When it comes to housing needs, backgrounds not checked. It’s a dilemma.
By GIL SMART, Associate Editor
When Tabor Community Services was able to cut Rafael Jimenez a check for $774.50, all involved considered it a success story.
The money, according to a
Feb. 17 news story,
came from some $2.35 million in federal "stimulus" money provided to
the county to help people, who are unemployed or working fewer hours,
stay in their homes. Jimenez's employer had cut him back from five days
of work to two because of the economy. The money helped him make the
rent, ensuring that he, his girlfriend and the three children living
with them wouldn't be turned out into the street.
Stimulus mission accomplished.
But
one Lancaster County law enforcement official saw Jimenez's picture in
the newspaper, recognized him and told the Sunday News. Jimenez — also
known as "Big Bird," according to court documents — had five criminal
convictions between 1999 and 2006. He spent time in prison and still
owes more than $6,500 in fines, fees and court costs.
Previous
rounds of federal stimulus funding have excluded those who owe "certain
debts," such as back taxes, delinquent child support and student loans,
according to the IRS Web site.
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/249560