The County Human Service Agency determines eligibility and the amount of benefits for individuals applying for child care assistance, medical assistance, food benefits, cash aid or emergency assistance. After benefits are issued, new information may indicate that there is a need to do a reassessment of eligibility and/or the benefit amount. A fraud investigation may be necessary when:
An individual in the community files a report that they believe a public assistance recipient is not correctly reporting all their income, assets, residence, or household composition.
Conflicting data is received from other government agencies.
The Fraud Prevention Investigator will conduct an investigation in order to obtain accurate information and data regarding the situation in question. The investigation may reveal unreported or incorrect reporting of income, assets, residence or household composition. This may result in the determination of overpayments of public assistance benefits and/or prosecution of fraudulently obtaining public assistance.
To report suspected fraud, please contact either Patti Hart at 218-878-2523 or Angela Korpela at 218-878-2502. Your report will remain anonymous.