Word: whitner
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Dirty Dozen. Mrs. Whitner quickly established the "School for Welfare Cheaters." Its purpose was to prove that welfare peculators can and do prosper in California. Her appearance at the hearing drew offers of help from all over and Mrs. Whitner organized eleven fellow conspirators. Though posing as needy persons, they have incomes of at least $400 to more than $1,000 a month. Under Mrs. Whitner's guidance, the Dirty Dozen set about systematically bilking Bay Area welfare offices...
...Whitner was the first to take the field, dressed in old tennis shoes, a wig and glasses. Her story was that her husband had abandoned her and her five children. The social worker asked only that she produce birth certificates for her children. She was unable to do so and still the authorities granted her food stamps worth $126 a month. "The social worker seemed so sorry for me, I had to fight off being put on total welfare," Mrs. Whitner recalls...
...signed up for the whole program on the spot. Another presented herself at a local office and though not asked for identification, volunteered to present a rent receipt. Whereupon she left the office, only to return with a bogus receipt written on a scrap of paper bag by Mrs. Whitner...
Having proved its point, the Whitner group is now cutting down its activities. Besides, says the leader, "there are so many people on welfare who are actually desperate that we don't have the conscience to continue...
What the effect of the strange crusade will be is still uncertain. Local authorities are already overburdened just keeping pace with new applicants, who in some counties average more than 200-a day. Says Robert Hannon, Chairman of the Alameda County Committee on welfare: "In essence, Mrs. Whitner's charges are correct. I'm grossly dissatisfied with the whole program." The fact that officials did not stop the Dirty Dozen even after finding out about their capers indicates both their apathy toward welfare cheaters and the difficulties of curbing their profit-making activities...