Recovery of payments made due to mistake or fraud.

(1) Whenever it becomes apparent that any person or provider has received any public assistance under this chapter to which she or he is not entitled, through either simple mistake or fraud on the part of the department or on the part of the recipient or participant, the department shall take all necessary steps to recover the overpayment. Recovery may include Federal Income Tax Refund Offset Program collections activities in conjunction with the Food and Nutrition Service and the Internal Revenue Service to intercept income tax refunds due to clients who owe food assistance or temporary cash assistance debt to the state. The department will follow the guidelines in accordance with federal rules and regulations and consistent with the Food Assistance Program. The department may make appropriate settlements and shall establish a policy and cost-effective rules to be used in the computation and recovery of such overpayments.

(a) The department will consider an individual who has willfully provided false information or omitted information to become or remain eligible for temporary cash assistance to have committed an intentional program violation.

(b) When the intentional program violation or case facts do not warrant criminal prosecution for fraud as defined in s. 414.39, the department will initiate an administrative disqualification hearing. The administrative disqualification hearing will be initiated regardless of the individual’s current eligibility.

(c) Upon a finding through the administrative disqualification hearing process that the individual did commit an intentional program violation, the department will impose a disqualification period consistent with those established for food assistance program purposes.

(2) The department shall determine if recovery of an overpayment as a result of department error regarding cash assistance provided under the Temporary Cash Assistance Program or benefits provided to a recipient of aid to families with dependent children would create extreme hardship. The department shall provide by rule the circumstances that constitute an extreme hardship. The department may reduce the amount of repayment if a recipient or participant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that repayment of the entire overpayment would result in extreme hardship, but the department may not excuse repayment. A determination of extreme hardship is not grounds for a waiver of repayment in whole or in part.

(3) The department, or its designee, shall enforce an order of income deduction by the court against the liable adult recipient or participant, including the head of a family, for overpayment received as an adult under the temporary cash assistance program, the AFDC program, the food assistance program, or the Medicaid program.