United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-11-24 monographic deposited born digital 25 p. GA 1.13:RCED-00-12 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-12 P0b002ee1803772f7 f:rc00012 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-12 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-12 RCED-00-12 Food relief programs Child care programs Internal controls Federal/state relations State-administered programs Program abuses Fraud USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program Letter Report RCED GAO reviewed the Food and Nutrition Service's (FNS) efforts to control the fraud and abuses occurring in its state administered Child and Adult Care Food Program, focusing on: (1) the extent to which the states have implemented required and recommended controls to prevent and detect fraud and abuse; and (2) FNS' effectiveness in directing the states' efforts to implement these controls.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) almost all of the state agencies reported they had implemented, at least in part, FNS' minimum required controls for detecting fraud and abuse in the Child and Adult Care Food Program; (2) these agencies, however, reported variation in implementing the additional controls recommended by the Inspector General and task force; (3) state agencies cited factors that made it difficult to strengthen controls over fraud and abuse, including: (a) a lack of resources (staff, funding, or computer technology); (b) a lack of training in and knowledge of how to identify fraud and abuse; and (c) unclear regulations by FNS on removing noncompliant sponsors from the program; (4) according to FNS and state officials, state agencies may be reluctant to adopt additional fraud and abuse controls because they view themselves as providers of program benefits, not policing organizations; (5) FNS has not effectively directed the states' efforts to protect against fraud and abuse in this program; (6) it has yet to strengthen the minimum requirements for the states' controls over fraud and abuse, despite recommendations from the Inspector General and federal-state task force dating back to 1995; (7) this has contributed to many states not implementing the types of controls necessary to reduce the program's vulnerability to illegal or inappropriate uses of federal funds; (8) FNS has not adequately monitored the states' implementation of controls over fraud and abuse and has little basis for identifying and correcting problems that the states may be experiencing; (9) FNS has had difficulty correcting problems involving the states' compliance with required controls, partially because it lacks an appropriate range of sanctions; (10) agency officials told GAO that these oversight weaknesses largely resulted from insufficient resources, noting that in the past few years, the agency needed to concentrate many of its resources on implementing changes required by welfare reform; (11) beginning in fiscal year 1999, Congress authorized an additional $1 million annually for 5 years to strengthen the agency's efforts in preventing and detecting fraud and abuse in the food program; and (12) FNS has initiated but not completed actions to address these problems. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-12/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-12.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-12/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-12.pdf GAO/RCED-00-12 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-12 Letter Report GAO/RCED-00-12; Food Assistance: Efforts to Control Fraud and Abuse in the; Food relief programs Child care programs Internal controls Federal/state relations State-administered programs Program abuses Fraud USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program Public Law 97-255