AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration has the green light to begin drug testing some welfare applicants. A spokesman for Attorney General Janet Mills said Tuesday that her office has given final approval to the governor’s proposed rule and submitted it to the secretary of state’s office. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner […]
TANF
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston woman admits to welfare fraud
AUBURN — A Lewiston woman who claimed her daughter was living with her so she could collect welfare was sentenced Friday to spend three months in jail. Prosecutors said Jessica Jordan, 36, of 75 Summer St. lied on state documents to indicate her now-16-year-old daughter had lived with her from August 2013 to February 2014, […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Breast-feeding mom blocked from DHHS orientation, told no kids allowed
LEWISTON — Laura Catevenis is single, has an associate degree and wants to go back to school. The 23-year-old Lewiston woman was scheduled to sit through a 90-minute orientation to enroll in the state’s ASPIRE program Thursday morning at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services’ Main Street office. She was turned away when […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Drug testing opponents speak at DHHS hearing
AUGUSTA — Opponents of a proposed rule that would require drug tests for convicted drug felons seeking cash assistance from the state argued Monday that the rule is unfair and could exacerbate a family’s efforts to right itself. No one spoke in favor of the proposed rule during a brief public hearing Monday afternoon at […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage wants drug testing for TANF recipients
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage announced Wednesday that his administration will begin requiring people convicted of drug felonies to take drug tests as a condition of applying for or receiving cash benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The launch of mandated drug-testing comes after the Department of Health and Human Services bolstered […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine issues EBT cards with photos
BANGOR — Maine on Monday began issuing welfare benefit cards with photos on them in an effort to crack down on fraud and abuse, despite a request from the federal government to wait until it can ensure the state’s plan doesn’t negatively impact recipients or retailers. John Martins, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, […]
Posted inMaine
Feds ask Maine to hold off on photo EBT card plan
LEWISTON — The federal government has asked Maine to delay its plan to put photos on EBT cards until it can fully review and approve the state’s plan. Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said late Friday that the plan is critical to the prosecution of welfare fraud, and her office […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Feds fine Maine $7 million for not meeting work-to-welfare goals
AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage says Maine faces more than $7 million in federal fines because it’s not meeting work participation requirements for welfare recipients. LePage said Thursday that Maine needed an overall work participation rate of 47.5 percent and 87.5 percent for two-parent families in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in […]
Posted inMaine
LePage bills target use of welfare money
AUGUSTA — As promised earlier this year, Gov. Paul LePage filed four bills Friday aimed at tightening restrictions on the use of electronic benefit cards used by welfare recipients. Democrats said certain elements of the governor’s proposals raise red flags; they urged him to instead focus his administration’s efforts on enforcement of current welfare fraud crimes. […]
Posted inMaine
Mainers use their EBT cash for interesting things in unusual places
Top 10 municipalities for EBT card use Municipality EBT uses $ Amount Total uses % Total $ % Portland 82,433 $15,708,206 7.96% 9.56% Lewiston 87,337 $15,576,077 8.43% 9.48% Auburn 47,281 $8,047,119 4.56% 4.90% Bangor 54,962 $7,771,625 5.30% 4.73% Waterville 37,732 $5,840,112 3.64% 3.56% Augusta 37,274 $5,702,054 3.60% 3.47% Biddeford 25,459 $4,112,455 2.46% 2.50% Westbrook 22,476 […]