By Andrew Ricci Public Assistance and SNAP Fraud

By Andrew Ricci Public Assistance and SNAP Fraud Prevention in Onondaga County for 2015

Question How effective are the detection and prevent systems (FEDS and PARIS) in Onondaga County for 2015?

Literature Review When it comes to the idea of fraud many people are quick to point fingers. Some feel that the public assistance systems are fraudulent and the people who are on them know that and use it for their benefit. The Social Theory of Crime would say that people are influenced by the rest of society to commit acts of criminal behavior and that includes fraudulence (Tunley, 2010). It is important for people to study datasets and be apart of systems like Front End Detection System or Public Assistance reporting Information System. In addition to that in 1997 the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act was put into place to detect those committing fraudulent acts with the welfare system (Mc. Keever, 1999). In the article by Mimi Abramovitz, she discuss the idea that everyone thinks that everyone else is still on public welfare (Abramovitz, 2001). This is a common misconception in the general public and is often overlooked but doesn’t it come from people’s need to be on welfare. An article by Stephen D’Arcy follows the devil’s advocate thought of why not cheat the system if it is going to help my family live comfortably (D’Arcy, 2008). I think when comparing what I have read in the literature there will be miniscule correspondence with how this looks in Onondaga County NY.

Works Cited Tunley, M. (2010). Need, greed or opportunity? An examination of who commits benefit fraud and why they do it: Security Journal Vol 24 ( 4), 302 -319 Mc. Keever, G. (1999). Detecting, prosecuting and punishing benefit fraud: The Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997: The Modern Law Review Vol 62 261 -270 Abramovitz, M. (2001)Everyone is still on welfare: The Role of Redistribution in Social Policy, Social Work, Vol 46 ( 4), Pages 297– 308 D’Arcy, S. (2008). Is there an obligation to commit welfare fraud: The Journal of Value Inquiry Vol 42 (3), 377 -387. Chunn, D. E. , & Gavigan, S. A (2004) Welfare law, welfare fraud, and the moral regulation of the “never deserving” poor: Social & Legal Studies Vol 13 ( 2), 219 -243. (2),

Data Sources Used The data that I have used comes from a government website and it illustrates New York State’s Fraud Prevention Performance based on each country going all the way back to 2013. New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (2017). Public Assistance and SNAP Fraud Prevention Performance Measures: Beginning 2013. Retrieved from: https: //catalog. data. gov/dataset/public-assistance-and-snap-fraud-preventionperformance-measures-beginning-2013

Data Analysis Part 1 1. 2. 3. 4. First I found the data Then I deleted all counties other than Onondaga Separate data by FEDS Cases, PARIS Cases, IPV system, and Prison Cases Highlight FEDS Cases a. b. 5. 6. Create a Bar Chart Repeat new pivot table a. 7. Create Pivot Table Cases with No Impact in the Rows and Cases Investigated in the columns with Count of case denied or grants reduced in the Values Cases Referred in the Rows and Cases denied or grant reduced in the Columns with sum of FEDS cases with no errors Create a Bar Chart

Data Analysis Part 2 1. 2. 3. Move on to PARIS Cases Highlight Data Create Pivot Table a. 4. PARIS Closed Resolved in the Rows, Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) Total Matches in the Columns with Count of PARIS Unresolved in the Values Create Bar Chart

Findings Both of these charts deal with the FEDS cases that had no errors or were denied/grant reduced when compared with the cases referred and total investigated.

Findings Part 2 This Chart Explains the count of PARIS Cases that were resolved, exonerated resolved, and closed prior to being resolved.

Future Research In this data set they also provided the other counties of New York. In addition to that there was data on intentional program violations and prison cases so someone could look into cases of intent and the after math of them.