Thursday, May 23, 1996

Some Welfare Recipients To Be Fingerprinted Under Test Program

By Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Welfare recipients will be fingerprinted to verify their eligibility for state services under a test program starting this fall in Bexar and Guadalupe counties.

State Comptroller John Sharp's office was unveiling the program Wednesday along with other innovations in welfare fraud prevention. The $270,000 pilot fingerprinting project is to begin Sept. 1.

Supporters say a computerized system for checking digitized fingerprints can detect fraud when would-be recipients file their applications. But critics argue it puts a chill on helping the needy.

"No matter how many promises they make, people will believe that their fingerprints will be checked against any outstanding warrants, and they will be deterred from applying for benefits that may be needed for their children and families," said Tom "Smitty" Smith of the watchdog group Public Citizen.

"The damage to families will far exceed the benefit to society," Smith told the San Antonio Express-News.

Human Services Commissioner Burton F. Raiford has said: "Finger imaging will give us a new tool to preserve the integrity of state programs for Texas families who legitimately need temporary assistance."

A fingerprint imaging system already is in operation in several places in California, where each applicant for food stamps or Aid to Families with Dependent Children places a finger in an optical scanner that reads the print and transmits it to a central data base.

The computer then retrieves prints, if any, that appear to match, and a trained fingerprint expert evaluates the prints.

Applicants seeking benefits to which they are not entitled could face prosecution, state officials say.
In Los Angeles County, the Automated Fingerprint Image Reporting and Match System is credited with saving $5.4 million within the first six months of operation by terminating more than 3,000 illegitimate cases.