Evening star., 1962-07-31
RELIEF
Continued From Page Al

Dok into the possibility Of tht
GAO doing the study.
The House has allowed $685..
900 for it.
MIR. Shea said the study wa.
necessary because Welfare De.
partment and GAO report.
during the special investigation
Of relief rolls showed thai
something has to be done Il
improve controls and efficiency
Of operation of the public as
sistance division.
Citing the massive amount
Of paper work" involved in the
public assistance division. Mr..
Shea held up a folder contain
ing samples Of 81 basic records
that workers are required to
fill out.
The subcommittee would ap-
plaud the desire to reduce the
number Of forms, Senator Byrd
said.
Sixty per cent Of cases ana
lyzed by Federal investigators
since March have been cut
from the rolls.
Able Men Used Money
Most families were ineligible
because able bodied men were
living with mothers and their
children. Some men held jobs.
Others seemed to be living off
welfare dole intended for chill
dren's food and clothing.
To Controller General Camp
bell. these findings meant that
the local public assistance di-
vision either had failed ini-
italy to verify family needs or
had been unable to keep con-
tact with recipients after re-
lief began.
Caretakers Of children can
not be trusted to tell the public
assistance division whether
they continued to be in need,
according to the Federal report.
SchOItz Division Criticized
The presence Of q man in
the home. private income and
even the number Of children
should be checked by field in
vestigators outside the public
assistance division, according
to the controller general. His
report, although couched in
careful language, was sharply
critical Of the public assistance
division, headed by Bernard
Scholz.
I'VE believe the investi-
gative unit should have a
reporting responsibility not
only to the PAD (Mr. Sholz) =,
but also to the Welfare Direc-
tor Gerald Shea).
I'VE believe further that
procedures should be adopted
to insure that the investigative
findings are given adNguate
and proper consideration by
the PAD in making its eligi-
bility determinations" Mr.
Campbell wrote. This recDm-
mendation apparently would
remove social workers as Judges
over Investigators findings.
Paper Work Burden
The los social workers in
Mr.. Scholz' division carry an
average Of 1873 cases each. One
analyst has estimated that the
city's social workers can spare
only five hours a year in the
homes Of welfare recipients,
primarily because OF the burden
of paper work.
Director Shea has asked Con-
gress to make permanent po-
sitions of 10 investigators.
With these 10 temporary inves-
tigators. the team now at work
within the department num-
bers "a. An increase of the
scope asked by the Controller
General could increase this
number at least five fold,
The report told, for the first
time, how Federal investigators
worked to ferret out freeloaders
on welfare.
Four Home Visits
Investigators visited each
home at least four times. AT
first, they came at night OF
early Saturday or Sunday
morning. All family members
were most likely to be at home
then, the Federal force rea.
soned, and available for inter.
view.
One team went inside. TIL,
other stayed outside to make
sure nobody sneaked away.
Verified during this first visit
were facts given public assist.
ance, the identify and relation
ship of people in the home anC
household facilities indicating
whether men lived there or tht
mother had unreported fl
nancial resources.
Afterwards, investigators cor
roborated the residents storieI
by checking birth certificates
school records, employers, util'
ity companies, real estate com
panies, police and traffic de.
partments. as well as persona
acquaintanceS.
OF the $50 cases in tn
sample selected for investiga
tion, IS per cent are now of
welfare. Forty-two recipient
withdrew before investigator
called. OF cases actually inves
tigated, so per cent, or 14l
were found ineligible.
In SO cases, a man was il
the house. District rules Civ
aid to children abandoned b,
their fathers.
The man in the house wa
either the husband of tn
mother or the father of tn
children in 81 cases.
In 20 cases, the mothers wer
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