August 6, 2007 - Since the federal government placed a “high risk”
status label on the WIC and Food Stamp (American Samoa Nutritional Assistance Program or ASNAP) programs administered locally under the Department of Human and Social Services in 2005, DHSS director Talia Fa’afetai I’aulualo has been busy attending several meetings with representatives from Region IX, which oversees local DHSS operations, hoping that the “high risk”
status will be lifted sooner than later.
“Our main goal now is to comply with the requirements that have been laid out,” Talia said, adding that his department has done a great job in combating the fraudulent use of the WIC/Food Stamp programs which are federally funded annually with an estimated $11 million combined.
The “high risk” status was issued in 2005 and finalized in 2006. Since that time, almost 50% of local vendors participating in the two programs have been disqualified by DHSS for different reasons.
Vendors cannot participate in one program and not the other. Basically, the vendor must participate in both programs (WIC and Food Stamp). If they are disqualified from either of the programs, they automatically lose eligibility for the other program.
It is the DHSS Quality Control Division, specifically the Compliance Unit, which is responsible for looking into possible cases of fraud in the two programs. When WIC vouchers and/or food stamps are redeemed for cash at the bank, sometimes suspicions are raised because of the high redemption value.
Some stores reportedly make off with over $50,000 worth of WIC and food stamp purchases in a single month, although these same stores are small in size and don’t appear to have that much inventory in stock.
It is those questionable transactions that trigger concerns from the WIC or Food Stamp office, concerns that are then referred to the Compliance Unit for further investigation.
The Compliance Unit works off a point system. For every violation, points are taken away from the vendor until such a time when the vendor gets disqualified from the program.
Compliance Unit acting manager Emelio Fruean, accompanied by three other officers who make up the Compliance Unit, usually visit targeted stores in an attempt to determine if they are abusing the WIC/Food Stamp programs.
The officers take with them WIC vouchers and Food Stamps issued in their names. While at the store, the guys attempt to sneak into their purchase, illegal items like cigarettes and beer, to be bought with the checks. If the transaction goes through, a report is drawn up and forwarded to either the WIC or Food Stamp office, whichever program was used in the transaction.
It is the respective offices that ultimately have the final say as to what, if anything, should be done to the vendor.
All the items purchased during the Compliance Unit’s “buys” are later donated to the DHSS shelter or the Nazareth House at Fatu-o-Aiga.
Items that are not to be sold or bought using Food Stamps include anything that cannot be consumed. This means that any product a person can eat or drink can be bought, while other items including cleaning supplies, toys, and personal hygiene products like toothpaste and soap cannot be purchased with Food Stamps.
For the WIC program, each check comes with a standard list of everything that can be bought with the check, no substitutions allowed. Items that can be bought with WIC checks are listed on the green cardboard pamphlet that accompanies all issued WIC checks, as well as on the checks themselves. Examples of items that can be purchased include milk, cereal, eggs, juice, formula, and peanut butter.
Only certain brands and sizes are permitted to be bought and each vendor is urged to comply with the rules already set forth.
According to Talia, the Quality Control Division is one section of his department that he has placed emphasis on, in assisting with the current “high risk”
status, as they are the ones who inspect the stores and “they have been doing a better job at it than before.”
Talia recently attended a meeting in San Francisco to discuss the program reviews conducted here in May and July for the WIC and Food Stamp programs.
“The meetings were basically to reassess the status of the programs,” Talia said. “The Region is looking into our status right now but there hasn’t been any confirmation as to what they are going to do. However, they were very pleased with the review on the ASNAP program.”
He added, “Hopefully they will issue a decision before the end of this year or even next year. All we have to do is keep up with their conditions for administering the program.”
Talia has expressed concern that the Region has not been specific with their demands, meaning that they have not imposed a timeline on when things need to be straightened out.
“There is no set milestone,” he said. “It is an open ended thing and there are no specifics on what they want us to follow.” Talia said he expressed this concern to Region IX, whom he described as being “sensitive” to the issue.
“Our main goal now is to follow all the requirements for both programs. For those vendors who have been disqualified, there is a maximum of three years imposed, after which they can reapply but in cases like that, we would seriously need to consider all the facts, including the vendor’s history of following program guidelines,” Talia concluded.
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