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State records show problems with payee services, oversight

The complaint describes a desperate situation: The institution charged with managing almost all of your financial decisions won’t give you enough of your own money to pay rent. “My rent is $380. So I know I had more monies available,” reads a handwritten ...

30 Dec 2014 - Jake Thomas
Gaps in oversight leave clients vulnerable in nation’s multi-billion-dollar payee system

It could have happened in any town in any state. The checks were supposed to be deposited and used to pay for rent, utilities, food and other necessities for a disabled individual. The official report found otherwise. In 2012, an investigator from Columbi ...

8 May 2014 - Jake Thomas
When the safety net breaks, Portland's most vulnerable are left to pick up the pieces

The walls at Safety Net of Oregon, a nonprofit that once helped disabled people manage their federal benefits, are usually covered with collages and fake flowers. But now the plaster walls are bare except for a sign stating that there will be no tolerance ...

10 Apr 2014 - Jake Thomas
Judge orders immediate restraining order against Social Security to protect disability clients

U.S. Judge Marco Hernandez ruled on March 26 that the Social Security Administration (SSA) improperly handled the clients of a nonprofit organization that is shutting down amidst a federal investigation. Earlier this month, Safety Net of Oregon was served ...

26 Mar 2014 - Jake Thomas
Checks and imbalances: exploring Portland's disproportionately high Social Security waitlist

Leone has a roof over his head, medical care and some money in his pocket. Having all this makes him “jealous of himself.” That’s because things weren’t always so gravy for Leone, who doesn’t want his full name used for this article. “When you hear voices ...

24 Mar 2014 - Jake Thomas
Breaking: Oregon Law Center, Disability Rights Oregon file lawsuit against Social Security Administration

Disability Rights Oregon and the Oregon Law Center have filed a class action lawsuit against the Social Security Administration, alleging that its handling of a troubled nonprofit organization is illegal and imperils the financial stability of hundreds of ...

24 Mar 2014 - Jake Thomas
Multnomah County chair rips Social Security's handling of nonprofit closure

Multnomah County Chair Marissa Madrigal has sharply criticized the Social Security Administration's handling of a troubled nonprofit organization that manages the federal disability benefits of 1,000 individuals who may soon find themselves without a ...

15 Mar 2014 - Jake Thomas
Feds serve warrant on local payee service

Nearly 1,000 disabled and low-income clients of Safety Net of Oregon are wondering how they will receive disability benefits now that the company is under federal investigation. The nonprofit organization, which provides money-management services to indiv ...

12 Mar 2014 - Jake Thomas
For the Record: Jan 31-Feb 13, 2014

• Average income needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Multnomah County: $17,720 • Average annual Social Security payment for retired workers in Multnomah County: $12,861 • Number of hours per week a worker earning minimum wage must work to afford a ...

10 Feb 2014 - Street Roots Staff
Sasha Abramsky talks poverty — American style

The title of author Sasha Abramsky’s new book, “The American Way of Poverty,” might sound a bit patronizing to patriotic ears, given that Abramsky was born in Great Britain and attended Oxford University. But living now in his mother’s homeland of America ...

28 Jan 2014 - Jay Thiemeyer