Penalties for Welfare Fraud in Florida

Video Transcript

"Hi, everybody my name is Angela Pugh. I'm the mother of two teenage daughters, for a while I was a single parent. So today I'm here on behalf of Expert Village and I'm here to teach you how to apply for welfare. Now that you have determined that you are eligible for benefits, The Florida Department of Children and Families has information for you to help you understand the application process. First of all, they begin working on your application as soon as they receive it, it could take anywhere from 7-30 days to process your application for food stamps. So please keep this in mind applications for Medicaid and cash assistance may take 30-45 days. Medicaid applications could even take longer if you are a person who is disabled and they are trying to determine that you are. Also social security numbers every member of the family that is applying for social security benefits must have a social security number and it needs to be provided. Now is the case for any government program public assistance is fraud is punishable by jail time. The first infraction is that you will not be able to receive benefits for the first 12 months after your fraud has been found out. For the second infraction up to 24 months you will no longer be able to apply. If you have a third public assistance fraud infraction you can permanently dishonor yourself from ever being able to apply for benefits. You can be fined, in prison, and your fine can be up to $25,000 in jail, so if you're going to apply for welfare you must be sure that you are not committing fraud."