Delays -- With A Twist

From the San Mateo County Times:

Dierde Miner nearly died giving birth to her son, Elijah, in 2005, with medical complications leaving her in a coma for a day. When she awoke, she was left with a seizure disorder, and nearly a third of her life memories had been erased. ...

Miner's glaring disabilities forced her to make a decision she thought she would never face, and in January 2007 she chose to rely on the government safety net of the Social Security Administration for disability benefits.

That choice was the beginning of a two-year battle with the government agency's county offices that culminated in Miner's homelessness and [her sister] Ditlevsen's financial ruin. The sisters won their case for the payment of retroactive benefits with help from the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County ...

Ditlevsen said Social Security immediately acknowledged in January 2007 that Miner was legitimately physically disabled by her seizure disorder and the liver failure she is experiencing as a result of her seizure medication.

But after months of waiting, the agency denied Miner her benefits in June 2007 because they counted the money Ditlevsen was loaning Miner to pay for her rent and care for her children as income instead of the legally bound financial loan the sisters had arranged.

For three months the sisters attempted to work with the agency. When Miner was facing eviction due to disagreements with her landlord, Ditlevsen was told to "come back when she's under a bridge." They were told to call the office after 4 p.m., which is when the phone is no longer answered.

When Ditlevsen presented officials with the notarized promissory note they requested of her to prove the loan was not income, she was told it "wasn't good enough." The sisters are still in disbelief about an incident in which an employee tried to rip a ticket proving Ditlevsen had shown up in the Social Security office as required out of her hand. Employees earned the monikers of "insensitive," "incompetent," and "smug." ...

In September 2007, Ditlevsen contacted the late Rep. Tom Lantos for help, and he directed her to Legal Aid. Douglas fought on the sisters' behalf for more than a year before the case was seen by a judge, who immediately ordered Social Security last November to grant Miner the $16,000 she was owed in retroactive benefits, which would cover less than half of the money for which she is indebted to her sister.