Los Angeles County DPSS

Everyone I interacted with was kind, considerate and informative. Everything I needed done was taken care of in about 1.5−2hours.

I’ve just spent 9 hours there. If you need to go there take a coat, blanket or whatever as you will seat in the freezing cold lobby for at least 4 hours. Don’t forget snacks, your phone charger. Well you might as well take a tent and sleeping bag. Just to be safe, in case they don’t find your application or appointment in the system.

I called them and waited about 2 hours on hold, just to be hung up on. The wait time is freakin ridiculous. These government offices operate at a snail’s pace. I even went there in person, had to wait about another 2 hours, just for them to say «okay, we’ll work on it». This is just ridiculous.

If I could give no stars, I would. I applied for CalFresh on the 3^rd. On the sixth, I get a letter that is postmarked on the sixth for my appointment ON THE SIXTH. How? How in the world was I supposed to make this appointment? A few days later I received another letter stating that I had missed my appointment and would need to contact my case worker to reschedule. The problem is that I had been trying to reach my case worker from the second I received my appointment letter. I have called my caseworker probably a total of 250 times. I have left 6 messages. I have never received a call back. I contacted the helpline, and they gave me my caseworker’s superviser’s phone number. I called her half a dozen times in two days, and she won’t answer. She doesn’t even have an answering machine set up. I called the help line again. They suggested I go into the office. The only problem is that the office is far away, and I don’t have a car (because I am poor) and I can’t take off work to go in on the bus (3 hrs round trip) because I am poor. After repeated explanations, she gave me my caseworker’s email address. I wrote an email to my caseworker, and the email is returned to my inbox. Her email is set up as a secure inbox, so she can’t receive emails from your average Joe. I have called her multiple times since then, and her mail box is full. Today I FINALLY got someone to answer. Only it wasn’t my caseworker, it was someone else. I asked to speak to my case worker. He told me to call back in five minutes because she was on the phone. I say okay and before I can ask to just be put on hold, he hangs up. I have called six times since that last phone call today, and there is no answer. It goes to the message that her inbox is full.
What am I supposed to do? It has been 23 days since I have applied. I literally don’t understand how I’m supposed to get ahold of this woman! I am so frustrated! Good luck, y’all.

I have so many problems with this place I don’t know where to begin. I had a child in Dec of 2014. I got kicked off of my old insurance and was forced to go to medi-​cal. I wasn’t happy but figured I didn’t have a choice since I wasn’t going back to work anytime soon. It is now almost May and I STILL don’t have coverage. I keep calling and calling and calling. Did I mention I called. I have gone into the offices not once, not twice, but three times! Do I have coverage yet? No. I was told my paperwork couldn’t be found. I guess all my private info is floating around and no one gives a shit. I was assigned a worker. Guess what! He’s been retired for months. Got a letter today… they reassigned me to THE RETIRED GUY! WHAT IN THE F IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING IN THIS GODFORSAKEN BUILDING THAT NO ONE CAN DO THEIR JOB?! I recall when I was working… you did your job or got fired. Guess the standards aren’t the same here. I met with an incredibly rude woman the last visit. She made it seem like it was my fault my paperwork has been misplaced 3 times and I’ve been assigned to a retired guy. I haven’t seen a dr since my child was born. No biggie. Just gave birth to a human don’t worry about me over here. Out of all the problems in California this building, by far, takes the cake. Thanks for absolutely nothing. Please let me back on Covered California! I want to payyyyy!!!

Bad service. Inattentive. Appointments are practically useless if the building is busy, one will still have to wait atleast an hour.

I wish from the bottom of my heart that all the staffs family never need this services… Because if they do, and see how their family members treat other people, I would be embarrassed…

never been to another one, but they seem to be trying very hard to be respectful, helpful and efficient. I had never been to a dpss before and was expecting to feel pretty shitty about it. they were nothing but decent and i appreciated the attitude.

«The GAIN program provides employment-​related services to CalWORKs participants to help them find employment, stay employed, and move on to higher paying jobs, which will ultimately lead to self-​sufficiency and independence. CalWORKs participants receive GAIN services in the GAIN Regional offices.»
Bull!
GAIN isn’t the cure all that the DPSS thinks it is. Unrealistic for starters. Inexperienced workers are to fill out countless application for jobs they have no skills for. Those without a high school diploma, oh well, get out there and apply anyway. Oh and please… please don’t miss you quota… even if it’s your last day of the program and you’ve done more than your share, they will kick you out. yea…just like that. I know they want to you find employment and do better so you don’t need benefits, but the way they go about it is so wrong. Get real GAIN, there people out there with degrees who can’t get a job… rethink your program, revamp it. It may have worked in the 70’s or 80’s but in the new millennium it’s not working. 3 find jobs out of 50+ participants. Those odd are not good… and no, it’s not successful.

This place takes forever! This office needs more help they need to be more attentive to their time to each person they are helping.

I applied for CalFresh over 3 weeks ago as an «emergency application.» Got a call from my worker while I was in the shower so I called back less than 15 minutes later. The line rings for about 2 min before automatically hanging up. I received my interview appointment in the mail, which was scheduled over two weeks from when I submitted my application. I needed to contact my worker because I don’t have any way of getting to this office over 20 miles from where I live and I was hoping to move my interview closer since this was an emergancy. I’ve called this woman about a dozen times a day with no luck, I got ahold of her ONCE, she told me she had been on vacation (with no call forwarding or voicemail set up??) and was handling another case at the moment. She took my number down, said she would call me back and I haven’t heard from her since. I’ve been calling and calling, my interview was TODAY at 11am and I still haven’t been able to contact her. She is probably not even aware that I was supposed to come in. I’ve called the DPSS general hotline and it doesn’t even ring — just answers to an automated message saying the voice mailbox is full. Still no money for food and I don’t know what to do at this point. Very nice to know how important emergency cases are for these people.