I have had no response to my request of the needed changes in policy at the S.C. Department of Social Services that is putting single mothers out of work and back on welfare. Today, I was notified by certified mail that my appeal for day care was denied. At this time, a DSS judge who works for the system made that choice that will change my life.

As I did payroll and turned in my 100 hours of work, I had to notify my bosses that I can no longer come to work and that they will have to terminate my employment because the state has cut 4,000 families from the ABC day-care program. I was one of those people. To receive a welfare check, I must make at least five job contacts to prove I am willing to work - even though I was a manager of a loan company working a minimum of 45 hours per week for the past two years and more than willing to work. The reason my children were terminated from the program was a policy [that limits day-care eligibility] to a two-year maximum unless [a parent is eligible to] collect an Aid to Families with Dependent Children check. In other words, single mothers like myself are being forced out of work and back on welfare because of the budget cuts and policy. The office of Gov. Mark Sanford contacted me [recently] regarding my letter, and that is how I learned that the politicians create these policies.

I have sent a letter to all local mayors, council members, S.C. senators and U.S. representatives so that I can get to the people who helped create this law and make them aware of how detrimental these policies are to single mothers. They are causing an increase in unemployment, welfare and poverty, and I find it unacceptable. Instead of reinstating my day care, you are making me a burden to the state so that the welfare numbers will go up and funding in different departments will go higher. I am not just a number; I am an educated single mother with two little boys who depend on my paycheck for food, clothing, school supplies and shelter. I am not a number. I am a human being who is being forced out of work by the state. I refuse to lay down and become a welfare mom because someone with power signed a policy that forced me and my children back into poverty.

Day care for my children costs $800 to $1,000 a month plus $40 every Saturday that I work overtime, which I pay out of pocket. Two day cares have closed because they could not stay open, and some charge $5 a minute after 6 p.m. Imagine if you worked for minimum wage and had to pay those costs? Something needs to be done now and not in next year's budget. [Being out of work] will cause far greater detriment to my children than [policy-makers] can imagine, but it is the policy made by the people in power.