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CLT UPDATE
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Join me in expressing our outrage
Massachusetts gave millions of
dollars in questionable public assistance to people who were
listed as dead, used multiple Social Security numbers to boost
their payments, or apparently sold their benefit cards for cash
over the past few years, according to a state audit released
Tuesday.
The report by State Auditor
Suzanne Bump is the latest study finding that the state did not
do nearly enough to ensure that welfare benefits went only to
qualified recipients. The head of the agency that administers
the aid quit in January after another scathing report from the
inspector general.
Bump’s audit found that 1,160
recipients were either dead or used a deceased person’s Social
Security number, costing $2.4 million between July 2010 and
April 2012.
It also flagged another $15.6
million in suspicious transactions from electronic benefit cards
between 2010 and 2012, including cards that were used as far
away as Alaska, Hawaii, or the US Virgin Islands, suggesting the
recipients either no longer lived in Massachusetts or had extra
cash for travel.
The Boston Globe
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Dead in Mass. got millions in welfare, report says
State audit finds abuses of system
A stunning $2.39 million in
benefits were paid out to more than 1,160 people who were listed
as dead, according to a scathing new audit of the Department of
Transitional Assistance.
The report, released this
afternoon by state Auditor Suzanne Bump’s office, also showed
where DTA failed to use technology that could have identified
$15 million in questionable benefits and shelled out a $1
million more to those using fake Social Security numbers.
The Boston Herald
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Audit finds 1,164 dead among Mass. welfare recipients
It’s enough to make taxpayers’
blood boil.
A state audit confirmed
yesterday that millions in welfare dollars went down the
proverbial rat hole because the Department of Transitional
Assistance basically ignored a host of cross-checks it might
have used to detect fraud and abuse. But then what can you
expect from an administration led by a governor who insists that
such things are all “anecdotal.”
A Boston Herald editorial
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
DTA wakes the dead
The state auditor has
discovered 1,164 cases where welfare benefits
worth nearly $2.4 million continued to flow to
enrollees after they were reported deceased or
to recipients using a dead person’s Social
Security number.
In some cases, store
purchases and ATM transactions were made after a
recipient’s date of death, suggesting
unauthorized people were using the welfare
benefits in cases sampled by the auditor’s
office, according to the report released
Tuesday.
Auditor Suzanne Bump called
on the Department of Transitional Assistance to
beef up its fraud detection, something some
lawmakers have also hounded the department
about.
Bump said DTA “has not done
enough to ensure that only eligible people are
receiving benefits.”
“Clearly there had not been
sufficient priority placed on preventing fraud
in that agency,” Bump said during a press
conference.
State House News Service
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Audit: Benefits flowed to
welfare recipients who were reported dead
Fed-up Democrats called on
the scandal-plagued Department of Transitional
Assistance to get “out of the Stone Age and into
the computer age” after a scathing audit
yesterday revealed that millions were paid to
more than 1,100 dead people — and millions more
to live recipients collecting EBT benefits from
Florida and Las Vegas to the Virgin Islands....
“This audit exposes the gross
lack of oversight within DTA. We need to change
the culture of waste, fraud and abuse,” said
state Rep. David Linsky (D-Natick), chairman of
the House Post Audit and Oversight Committee,
who is also probing welfare payments made to
slain Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev
and his family. “We need to bring the DTA out of
the Stone Age and into the computer age.” ...
“Something should be done
now,” state Rep. Russell Holmes (D-Boston) said
of House-passed reforms that were gutted last
week from the Senate budget. “What we passed in
the House was fair. I would want more. The audit
reinforces that it must change, and it must
change now.”
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Dems: Grave errors show
reform needed
Cross-checks were ignored and
dead people got paid. Here are highlights of the
audit of the state Department of Transitional
Assistance ...
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Six key findings of welfare
audit
Bay State EBT cards travel
far and wide. Welfare benefits were cashed in
from Hawaii to Alaska, an audit of the state’s
welfare agency showed ...
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Millions in benefits spent
out of state
There is life after death —
at least if you have a Massachusetts EBT card.
In fact, sometimes life
doesn’t begin until after death, if you define
the beginning of life as getting your first EBT
card.
According to the state
auditor’s report on welfare abuse released
yesterday, they found at least 42 loafers “whose
benefits actually began after the recipients’
dates of death.”
This gives new meaning to the
term “deadbeats.”
