MDHS finds $4.6 million in misspent funds from FY2022 fiscal year

The department recovered the nearly $5 million in taxpayer dollars over the last year. 

Previous investigations done by the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) Benefit Recovery Unit uncovered that more than $4.6 million were defrauded or improperly used.

The specific amount recovered was $4,618,812.90. This amount represents an increase of approximately $1.3 million over the Fiscal Year 2021.

“MDHS will continue to enhance the monitoring of our programs” Sandra Griffith, Inspector General for MDHS said. “Through training and stringent oversight, we will make sure questioned costs are identified, recouped, or investigated if needed. We will make certain the money intended for Mississippians in need is used for the identified purpose”.

The Benefit Recovery Unit, which is housed within the Office of Inspector General, establishes, monitors, tracks and recovers any public money that is found to be overused or improperly managed within the different divisions of MSDH.

They found that funds were recovered from cases which involved Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), SNAP, Child Care Discretionary Funding and TANF sub grants.

See the breakdown below: 

Questioned costs are identified by the Division of Monitoring and submitted to the Benefit Recovery Unit for recoupment. Improperly issued funds are also investigated by the Office of Inspector General’s Investigations Division, which may submit the information to Benefit Recovery for recoupment.