Food Stamps: Substantial Overpayments Result from Prisoners Counted as HouseholdMembers

摘要

During numerous hearings over the last several years, the Congress has expressedits strong desire to reduce the level of fraud, waste, and abuse in the Food Stamp Program. In this context, we examined the computerized records of inmates of correctional institutions, who are ineligible for food stamps, to determine whether they wre being included as members of households receiving food stamp benefits. We determined (1) how many prisoners were included as members of households that receive food stamp benefits (hereafter referred to as prisoner participation) and estimated value of improper benefits that were issued to the households, (2) how prisoner participation could take place without detection, and (3) whether computer matching can be an effective method for identifying prisoner participation. We conducted a computer match of the 1995 food stamp rolls with state prison data in four states (California, Florida, New York, and Texas) and with local jail data in four metropolitan areas (Los Angeles County, California; Data County, Florida; New York City, New York; and Harris County, Texas).