it.

Rocky March 26, 2014 at 12:40 pm

They have a longer heal bone that makes them faster and able to jump higher too.

Actually, if you’re correct that means that the rich non-minority kids in the enclaves then score way, way higher – which proves my point. SC school systems keep minorities stupid.

Jackie Chiles March 26, 2014 at 12:59 pm

Except that pretty much every state in the country has the same problem in terms of black SAT scores. SC and the rest of the South just has higher percentages of poor blacks so it skews the results.

Dancing on the PC line March 26, 2014 at 2:44 pm

Dare I mention the Bell Curve? I don’t know if I feel like getting jumped on by the PC’s today.

Asian’s are smarter than everyone if you use IQ tests. I think they should pay white people reparations for having better FICO scores too.

Spelling Nazi March 26, 2014 at 2:42 pm

*heel*

Also, I believe it’s an extra muscle in their leg(or so the legend goes).

Centrist View March 26, 2014 at 2:52 pm

Not just the percentage of white/black test takers but also the percentage of all high school students who take the test. The article below has some good maps.

Why the Midwest Rules on the SAT
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/why-the-midwest-rules-on-the-sat

SAT Scores by State 2013
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog/detail/sat-scores-by-state-2013

States are ranked by combined 2013 SAT Scores (Examples)

Rank/ State Participation/ Rate Critical Reading/ Math/Writing/ Combined
1/Illinois/5%/600/617/590/1807
47/South Carolina/64%/484/487/465/1436
51/Delaware/100%/451/457/443/1351

Not a perfect, but a strong correlation.

GrandTango March 26, 2014 at 10:49 am

Does anyone really care? If just ONE person was able to get a job, and jettison welfare, I’m happy with that. She succeeded.

This is a HORRIBLE Obam-economy. Bravo to ANY Republican Governor doing anything to fight the Disaster of democrats and social polices that have failed over and over. It’s not her fault. It’s yours…

To use Welfare, in any way, against a Republican, is ludicrous. You should be hanging your head in shame because you lied to us for so many years, while the poor just get poorer, and you render them even more ignorant w/ your myths.

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jimlewisowb March 26, 2014 at 11:14 am

“….If just ONE person was able to get a job, and jettison welfare, I’m happy with that. She succeeded…”

You have finally lost your fucking mind. With all the venom you spew about “liberals” you congratulate the Republican “conservative” Gypsy Queen and one of her Maidens for spending millions to get just one person off welfare

I would comment further on the allegations of their lying about the program but lying by liberals is no different than lying by conservatives – I reckon

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GrandTango March 26, 2014 at 3:59 pm

If all the voters were as easy to fool as you…FITS and Harpootlian would sleep like babies, instead of engaging in their constant effeminate hand-wringing…

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Rocky March 26, 2014 at 11:31 am

Can you even put together one set of sentences into a coherent paragraph that doesn’t include Obama? Seriously, doesn’t the leadership in South Carolina have any responsibility for their own failings? At what point do you actually acknowledge what a disaster Grizzly Cub Momma’s been – understand you have Sarah Palin to thank for dippy being in office – and elect someone with the brains to actually run something? For the love of God!! OK – go ahead and insult me with your prophetic response – #)$%&*#)$(%*#)(

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euwe max March 26, 2014 at 11:52 am

Can you even put together one set of sentences into a coherent paragraph that doesn’t include Obama?
——-
why add any restriction at all?

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Rocky March 26, 2014 at 12:46 pm

If GT doesn’t yell at me soon I’m going to have a FITs.

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euwe max March 26, 2014 at 1:08 pm

As soon as the voices associated with this thread get control of the keyboard again, you should see another reply.

vicupstate March 26, 2014 at 12:00 pm

So it is okay to lie or manipulate figures as long as you are a Republican?

If a Democrat was being accused of this, you would be foaming at the mouth and livid. Fucking hypocrite POS.

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GrandTango March 26, 2014 at 1:52 pm

I don’t really care about Welfare numbers. Until we make a correction in the White House, we can’t expect anything good. . She likely is showing how well she did, hoping to use it if a chance at National office is available. FITS is attacking her to destroy her. That’s what he does…

That said: her opponents are LIARS…didn’t FITS claim to have an affair, and he’d offer proof. Then his hard drive went limp…and that told me all I needed to know about any sexual claim…

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Rocky March 26, 2014 at 2:20 pm

Actually based on the photo with this story – if I was Will I’d not admit to that again. Nasty!!!

