Ca. County Denying Benefits Without Clear Requirements, Allege Three Low Income Residents in Suit
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Richard Halstead
Source: Marin Independent Journal, “Poor residents sue county of Marin over subsistence aid”
Date: January 31, 2011
The Marin Independent Journal writes: “Three destitute Marin residents, backed by two public interest law firms, filed suit against the county of Marin on Monday asserting that it uses illegal and unfair methods to refuse subsistence aid. The suit, filed by Bay Area Legal Aid and the Public Interest Law Project of Oakland on behalf of Greg Versis, Alfredo Garcia and Lee A. Lee, asks the court to lend order, consistency and openness to the county's methods for dispensing general assistance funds. According to the suit, Versis, a 45-year-old Marin County resident, had his general assistance benefit canceled and was prohibited for reapplying for a month after he failed to gain admittance to the Helen Vine Detoxification Center, an inpatient residential drug treatment program. Versis says he sought admittance to the center but was rejected because he truthfully informed center employees that he hadn't smoked marijuana within the previous three days. Versis was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the time. . . . Kristen Washburn, an attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid who represented Versis in an earlier appeal, said the loss of his general assistance money in November had a devastating affect on Versis. ‘He couldn't pay his rent and was evicted,’ Washburn said. ‘He was living in a tent during the coldest and wettest time of the year. Then there was a cold snap and a lot of rain, and he told me his tent was leaking. I wondered how he was going to survive.’ Washburn said it took Versis two months to get his general assistance payments resumed.”