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
State audit gives new meaning to
the term deadbeat
By Howie Carr
|
|
Barbara Anderson's CLT
Commentary
Dear Citizen for Limited Taxation;
Today I'll be calling my state
representative and senator to express my outrage about paying taxes to
fund welfare for dead people, and to say "you aren't planning to vote
for even higher taxes this year, are you?"
If you want to join me and do likewise you can find your legislators
HERE.
You can also get their phone numbers at 617-722-2000 (House) and
617-722-1455 (Senate).
Governor Patrick's number is: 617-725-4005.
When I call his office, I'll suggest he fire his incompetent Department
of Transitional Assistance in its entirety and cancel all EBT cards until recipients
show up for photo ID with proof of both life and residency.
|
 |
 |
|
Barbara Anderson |
READ THE FULL AUDITOR'S REPORT
HERE
|
|
|
|
|
The Boston Globe
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Dead in Mass. got millions in welfare, report says
State audit finds abuses of system
By Todd Wallack
Massachusetts gave millions of dollars in questionable public assistance
to people who were listed as dead, used multiple Social Security numbers
to boost their payments, or apparently sold their benefit cards for cash
over the past few years, according to a state audit released Tuesday.
The report by State Auditor Suzanne Bump is the latest study finding
that the state did not do nearly enough to ensure that welfare benefits
went only to qualified recipients. The head of the agency that
administers the aid quit in January after another scathing report from
the inspector general.
Bump’s audit found that 1,160 recipients were either dead or used a
deceased person’s Social Security number, costing $2.4 million between
July 2010 and April 2012.
It also flagged another $15.6 million in suspicious transactions from
electronic benefit cards between 2010 and 2012, including cards that
were used as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, or the US Virgin Islands,
suggesting the recipients either no longer lived in Massachusetts or had
extra cash for travel.
Bump said that she thought the bulk of the $1.7 billion a year in
welfare programs the state provides each year was probably spent
properly, but she was disturbed that the state did not do more to
investigate obvious signs of abuse or waste.
“It pains all of us in the auditor’s office to think that the program’s
integrity is not being maintained,” Bump said. “The most frustrating
finding is that we were able to identify so many patterns of activity
that could have raised suspicions, but did not.”
Officials at the Department of Transitional Assistance, which provides
aid to roughly one in seven people in the state, said the state made
significant progress in addressing problems Bump raised, including
matching recipient lists with information from agencies such as the
Registry of Motor Vehicles or Department of Revenue.
“I am going to do whatever it takes to restore the credibility of the
department and to make sure tax dollars are going to be used as
intended,” said interim director Stacey Monahan. “One dollar in fraud is
too much.”
Senate minority leader Bruce E. Tarr said the audit highlights the need
for the state to do more to weed out fraud and waste. He said the
Legislature should increase funding to the Department of Transitional
Assistance, if needed.
“The system needs a lot more work,” said Tarr. “We cannot tolerate these
kinds of gaps in the integrity of the system.”
On the other side of the aisle, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, a
Winthrop Democrat, said in a statement that Bump’s audit “underscores
the need for changes and reform.”
In July 2012, the agency told the state auditor that it was in the
process of eliminating dead people from welfare rolls, including
comparing its list of recipients to the Social Security Administration’s
master list of dead people.
Yet a month later, in August 2012, the auditor’s office found a majority
of dead recipients it checked were still receiving benefits, including
many who started receiving aid for the first time after the beneficiary
died. In some cases, family members continued to use benefit cards after
relatives on public assistance passed away.
Monahan said the agency is waiting to receive from the auditor’s office
the full list of people who supposedly received benefits after they
died. She said the 178 names it has reviewed include a mix of
beneficiaries who should have been cut off earlier, people whom the
agency had already dropped, names that appeared more than once on the
list, and people who were not dead after all.
Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz, in a statement
Tuesday night, said that of the 178 names, almost half were not dead and
17 involved people still receiving benefits on behalf of the deceased
when the department got the audit. State officials said the department
has subsequently closed those 17 cases.
Monahan said the agency was using the state’s database of deaths and
started using the national Social Security database as well last year to
help identify recipients who died.
Monahan’s predecessor, Daniel J. Curley, resigned shortly after
Inspector General Glenn Cunha reported in January that the agency failed
to verify recipients’ eligibility, potentially costing the state $25
million a year in unwarranted payments, and the US Department of
Agriculture demanded the state repay $27 million in misdirected food
benefits.
