NORWICH – In the discussion about hiring two caseworkers to relieve overtime stress-related turnover within the Social Services department, which the Chenango County Board of Supervisors agreed to do last week, lawmakers also questioned the need to hire more fraud investigators.

Both supervisors representing the City of Norwich said back in February that the quality of life in city neighborhoods would improve with more fraud detection. According to minutes of a Health and Human Services Committee on Feb. 28, Supervisor Robert M. Jeffrey, Wards 4,5,6, and Supervisor James J. McNeil, Wards 1,2,3, asked whether criminal checks and drug testing occurred before individuals received assistance.

Department of Social Services Commissioner Bette Osborne said three fraud investigators were sufficient to handle the number of applications for services and the amount of cases of reported fraud has remained stable over the recent past. Osborne said fingerprinting is mandatory for cash assistance, but not criminal checks. Drug and alcohol assessments occur only if there is an indicator on an applicant’s questionnaire.

There were 140 applications for cash assistance in January, two-thirds of which were investigated, according to the minutes.

According to the Chenango County Sheriff’s annual report, eight people were arrested for welfare fraud in 2011 and approximately $30,000 was recovered. Osborne said 276 complaints regarding alleged fraud were investigated within the DSS Fraud Unit last year and an additional $194,994 recovered.