Food Assistance: Reducing Benefit Overpayments in the Food Stamp Program
(Testimony, 02/01/95, GAO/T-RCED-95-94).

Hundreds of millions of dollars in food stamp benefits are being paid
annually to persons who should not receive benefits or who receive more
benefits than they should.  Overpayments have increased in recent years
to the point that in fiscal year 1993, more than eight percent of the
$22 billion in benefits was inappropriately issued.  Most of the errors
were due to inaccurate information provided by benefit recipients to
state caseworkers.  The Agriculture Department's (USDA) Food and
Consumer Service and many states have initiatives under way to reduce
benefit overpayments.  Some states have been so successful in reducing
overpayments that they have qualified for additional food stamp funding
from USDA.  Although many factors have contributed to states' success in
reducing overpayments, the single most critical factor seems to be
aggressive pursuit of the error rate problem by food stamp program
managers.  USDA has also worked with states to reduce error rates by
granting states waivers to a number of program regulations that tend to
increase the number of errors.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-RCED-95-94
     TITLE:  Food Assistance: Reducing Benefit Overpayments in the Food 
             Stamp Program
      DATE:  02/01/95
   SUBJECT:  Food stamp programs
             State-administered programs
             Overpayments
             Fraud
             Food relief programs
             Program abuses
             Eligibility determinations
             Aid to families with dependent children
             Welfare recipients
             Welfare benefits
IDENTIFIER:  USDA Food Stamp Quality Control System
             AFDC
             FCS State Exchange Program
             IRS Refund Offset Program
             Louisiana
             South Carolina
             New Mexico
             Alabama
             Texas
             
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