The Payment Integrity Center of Excellence is a community of experts within the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service that assists agencies in reducing improper payments and is dedicated to solving government-wide payment integrity challenges.

In FY2022, states spent more than 44 percent of federal TANF and state funds on non-assistance services, including work, education, and training activities; childcare; and child welfare services. Questions have arisen about how states use and account for TANF funds, and as a result the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review TANF non-assistance spending. This GAO report, part of a series of reports reviewing TANF, examines how the seven selected states have used TANF non-assistance funds, non-assistance data collected and used by selected states, and any data challenges faced by selected states and the extent to which the Department of Health and Human Services provides support to address these challenges.

In February 2023, the Office of Payment Integrity took center stage at the Department of the Interior’s Financial Management Workshop, sharing insights on financial data integrity, strategic planning, and reporting. This workshop connected professionals across divisions to enhance transparency and accuracy in financial management.

In August 2023, the Office of Payment Integrity hosted its annual Payment Integrity Day: Helping to Support Your Payment Integrity Efforts, brought together 200+ federal and state leaders to tackle improper payments. Attendees explored cutting-edge tools like the Do Not Pay Initiative, Account Verification Service, and Death Record Confidence Scoring Tool, all designed to enhance accuracy and prevent fraud.

To address the growing challenge of public assistance fraud, a consortium of five states, working with contractors and supported by a grant from the Food and Nutrition Service, has established the National Accuracy Clearinghouse (NAC). The NAC is a contributory system of beneficiary information to support accurate and timely identification and verification of applicants applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to reduce duplicate benefit issuance and improve program access. This white paper explains how the NAC, as an innovative solution for secure sharing of information on recipients of health and human services among states, can safeguard support for such human services programs by enhancing public confidence that the federal and state governments are properly and responsibly administering their taxpayer dollars.

Oversight of America’s welfare system is still falling short of protecting taxpayers and preventing waste, fraud and abuse. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the Department of Health and Human Services must do more to monitor states’ use of welfare funding under the TANF program – including strengthening the department’s fraud risk management efforts to improve outreach and coordination with states and establishing better guidance to improve accountability. The House Committee on Ways & Means released this resource that provides a background on the congressional watchdog reports, including the original request made to the GAO in 2023.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has engaged with Emergency Rental Assistance grantees across the country to identify program strategies that promise to speed up program implementation, more efficiently deliver program benefits, enhance program integrity, and improve tenant and landlord access to programs. This Treasury webpage highlights a promising practice, Implementing Program Integrity Measures, including advantages, strategies, and examples.

Chapter 1, “Best Practices for Strengthening Federal Programs,” from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee’s Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity, highlighted strategies and concrete steps from pandemic programs that can be adopted in current and future federal programs that provide critical financial assistance and services. To help agencies in preventing and deterring fraud, waste, and abuse prior to releasing funds in a timely manner, this chapter identifies key recommendations related to the development, implementation, and maintenance of strong internal controls, even during crises.

This Chief Financial Officers Council playbook provides a four-phased approach with 16 plays drawn from successful practices from the federal government and private sector to help combat the risk of fraud. Combating government fraud is an ongoing challenge, but this playbook will provide practical and actionable guidance to help in the antifraud journey.

The Office of Child Care (OCC) works with Child Care Development Funds grantees to ensure that all program funds are used to the benefit of eligible children and families. This OCC factsheet highlights their efforts to strengthen program integrity by focusing on reducing administrative errors and preventing, detecting, and eliminating fraud.