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Clay County social services reports rising fraud inquiries and increased collections funding
Summary
Social Services reported that fraud referrals and collection efforts rose in 2025, prompting a state grant increase. Fraud investigators and collections staff described higher referral volumes, overpayment recovery activity, and expanded administrative tools to accelerate outcomes.
Social Services presented a detailed review of child support, fraud investigations, collections and the social-services accounting unit to the Clay County Board of Commissioners.
Sandy and Susan said fraud investigators handled 781 referrals in 2025 (up from 638 in 2024) across household composition and unreported-income cases. The unit reported more than $72,000 in overpayments currently being pursued and described work to recover funds through voluntary repayments, administrative hearings and criminal referrals when appropriate.
Sandy said the unit referred 11 cases for criminal action in 2025 and that administrative disqualification hearings (ADHs) were used to provide faster adjudication where appropriate; the presentation showed ADHs closed in about 2.5 months on average, compared with criminal cases that historically could take years to resolve. As a result of 2024 work, the state raised the county's fraud grant from $125,000 to $189,000 for state fiscal years 2026 and 2027, the presenters said.
On collections, staff reported more than $1.5 million in collections activity during the reporting period, with roughly $460,000 returned to the county after federal and state shares. The child-support unit distributed nearly $7.7 million to custodial parties and reported continued challenges on interstate cases and system limitations that constrain collection speed.
Presenters noted legacy technology limitations in county collections systems and described state plans for incremental modernization of child-support systems. Commissioners and staff discussed coordination with the county attorney's office on estate recovery and litigation steps when involuntary remedies are necessary.
The board thanked staff for the work; presenters said they would continue to pursue overpayments and report back on outcomes and system-modernization progress.
