Otter Tail County employee Sandy Holo, a lead investigator, reviewed with county board members the Fraud Investigation Annual Report.
The county works hard to address fraud pertaining to public assistance programs and recovers overpayments.
Holo highlighted the difference between a civil administrative procedure and criminal process for welfare fraud investigations.
She indicated that most individuals sign disqualification forms after being presented with evidence that they have committed an intentional program violation.
The disqualification penalty is the same for the civil and criminal process.
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Annually, individuals are disqualified through the administrative disqualification process.
County Collections Officer Crystal Herman reported that medical assistance estate recoveries continue to have the highest recoveries, and $426,752 was collected in 2018.
Other collections, including but not limited to, are recoveries from housing assistance overpayments, fees for detox services, and room and board fees. This totaled $537,129.
Holo and Herman described the importance of this work to ensure that individuals and families eligible and in need of these benefits will have access to available program dollars.
They also spend time educating those with overpayments so that they understand the assistance and programmatic requirements.
