DATABASE TO HELP COUNTY FIGHT WELFARE FRAUD.

Byline: TROY ANDERSON Staff Writer

Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday approved development of a $3 million computer system that will allow the welfare department to detect fraudulent overpayments and measure how its programs impact its 2 million recipients.

The new ``data warehouse'' will allow the Department of Public Social Services to better detect fraud by comparing data now stored on a variety of mainframe and stand-alone computer systems.

``This is not a fraud system, per se; however, it enhances our ability to detect fraud by giving us the ability to compare all our programs and identify something that is inconsistent, and follow-up on that inconsistency,'' DPSS spokesman Shirley Christensen said.

``Whether it's comparing which CalWORKS recipient also receives child care, or which In-Home Supportive Services person also receives child care, we will have the ability to look at all of our programs and compare them for anomalies.''

The approval of the data warehouse follows the release in June of a grand jury report that found welfare recipients and their friends and relatives have defrauded taxpayers of $500 million a year. Grand jurors described county child-care programs for welfare recipients as an ``ATM for thieves.''

Prosecutors have also alleged that taxpayers are being defrauded out of tens of millions of dollars by in-home care workers and recipients. They cite cases in which in-home workers have been paid to care for dead people and others who used one ID to receive medical payments and another to provide care to themselves.

Prosecutor James Cosper said the variety of welfare programs -- including IHSS, child care, general relief, food stamps, Medi-Cal and job training -- provides ample opportunity for fraud.

``This (system) will allow the agencies that administer the various types of aid to determine eligibility,'' Cosper said. ``If they find a person is receiving aid in one program, that may negate their ability to receive aid in a second or third program.

``Right now, the way the system operates, they are operating in the blind. If the various administrators knew all of the programs these people were receiving assistance on, it would dramatically affect their entitlements.''

Dozens of investigators received more than 61,000 reports of welfare fraud in 2004-05, according to a recent report. Authorities subsequently saved taxpayers $50 million by blocking payments to people who were ineligible.

They also detected $10 million in fraudulent overpayments, including $2 million in child care benefits.

With the data warehouse, Christensen said, investigators will be able to detect even more fraud and overpayments.

Cosper plans to make a series of recommendations on Sept. 7 to the county's Economy and Efficiency Commission on additional steps that can be taken to reduce fraud.

``What we are going to be emphasizing are the steps from the get-go, trying to recommend steps and procedures that can be implemented that would prevent the fraud from getting started, to identify potential problems at the outset and eliminate them before they become huge losses to taxpayers.''

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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