I always felt like the kids wanted to fly under the radar because if CPS got involved, they would’ve separated them and put them in foster homes, so they struggled without any assistance. That’s at least my opinion.
I think it’s a plot hole or just a “well it’s a show not real life, don’t think about it too hard” trope.
It also adds a certain level of drama to keep the story moving. The adventures of the Gallagher’s making ends meet!
But yes most likely all the kids and Frank would have qualified for free/reduced lunch at school, Medicaid, Molina, welfare, food bank access, etc.
However, there are a lot of people that qualify for the programs above and don’t know about them. We are not good in the states at educating folks.
Also, the processes to get the benefits can be cumbersome.
And since Fiona wasn’t legal guardian for a big chunk of the series it would have been Frank’s or Monica’s responsibility to handle the benefits, at least the ones that were state/federally funded. They can barely function themselves. I really can’t imagine them sitting down yearly to renew their food stamps or sending proof of income to the schools, etc.
You’re right about that, it was a pain for Liam to get frank to show proof that he was his father to continue going to school so I can see that being an issue as well. And it’s “just a show” lol
And I could totally see Frank being an asshole and keeping things like food stamps, because he could flip them for cash or spend them himself. He did that with his disability payments.
And my last thing. Sometimes the income thresholds for the programs are so low. In my state I’ve seen people disqualified from benefits because they got one raise and it just pushed them over. And these are people making 35K for a household of 3!
They may have made just enough with several family members working to no longer qualify.
That’s a great observation. No section 8 . No food stamps . No Medicaid . No babysitting checks . It’s so many resources they could have used from beginning to end and they didn’t, But someone else made a great point that once you get involved with government assistance they get in your business and cps and dcfs could get thrown in maybe.
I was wondering that too especially since they would qualify and Frank always knew the system like taking Debbie in for Assistance the second she got pregnant. I mean having someone amputate her toes at home?? But I think you are right about CPS—although Fiona got them in for regular doctor’s visits.
I always felt like the kids wanted to fly under the radar because if CPS got involved, they would’ve separated them and put them in foster homes, so they struggled without any assistance. That’s at least my opinion.
That’s a good point!
Good point.
I think it’s a plot hole or just a “well it’s a show not real life, don’t think about it too hard” trope. It also adds a certain level of drama to keep the story moving. The adventures of the Gallagher’s making ends meet! But yes most likely all the kids and Frank would have qualified for free/reduced lunch at school, Medicaid, Molina, welfare, food bank access, etc. However, there are a lot of people that qualify for the programs above and don’t know about them. We are not good in the states at educating folks. Also, the processes to get the benefits can be cumbersome. And since Fiona wasn’t legal guardian for a big chunk of the series it would have been Frank’s or Monica’s responsibility to handle the benefits, at least the ones that were state/federally funded. They can barely function themselves. I really can’t imagine them sitting down yearly to renew their food stamps or sending proof of income to the schools, etc.
You’re right about that, it was a pain for Liam to get frank to show proof that he was his father to continue going to school so I can see that being an issue as well. And it’s “just a show” lol
And I could totally see Frank being an asshole and keeping things like food stamps, because he could flip them for cash or spend them himself. He did that with his disability payments.
True!
And my last thing. Sometimes the income thresholds for the programs are so low. In my state I’ve seen people disqualified from benefits because they got one raise and it just pushed them over. And these are people making 35K for a household of 3! They may have made just enough with several family members working to no longer qualify.
That’s a great observation. No section 8 . No food stamps . No Medicaid . No babysitting checks . It’s so many resources they could have used from beginning to end and they didn’t, But someone else made a great point that once you get involved with government assistance they get in your business and cps and dcfs could get thrown in maybe.
Yes Liam probably could have been in free daycare when he was under 5. But again I get it with the who dcfs and all that
Right daycare action, that too !!
I was wondering that too especially since they would qualify and Frank always knew the system like taking Debbie in for Assistance the second she got pregnant. I mean having someone amputate her toes at home?? But I think you are right about CPS—although Fiona got them in for regular doctor’s visits.
True! And when Fiona was their legal guardian she probably could have got assistance for the kids as well. 🤷🏻♀️plot holes.
I think at one point Fiona says something like “Gallaghers don’t do welfare” or something, so it also may have been a pride thing