- Welfare fraud
Welfare fraud refers to various intentional misuses of state welfare systems by withholding information or giving false or inaccurate information. This may be done in small, uncoordinated efforts, or in larger, organized criminal rings. Some common types of welfare fraud are failing to report a household member, failure to report income, or providing false information about the "inability" to work. There have been cases of people feigning illness in conjunction with welfare fraud.
Overview
In practice, welfare fraud tends to involve acquiring welfare benefits that are undeserved. Either the recipient is collecting benefits under their own name but does not actually qualify for the benefits, or they are collecting the benefit on behalf of someone who is not actually going to receive the funds.
Welfare fraud can be quite extensive. In every U.S. state, the penalty for extensive welfare fraud (fraud over a period of years) is prison. Some states offer large rewards for reporting those who are guilty of years of welfare fraud.
Religions groups such as the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and thePeoples Temple have been accused of bringing in a great deal of money by taking the welfare checks of their members.Fact|date=December 2007Welfare fraud is criticized by welfare advocates for making fewer funds available to those who were intended to receive them. Welfare fraud is criticized by opponents of welfare in general for creating situations where taxpayers subsidize instances of middle-class or even lavish living by criminals. The terms
welfare queen and welfare Cadillac are pejoratives terms related to welfare fraud.Welfare fraud has also been criticized for its role in modeling criminal behavior in children, many of whom may act out by taking drugs, becoming sexually abusive, crossing state lines to flee prosecution, engaging in welfare fraud themselves, or committing other crimes and frauds.
The punishment for welfare fraud varies by jurisdiction. In the United States, punishment for the first offense may be as mild as suspension of welfare privileges for a year, but can include fines and jail time.
Examples of welfare fraud
*The executive director of the Illinois Legislative Advisory Committee on Public Aid in 1977 claimed that Linda Taylor of Chicago used 14 aliases to obtain $150,000 for medical assistance, cash assistance and bonus cash food stamps. He claimed that she went from district to district with many disguises, using more than 100 aliases. [
Associated Press , Mar. 8, 1977, AM cycle, Chicago (available on LEXIS)] She is believed to form the basis of Ronald Reagan's "welfare queen ".*Dorothy Woods, who claimed 38 non-existent children. [cite news | title = Woman's Aid Claims for 38 children Are Examined | publisher =
New York Times , Special | date =1980-12-21 | pages = 31 ]*Queen Esther Johnson, who was sentenced to four years in state prison when accused of "collecting $240,000 for more than 60 fictitious children". [Associated Press, June 13, 1979, AM cycle, Compton, CA (available on LEXIS)]
*Arlens Otis was indicted in Cook County, Illinois for "613 counts of illegally receiving $150,839 in welfare funds between July 1972 and February 1978." [Associated Press, May 8, 1978, AM cycle, Chicago (available on LEXIS)]
ee also
*
Welfare queen
*Poverty pimp References
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