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Labor Fnders™ March 26, 2014 at 2:46 pm

Why don’t you do something like, oh, I dn’t know, productive wih your life? Seriously, you’re not winnng anybody over to your point of view, nor do you have a real job…

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GrandTango March 26, 2014 at 3:06 pm

Do you people think that if you can prove you hate me…it will eliminate all of the truth about your political gods, that you cannot face???

IOW: If I’m wasting time, how stupid must you be to be commenting on me, endlessly, in hopes that no one ever believes a thing that I say?

Will Folks aka Sic March 26, 2014 at 5:01 pm

Better the hard drive than me …

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anon. March 26, 2014 at 11:15 am

NIKKI HALEY ONLY CARES ABOUT NIKKI HALEY!

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gregorybgeddings March 26, 2014 at 11:38 am

THAT’S A CAPITAL IDEA!

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euwe max March 26, 2014 at 11:51 am

CAPITALISTS UNITE!

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Hope still there March 26, 2014 at 11:16 am

Look at our courageous children (students of CofC) fighting for their vision and their future. A Charleston spring in the making? Wonder what would happen if students from other colleges nationwide would sit up, take notice and join these inspirational kids in their stance against what they see is wrong.

There is hope from these wretched politicians, lawmakers and their media slaves….it is in our children who ache to see a better tomorrow.

Meanwhile, all those who have the power and opportunity to do something about it are happy to just watch from the sidelines and witness the future slip away from our kids.

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Jackie Chiles March 26, 2014 at 12:10 pm

lol

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Hope! Change! or...maybe not March 26, 2014 at 12:21 pm

lol, I thought the same thing. Naivete’ on display.

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John March 26, 2014 at 12:26 pm

We have a US Attorney appointed by a Democratic president. When is going to start indicting Haley and all of her crooked appointees? Is he waiting until October?

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Bryan Wqsc Crabtree March 26, 2014 at 1:56 pm

Vincent Sheheen joined me on my radio show this morning and enlightened me on this fact; any of you with links to reports or data on this matter, who wish to have the story told, post them on my facebook page or in this thread: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bryan-Crabtree-Show/242229915915740?ref=hl

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Bryan Wqsc Crabtree March 26, 2014 at 2:12 pm

Do we know how many people have actually checked out of welfare to work and then back in to Welfare?

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GrandTango March 26, 2014 at 2:48 pm

Translation: Guys, our GRAND SLAM (hacking) has petered out…so we’re coming up w/ this…

Told yall you were stupid to $#!* all over yourselves over hacking. W/o a victim, it is worthless as your campaign tactic…

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afact March 26, 2014 at 3:29 pm

What’s happening @ DSS could not be made up if you tried to. Children and families are suffering. This is a fact whether you are a Democratic or a Republican (and in your case a complete idiot).

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GrandTango March 26, 2014 at 3:41 pm

That has always been the case (suffering)…Hodges was HORRIBLE running DSS (and DJJ was even worse)…but the media did not care…because he had a D next to his name…

Gov’t cannot succeed at what a family can only do. Liberalism, which is DSS, ALWAYS fails…

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SCBlueWoman March 27, 2014 at 9:15 am

We need to quit giving her a government check. Damned welfare queen.

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Bryan Wqsc Crabtree March 28, 2014 at 10:21 am

Here is the truth on the DSS numbers; I spent about two hours digging for the real math: http://www.thebryancrabtreeshow.com/the-truth-about-gov-haleys-numbers/

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Charlie Goodrich March 28, 2014 at 12:04 pm

i’m inclined to believe the lower figure that you’ve provided but i’m having trouble figuring out your math. how exactly did you come up with 8,000? does that figure have something to do with the true welfare numbers you mentioned?

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Bryan Wqsc Crabtree March 28, 2014 at 1:22 pm

The decline is 8k welfare alone. 38k down to 30 k. NET. Government seems to count people 3-4 times when it sells the message. Actual welfare is up 150k since Haley took office, including food program. But down est 25k since 2012. I’d argue that’s an economic trend not so much any single effort. Bottom line. DSS needs leadership.

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