You would be surprised at how difficult it can be for a formerly middle-class person to get state assistance of any kind.
My wife told of meeting a gal at the homeless tent city. For awhile she tried to survive on the streets with her kids. It was a good night if she could find an empty porta-john that was extra large so she and her kids could spend the night inside a locked area.
She finally gave the kids up to foster homes (temporarily?) so she could live in the tent city (kids aren’t allowed).
My daughter and her husband applied for “assistance”. They just had a baby, he was very unexpectedly laid off for a while, now an electrician’s apprentice, doesn’t make a ton but he’s working. They’re behind on bills, living with us and trying to get ahead, but it’s hard to catch up these days. We can’t help other than offer them a place to live.
They were offered a whopping $15 a month, even though they put “other” on the application (both are white/native American). I figure the “person in charge” took one look at our address (in a predominately white, middle-class Philly suburb) and that was that.