Improving accountability for public assistance programs
Dan Hegeman
Every year, a substantial portion of the state’s budget is allocated to providing public assistance services to the citizens of Missouri.
The total of the cost of these programs greatly overshadows what we spend on education or transportation or any other number of priorities. With so much taxpayer money going toward these programs, it is essential that the state tracks who gets these benefits and guarantees their eligibility.
This week, the Missouri Senate approved and sent to the Missouri House, a measure to vastly improve the accountability of our public assistance programs.
The proposal, Senate Bill 607, is another step we can take to make sure only those citizens who truly need these benefits are getting them, and remove those who are abusing the system or are no longer eligible to participate in that particular program.
As significant taxpayer funds are spent on these programs and we must have a system dedicated to tracking these programs, eliminating any waste, fraud or abuse, and ensuring those who need services, are getting those services.
This legislation requires the Department of Social Services to use a third party to verify the eligibility of recipients who are applying for or are receiving public assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; child care assistance; and MO HealthNet.
The federal government already requires states to do an annual audit of the public assistance rolls to ensure that participants are eligible, but, in Missouri, our current auditing and verification methods have not been particularly efficient or effective. In fact, a number of other states adopted third-party verification after experiencing the same problems we have here in Missouri.
Those states found that a third party was better able to process applications and maintain accountability in their public assistance rolls, saving hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds while also improving services.
Waste, fraud, and abuse of these programs drives up costs and diverts our limited resources away from those who truly need help.
By allowing for the Department of Social Services to contract with a third party, the State can finally develop a system that is effective and efficient at determining eligibility, providing benefits to those that need services and greater accountability to the taxpayers of our state.
