Board of Directors� Set to Meet Next Month

UCOWF�s Winter Board of Directors� Meeting will be conducted March 11^th and 12th in Des Moines, Iowa. The event will be held at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown, 700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa.

The Winter Board of Directors� Meeting is the venue for discussions concerning the direction of UCOWF and planning for the upcoming Annual Training Conference. It is important to the organization on several levels. It is an opportunity for issues that have surfaced among the 12 regions in UCOWF to be discussed in an open forum. State Welfare Fraud Directors attend the Board of Directors� meeting to brief their efforts in promoting program integrity issues with federal officials. Those discussions often establish or evolve UCOWF�s position on a specific issue that is under review by federal program administrators. The discussions also provide insight into problems that have surfaced within states or regions and often, solutions that states have found. The Regional Directors meet with the Executive Board and report issues and the status of initiatives within UCOWF committees. The Board of Directors and Executive Board vote on initiatives and topics raised by the attendees.

The meeting also determines the status of preparations for the Annual Training Conference. The Annual Training Conference is the most important event UCOWF conducts each year. It provides valuable training for members, establishes a great venue for networking, and raises money for operating UCOWF. Considerable time and effort is spent making the Annual Training Conference a first-class event at a low price for members. The meeting will assess any needs the Conference Chairs have identified and establish assignments for the Directors in support of the workshops and events that are associated with the UCOWF Annual Training Conference.

Look for a summary of the Board of Directors� meeting in next month�s newsletter.

Last issue of the UCOWF News provided a glimpse of a special group aligned with UCOWF - the State Welfare Fraud Directors. As was described in the last issue, State Welfare Fraud Directors are UCOWF members. The State Directors are the interface between UCOWF - its objectives and its members � and those who administer the federal programs. This group offers up its expertise and members to agency program officials and legislators in agency policy development meetings or in legislative subcommittee hearings.

In advance of the Board of Directors� Meeting, the State Welfare Fraud Directors will meet with federal program officials to discuss matters affecting the integrity of federal public assistance programs. Among the most pressing issues is fraud in the Subsidized Child Daycare program. This has been a growing issue among states and federal program policy-makers as Title IV funds continue their shift from cash assistance programs to transitional assistance programs, largely Subsidized Child Daycare. As an eligibility-based program, the Subsidized Daycare program mirrors many of the eligibility requirements of the Cash Assistance program but lacks many of its well-developed program integrity mechanisms.

Next month�s issue of the UCOWF News will include a summary of the report from the State Welfare Fraud Directors meeting.

UCOWF Technology Committee News�And More

With the guidance and support of the Board of Directors, the Technology Committee continues work to improve the UCOWF website. Our web presence has become the organization�s public face and the focal point for members to access an increasing array of member benefits. Our membership directory is online with a fully operational search capability, including an email link. Members are now able to make changes to their own contact information immediately to ensure that our directory is current and up to date.

The listserv has become a valuable resource for members to share information and to seek input on issues of mutual concern. In the area of training resources, the Training Tape Library has been posted as a link on the site. As we continue to develop the website, we hope to expand the Training Resources to include study guides and shared training materials, including material from workshops presented during the annual training conferences.

With the recent acquisition of software and licensing, UCOWF now has the ability to manage content of the website and to ensure that the information contained therein is current, timely, and accurate. In response to input from membership, we are investigating the possibility of implementing credit card functionality on the site which would allow members to pay dues, CWFI certification, and conference registration fees online in a secure environment. There will be more to come and we solicit what you, the UCOWF membership, would like to see on the website

Please let us know if you have suggestions for ways that we can improve the site or if you have questions, comments, or difficulty accessing your member benefits on the website.Now, here is the MORE part�

From a professional standpoint there are numerous reasons for becoming a member of UCOWF that were eloquently described in the previous edition by our Newsletter Editor, Jack Heacock. As members of this organization we need to encourage our partners to join us in UCOWF membership as we build a stronger voice for legislative and policy-making influence in the area of public assistance program integrity.

