HP Software Update Cancels Food Stamps

Spy Handler writes "A software update of the California welfare computer system (CalWIN) caused 37,000 Food Stamp recipients to lose their EBT (a credit card paid for by the government) benefits last weekend. According to the article, Hewlett Packard was responsible for the failed update of CalWIN, but at 8:00 a.m. today Xerox (who administers another state welfare system called CalFresh) issued a patch that reactivated the EBT cards."

Re:Nice!

[eljasbo]

I remember when food assistance programs meant you got your monthly allotment of government welfare cheese and other staples delivered to your door. im all for taking it back to that time. The 'modern' method of distributing benefits definitely opens the way to fraud, especially when you can get cash from the ebt card at casinos. It has made fraud so easy now many of the benefits are not going to their intended purpose. However, there are not too many crack dealers that will trade a block of cheese for drugs. That is the way it should be. Keep the benefits, just change the method of delivery. i think that would help more than anything. im tired of working hard to fund some other's drug or gambling habit with this kind of abuse.

Re:Nice!

[NIK282000]

Agreed. Canada has exactly the same problem. I came out of high school, worked 6 years as an apprentice got my license as an electrician and have since been out of work. I don't qualify for welfare but there is gov. subsidized housing down the street with a parking lot full of 2012 pickups and BMWs. Both countries need a serious overhaul to their welfare systems.

Re:Nice!

[Mitreya]

A database of 200 million Electronic Benefit Transfer records from January 2011 to July 2012, obtained by The Post through a Freedom of Information request, showed welfare recipients using their EBT cards to make dozens of cash withdrawals at ATMs inside Hankâ(TM)s Saloon in Brooklyn; the Blue Door Video porn shop in the East Village; The Anchor, a sleek SoHo lounge; the Patriot Saloon in TriBeCa; and Drinks Galore, a liquor distributor in The Bronx.

DOZENS of withdrawals from 200 MILLION records. If every government program was abused on the order of less than 1 thousandth of 1%, then we'd all be sitting pretty

and there is no proof that the money was actually spent on alcohol (likely perhaps, but probably not in all cases). But regardless, any program that wastes less than 1 hundredth of 1% (and here it was even less) is a raging success.