The Mississippi's Department of Human Services will pay the federal government $5 million to settle allegations that it juked federal food stamp program data in order to receive performance bonuses, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
“Although it is appalling that these actions occurred within a state agency entrusted with assisting vulnerable and needy residents, I am heartened that MDHS has resolved its liability and cooperated with our investigation,” William Hyslop, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said in a statement.
The allegations involve the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP, and often referred to as food stamps. The federal program is administered by MDHS and gives financial assistance for food to low-income families.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reimburses states for part of their administrative expenses running the program, including for quality control, according to the DOJ. It pays states bonuses for having especially low or most-improved "error rates" each year, in terms of paying benefits to people who are actually eligible.
The federal allegations say Mississippi hired a contractor nearly a decade ago that manipulated those federally-reported statistics. MDHS and the consultant "injected bias into MDHS’s quality control process and resulted in MDHS submitting false quality control data and information to USDA."
More: DOJ investigates Mississippi Department of Human Services over food stamps consultant
This resulted in the agency receiving "undeserved performance bonuses for fiscal years 2012 and 2013," federal officials wrote. The Clarion Ledger previously reported the state received at least $5.9 million in bonuses while using the consultant's services.
An average of 470,000 Mississippians received SNAP benefits each month in 2019 — more than 15% of the state's population.
The agency has also recently faced a scandal involving misspending in another key welfare program welfare program it manages, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF. The agency's former director is among six people recently indicted in an alleged embezzlement scam.
More: MS welfare scandal audit: Money went to pay Brett Favre for speeches he never gave, cars, family of officials
"We are aware that several other states have reached similar settlement agreements to reconcile this decade-old discrepancy," MDHS spokesman Danny Blanton said in an emailed statement Tuesday. "We are pleased that we have successfully resolved this matter and brought this issue to closure.”
Indeed, the DOJ has now settled with six states as well as the consultant, Osnes Consulting, regarding similar SNAP quality control issues.
"The settlements reached to date send a strong message regarding the government’s commitment to work across agency lines to protect the integrity of SNAP," Bethanne Dinkins, special agent in charge for the USDA Office of Inspector General, said in a statement.
Contact Luke Ramseth at 601-961-7050 or lramseth@gannett.com. Follow @lramseth on Twitter.
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Mississippi will pay feds $5 million to settle claims that it submitted false food stamp data - Clarion Ledger
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