However, there are collateral benefits that come from the networking available to members across North America. My daughter, Erin, is a neo-natal intensive care Registered Nurse, living in Pittsburgh, PA, who recently accepted a position at a hospital in San Diego, CA. Given the weather-related challenges inherent in a cross-country drive during the first week in January, I volunteered to drive. Many friends in UCOWF who learned of the planned trip offered invitation for a meal, lodging, (and rescue if needed) if we came their way as we headed west from Pittsburgh. The route chosen took us by way of Oklahoma and to the invitation from UCOWF President Sherri Compton in El Reno, OK. Sherri, Monty, Sabra, and family graciously provided friendship, a respite from the road, and a homemade brisket dinner that was a highlight of our trip.

Interstate Hwy 40 took us through Oklahoma on the way to California; UCOWF brought us the benefit of hospitality and friendship from a fellow member�PRICELESS.

Russ Fernandes

NY Man Allegedly Received Welfare For Babysitting Son

A New York City man is charged with welfare fraud after he allegedly accepted $10,000 in child-care payments for baby-sitting his own son.

Officials say the man didn't tell anyone he was the eleven-year-old boy's father when he began receiving payments three years ago. He was paid under a city program that subsidizes child care for parents who are either on welfare or working part-time.

The Brooklyn man was listed as caretaker by the boy's mother. Their scheme unraveled when city workers checked the boy's birth certificate, which identified the father.

The mother was also charged with welfare fraud. Both pleaded innocent at their arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

They face up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Twelve charged in alleged half-million-dollar welfare fraud

LOS ANGELES � District Attorney�s investigators arrested nine of 12 people charged in an alleged welfare fraud that bilked taxpayers out of more than a half-million dollars in phony child care payments.

The 12 were charged in felony complaints for arrest warrants filed earlier in December 2004 by the District Attorney�s Welfare Fraud Division. Those who were arrested are expected to be arraigned later. They were being held on bail ranging from a high of $750,000 to a low of $40,000 each.

Although charged in four separate cases, the defendants are accused of conspiring to commit grand theft by cheating the welfare system. Some of the defendants worked for Crystal Stairs, an agency that contracts to administer child care for welfare recipients. Crystal Stairs and the Department of Public Social Services cooperated and worked closely with the District Attorney�s office in the investigation.

A complaint naming seven people, including four Crystal Stairs employees, alleged that the defendants added child care providers to cases in which there had not been a request for child care. It also was alleged that fictitious child care and non-existent children were added to cases. According to the overt acts in the various complaints, alleged child care providers submitted falsified monthly time sheets for payment for services not provided. The Crystal Stairs defendants, in turn, were paid by other defendants.

It was alleged the crimes occurred between 2001 and 2004, with the bulk of the allegations centering upon 2004 and 2003.

The current cases grew out of a criminal investigation and complaint filed in September in which three other defendants were accused of stealing more than $300,000 through welfare fraud involving falsified child care.

Nine of the defendants were arrested without incident, three remain at large.

Besides conspiracy, the defendants were variously charged with grand theft and perjury. The four Crystal Stairs employees additionally were charged with misappropriation of public funds (Section 424 of the California Penal Code).

A Deputy District Attorney assigned to the Welfare Fraud Division will prosecute the cases.

Ayanna N. Taylor of St. Petersburg, Florida, was receiving Public Assistance from the State of Florida, Department of Children and Families, and section 8 Housing Assistance from the St. Petersburg Housing Authority. She was also employed, and failed to disclose her income to these agencies. As a result of her actions, as evidenced by the fact that she submitted thirteen false eligibility documents, Ms Taylor received $2,041.28 in excessive Public Assistance, as well as $7,911.79 in excessive Housing Assistance.

When interviewed by Financial Crimes Investigator Jennifer Phillips of Tampa Region�s Public Assistance Fraud Squad Q, Ms Taylor admitted to the violations. She stated that she was trying to keep everything stable in her life, and that she needed the extra money "to pay for wrecking her car and a DUI charge".

This case was referred to the State Attorney's Office in Pinellas County, and a criminal charge was filed. On January 18, 2005, Ms Taylor was in Circuit Court, and after entering a plea of Nolo Contendere, she was sentenced to one (1) year in the Pinellas County Jail; fined $448.00; and ordered to make full restitution of $9,953.07.