County has incentive to find inmates collecting benefits

By Diana Wallace

June 26, 2000 Web posted at: 11:18 AM EDT (1518 GMT)

ARLINGTON, Illinois (Daily Herald) -- Because the government already takes care of their food, shelter and medical needs, jail inmates are not supposed to receive Social Security benefits while they're incarcerated.

"But, typically, they're not going to be calling up Social Security and saying, 'Please stop sending my checks,'" said Monica Sampias, spokeswoman for the DuPage County sheriff.

Now, as an incentive for jail officials to help the Social Security Administration identify such inmates, the agency will begin paying the county $400 for every inmate found to be receiving benefits illegally.

"Jail inmates housed at public expense should not continue to receive benefits," said Jim Rasins, chief deputy county auditor. "It represents a form of double dipping into taxpayers' pockets."

Prisons and jails, including the DuPage County facility, have for years been helping the federal government identify illegal benefit recipients. But only recently has DuPage County qualified for the $400 incentive payments because the county is now supplying the information electronically.

The program applies to both traditional retirement and disability benefits, which can be as high as $1,300 a month, and SSI, a type of general assistance that tops out at $512 a month. The inmate must be incarcerated for at least a month and, in some cases, must be convicted before the benefits would cease.

Rasins said the cost to the county to provide the information to the Social Security Administration is minimal. But the federal government can save thousands of dollars by cutting off just one ineligible inmate's benefits. Since May 1999, the Social Security Administration has suspended the benefits of 47 inmates of the DuPage County jail.

"Nobody wants to see persons who are incarcerated sitting back and getting a check every month." Social Security spokeswoman Mary Jarrett said.

Congress is worried about who has your Social Security number

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