The state and federal government offer a variety of financial assistance
to low-income households, including cash and food benefits typically
loaded onto Electronic Benefits Transfer cards that work like debit
cards. The cash can be withdrawn from automated teller machines or spent
at retailers, while the food benefits are generally restricted to
purchases for groceries.
Roughly 885,000 people received benefits from the state Department of
Transitional Assistance last year.
Critics complained the state should have known long ago that welfare
rolls were padded with people who have moved, died, or did not qualify.
Last year, when the agency mailed voter registration forms to nearly
half a million households where someone had received public assistance,
tens of thousands of the forms were returned as undeliverable,
suggesting that the agency did not adequately track recipients to make
sure they still lived in the state, let alone met other qualifications.
The latest audit spotted scores of other cases of apparent fraud,
including 26 instances in which people used multiple Social Security
numbers to get extra payments, 21 cases in which the same Social
Security number was used by multiple people, and 40 cases when at least
two people claimed the same person as a dependent.
In addition, the report found that millions of dollars in other
suspicious transactions on electronic benefit cards including about $5
million in transactions in which all the money was spent at once; $4.6
million spent in distant states or territories; $3.6 million when
recipients made multiple purchases or withdrawals within an hour; $1.5
million when recipients regularly rang up transactions in even dollar
amounts (such as $100 or $200) and $840,000 when a card number was
manually entered into a retail terminal instead of being swiped,
suggesting a user may have stolen the card number but did not have the
actual card.
In addition, the audit found many people repeatedly asked for duplicate
benefit cards — including one person who received 127 cards — suggesting
people were probably selling the food benefits stored on the card for
cash.
Both Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, and Senate President Therese
Murray, a Plymouth Democrat, praised Monahan, the interim director, for
tackling many of the issues cited by the audit.
“Loopholes have been closed; action has been taken to enhance residency,
address, and Social Security verifications; and improvements have been
made to the system overall,” Murray said in a statement.
“There is always more work to be done, but these are promising steps
toward significant and meaningful change.”
The Boston Herald
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Audit finds 1,164 dead among Mass. welfare recipients
By Matt Stout
A stunning $2.39 million in benefits were paid out to more than 1,160
people who were listed as dead, according to a scathing new audit of the
Department of Transitional Assistance.
The report, released this afternoon by state Auditor Suzanne Bump’s
office, also showed where DTA failed to use technology that could have
identified $15 million in questionable benefits and shelled out a $1
million more to those using fake Social Security numbers.
Among the findings:
• Auditors identified 1,164 cases where $2.39 million was paid in
benefits from six to 27 months after the recipients had died.
• DTA gave out another $532,000 to people either claiming deceased
dependents or to 40 people who were being claimed by more than one
guardian.
• During the time the audit focused on, DTA did not verify self-reported
Social Security numbers, leading the state to pay out more than $1
million to those using two numbers to collect and individuals whose
social security numbers were being used by more than one person. It also
shelled out benefits for an “extended amount of time” to people with an
invalid temporary social security number.
• Five regional DTA offices could not provide documentation for more
than 30,000 blank EBT cards, raising serious questions in an agency
where past internal probes found employees misusing blank EBT cards to
access recipients’ benefits inappropriately.
• Despite generating reports to help identify fraud, DTA did not use
them, even though they revealed more than $15 million in EBT activity
that auditors say “should have been identified by DTA and investigated.”
Bump’s office said its finding prompted the agency to develop it’s
so-called “100-day” plan aimed at revamping several of its processes.
“What is most troubling is that there were tools that DTA had to make
sure that only eligible people are getting benefits ... and they weren’t
systematically used,” Bump said in an interview. “It’s not that the
agency didn’t have access to these resources. It’s that there wasn’t a
culture that insisted upon their use.”
Bump acknowledged that DTA was flooded with new requests when the
recession hit in 2008, and in many instances, the extra demand outpaced
the numbers of workers available.
But it’s not an excuse, she said.
“We were able to do it. The technology is there,” Bump said while
acknowledging her audit and other reviews of the agency have put the
pressure on officials. “They certainly know now that all eyes are upon
them, and that they have to produce.”
The audit follows a damning report released earlier this year by the
inspector general’s office, which found $25 million in EBT money went to
recipients who may not have been eligible.
It came amid a series of scandals to hit the embattled agency, including
overpaying food stamps recipients by $27 million and then shelling out
$3.4 million in overtime pay to fix the glitch.
