FNS Awards $331,424 to West Virginia to Improve Fraud Prevention, Detection in SNAP
Contact: Mid-Atlantic Regional Office Public Affairs
609-305-2022
sm.fn.ma-pa@usda.gov
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Oct. 8, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service recently awarded West Virginia a SNAP Fraud Framework Implementation Grant. This investment will help the state improve and expand recipient fraud prevention, detection and investigation efforts using the procedures, ideas and practices outlined in the SNAP Fraud Framework, a toolkit designed to help states prevent and detect fraud and sharpen their investigative techniques.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, has zero tolerance for fraud and USDA continues to work with its state partners to implement measures to improve program integrity. While most eligible recipients use their benefits as intended, there are some who violate program rules. SNAP participants have also been targets of benefit theft through EBT card skimming and card cloning.
“USDA and the Biden-Harris administration remain unwavering in their dedication to strengthening SNAP, protecting vulnerable households, and combating fraud,” said Cindy Long, Deputy Under Secretary for USDA Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. “These awards are critical to providing states the resources they need to deliver program benefits in a manner that best meets the needs of the people they serve while maximizing program integrity.”
West Virginia Department of Human Services received a $331,424 grant to improve oversight of the SNAP program by implementing a Case Management and Fraud Reduction system to track SNAP investigative caseloads, aiming to standardize and enhance various aspects of the investigative process. This includes improving the gathering of investigation data, automating claims calculations, managing case systems, and preparing evidence packages. In addition, West Virgina will engage in an aggressive SNAP Recipient Integrity Education program that will explain, in plain language, SNAP fraud and associated penalties to prevent households from committing common program violations.
“We applaud West Virginia Department of Human Service’s commitment to SNAP integrity,” said FNS Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator, Dr. Patty Bennett. “This grant enables the agency to deliver critical nutrition assistance benefits in a manner that best meets the needs of West Virgina residents while strengthening its fraud detection system and sharpening its investigative techniques.”
West Virginia is one of 10 states awarded a SNAP Fraud Framework Implementation Grant this year. Additional grants are being awarded to:
- Florida Department of Children and Families
- Illinois Department of Human Services
- Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
- Maine Department of Health and Human Services
- Michigan Health and Human Health Services
- Minnesota Department of Human Services
- Mississippi Department of Human Services
- Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
- Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Each state will use the grant funds to support new fraud prevention projects that fall under any of the seven components of the SNAP Fraud Framework: organizational management, performance measurement, recipient integrity education, fraud detection, investigations and dispositions, analytics and data management, and learning and development.
"We are grateful for this grant from the USDA, which will significantly enhance our ability to prevent and detect fraud in the SNAP program here in West Virginia," said Dr. Cynthia Persily, Cabinet Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Human Services. "By implementing advanced case management and fraud reduction systems, we can better protect the integrity of this vital program and ensure that benefits are going to those who truly need them."
Grantees will use funds in a variety of ways. For example, states may:
- Use media campaigns to educate recipients about the security of their EBT cards.
- Establish trainings for county offices to proactively prevent and recognize fraud during the application stages.
- Implement new features in EBT technology to protect against SNAP benefit theft through card skimming, card cloning and other similar methods.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of 16 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. FNS’s report, “Leveraging the White House Conference to Promote and Elevate Nutrition Security: The Role of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service,” highlights ways the agency will support the Biden-Harris administration’s National Strategy, released in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. To learn more about FNS, visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/ and follow @USDANutrition.
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