Santa Clara County Grand Jury
• 2004-2005
2004-2005 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report Weeding Out Ineligible Welfare Recipients
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 1 findings
F1
The Social Services Agency is not aggressive in pursuing fraud. The County ranks among the lowest counties in pursuing fraud and among the highest in fraud dollar overpayments. SSA caseworkers lack incentive to deny benefits to welfare applicants, and are less aggressive than their statewide counterparts in referring cases for fraud investigation. The authority and accountability for investigating welfare recipient dishonesty reside in the Special Investigative Unit of the Office of the District Attorney, while the funding for and direction for the fraud investigation activities reside in the organizationally separate SSA. Properly tailored in-home visits for welfare applicants have survived recent legal challenges to their constitutionality.
Related Recommendations (2)
R1A
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors should direct the Social Services Agency to make available to the Special Investigative Unit all pertinent information regarding welfare applicants who have been accepted by SSA and are in the process of receiving benefits and/or assistance.
R1B
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors should direct the Social Services Agency to develop a memorandum of understanding with the Office of the District Attorney that would establish: (1) a protocol designed to comply with legal requirements for in-home 12 visits to be conducted unobtrusively at the discretion of SIU investigators after eligibility has been decided and assistance begun by SSA; and (2) an allocation to SIU of a standardized amount (such as 1%) of SSA’s annual budget to assure appropriate funding for the operations of SIU. PASSED and ADOPTED by the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury on this 26th day of May 2005. ________________________________ Michael A. Smith Foreperson 13
Conclusions 8
-
CL1 Page 12The Social Services Agency is not aggressive in pursuing fraud. The County ranks among the lowest counties in pursuing fraud and among the highest in fraud dollar overpayments. SSA caseworkers lack incentive to deny benefits to welfare applicants, and are less aggressive than their statewide counterparts in referring cases for fraud investigation. The authority and accountability for investigating welfare recipient dishonesty reside in the Special Investigative Unit of the Office of the District Attorney, while the funding for and direction for the fraud investigation activities reside in the organizationally separate SSA. Properly tailored in-home visits for welfare applicants have survived recent legal challenges to their constitutionality.
-
CL2 Page 142003-2004 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report entitled “Inquiry into Early Detection of Welfare Fraud”, June 2004.
-
CL3 Page 8Parrish v. Civil Service Commission, 66 Cal.2d 260 (1967)
-
CL4 Page 8Wyman v. James, 400 U.S. 309 (1971)
-
CL5 Page 7Smith v. Board of Supervisors, 104 Cal.App.4th 1104 (2002)
-
CL6 Page 14Rocio Sanchez, et al. v. County of San Diego, et al., Case No. 00CV1467JM, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California. Appeal No. 04-55122, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
-
CL7 Page 14Hill, R. P. and Macan, S., “Welfare Reform in the United States: Resulting Consumption Behaviors, Health and Nutrition Outcomes, and Public Policy Solutions”, Human Rights Quarterly 18.1 142-159 (1996).
-
CL8 Page 14California Department of Social Services Reports: a) Fraud Investigation Report, October – December 2003 b) Fraud Investigation Report, January – March 2004 c) Fraud Investigation Report, April – June 2004 d) Fraud Investigation Report, July – September 2004 Interviews
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office