A Herald review uncovered that DTA couldn’t locate thousands of EBT
recipients, and earlier this month, Dedham cops spoke out after
investigators failed to follow up when them after they found an EBT card
and paperwork for other benefits during a raid on a Dorchester apartment
loaded with drugs and cash.
“Now we’ve seen probably thousands of man hours spent,” Rep. Bradley H.
Jones, the House minority leader, said, pointing to reviews and reports
on the agency. “It’s further glaring evidence that there is a systemic
and ongoing waste, fraud and abuse that contrary to previous assertions
by the governor is far more than anecdotal. ... It’s like taxpayers have
a big ‘kick me’ sign on.”
DTA, amid several management changes, has desperately tried to rework
its image, including with its 100-day plan. Last week, the agency
released an update in which officials preached progress in implementing
10 different programs, including efforts to cut down on requests for
replacement cards.
Officials at DTA and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services,
which oversees the agency, weren’t immediately available for comment.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, have sparred over implementing their own reforms.
After the House passed amendments to put photos on EBT cards and create
a Bureau of Program Integrity to help stop fraud, the Senate gutted them
from its own budget. Several GOP-backed amendments also were shot down
last week after lawmakers said they wanted to wait to see a more
comprehensive bill that Senate President Therese Murray vowed to release
within the coming weeks.
Among the changes Republicans pushed for was an amendment filed by Sen.
Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) that would have created an automatic payment
system where cash-assistance recipients would have money deducted from
their benefits and sent directly to pay rent and utility bills, thus
limiting their access to cash.
Murray, without disclosing what her bill would address, promised last
week that “some of the things people want to do will be included.”
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
A Boston Herald editorial
DTA wakes the dead
It’s enough to make taxpayers’ blood boil.
A state audit confirmed yesterday that millions in welfare dollars went
down the proverbial rat hole because the Department of Transitional
Assistance basically ignored a host of cross-checks it might have
used to detect fraud and abuse. But then what can you expect from an
administration led by a governor who insists that such things are all
“anecdotal.”
So how’s this for an anecdote: DTA is so messed up it likely gave out
$2.39 million in benefits to dead people — a thing that’s easy to check
if the department cross-referenced with Social Security. In fact, State
Auditor Suzanne Bump’s office estimated DTA gave out some $18 million in
questionable benefits over a two and a half year period, including $1
million to those using fake Social Security numbers.
Now there are all sorts of ways for the department to check on possible
fraudulent use of EBT cards — none of which, according to the audit,
they bothered to use.
For example, the audit found $56.7 million in “even dollar SNAP (food
stamp) purchases.” Anyone who visits a supermarket knows how unusual it
is for that to happen, so those intent on monitoring fraud see it as an
indicator that benefits are likely being traded for cash. At DTA no one
bothered to check those.
So too distant out-of-state transactions — in this case $4.6 million
accessed in locations as far away as Hawaii, Florida and Puerto Rico —
part of $27 million accessed in 666,767 non-Massachusetts transactions
during one six-month period. Again, something DTA could monitor — but
didn’t.
Now lawmakers are debating a few small reforms to the system — like
photos on those EBT cards — but the Senate isn’t so sure about that.
Really?
Last year when the EBT scandals were just breaking on our front pages,
Gov. Deval Patrick insisted, “I think the Herald is in the business of
making sure you’re angry.”
Well, turns out it isn’t that hard, and we’ve had lots of help.
State House News Service
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Audit: Benefits flowed to welfare recipients who were reported dead
By Colleen Quinn
The state auditor has discovered 1,164 cases where welfare benefits
worth nearly $2.4 million continued to flow to enrollees after they were
reported deceased or to recipients using a dead person’s Social Security
number.
In some cases, store purchases and ATM transactions were made after a
recipient’s date of death, suggesting unauthorized people were using the
welfare benefits in cases sampled by the auditor’s office, according to
the report released Tuesday.
Auditor Suzanne Bump called on the Department of Transitional Assistance
to beef up its fraud detection, something some lawmakers have also
hounded the department about.
Bump said DTA “has not done enough to ensure that only eligible people
are receiving benefits.”
“Clearly there had not been sufficient priority placed on preventing
fraud in that agency,” Bump said during a press conference.
The auditor said there are three major areas where the agency could
improve to ensure program integrity, including using accessible
information from other governmental agencies to verify information.
