# Misleading Fraud Claims For In-Home Support Services

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuLXgo92TiI

[00:04] When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to cut millions from the state's in-home Supportive Services Program, it was more than just a budget-related decision.
[00:17] At the time, the governor alleged there was massive fraud in the program.
[00:23] His contention was that there's probably more fraud in the IHSS program than any other in the state.
[00:28] So KPBS reporter Mea Sharma joins us now to discuss her investigation into the validity of those fraud accusations.
[00:33] Um, how much of the first of all, let's let's get a background.
[00:39] He said there's fraud, we're cutting the program.
[00:43] How much of the funding is supposed to be cut?
[00:45] He's cutting $263 million from a $4 billion program.
[00:50] That is only growing at this point.
[00:53] Okay, so when when we talk about that, explain first what in-home support services does.
[00:59] We know you know what we're dealing with here.
[01:01] Okay, in-home Supportive Services.
[01:03] Dealing with here, okay, In-Home Supportive Services is a government program that provides personal care for the elderly, the disabled, the blind.
[01:12] And this care can include uh cooking, cleaning, them, you know, helping them bathe, uh shopping for them, giving them medication.
[01:22] And the idea is to keep these people in their home to take care of them in their home so they don't have to be institutionalized.
[01:30] But some of these uh these caregivers are family members, right?
[01:34] I mean, they're people who might be taking care of them anyway, so why should they get paid for it?
[01:39] Well, the point is is that some of these people require 24-hour care.
[01:44] One of the women I interviewed, she takes care of both her grandmother and her sister.
[01:49] I mean, her mother and her sister.
[01:52] Her sister is 40 years old and has the mental capacity of a 4-year-old.
[01:55] Her mother is 77, she has heart disease and she has diabetes and she needs a walker to move around.
[01:59] And so she, you know, her day isn't a 9 to 5 day, it's a 24-hour day.
[02:05] It's a 9-to-5 day, it's a 24-hour day.
[02:05] She can't hold a job outside the house.
[02:08] She can't hold a job outside the house in addition to taking care of them.
[02:09] In addition to taking care of them, how much was she getting?
[02:12] She was getting, she is getting right now $1,500 a month after deductions.
[02:15] That's about $900 a month.
[02:18] She is struggling to make ends meet right now.
[02:21] All three of them would be living on the $900.
[02:22] Right, and I believe her mother receives a small amount from the state for Social Security.
[02:27] But it's a very small amount and she is struggling to make ends meet.
[02:31] She is on the list to be wiped out in terms of losing all the support she gets from In-Home Supportive Services.
[02:38] Okay, so you did this investigation and the governor's claiming fraud.
[02:39] Fraud, what the wrong people are coming to the house and not coming to the house.
[02:47] What kind of fraud?
[02:49] Well, he didn't exactly say, but I spoke to the Deputy District Attorney, Michael G.
[02:53] And he heads the economic crimes unit in San Diego.
[02:55] And he said that the potential for fraud within this system is great.
[03:02] And that is because most of the people who offer the care.
[03:06] Most of the people who offer the care, who give the care, are friends and family of the recipients.
[03:11] And so the potential for collusion, the potential for abuse of the system is great.
[03:15] And so now that there are these new fraud controls that within the system that took effect yesterday.
[03:19] And these controls include requiring both the caregiver and the recipient to place their fingerprints on time sheets.
[03:29] That he expects the fraud numbers to go up.
[03:31] So he said the difference between what they believe is the fraud rate that they believe is in the system and what the actual prosecutions are, um, is a wide gap.
[03:41] At this point, because they don't have those controls.
[03:42] All right, so at right at this point then, are you saying that there isn't as much fraud as the governor claims?
[03:51] Well, we did a numbers check.
[03:54] We, there are currently 460,000 people statewide within In-Home Supportive Services.
[03:57] From from November or actually from July 2005 through November 2008, there were 5,000.
[04:07] Through November 2008, there were 5,000 fraud complaints within the system.
[04:11] And 1,500 of those complaints were substantiated.
[04:13] That's a less than 5% fraud rate statewide.
[04:15] How does that compare?
[04:17] Let's say to other programs.
[04:19] You know, there is a certain amount of fraud in every government program.
[04:22] But I want to get back to San Diego.
[04:23] Within San Diego, there are 25,000 people in this program.
[04:25] There were 42 complaints of fraud against IHSS last year.
[04:30] And 14 prosecutions.
[04:34] And we checked with Ventura County, Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, and San Luis Obispo County.
[04:37] And the fraud rate there was less than 1%.
[04:40] Briefly, when are the cuts supposed to go into effect?
[04:42] The cuts are supposed to go into effect in November.
[04:44] There was a federal lawsuit filed yesterday to seek a halt to the cuts until a decision has been decided on whether these cuts actually violate the American with Disabilities Act.
[04:47] Thank you very much, Am Sharma.
[04:49] Thank you.