Elizabeth Sherwood was thrilled when she got a letter in early June telling her to expect an extra $270 on her state benefits card.

The money was a clothing allowance for recipients in the Oregon welfare program known as Temporary Aid to Needy Families. Sherwood, a single mom who lives in north Keizer, intended to spend the money on needed clothes for her 13-year-old daughter.

“She was excited because her shoes have a couple holes in them,” Sherwood said. 

But the letter, from Oregon’s Department of Human Services, was a mistake.

The department notified nearly 20,000 families to expect by about June 15 to get money for clothes. But the money never came – and the agency has yet to tell the families of the error.

Sherwood checked her card balance daily and finally called her local welfare office Wednesday, and was told the letter was a mistake. She said she’s frustrated the state never notified families they wouldn’t be getting the promised payment. 

“There’s so many people I know checking every day because that’s a lot of money to people who have no money,” she said.

The Human Services Department started sending in September 2022 seasonal payments to eligible families to buy clothes, agency spokesman Jake Sunderland said.

Sherwood and most other families received a payment in May. The Keizer mom used the money to buy clothes for job interviews.

The June letter was supposed to go to families who had signed up for the welfare program after May’s payments went out. Instead, it was sent to everyone who received May payments. That includes more than 2,000 Marion County families, and 500 in Polk County.

Agency officials learned of the error June 13 and notified employees the next day “so they could answer questions from families,” according to agency spokesperson Vanessa Vanderzee. “The department is currently developing trauma informed direct communication about this error for families.” Sunderland said the agency would institute more steps in the process of mailing notices to families to avoid future errors.

Sherwood said her family relies on her monthly $223 in welfare cash benefits to pay bills. 

Her rent is $1,070 per month, so she does odd jobs for family and friends to cover her costs. She’s looking for work, but said it’s challenging to find a job she can commute to because her car broke down, the area isn’t walkable and lacks bus stops. 

Her daughter had been excited about getting more things that fit her. Sherwood said if she’d been promised money by friends or family, she wouldn’t have gotten the girl’s hopes up in case something fell through. But since the notification came from the state, it never occurred to her the money wouldn’t materialize.

“I felt like I got punched in the stomach a little bit because really they didn’t care,” she said.

Sherwood said the agency should be able to send a letter to families notifying them of the error. Her daughter overheard her call to the state agency and seemed sad, but quickly told her mother it was OK.

“That breaks my heart more than anything, when she acts too OK with it, because I know for a fact she’s disappointed,” Sherwood said.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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