Secondly, the agency needs to better protect blank EBT cards distributed
at regional offices. And lastly, DTA needs to better utilize technology
within the EBT system to check for fraud.
Bump acknowledged there was a leadership change at DTA within the last
year after former Commissioner Dan Hurley was asked to resign and Stacey
Monahan took over as interim commissioner. The audit looked at the
period from July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2012.
DTA officials said they have already taken steps to correct the
problems, citing a 100-day action plan released in March aimed at
preventing waste and fraud, blocking EBT card usage at prohibited
establishments and monitoring card usage.
“We appreciate the recommendations put forth by the auditor. DTA is
committed to continually strengthening program integrity and ensuring
that only those who are eligible for benefits receive them,” Monahan
said in a statement.
Monahan said DTA recently created a partnership with statewide law
enforcement associations to increase data sharing, “while giving local
police the tools they need to ensure that clients and retailers are
abiding by the law.”
DTA is responsible for administering a variety of state and federal
financial assistance programs including the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, Transitional
Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Emergency Aid to the
Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC). In fiscal year 2012, DTA
administered more than $1.7 billion in benefits.
Senate President Therese Murray, who is working on welfare system reform
legislation, said DTA has made “great progress” with its 100-day action
plan, and many of the issues identified in the audit have already been
addressed.
“Loopholes have been closed, action has been taken to enhance residency,
address and social security verifications, and improvements have been
made to the system overall,” Murray said in a statement.
“She (Monahan) has also taken steps to block cash withdrawals from ATMs
in prohibited establishments by working with Xerox, the EBT vendor,”
Murray added. “There is always more work to be done, but these are
promising steps toward significant and meaningful change. I look forward
to the completion of the 100 Day Action plan and to filing a
comprehensive bill in the Senate to address the outstanding issues in
the welfare system.”
From the 1,164 deceased recipient cases, auditors randomly selected 283
cases and found that 190 of those were still shown as having active
accounts as of August 31, 2012, according to the report. Auditors then
looked at the account activity and found that 146 showed purchases or
ATM transactions made after the recipient’s date of death, according to
the report.
Auditors also found $368,000 was paid to 178 guardians claiming deceased
persons as dependents, and $164,000 to 40 people who were claimed by
more than one guardian. According to a DTA official, out of 178 cases,
79 cases were confirmed as not deceased, 71 were confirmed deceased, and
54 of those were already closed by DTA when the auditor’s office
notified the agency.
The audit also found DTA failed to verify “self-reported” Social
Security numbers.
While DTA uses national databases to verify self-reported income and
employment information, the agency did not verify self-reported Social
Security numbers, leading to more than $662,000 paid to individuals who
were receiving benefits under two separate Social Security numbers; and
more than $359,000 to individuals whose Social Security numbers were
being used by more than one individual, according to the auditor. DTA
also provided benefits for an “extended amount of time” to recipients
with an invalid temporary Social Security number, according to the
auditor’s findings.
Bump’s office also found DTA had inadequate security over distributing
blank electronic benefits cards (EBT), discovering five regional offices
could not provide documentation that accounted for over 30,000 cards.
The report called into question the agency’s ability to maintain
adequate physical security of blank EBT cards. Auditors found cards left
in unsecure locations; incomplete card inventory forms; and regional
offices that had failed to properly segregate the responsibilities of
staff handing the cards.
DTA also missed opportunities to detect fraud, using its own technology
that generates a number of reports, according to the auditor. Bump’s
office analyzed unused reports and found more than $15 million in EBT
activity that should have triggered an investigation by DTA.
The reports provide information on a number of potential fraud patterns,
including excessive even-dollar amount transactions. For example, food
purchases rarely end in even dollar amounts, like $100 or $250. Records
showing numerous even-dollar transactions may indicate cases where a
retailer may be illegally exchanging a recipient’s SNAP benefits for
cash. Bump’s office identified $1.5 million in even-dollar transactions
that should have been investigated, according to the report.
The audit also found:
An excessive reissuance of EBT cards. A recipient’s request for EBT card
replacements numerous times may indicate the user is trafficking EBT
cards, according to the report. More than 9,800 people requested and
received 10 or more EBT replacement cards since 2006, with one
individual receiving as many as 127 cards during the same period. DTA
officials responded in the audit, saying in December 2012 they
implemented a process of monitoring clients who request a fourth or
subsequent replacement card within a 12-month period, and require they
provide an explanation for the replacement request prior to the
department issuing a new card.
