Americans have a right to expect that government ensures their hard-earned tax dollars are managed wisely. With more than 46 million people relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly called food stamps) to help put healthy food on the table, we need to continue to improve our stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

More than half of those receiving benefits are children, the elderly and the disabled. But there are also millions of hard working people turning to SNAP for the first time in their lives because they are having trouble making ends meet.

I have found that Americans support helping low-income families and children meet their basic nutrition needs — but they want to know that benefits will be used appropriately and that they can count on help going to those who really need it.

I share that sentiment, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is constantly working to improve its systems and meet evolving fraud risks.

Our stepped-up anti-fraud efforts are showing real results.

From Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2011, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service took conclusive actions to sanction — via fines or temporary disqualifications — more than 225 stores found violating program rules, and permanently disqualified more than 350 stores for trafficking SNAP benefits.

Trafficking is an illegal activity punishable by criminal prosecution and, during the past 15 years, the USDA and state agencies administering the program have sharply reduced the prevalence of SNAP trafficking — from 4 percent down to its current level of 1 percent.

Working with the states, we are catching and prosecuting fraudulent activity. In FY 2010, more than 780,000 investigations were completed, and 44,000 individuals were disqualified from the program.

Fraud is not a static concept, and we are always working to stay ahead of new forms of program abuse. We have seen instances where people were using their benefits to buy beverages — often large, multi-gallon water containers with $5 to $10 deposits — and dumping out the contents to return them for the cash.

While very rare, these were outrageous cases where individuals were simply trying to find a quick and easy way to turn their SNAP benefits into cash. We recently proposed new rules to make these abuses subject to much stiffer penalties.

USDA is increasing documentation requirements to verify identity and assure business integrity as well as researching high-risk stores using tax and business databases. Stores that falsify information will be charged, disqualified and may be liable for a $10,000 fine or imprisonment for as long as 5 years, or both.

Other more recent illegal activities we became aware of include selling benefits online through social media outlets, such as Craigslist or Facebook. We recently changed our policies to make clear that advertising the sale of benefits through these sites is a violation and can result in disqualification from SNAP.

We are also in the process of developing stronger sanctions and penalties through regulatory process against the small proportion of retailers that misuse the program.

Recently USDA launched a new website (www.fns.usda.gov/fightingsnapfraud) to get the word out about our efforts to deter fraudulent SNAP activity and enlist the public’s help in fighting it. We will continue to use all the tools available, including the latest technology, to combat fraud.

Taken together, these steps underscore USDA’s commitment to protect the integrity of SNAP, the nation’s most critical nutrition assistance program. I’m proud to say that USDA takes protecting taxpayer dollars very seriously and we are working hard to make sure others do too.

James Arena-DeRosa is the Northeast Regional Administrator of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.