FNS Awards $749,987 to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to Improve Recipient Fraud Prevention, Detection and Investigation Efforts

Chicago, Sept. 15, 2023 – The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has awarded the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

(MDHHS) $749,987 to help improve their recipient fraud prevention, detection and investigation efforts by implementing principles from the SNAP Fraud Framework. The SNAP Fraud Framework provides states tools and options they can implement in order to improve program operations and outcomes.

FNS is committed to expanding and improving efforts to combat fraud in the delivery of these critical nutrition assistance benefits.

“SNAP is a cornerstone of the USDA nutrition assistance programs,” said FNS Midwest Regional Administrator Dr. Vista Suarez Fletcher. “We congratulate Michigan on being selected for this grant which will enable MDHHS to further strengthen its program through innovative efforts to prevent and detect fraud.”

The award will support Michigan on a variety of program integrity efforts. The MDHHS-Office of Inspector General (OIG) will invest in computer forensic examiner software and hardware to assist in cybercrimes associated with SNAP, and OIG will collaborate with MDHHS’ Economic Stability Administration to provide targeted education using media campaigns to inform recipients about the security of their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. OIG investigators and managers will attend a nationally recognized training course on investigative interviewing techniques. Michigan will also implement and test their EBT vendor’s integrated fraud management tool that pairs with the EBT distribution system for fraud control and monitoring. The tool provides analytics, monitoring, alerts, and cardholder notification of potentially fraudulent activities which will allow MDHHS to better monitor and identify potential skimming, trafficking, and/or cloning of EBT cards.

“Michigan is committed to helping families in need put food on the table,” said MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel. “This grant will help improve recipient fraud prevention, detection and investigation efforts for Michigan’s SNAP program, which will help ensure these benefits are being used properly and beneficiaries are not affected by bad actors fraudulently using their benefits.”

Michigan is one of five states awarded a SNAP Fraud Framework Implementation Grant. Each state will use the grant funds to support new fraud prevention projects that fall under any of the seven components of the SNAP Fraud Framework: organizational management, performance measurement, recipient integrity education, fraud detection, investigations and dispositions, analytics and data management, and learning and development.

Grantees will use funds in a variety of ways. For example, states will:

• Utilize media campaigns to educate recipients about the security of their EBT, cards.
• Establish trainings for county offices to proactively prevent and recognize fraud during the application stages.
• Implement new features in EBT technology to reduce the impacts of stolen SNAP benefits through electronic methods, including card skimming, card cloning and other similar methods.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of more than 16 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. FNS’s report, “Leveraging the White House Conference to Promote and Elevate Nutrition Security: The Role of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service,” highlights ways the agency will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Strategy, released in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. To learn more about FNS, visit www.fns.usda.gov and follow @USDANutrition.

###

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.