Auditors also identified $4.58 million in out of state transactions that
warranted DTA investigations. Although EBT transactions outside the
state are allowable, reports on out of state use can be used as a tool
for identifying recipients who may no longer be Massachusetts residents,
or are receiving duplicate benefits from other states. DTA officials
said the department monitors out of state activity through monthly
reports of clients who are accessing their cash assistance outside of
Massachusetts for more than 60 days. DTA then closes these cases.
Full SNAP balance withdrawals: Recipients and retailers with a pattern
of withdrawing an EBT card’s full monthly value in one transaction may
indicate they are inappropriately exchanging SNAP benefits for cash.
From the management reports, auditors identified $5 million in full
balance withdrawals that warranted DTA investigation, according to
Bump’s office. DTA officials, in the audit response, said “Full SNAP
balance withdrawals may be an indicator of fraud. However, it is
important to note that the average monthly benefit for SNAP households
is $236. Given current food costs and household expenses, it is common
for clients to expend their benefit at one time for the month.”
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Dems: Grave errors show reform needed
By Matt Stout
Fed-up Democrats called on the scandal-plagued Department of
Transitional Assistance to get “out of the Stone Age and into the
computer age” after a scathing audit yesterday revealed that millions
were paid to more than 1,100 dead people — and millions more to live
recipients collecting EBT benefits from Florida and Las Vegas to the
Virgin Islands.
State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump also reported that welfare recipients were
cashing out their EBT cards in one day, using two Social Security
numbers to double up on payouts and seeking replacement cards at
alarming rates.
The audit follows a series of blistering Herald reports that has left
the DTA desperately trying to show it’s turning the corner. The Herald
articles covered overpayments to food stamps recipients by $27 million,
and a $3.4 million overtime tab to fix the glitch.
“This audit exposes the gross lack of oversight within DTA. We need to
change the culture of waste, fraud and abuse,” said state Rep. David
Linsky (D-Natick), chairman of the House Post Audit and Oversight
Committee, who is also probing welfare payments made to slain Boston
Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his family. “We need to bring the
DTA out of the Stone Age and into the computer age.”
The 66-page audit has ratcheted up the pressure on the embattled agency
and lawmakers to make good on long-promised reforms — including photos
on EBT cards.
“Something should be done now,” state Rep. Russell Holmes (D-Boston)
said of House-passed reforms that were gutted last week from the Senate
budget. “What we passed in the House was fair. I would want more. The
audit reinforces that it must change, and it must change now.”
A spokeswoman for Gov. Deval Patrick, who was at his estate in the
Berkshires yesterday, declined comment and deferred all questions to the
DTA.
“It’s painful,” Bump said of the findings. “I do appreciate that they
had rapidly expanding caseloads because of the recession, but our point
is this is supposed to be systematic and work automatically, and it’s
got to be maintained as a priority.”
Among the audit’s findings:
• Nearly $2.4 million in benefits were paid to people who had been dead
for anywhere from six to 27 months.
• $120,000 was paid out to 42 of the departed, benefits that “began
after the recipients’ date of death.”
• More than $27 million in benefits were accessed out of state in a
six-month period, including $4.5 million in such far-flung states as
Florida, the Virgin Islands and Hawaii. Top cities where public money
was drawn via EBT cards included Orlando, Myrtle Beach and Las Vegas.
• Over a six-year period ending in 2012, DTA reissued more than 147,000
replacement cards to 9,846 people, an average of 14 per person. Among
those, 358 people were issued 30 or more cards, and one was issued 127.
• In fiscal year 2012 alone, 42 percent of all the 859,000 active cards
were reissued.
A separate inspector general report found $25 million in EBT money went
to recipients who may not have been eligible. And a Herald review found
that DTA couldn’t locate tens of thousands of EBT recipients.
DTA Interim Commissioner Stacey Monahan defended the agency, saying the
100-day plan she put in place less than two months ago addresses several
of the problems identified.
Still, state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell (R-Taunton) called it “absolutely
stunning” that DTA has “all these tools available to them, and we know
they’re not doing their jobs.”
Joe Dwinell contributed to this report.
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Six key findings of welfare audit
By Herald staff
Cross-checks were ignored and dead people got paid. Here are highlights
of the audit of the state Department of Transitional Assistance:
• $2.39 million in welfare benefits were paid to 1,164 people who were
listed as dead.
• 42 of those dead collected benefits “after the recipients’ date of
death.”
