It's probably risky to put anything past California when it comes to illegals, but that arrangement sounds pretty implausible. An apartment for teenagers? It'd be interesting to know just what sort of circumstances led to these government paid benefits you describe.
When we noticed multiple employees using the same PO Box we checked documents and found some of them sharing the same SS#. They were terminated and went right around the corner and got a new job using a new name and ID that is readily available all along the border.
These employees had come to us from the government employment service (EDD). If we had been caught with them at work, our company could have been fined $5,000 for each offense. I went to EDD and asked why they sent us illegals who could cause us to violate the law if we didn't detect the fraud and their reply was that they didn't "really" know they were illegal because by law, they can't ask - that would be discrimination.
A common practice is to get hired and work for a short time, then claim a lower back injury. Normally the California worker's comp board will render a disability judgement resulting in benefits being sent to the claimant regardless of resident status or where they live. It is not uncommon to find people who have several disability judgements, some even under different names. I once "interviewed" a man who had been awarded disability judgements twice, was collecting unemployment and working under a different name. He readily admitted his transgressions for which he could only be fired and his only comment was, "This is a great country!"
Go down to Olvera Street, get a SS Card and sign up for gubmint Bene’s.....
Totally plausible and a fact of life.
Don't interrupt, it makes a marvelous story.