Is DHS Trying to Collect Overpaid Public Benefits From When You Were a Child?

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In 2002 the legislature passed a law that ensures that that the Department of Human Services does not try to collect an AFDC, TANF, or food stamp overpayment (payments that a family received for which they weren't really eligible) from people who were children when the overpayment was made. The federal government forced DHS to try to get the money back from all members of a family that got an overpayment, even if that person was a child at the time of the overpayment. 

This problem was brought to our attention by a person whose tax refund was being taken by the state to repay an AFDC overpayment to her mother in the 1970s. This person had never received AFDC or TANF as an adult and didn't even know that her mother received AFDC when she was a child. 

Representative Deb Simpson (D-Auburn) introduced a bill to stop this practice from continuing. The Department of Human Services worked closely with MEJP to resolve this issue and a bill was passed that now protects Maine citizens in this situation to the extent allowable under federal law. So, now, any TANF or food stamp overpayment may not be collected from a person who was a minor dependent (under 18) at the time that the overpayment happened. 

For people who were overpaid under the old AFDC Program, it works differently because Maine must follow federal law. If the person who was the adult in the household at the time of the AFDC overpayment can't be found or is no longer living, DHS can try to get that money back from a person who was a child at the time of the overpayment, but only if  that person is now receiving TANF or food stamps. If they are, DHS may recover the overpayment from them by reducing the person's monthly benefits. 

If you are being asked to repay 
a TANF, AFDC or food stamp overpayment 
that occurred when you were a child, 
please contact Maine Equal Justice.