FNS Awards $723,564 to the Texas HHSC to Improve Recipient Fraud Prevention, Detection and Investigation Efforts

Dallas, TX, September 15, 2023 – The Southwest Regional Office of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service has awarded the Texas Department of Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) $723,564 to help improve their recipient fraud prevention, detection and investigation efforts by implementing principles from the SNAP Fraud Framework. The award is designed to support Texas as officials develop new efforts or improve on existing ones.

“SNAP is a cornerstone of the USDA nutrition assistance programs,” said FNS Southwest Regional Administrator Bill Ludwig. “We applaud HHSC’s commitment to program integrity and congratulate Texas on being selected for this grant, enabling HHSC to further strengthen its program through innovative efforts to prevent and detect fraud.”

FNS is committed to expanding and improving efforts to combat fraud in the delivery of these critical nutrition assistance benefits. The SNAP Fraud Framework provides states tools and options they can implement in order to improve program operations and outcomes.

“The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is pleased to receive the SNAP Fraud Framework Implementation Grant for the fifth consecutive year,” said Texas Health and Human Services Deputy Chief Program and Services Officer Molly Lester. “These funds will be used to provide HHSC staff with resources, skills, and professional development related to fraud detection and prevention to support the agency’s mission to preserve program integrity, as well as share this knowledge with fraud prevention and eligibility counterparts nationwide.”

HHSC will use the funding to develop a fraud educational program for clerical staff, who have historically not formally participated in fraud prevention response. In addition, they will establish a comprehensive fraud prevention training program for designated staff, providing continuing and dynamic professional development, effective monitoring of progress and performance, and regular reevaluation of training needs. HHSC also will develop an easily accessible resource repository of fraud prevention information and shared publications for distribution.

The awards will support new projects under any of the seven components of the SNAP Fraud Framework, which include organizational management, performance measurement, recipient integrity education, fraud detection, investigations and dispositions, analytics, and data management, and learning and development.

Grantees plan to use their funds in a variety of ways. For example, states will:

• Utilize media campaigns to educate recipients about the security of their Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT, cards.
• Establish trainings for county offices to proactively prevent and recognize fraud during the application stages.
• Implement new features in EBT technology to reduce the impacts of stolen SNAP benefits through electronic methods, including 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 more than 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 www.fns.usda.gov and follow @USDANutrition.

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