Auditor General Fuming Over Heating Assistance Program’s Problems

State Auditor General Jack Wagner said his patience is wearing out with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare’s energy assistance program. 

A 2011 audit from Wagner's office found that many of the same problems noted in a 2007 audit still were not remedied. Following a 2007 audit, Wagner advised the department to make changes to cut down on fraud in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which provides cash benefits to help some Pennsylvanians pay home heating and cooling bills. 

“The Department of Public Welfare must tighten its oversight of this vital program with great haste, because every dollar wasted is a dollar that will not be available to families who need assistance during these tough economic and budgetary times,” Wagner said. 

The latest audit findings include:

• Applicants were inappropriately approved for benefits
• Applicants used multiple Social Security numbers to receive multiple payments
• Applicants filed more than one application with the same Social Security number to receive multiple payments
• Applicants used Social Security numbers of deceased individuals
• Applicants under-reported their income to be eligible in the program without appropriate checks being conducted by DPW, which operates the LIHEAP program.

In a response to Wagner, state DPW Secretary Gary Alexander said the LIHEAP program is “measurably and considerably more accurate” now than in 2007. He also questioned the analysis of the 2011 report. 

“Many of your current findings relate to a small analysis of specifically targeted applications (65 applications) that were selected, because they are likely to have an error,” wrote Alexander in his response. “Results of these targeted reviews do not indicate massive or statewide control deficiencies, or that waste, fraud and abuse is present.” 

Wagner said DPW should implement appropriate checks for Social Security numbers. 

In a statement, the DPW acknowledged that "information regarding citizenship, income, resources, identity, household composition, employment and expenses was either not collected or inconsistently shared across program offices,” leading to some of the problems.

Anne Bale, DPW spokeswoman, said that DPW “implemented a system that checks a LIHEAP recipient’s info against DPW’s master client index (the database of all information on all clients who receive any DPW services) to identify and validate (Social Security numbers). We also send client info to the (Social Security Administration) for validation.” 

Until the fraudulent payments are stopped, the victims include not only taxpayers, but the recipients of the LIHEAP program.

State Rep. Kathy Watson, R-Bucks, said it was appalling that some people were turned away from the program for lack of funding while double-dipping was taking place. 

“Waste, fraud and abuse not only deny benefits to rightful and legitimate claimants, but they drape a cloud of mistrust over the agency where these cases have come to light,” Watson said. 

Joe Osprander, communications director for the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania, which represents 43 community action organizations statewide, said individuals who took advantage of the program hurt others who were in real need. 

“It’s a crime and a shame,” Osprander said. The state budget for the program is $320 million this year, almost entirely from federal taxpayer funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but Osprander said that was not enough, even if waste or fraud did not occur. 

“The bottom line is that there is never enough money in any kind of benefit program,” he said. “There is always more need.” 

The DPW plans to use 65 percent of the program’s funds this year for cash assistance payments, with a minimum benefit of $100 per household and a maximum benefit of $1,000. The department estimates that more than 373,000 recipients will receive benefits during the winter. 

The department sets aside 10 percent of the funding for “crisis” benefits, which could serve 170,000 households on a temporary basis in the event that the winter is particularly harsh. The remaining funds are used for administration and weatherization programs. 

The income limits for eligibility have been reduced slightly this year. Last year, a family of four making $35,000 would have been eligible for LIHEAP assistance, but that figure has been reduced to $33,000 in this year’s budget. 

The state budget passed in June expects the department to find more than $4 billion in savings through the elimination of waste, fraud and abuse. But during the budget process, Alexander told the House Appropriations Committee that he was unsure if such savings could be realized in a single year. 

Bale said the department fully expects to live within the budget that has been adopted.