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Pine County HHS says it received lists tied to state fraud probes; local exposure unclear
Summary
Commissioner Nelson raised recent state and federal fraud findings; Becky Fosse, Pine County HHS director, said the county previously received a list of names linked to housing services and described how social workers can detect suspect provider activity, but she said it was not yet clear how many Pine County clients were affected.
Commissioner Nelson asked whether lists of names tied to recent state and federal fraud findings had been delivered to Pine County and whether any local clients were implicated.
Becky Fosse, Pine County health and human services director, said the county had received "a list of names of individuals supposedly receiving services related to the housing" and that some providers named on the list were known locally, but she cautioned that receipt of a list does not mean the services were fraudulent. Fosse explained how social workers can detect suspect activity and escalate it to state oversight bodies: "1 of the social workers alerted her supervisor...and so then that gets escalated to our, our people that we have at the state and then to the OIG's office." (Becky Fosse)
Nelson and other commissioners discussed the statewide reporting, concerns about victims whose identities may have been misused, and the limits of county-level data: Fosse said some numbers (for example, the count of specific vulnerable clients) must be requested from state DHS and said a prior local inquiry returned a small number (eight) in an earlier exchange with DHS. The board asked staff to track any follow-up that would identify local victims and coordinate with state investigators when needed.
