More than $38,000 was recovered from financial assistance cheats and returned to the Government purse last year.

The news was revealed by Minister of Culture and Social Rehabilitation Dale Butler, during yesterday's budget debate in the House of Assembly.

"The establishment of an investigative officer position within the department continues to be of tremendous benefit. The investigative officer looks into any concerns raised by the financial assistance case workers or managers around suspected client fraud or misuse of funds," he explained.

"The investigative officer acts as a buffer between clients who have been previously known to be non-compliant with the policies of the department and the staff. The investigative officer also randomly reviews case files as an internal scan to reduce the level of risk in-house, and may liaise with other departments and non-governmental organisations to ensure that policy is being adhered to, and that client needs are being met."

Mr. Butler said in addition, cases of clients having undisclosed funds that would have rendered them ineligible for assistance have been uncovered.

"The involvement of the investigative officer has resulted in recouping overpayment of financial awards where clients have not been truthful or forthcoming with credible information. From the period of April to December 2008, $38,510.32 has been recovered and replaced in the Government purse. This is an increase of $24,107.43 returned," he explained.

Mr. Butler said that as a result of increased clientele and the new child day care allowance programme, a second investigative officer has been approved to join the department.

The $28 million financial assistance budget for this year is up $10 million on last year. Mr. Butler explained that among the reasons are an increase in awards in line with the cost of living, an increase in clients with medical needs as their main issue, and also the child day care allowance which was launched in November.

The average child day care award is approximately $694 per child per month, he revealed. To date, more than 450 applications for the allowance have been filed.

Mr. Butler said the total number of those receiving financial assistance fluctuates between 1,100 and 1,400 per month, an increase of 200-300 more per month than last year. Of those, around 405 per month are seniors, with the rest of the clients made up of the physically disabled, the able-bodied unemployed, and individuals with low income. The average financial award is $1,825 monthly.

Turning to the department of court services, the Minister said work on the implementation of a mental health treatment court programme is ongoing. There is already a special drug treatment court for offenders with addictions.

The department is responsible for administering parole and probation for offenders. There were 352 people on probation as of January 31 this year and 114 parole cases being managed.

In addition, those sentenced to community service are overseen by the department, with in excess of 3,063 hours of unpaid community work, in lieu of imprisonment, completed in the past fiscal year.

For the upcoming year, Mr. Butler said at least two new programmes will be launched to address high-risk offenders in the community in addition to the 11 programmes and groups delivered during the past year.

On the department of national drug control, the Minister said: "Notable progress has been made with respect to the implementation of mandatory drug treatment for incarcerated persons."

Both a facility for long-term residential drug treatment within the prison system and funding have been identified after a fact-finding trip to the USA, although Mr. Butler did not give further details.

He added that work is ongoing to bridge "two major gaps" in the treatment of offenders. The department is working to establish a protocol for the "co-occurring disorders" of drug addiction and mental illness. It is also working on more youth and adolescent-centred treatment services.