Region
2 DSHS food stamp error rate was 20% according to
feds
By
the Associated Press and YVN
OLYMPIA (Wednesday
12-9-98)--The state has acknowledged it overpaid some
food stamp recipients by $46 million, and underpaid
others by $11 million in fiscal year 1997, say state
welfare officials.
The result is Washington will
have to pay the feds a $5.6-million fine unless it can
get its foodstamp act together.
Dollar amounts were estimates
based on a 1200-count state sampling by federal auditors,
officials explained. Figures translated to a 14.8% error
rate statewide, compared with a national average of 9.9
%.
Liz Dunbar, acting
DSHS
asst. secretary, indicated the state didn't have a handle
on particular ethnic groups who were over or under paid
in foodstamps. But she did provide a geographical picture
for the YVN.
In the state's
Region
2, which takes in
nine eastern Washington counties, the error rate was a
whopping 20% in fiscal 1997. Regional headquarters are in
Yakima, serving Yakima, Kittitas, Benton, Franklin, Walla
Walla, Columbia, Garfield, Klickitat and Asotin
Counties.
Things are looking up this
year, however. Dunbar noted a Region 2 error rate for May
was 9.24% and in June, 4.44%.
Under the state's agreement
with the feds, Washington will spend $2.8 million (of the
$5.6-million potential fine) on staff, training, and
other stuff to improve its tracking of food stamp
benefits.
Of the rest, $3.8 million in
fines will be waived if the state meets the national
error average for 1998, which has not yet been
determined. In addition, another $1.8 million in fines
will be waived if the state reduces its error rate in
2000 to 9.22%, or the national average for '98, whichever
is lower.
Dunbar said problems occurred
as the state made a difficult switch from paper filing to
computers, while simultaneously implementing the most
sweeping welfare changes in 60 years. She noted more than
50% of welfare cases today have some kind of
income.
Anne McGuigan, a spokeswoman
for the USDA's regional Food and Nutrition Service in San
Francisco, said the agreement still is being reviewed by
feds. She declined further comment.
