Tuesday, May 1, 2012

447 WI prisoners received food stamps

Maybe they’re not partial to prison food.
A new state Legislative Audit Bureau report finds use of the state’s FoodShare Wisconsin program has more than doubled in less than a decade, to 1.1 million last year.
Investigators identified 447 state prison inmates receiving public food assistance benefits targeted for low-income individuals and families, according to the report by the audit bureau, a nonpartisan legislative service agency that assists the Legislature in oversight of state operations.
The audit of the federal program administered through state and local governments found an estimated 293 of the 447 inmates received $413,000 in FoodShare benefits, an average of $1,410.
Incarcerated people are barred from receiving federal food assistance. The idea is that those receiving three square meals a day compliments of the taxpayer don’t need a FoodShare debit card.
The report also found:
  • 1,192 fugitives received benefits, those fleeing to avoid felony prosecution, absconding after conviction or violating probation or parole. Of those, 847 were “single-person assistance groups,” those who received individual benefits as opposed to benefits to families. The audit bureau found illegal benefits to these violators cost taxpayers $1.4 million, or an average of $1,690 per person, from the time they became eligible through March.
Read more: http://watchdog.org/14935/audit-447-wi-prisoners-received-food-stamps/

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