2010 Special Committee on Public Assistance Program Integrity

The Special Committee is directed to study current laws, rules, and policies relating to fraud prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution, and the current fraud penalty structure, in public assistance programs under ch. 49, Stats. The study shall include consideration of all of the following: (a) the findings and recommendations of recent Legislative Audit Bureau audits of the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy program and child care regulation in Wisconsin, and implementation of those recommendations; (b) whether current fraud provisions in ch. 49 should be recodified, streamlined, and made uniform throughout the chapter; (c) the effectiveness of current prohibitions and investigatory and enforcement mechanisms; (d) whether current penalties and associated consequences of a finding of public assistance fraud achieve the goals of fraud prevention and deterrence; (e) incentives for fraud detection by entities administering public assistance programs; (f) whether eligibility provisions in certain public assistance programs increase the likelihood of fraudulent activity; and (g) funding for fraud prevention, detection, investigation, and enforcement at the state and local level.