Editing 79-10-B6 (section)

= Project Match =

<TABLE BORDER="0"><TR><TD WIDTH="60%" ROWSPAN="2">
=== Transcript ===
With great fanfare in November, 1977, Secretary of [[wikipedia:United_States_Department_of_Health_and_Human_Services#Department_of_Health,_Education,_and_Welfare|Health, Education and
Welfare]] [[wikipedia:Joseph_A._Califano_Jr.|Joseph Califano]] unveiled a new program designed to catch welfare cheaters.
It is called "[[Project Match]]." Secretary Califano claimed that by matching the
welfare rolls of 26 states against the rolls of five million federal employees
in a complex computer process, HEW could weed out all those cheaters who were on
the federal payroll at the same time they were receiving welfare checks. This
would be the best way, Califano claimed at the time, to catch violators in what he
admitted was a fraud-prone welfare system.

To give "Project Match" a big send-off, Califano decided to launch a trial
run in Washington, D.C. by matching HEW's own employee rolls with the list of
Washington welfare recipients. Lo and behold, the computer coughed up 15 names
which were on both lists. The 15 were indicted last fall in a highly publicized
round-up. According to HEW, this indicated that "Project Match" was doing its job.

But the disposition of those 15 cases indicates the opposite. Of the 15
indicted, five had their cases dismissed, four had their charges reduced to
technical violations and the remaining six pleaded guilty to felonies. None
served any time in prison, and a grand total of $2,000 was repaid. These are not
the results of a soft-hearted judge, but a complete breakdown in communications
between HEW and the city of Washington's Department of Human Resources. In most
of the 15 cases, the accused welfare cheaters had found jobs and reported this
fact to the appropriate District authorities. But this information never made
it to the HEW computers. Therefore, these 15 people appeared on "Project
Match's" list as both HEW employees and welfare recipients. Their names were
printed in both Washington newspapers as examples of HEW's successful, new
program.

The case of one of the 15 victims of "Project Match" is particularly
disturbing. A 32 year old working mother was forced to go on welfare when it
was discovered that she had cancer. She quit her job in order to undergo a
debilitating series of cobalt treatments for the cancer. Then one day her
doctor, had good news. Her condition has improved and she could go back to
work. She found a job at St. Elizabeth's hospital. Elated, this woman called
Washington's Department of Human Resources to tell them that she wouldn't need
the welfare payments any more. The official she talked to told her not to worry
if a few more checks came in the mail. The checks did keep on corning. A second
call to the official didn't stop them either. Finally, she began to cash the
checks in order to pay off some doctor bills.

Needless to say, when the woman's name was listed prominently in the
Washington newspapers, she lost her job, and because of the publicity, cannot
find another one. While faulting her for cashing the checks she tried to stop,
the judge dismissed her case. Today she is back on welfare.

The trial run of "Project Match" cost the taxpayers more than it saved.
And it cost many of the people involved undeserved embarrassment and the loss
of their jobs. It's not exactly an incentive to try to best the vicious circle
of welfare. For HEW, it's time to go back to the drawing board. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
</TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%" ROWSPAN="2">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT="250">
=== Details ===
<TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="80%">
<TR><TD WIDTH="150">Batch Number</TD><TD WIDTH="150">{{PAGENAME}}</TD></TR>
<TD>Production Date</TD><TD>07/09/[[Radio1979|1979]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Book/Page</TD><TD>[[rrpl:public/2024-07/40-656-7386263-014-016-2024.pdf#PAGE=15|Online PDF]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Audio</TD><TD></TD></TR>
<TD>Youtube?</TD><TD>No</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD VALIGN="TOP">
===Added Notes===
* [https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/sar/1239/OIG-SAR-FALL-1979-Complete%20Report.pdf 1979 HEW Inspector General Annual Report] Discussing Project Match (not text searchable)
</TD></TR>
</TABLE>