Welfare fraud is a crime in New York State and the Chemung County Department of Human Services (the Department) takes acts of welfare fraud very seriously. Acts of welfare fraud include deliberately providing a false statement, submitting a document that contains false information, or the intentional concealment of information such as wages, resources, household composition, etc., that may result in an overpayment of social service program benefits. Upon conviction, the penalties for welfare fraud may include community service, restitution, probation, and disqualification from public assistance programs. In some instances, a welfare fraud conviction may even result in imprisonment.
This year, the total amount of cost avoidance, or monies not otherwise paid out due to investigators busting cases of welfare fraud, is expected to exceed $4.3 million.
And with the higher the amount of cost avoidance, comes bigger savings for local taxpayers.
“The financial impact, total local share-wise, is about 40 percent of the total cost avoidance based on state reimbursement,” Chemung County Commissioner of Social Services Jennifer Stimson said. “But when you look at that, that’s $2 million that our local taxpayers don’t have to pay.”
But it’s not just cost avoidance where the unit has success. It’s also getting those found to have committed welfare fraud to pay back the monies stolen, which is also called restitution.
“People that have been convicted, have paid back, in full, the amounts that were stolen when they’re making plea bargains,” Bliss said. “We can take a percentage of what they’re eligible for until it’s paid back. We take it back monthly.”
In many cases, those who have been found of committing welfare fraud may not face criminal conviction. Instead, they may get disqualified from certain public assistance programs for a period of time.
Disqualification from certain programs can also mean a higher cost avoidance at the end of the year. Disqualifications greatly outnumber criminal convictions for welfare fraud.
“If they get disqualified for one year of food stamps, you’ve saved about $2,500 per year, per person that is disqualified,” Bliss said.
Meanwhile, the financial success of the unit has translated into fewer case loads for some employees of social services in Chemung County. That means more time can be spent helping those who are not defrauding public assistance programs.
“SNAP benefits have decreased by 300 cases over the last year, and safety net and family assistance cases have decreased by at least 40 cases, which brings us to the lowest we’ve had in 10 years,” Stimson said.
Ultimately, local officials do believe the investment of two more investigators has been money well spent.
“We have had an over $200,000 increase since we’ve added the officers in cost avoidance for this year so far,” Stimson said. “That’s only a six month increase. We would expect over $400,000 for the next quarter.”
The Department has a special unit, the Special Investigations Unit or SIU, that is responsible for receiving referrals or complaints of welfare fraud in Chemung County. The SIU investigates all allegations of welfare fraud and refers all founded cases to the District Attorney’s Office for criminal prosecution or to the County Attorney’s Office for civil prosecution.
If you suspect someone is committing welfare fraud, we encourage you to report it to us today.
Ways to report Welfare Fraud in Chemung County:
Welfare Fraud form (Anonymous) Click HERE.
Chemung County Fraud Hotline (607)737-5352
Mailing address: Chemung County Department of Human Services, Special Investigations Unit, PO Box 588, Elmira, NY 14902-0588
Thank you in helping us fight welfare fraud and protecting the integrity of our Social Services programs.