Considering OE, but issues exist

I'm really interested in OE, but I have a few obstacles and questions for people who may have been in similar situations.

Background: I work in higher ed, and am technically a state employee. I have a BS degree and will soon be graduating with an MEd in English education. I'm considering looking at adjunct opportunities, but I'm still also interested in maybe part time OE since I often have downtime. I'd probably be looking at an unrelated field to make sure that my employer doesn't find out. My work experience isn't very long, about 5 years in various higher education roles.

My big obstacle right now is that I am in poverty, but very close to hitting my benefits cliff if I work any more, and doing too many adjunct classes would push me over the edge (I'd lose low income health insurance, snap/EBT, and my children would lose free/reduced school meals). Trust me when I say, I do NOT want to be on benefits my whole life... But going over that cliff and losing those crutches is very difficult if my paychecks aren't high enough to recoup those losses (hence my interest in adding OE).

I know many people mention freezing the work number thing and other reporting agencies to avoid employers seeing your records, but it looks like that would also freeze the social services department from doing their checks as well. Once I get j2 or more, this wouldn't be an issue anymore since I'd be off the programs successfully, but during the search phase this could be a problem...

Tl;Dr : I'm a state employee working in higher ed and feel like I have limited experience and options for OE, plus trying to make enough money to successfully transition off government assistance benefits without hurting myself financially or inadvertently raising red flags.

--Most of the OE I see here seems to be IT or tech field-- Has anyone had success just doing random, low key stuff like answering live chats or data entry or something more if that nature? --Have you successfully gotten off of government assistance and stayed off? --How difficult or easy was that transition?