HHS Needs To Determine If Massachusetts' AFDC Program Meets Federal Requirements and, If Not, Take Compliance Action

GAO discussed its findings regarding the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare's administration of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program.

GAO found that the Department made erroneous AFDC payments in 1981, 1982, and 1983 and that the federal share of these payments was over $3 million. In 1981, the Department: (1) made estimated payments of $168,000 to ineligible AFDC dependents, aged 18 through 20, who were not regularly attending school, and to refugees for whom reimbursements were claimed under the Refugee Act beyond the act's 3-year payment limit; (2) made estimated AFDC payments of $240,000 to ineligible dependents aged 21 years or older and took an average of more than 6 months to adjust benefits after these dependents became ineligible; and (3) recorded an estimated 61 percent of the dependents' eligible status incorrectly in the automated welfare files. From February 1982 to August 1983, the Department experienced related problems in implementing federal requirements and made erroneous payments of which the federal share was $2.8 million. GAO found that the Department has experienced substantial data problems in its automated welfare files, such as erroneous or missing social security numbers and incorrect information about dependents' status. Further, there is no provision for automated cross-referencing between the separate files maintained on recipients and dependents, and there is no tracking system to ensure that caseworkers follow through to update case files.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Joseph F. Delfico Team: General Accounting Office: Human Resources Division Phone: (202) 512-7215