Markley Addresses Disaster Assistance Fraud, Calls for More Oversight

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Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or D-SNAP is given around the country as disaster relief to those in need following a Presidential major disaster declaration. The program is part of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.

One only needed to show up to a DSS office, present identification and fill out an application including information about earnings and family size.

Intake workers would then assess the information and give out debit cards on site to qualified applicants.

Back in October, news reports showed scenes of chaos with long lines at the numerous State Department of Social Services processing centers. I personally called upon the State auditors to look into this as it seemed to me the process was flawed and those who need the help the most were being left in the dark. The auditors said earlier this month that a total of 74,230 people received the aid. (Their final audit has yet to be released.)

Eligible households were to receive food aid ranging from $200 for a single adult to $1,202 for a family of eight.

The maximum monthly "take-home income and liquid assets" an applicant could have for the covered 30-day period was:

• $2,186 for a single adult
• $2,847 for a household of two
• $3,272 for a household of three
• $3,859 for a household of four
• $4,245 for a household of five
• $4,753 for a household of six
• $5,116 for a household of seven
• $5,479 for a household of eight

About 800 state employees obtained the assistance, 44 are under close review and dozens face disciplinary hearings and even criminal investigation for filling out fraudulent applications. An additional 29 employees already have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

This is all well and good, but when do we start looking into the agency and the workers who may have allowed the fraud to take place?

After the storm, the state Department of Social Services announced that $12.4 million would be made available through the D- SNAP program, for any damages or expenses that resulted from the storm including:

• replacing spoiled food
• loss of income
• health care expenses
• temporary shelter costs
• property repair

It has been widely reported that some state employees had not accurately listed their assets or even added the names of deceased relatives on the application in an attempt to qualify.

This is not an honest mistake, this is fraud.

Since the state is their employer, their salaries are known and can be easily compared to what was listed on the D-SNAP application. I suspect some will be fired for taking aid that wasn’t rightfully theirs.

However, we should also be looking into the agency to see if the department was prepared to administer the program with all the oversights necessary.  Were managers or intake workers allowing the fraud? How many applicants were well intentioned, but may have had their applications fraudulently or negligently approved by DSS employees, as some news reports have suggested?

It is hard to imagine all of the suspected state employees who received aid - were falsifying documents on their own. It is even more difficult to imagine that this is the first time a program geared to help the most vulnerable was taken advantage of. We have an obligation to maintain the public trust.

We shouldn’t just focus on those who stood in line. The folks on the other side of the counter may be just as culpable.