How often does the state agency that pays out welfare check to see if who’s getting the money is even alive? Until July the Department of Human Services wasn’t required to do it even once a month.

A new law will now make DHS cross reference state death records with public aid payments on a monthly basis. State Senator Kyle McCarter, a Vandalia Republican says the old way of doing it defies logic.

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The hope is that deceased recipients will be removed from payment databases sooner saving the state money. The law, now in effect, will remove the individuals from welfare rolls and deactivate LINK cards.