Earlier this month Caroline Sabey crossed a threshold she never imagined she would see: the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services.

The single mother had been laid off in February from her $55,000-a-year job as an executive assistant. Almost immediately, Sabey, 42, struggled to make ends meet. She went to the county hoping to get money to buy food for her two young sons.

By asking for help, Sabey joined a growing number of middle-class families applying for government aid only to discover that their safety nets -- savings, severance packages, unemployment payments -- put them at a disadvantage in a system designed to serve the very poor.

At the crowded Chatsworth Social Services office, Sabey waited hours. Caseworkers had her apply for food stamps and CalWorks, which offers cash benefits for families.


Late last week she was told her application was denied. Her monthly unemployment payments of $1,943 put her $36 over the federal income limit for food stamps. The monthly income limit for a family of three for CalWorks was even lower.

“What happens to us middle-class families who were making good money and then boom, something like this happens, and we have to meet these guidelines?” she said, adding that her unemployment check barely covers her rent and basic bills. “I don’t think America was prepared for us to fall under this.”

County officials say Sabey’s story is increasingly common. At a meeting earlier this month of the county’s Commission for Children and Families, participants were startled when Miguel Santana, a deputy to the county’s chief executive, told them caseworkers are turning away those who are not already “living in their cars.”

Santana later said that he had exaggerated a bit, but only to underscore how stressed the system is. He called the system for determining benefit eligibility “a very ineffective way of helping people” that “doesn’t consider this very unique circumstance we are in.”


“A lot of these folks, once the economy picks up again, are going to be able to land on their feet,” Santana said. “But it’s going to take a while. What’s going to happen in between?”

In February, the county denied 6,605 applications for CalWorks -- which saw a substantial increase in requests from two-parent families -- about 18% more than the same month last year. Among those who applied for and received CalWorks were 674 two-parent families, 37% more than the same month last year.

Food stamp denials were up 14%, general relief denials were up 10%, and Medi-Cal denials were up 7%.

Philip L. Browning, the county’s director of social services, said the increased denials reflect an overall surge in applications for assistance in recent months. Although the largest spikes in demand for aid were in working-class and low-income communities, middle-class areas also saw significant increases.


But to qualify for CalWorks, a family of four cannot earn more than $1,218 a month or have more than $2,000 in cash or property, not including their home. If they have a car worth more than $4,650, the added value counts as property. To qualify for food stamps, an application that takes into account monthly living expenses such as rent and utilities, the same family cannot earn more than $2,297.

Although the county has earmarked more than $195 million in stimulus money for CalWorks, and $12.5 million for homeless services, that is not likely to reach middle-class families, Santana said. He estimated that it will cost hundreds of millions more to expand such help. “The funding we’re getting from the stimulus is barely going to cover the increase in demand,” he said. “Now we have to find money for those who are on the cusp of becoming eligible.”

The new demand and changing clientele are apparent in busy Social Services offices countywide. Food stamp applications at the Chatsworth office increased 20% this February over last, with CalWorks applications up 23% for the same period.

Browning said he visited the office a few weeks ago on a Friday afternoon, expecting it to be nearly empty. Instead, he entered a waiting room crowded with people dressed professionally, briefcases in tow.


“All the seats were full, and you could really tell the difference in the people, people who had not been to a public welfare office before,” Browning said. “Some of the intake staff will tell you they are seeing many more people like themselves and are saying, ‘There but by the grace of God go I.’ ”

Caseworkers at the Panorama City office say they have seen applications double during the last six months, with up to 800 on a busy day. The office, which covers the eastern San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita, has seen food stamp applications increase 45% this February over last, with CalWorks applications up 38%. “We have people who have been in the banking and mortgage industry, mothers with two kids, married couples where the husband got laid off and the wife had her hours cut back,” Browning said. “They never had to apply for assistance before. It’s a difficult thing.”

Most middle-class applicants are not interested in Medi-Cal, Social Services staff said -- they need food stamps and cash to pay the mortgage.

“They come in because they’re at their wits’ end. They’re already beginning to lose things, and they want to make sure they can feed their children. This is really a last stop for them,” said Carlos Perez-Carrillo, an eligibility supervisor in the Panaroma City office. “These are career people. You can tell by the way they dress. They have been working all their lives, and they’re coming in here broadsided, just really confused.”


Perez-Carrillo said caseworkers also are seeing more couples with children, workers from real estate brokerages and Circuit City trying to pay mortgages and avoid foreclosure in places like Sherman Oaks. Most of the middle-class families Perez-Carrillo has seen turned away are receiving more than $500 a week in unemployment benefits. When they get denied, they get upset.

“ ‘I’ve paid my dues.’ That’s what they say, ‘and you don’t want to help me,’ ” Perez-Carillo said. “I’ve been doing this for about 18 years, and this is the most difficult I’ve seen it.”

If someone is denied benefits, caseworkers refer them to food pantries, homeless shelters and private charities and advise them to return in a month if their situation worsens. Often, they return and qualify, Perez-Carrillo said.

At her two-bedroom apartment in Oak Park, Sabey -- who until last month was a minivan-driving suburban mother with a good job -- said she’s not sure what she should do next.


She has registered with five temp agencies, is studying for a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has applied for everything from call center operator to restaurant hostess. No one’s hiring for jobs that pay more than $25,000 -- too little to support her family.

She refuses to ask her elderly father, who has stomach cancer, for help. She said she is still seeking support from her estranged husband in court.

It was hard -- and humiliating -- for her to go to the government for help. She said she felt like a criminal as a Social Service worker took her fingerprints. As she waited for her name to be shouted like everyone else’s, she wished they would just use those little buzzers like the restaurants she used to frequent. She cannot imagine standing in line at a food pantry.

“You start to question yourself and how you got here. I’m in this age group where I should be at the peak of my career, looking forward to retirement,” she said.


Why, she said, can’t Social Services be more flexible with people like her who almost qualify?

She has cut back on everything she can -- got her grocery bill down to $65 a week, her utilities down to about $40 by dimming the lights and taking fewer baths. Although she qualifies for federal assistance for her heat and gas, it will not start until April and won’t pay if she gets cut off before then.

Sabey, who had a sheltered childhood and never before experienced financial distress, was surprised that the referral list she got from Social Services included a homeless shelter for single mothers. She had no idea such places existed.

“Why are we allowing single mothers to get to that point?” she said. “Why aren’t we doing something?”


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molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com