By C1 Staff
PHOENIX – A new report by the Department of Economic Security has found that$1.75 million was given to inmates and dead men in 2012 through food stamps and welfare benefits.
According to AZ Daily Sun, the DES does not check to see whether some individuals receiving benefits were actually in state prison.
A random check found that there were several instances where inmates were enrolled in one or both programs.
Though the error rate in the two areas was acknowledged to be in the double digits, it still only amounted to a small percentage of more than 1.1 million households who receive those benefits.
DES will be implementing suggested changes in procedures, but that is expected to only cut down on one-tenth of a percent of improper payments.
They do have procedures in place to see whether recipients are incarcerated in Maricopa County jails, but there is no parallel program with the state’s own Department of Corrections or the state’s other 14 counties.