[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: Editorial : Welfare fraud in perspective

[Terrie]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Rae <rae at blindcanadians.ca>
Date: 2009/12/9
Subject: Editorial : Welfare fraud in perspective
To: John Rae <rae at blindcanadians.ca>


       Editorial : Welfare fraud in perspective

The Toronto Star , Dec. 9, (2009

The provincial government is in the midst of "a new billion dollar
boondoggle involving extravagant welfare overpayments," according to the
opposition Conservatives.

There is more political posturing than fact in this allegation, and it
paints an unfair picture of the nearly 800,000 adults and children who are
barely making ends meet on welfare and disability benefits.

Here are the facts: according to Auditor General Jim McCarter's report,
released Monday, there have been $186 million in unrecovered overpayments
made to welfare recipients since 2002. That averages out to $26 million a
year in an annual welfare budget of nearly $2 billion. And according to the
government, overpayments have been on a downward trend: they amounted to
less than $10 million last year.

The "billion-dollar boondoggle" is derived from the adding together of
overpayments in both welfare and disability support programs going back many
years - to the days when the Conservatives themselves were in power. That
cumulative total is $1.2 billion, a figure the media seized on when the
auditor's report was released.

What's more, "overpayment" does not necessarily mean fraud. When people on
welfare who earn some income work a few more paid hours than expected, their
welfare benefit is supposed to be reduced. If that reduction does not occur
right away, it results in an overpayment. And when a case worker does not
properly apply all the eligibility rules so that a recipient gets more
support than he/she is entitled to, that is also an overpayment.

The auditor did uncover some cases of outright fraud, and they are
troubling. Also of concern is the auditor's finding that rules to prevent
fraud are not always being followed by case workers.

In its response to the auditor's findings, the government says it will do
more to ensure case workers adhere to the rules. That will help to ensure
that the money goes to those who need it, not to swindlers.

However, with as many as 800 rules in place, is it any wonder that
overloaded caseworkers don't follow all of them? Our mean-spirited and
rules- bound social assistance system often serves to keep people down
rather than give them a hand up. The system clearly needs an overhaul - a
task the government has just assigned to an expert panel.

But it's easier for the Conservatives to fulminate about people "scamming
the system" than it is to advocate meaningful reforms to it.




-- 
Terrie ( mocharebyl at gmail.com )
“If you see an injustice being committed, you aren't an observer, you are a
participant.” June Callwood
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and
renders the present inaccessible.  Maya Angelou
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