This referral began in September 2006, when the Employment and Human Services (EHS) Department updated the Internal Operations Committee (IOC) on its efforts to improve internal security and loss prevention activities. The IOC had requested the department to report back in nine months on any tools and procedures that had been developed and implemented to detect changes in income eligibility for welfare benefits.   
  
The EHS Director made follow-up reports to IOC in May and October 2007, describing what policies, procedures, and practices are employed by the Department to ensure that public benefits are provided only to those who continue to meet income eligibility requirements, explaining the complaint and follow-through process, and providing statistical data for 2005/06, 2006/07, and for the first quarter of 2007/08.   
  
Upon creation of the PPC in January 2008, this matter was reassigned from the IOC to the PPC. PPC received a status report on this referral in October 2008, June and October 2010 and, most recently, in November 2011. The Committee has reviewed the IHSS fraud program and the transition of welfare fraud collections from the Office of Revenue Collection, which was recently disbanded, to the Employment and Human Services Department.  
  
Attached is a report jointly prepared by the Employment and Human Services Department and the District Attorney’s Office describing the three prongs of the Public Assistance Fraud program: EHS Early Welfare Fraud Investigations, EHS Quality Assurance Program, and District Attorney (DA) Public Assistance Fraud Investigation/Prosecution Program; and changes in staffing for these programs.  
  
Also attached are program and overpayment recovery and collections statistics for FY 2010/11, showing that approximately three-quarters of all referrals that are investigated by EHS early detection unit result in a finding of fraud. Between 40% and 50% of all cases investigated for overpayments result in a confirmation of overpayment. Nearly all of the cases prosecuted by the District Attorney resulted in a conviction. Nearly $3 million was collected or recovered through either grant reduction or repayment during FY 2010/11. It should be noted that most of the $3 million (all but 2.5%) was returned to the State and federal governments, which fund most of these cash aid programs.