Welfare fraud here lower than in bigger centres TERRACE — The amount of welfare fraud and abuse in small- er towns is probably less than it is in larger cities, says the soclal services ministry’s local area manager. “Bill Andezson, covers Terrace, whose area Kitimat and points. north, estimates the fraud - level here at three per cent or less. ‘Anderson’s comments follow the release of a report on welfare payments errors, fraud and abuse in the province. .“The advantage of a place like Terrace or Kitimat is that there is alot of staff stability and there is a. stable. client population. - If somebody starts ripping off the system, soontr or later we’re going to hear about it,’? he said. {*That’s different than with a place the size of Prince George or in. Vancouver where there are dozens of offices and thousands of clieats,’’ Anderson continued. “Yd say that 97 or 98 per cent of our clients are quite honest and straight forward,” he said. Anderson said that approxi- mately $13,000 a month is paid back to-the ministry from clients in the northwest who obtained it wrongfully. Carnival boosts welfare activity TERRACE — When the camival comes town, there’s more that goes on than meets the eye, That's the story according to lo- cal. social services ministry “workers as contained in a report -- on welfare payment errors, abuse. - and fraud. The report indicates that as. much as'$36 million a year could be paid. out in error and that the. amount of fraud and abuse could total $100 million a year... x ie reference 1 to the carnival, i stolen cash which amounted to $3 million last year, “Staff notice a marked increase. i in instances of lost or stolen cash at particular times of the yea,” says the section. © “For instance in Terrace, the volume of lost cash claims in- creases when the ‘carnival is in town. Other offices notice in- creases at Christmas,’ The report was commissioned one year ago to find out the ex- tent of errors and fraud in welfare payments. ‘It found that generally the S0- cial services’ ministry’s proce- dutes for dealing with problems is leasonable.. “‘However, because the minis- try does not attempt to estimate the tolal extent of incorrect pay- ments made, it cannot show with any degree of certainty how well the procedures are actually work-. ing,’’ the report continued. Following the réport’s release, . sqcial . services | minister Joan Smallwood sald she has made changes and will continue to make more. The report came with 58 recom- mendations including more train- _ ing to detect fraud and creating a special: unit to investigate high tech fraud-and organized crime. ‘A number of those recom- mendations have already been put ito place but 41 are being reviewed for action dext year. ‘What won't be followed up on are recommendations to create on a computer: ‘file images of every client or to ‘put photos of clients. on file. That's bechuse they would con- - : travene privacy regulations, says the ministry. ‘The report also noted that case - workers voutside the lower main- land and Victoria view common law marriages as a_serlous prob- lem. "These income assistance while they are in. fact living with an. employed person,”? the report says. It also said that unreported as- sels are not a, big: problem be- cause they are either difficult to find or because welfare recipients. din’t have. many assets In the first place. . iA. ‘ministry official cautloned: tthe, report ‘is: in: draft: fo th only “and - that more informa vil have to walt. until ohe nels compli ao jed-in a section on iost or.’ involve : “jecipients, 7 usually single parents, ‘who claim Yet Anderson does say that some fraud goes unchecked be- cause there is only one investi- gator covering the area from the Queen Chariotte Islands to Hous- ton. That investigator, Grant Bot- trell; has between 100 and 150 files on the go at any-one time out of an estimated 4,000 welfare clients in the north. “Tt talking with Grant, for the size of the area to cover, it would be nice to have two (investi- gators). As far as the numbers go, the size of the case load is not high compared to other areas, but Grant spends a lot of time on the road,’ said Anderson. “He gets to deal with the high profile cases, A lot of the smaller stuff goes by the boards simply because there isn’t enough time,” " he said. And Anderson conceded that the number of welfare fraud cases taken to court and prosecuted isn’t impressive. Since 1989, only § two people have been found guilty in the northwest for wel- § fare fraud. But that doesn’t take into ac- [ count the number of cases in § which a person voluntarily admits to taking money wrongly and then repays it, he said. *‘A lot gets settled out of court. | You also have to look at each case and what the court costs will. § be,”’ Anderson added. He called accurate a comment in the report that the number of claims made about lost or stolen cash increases when the carnival comes to Terrace. “Staff react when the carnival comes to town. ‘The ‘office does get busier and it does get a. little bit more.hectic,’’ said Anderson. He said it would be incorrect to - _ say. that. the.lost: or. stolen cash... claims arise from attempts to defraud. “Some of our clients are vic- tims, They do fall. under that category,” said Anderson. He noted that his house. has. been broken into twice and ‘that on’ both occasions, it happened when the carnival was in town. There isn’t money in the budget Permastee! this year to hire another investi gator for the northwest but. there is money for more’ financial as- sistance workers. - ‘Anderson ~ hopes the’ extra workers. mean there will be morc time to spend with clients to catch fraud.and abuse before it starts or before it becomes fraudulent. — - One frustration area expressed by social services workers oulside of the lower mainland and Vic- toria; as expressed in a recenl report on welfare error and fraud, is dealing with common law rela- tionships. Workers say that people don’t declare they are living in com- mon law when making claims. Over 40 Years of Service 8S VARCO-PRUDEN WF BULLDINGS " 16-valve engine © ETR AM/FM stereo cassett radial tires © 4-wheel independent suspension Warranty * 24 Hour Roadside Assistance METAL BUILDINGS One of our building consultants will be in your area this month. CONSIDERING A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT Call collect to arrange your meeting I iT . 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