DougWare.NET I admire that you would continue to take care of this young lady. She is very lucky to have you. You and yours will be in my thoughts and prayers. It is obvious that you care for her deeply, just wish her mom did.

no they should have the money taken out of their EIC TAX REFUND THEY ALL GET

My step-daughter does live with me, full time. I also agree, it is fraud.

Here's where it gets complicated... I don't have custody of her, only a power of attorney. If my step-daughter or I start fighting her mother (my ex-wife) for the money, she'll simply pull her out of my home. I'm on a single income (slightly above average for the area)...and it's not cheap raising a teen. However, her future is more important that the money SSI would bring into her, so I pay out of my own pocket all of her expenses. I do this because her mother doesn't care, and would rather put her back in foster care than deal with her herself.

Furthermore, Durham CPS (Child Protective Services) came out and investigated me for a retaliatory complaint that was made. In the course of the investigation, they learned that she gets SSI and that her mother receives it (not her). To make a long story short, they were not concerned with that, I guess it wasn't their job...only to investigate the allegations.

WOW, this really surprises me. Unusual story, huh?

This is only scratching the surfice of a bigger problem and way of life for generations of people who work the system to their advantage. Like someone mentioned in an earlier post, for every one caught there are probably THOUSANDS more who don't get caught and who pays for it? The hard working tax payers.