Food Assistance: Efforts To Control Fraud and Abuse in the Child and Adult Care Food Program Should Be Strengthened. United States General Accounting Office Report to Congressional Committees.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program provides over $1.5 billion in benefits annually to children and adults in day care. In order to address the longstanding problems of fraud and abuse present in the program, state agencies have been charged with the responsibility for implementing Food and Nutrition Service's (FNS) regulations to prevent and detect fraud and abuse. At the request of congressional committees, this study examined the extent to which states have implemented required and recommended controls, and FNS's effectiveness in directing the states' efforts. Data were collected by surveying the administrating agencies in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Findings indicated that, although all agencies had implemented at least part of the minimum required controls, there was variation in implementation of recommended controls. Agencies cited several factors making it difficult to strengthen controls over fraud and abuse, including lack of resources, lack of training, and unclear regulations. Further, the FNS has not effectively directed states' anti-fraud efforts, nor strengthened minimum control requirements, despite recommendations dating to 1995. The service has not adequately monitored states' implementation and therefore has little basis for identifying and correcting problems; it has also had difficulty correcting compliance problems, partly because it lacks an appropriate range of sanctions. Oversight weakness results largely from insufficient resources. Based on findings, it was recommended that the FNS develop a comprehensive plan to strengthen the states' controls for detecting and preventing fraud and abuse. (Two appendices describe the study methodology and list key contacts.) (KB)