• $24 million in full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
withdrawals were reported — a possible signal recipients were cashing
out awards.
• $56.7 million in even-dollar SNAP purchases were recorded, suggesting
benefits were exchanged for cash.
• 147,000 replacement EBT cards were reissued to 9,846 people, an
average of 14 per person. Among those, 358 people were issued 30 or more
electronic benefits transfer cards and one was given 127.
• More than 30,500 blank EBT cards sent to five regional welfare offices
went undocumented.
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Millions in benefits spent out of state
By Herald staff
Bay State EBT cards travel far and wide. Welfare benefits were cashed in
from Hawaii to Alaska, an audit of the state’s welfare agency showed.
Here’s a rundown of the top out-of-state destinations, according to the
state auditor’s report on the Department of Transitional Assistance:
• One far-flung welfare recipient cashed in on the “Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program” (SNAP) in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands
from November 2011 to March 2012.
• Another withdrew SNAP dollars in Florida for five months while in St.
Cloud, Fort Myers and Jacksonville — a span of more than 465 miles.
• Florida was the most popular destination for those using
taxpayer-funded assistance, with theme-park capital Orlando the top
stop.
• Georgia, North Carolina, California, Virginia, South Carolina, Nevada
and Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Alaska came in next.
• In Nevada, Las Vegas was the top city of choice. In South Carolina, it
was Myrtle Beach. And in Hawaii, Honolulu was the popular spending spot.
Welfare expenditures made out of the state are not forbidden but can
suggest someone may be receiving “duplicate benefits” in another state,
according to the audit. The payments could also signal, the audit adds,
that a Bay State welfare recipient may have moved away from
Massachusetts.
Under DTA regulations, a “temporary absence that exceeds 60 calendar
days” can end eligibility for welfare payments.
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
State audit gives new meaning to the term deadbeat
By Howie Carr
There is life after death — at least if you have a Massachusetts EBT
card.
In fact, sometimes life doesn’t begin until after death, if you define
the beginning of life as getting your first EBT card.
According to the state auditor’s report on welfare abuse released
yesterday, they found at least 42 loafers “whose benefits actually began
after the recipients’ dates of death.”
This gives new meaning to the term “deadbeats.”
In all, the state auditors found 1,164 deceased persons who had
collected a total of $2.39 million. I’ve heard of a kiss in the mail,
but this is more like necrophilia. You know that movie, “The Sixth
Sense,” where the little kid keeps saying, “I see dead people”?
I see dead Democrats.
Odd timing for this audit, though — just a few days after the
Legislature deep-sixed welfare reform for yet another year.
The report certainly shows the lengths the layabouts will go to rather
than actually get a job. Not that they’re exactly matching wits with the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Mounties always get their man. The
DTA — the Department of Terrorist Assistance — never gets their man. And
that’s the way they like it.
Some “deadbeats” are collecting under more than one Social Security
number. Others are sharing a single number. Another thing the DTA
doesn’t check on — those “self-reported Social Security numbers.” The
synonym for “self-reported” is “made up.”
But DTA staffers wouldn’t think of ever going after any of their, uh,
clients. Professional courtesy and all that. According to the state
auditor, 30,000 blank EBT cards have gone missing (the synonym for which
is “been stolen”). Then there are all the “lost” EBT cards. Last week,
the state Senate voted down an amendment to put photo IDs on the EBT
cards. Almost 10,000 members of the non-working classes have received at
least 10 replacement cards since 2006. One forgetful fellow “lost” 127
cards.
The vote not to even try to end this abuse was 30-8.
How about the welfare recipients’ vacations? Can you guess what the No.
1 destination in Florida was? You got it: Orlando. In Nevada? Las Vegas,
of course. Do you know what the No. 1 tourist attraction is in South
Carolina? That’s right, Myrtle Beach. Damn, you’re good.
You know how the “advocates” are always saying these cards are mostly
used to buy food? Then why are the top 10 outlets for EBT card use all
banks — you know, banks with ATM machines? And why do so many of the
alleged “food transactions” end in even dollars?
Yesterday the TV stations decided they couldn’t avoid mentioning the EBT
scandal anymore. Some of them actually played it up big — complete with
chyrons reading “BREAKING NEWS.”
Breaking news? Breaking to whom? Maybe to the deadbeats’ greatest
friend, Gov. Deval Patrick. I’m sure he’ll correct everyone this
morning. This isn’t breaking news, these are just … anecdotes.
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