United States. 2008. Children lining up with parents at 3 a.m. for aid, often being turned away...

[Bluebear]

Las Vegas - They line up hours or even a day in advance, fighting the late-night and early morning cold and sometimes each other.

Hunkered under coats, winter hats and blankets, the dozens of people who can be found each weekday outside the Clark County Social Service building, on Pinto Lane near Martin Luther King Boulevard, are here because of a shared basic need: They don't have enough money to make the rent...

"We have to turn people away because we don't have anybody who can see them," (Nancy McLane, the county's social service director) said. "We can only fit in so many people per day for processing. Sometimes people have to come back three or four times to get in. We've been trying to address it, but we're not getting more staff."...

Previously, the waiting list wasn't started until 10 p.m., when night-time security officers showed up at the building. That waiting list helped, but some people still chose to camp out. "We were concerned to see children out there" so late, McLane said. The department had to increase security months ago when people started showing up at 3 a.m., then at midnight or even earlier to wait in line... People "basically have to be destitute" to be eligible for the program, McLane said.


http://www.lvrj.com/news/36099559.html

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. If this isn't a sign of a depression already in progress, then what is?

Las Vegas? o god.
Economic depression is not usually limited to one developed nation.
When it happens, it has a global effect. :scared:

Stories like this within our borders won't be the only ones, I wager.
(pun sadly intended)

http://www.lvrj.com/news/36099559.html
<snip>
In order to encourage people to go home, the department has decided that beginning Monday it will at closing time each evening compile a waiting list for the next day.

The office typically closes at 5 p.m., or later "whenever the line justifies" it, McLane said.

Previously, the waiting list wasn't started until 10 p.m., when night-time security officers showed up at the building. That waiting list helped, but some people still chose to camp out.

<snip>
The department had to increase security months ago when people started showing up at 3 a.m., then at midnight or even earlier to wait in line.

<snip>
People "basically have to be destitute" to be eligible for the program, McLane said. They also must provide a variety of documents including proof they reside in Clark County, proof of income and proof that there is a landlord willing to accept the amount the county offers for both rent and utilities, which ranges according to family size. A family of four would be eligible for about $800 in assistance, McLane said.

Assistance is given for no more than three months in a 12-month period.

[slipslidingaway]

2. K&R :( n/t