DHSS: Samoa citizens scamming Am Samoa 'Food Stamp' program

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Department of Human and Social Services in American Samoa is investigating Samoans who are now residing in Samoa and are still getting ‘Food Stamps’ every month from the territory.

These Samoans were revealed in a Senate hearing last week and are under investigation. They will be terminated from the program once confirmed that they are now back in Samoa.

The issue was revealed when Senate Vice President Magele Logovii questioned the new Director for DHSS if they were investigating this matter.

The newly appointed Director Panisia Neueli confirmed that this was occurring and it will be dealt with once they confirm the actual numbers of Samoan recipients doing this.

"We are monitoring the situation and culprits will be terminated from the program once they are identified," Neueli told the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

According to the DHSS statistics, there are 3,047 Samoans who are recipients of the Food Stamp and only 1,190 are American Samoans.

Foreigners residing in American Samoa are eligible for the program once they have lived in the territory for at least one year.

In the United States and its territories, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income persons to help them maintain adequate nutrition and health.

It is a federal aid program administered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).

SNAP benefits supplied roughly 40 million Americans in 2018, at an expenditure of US$57.1 billion.

It is the largest nutrition program administered by FNS and is a key component of the social safety net for low-income Americans.