How could the decision to falsely report RCA-ES clients’ educational hours, essentially committing welfare fraud, hurt the agency? How could this hurt Pathfinders’ clients? What repercussions might this have for the DHS staff?

Question

Nathan Bierwirth, BSW, worked as an employment counselor for Pathfinders Social Services, a nonprofit agency serving the Minneapolis metropolitan area. Pathfinders provided employment services for people leaving welfare, persons with disabilities, the homeless, and immigrants, refugees, and asylees. Part of Nathan’s caseload consisted of newly arrived refugees enrolled in Minnesota’s time-limited Refugee Cash Assistance–Employment Services (RCA-ES) program. Individualized Employment Plans (EPs) helped refugees transition from welfare to employment and self-sufficiency. EPs required a minimum of 35 hours per week of RCA-ES–approved activities, including employment services and formal education (limited to 20 hours per week). Nathan’s client, Ayana Tuma, a refugee from Ethiopia, had no educational or work experience and knew no English. This prevented her from effectively participating in employment service classes, so she enrolled in a full-time English as a Second Language (ESL) program. When Hennepin County audited Pathfinders, clients like Ayana, who exceeded the 20 hour instruction limit, could be sanctioned and even terminated from the program. As the audit approached, Nathan wondered if he should report Ayana’s ESL hours accurately or falsify her Employment Plan.

Answer 1

If the auditors uncovered welfare fraud committed by Pathfinders’ DHS Unit staff or others, then Pathfinders would probably lose RCA-ES funding. This could also jeopardize other state-funded or state-administered programs operated by Pathfinders and could precipitate additional, more thorough and/or more frequent, program audits. Committing welfare fraud could also make it less likely for Pathfinders to receive future state monies. Without the RCA program, Pathfinders’ RCA clients would have to have their cases transferred to other social service agencies that operated the RCA-ES program. This would likely result in a disruption of services and place the welfare of all of these clients at some risk. Pathfinders’ clients in violation of RCA guidelines would probably be terminated from the program and be without services or support. DHS Unit staff risked their jobs, their reputations, and their careers by knowingly and willfully committing welfare fraud. Besides repercussions from within Pathfinders, they would be subject to legal action or professional sanction by the state of Minnesota or their professional associations, in Nathan’s case, the Minnesota Chapter of NASW.