Detecting Cash Benefit Theft
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California

Detecting Cash Benefit Theft

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) disburses cash benefits to 860,000 people monthly. The CalWORKs program lost $194 million to theft between 2021 and 2024 (roughly $13 million per month).

Year added2026
Status as of Spring 2026Deployed
Primary AgencyDigital Service
Approach and SolutionCDSS built a data pipeline and machine learning model to predict illegal transactions. 99% of CalWORKs transactions are legitimate, and the model correctly predicts illegal transactions 82% of the time.
Who it ServesThe Public
Area of ImpactHealth & Human Services
AI Technology TypePredictive AI
Level of Human OversightAI-assisted decision (human review required)

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