Woman faces eviction after lapse in disability benefits

Barrington, New Jersey (My9NJ) - Kristi Tustin, her mother, and their three dogs may soon be without a home after snafus and delays with processing a temporary state assistance program left them behind in rent.

Tustin, who works as a dispatcher for a limousine company in Atlantic City, has been out of work for four months after back surgery.

Her company has left her job open for her, but she hasn't been cleared to return to work.

In the meantime, Tustin is trying to live on the state temporary disability program she is eligible for.

All of us who work are eligible for it - in fact, there is a small deduction from everybody's paycheck to fund the program.

But according to Tustin, the checks have not come in on time, partially due to what she was told were two separate, weeklong outages of the state computer system.

Tustin fell behind on her rent and is facing eviction.

In a statement, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development confirmed the issues, saying their Division of Temporary Disability Insurance "recently experienced technical issues that resulted in the delayed processing of some claims."

Tustin and her mother have nearly given up hope their situation can be rectified.

"I don't think we're going to get the system to work," Donna Mahan, Tustin's mother, said.

Since they don’t have the resources to sue, they are trying to reach out to any sort of social services agency for help.

So far, Chasing News has been told that the Camden County Board of Social Services is now working with Tustin on her claims.