Payment delays for tens of thousands of people who provide care to the disabled were blamed on a contractor by the United States Post Office, citing a delay in the delivery of the caregivers timesheets to Social Services.
Many caregivers said the snag cost them dearly.
It was a domino effect for Brittany Sobrito.
"I couldn't pay my rent, I couldn't pay my car payment, my insurance, my utilities... anything," she said.
Her bi-weekly check from California's In Home Social Services program was is used to help her take care of her 3-year-old son Benji and her 7-year-old daughter Hayden who has autism and cerebral palsy. As of Thursday, she hadn't received a check for more than a month.
Her story was similar to the many thousands of other caregivers who mailed in timesheets that went missing. The IHSS uses the timesheets to issue checks for people caring for the disabled.
"I depend on this income to pay bills so it really affected me, also my rent was due," Theresa Redick said.
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In an urgent notice on the Social Service website, the state blamed a postal delay for at least half of the missing timesheets. USPS said a contractor that left Los Angeles with them in a tractor-trailer May 18 didn't arrive in Sacramento till June 2. The post office is now investigating the delay.
In the meantime, some caregivers that depended on the program's checks are doing what they can to get by.
"We're just basically selling stuff on craigslist, doing what we can for extra cash until it comes," Sobrito said.
The IHSS said it mailed caregivers new timesheets. Many caregivers lined up at state offices, hoping for some type of relief.
Sobrito said every day without that check makes a big difference for her.
"I scared of getting evicted and we might have to move in with family until we can get some other means of income," she added.
Of the 40,000 timesheets that went missing, the state said 20,000 have now arrived and were processed but 15,000 were still accounted for.
