NCJ Number
73466
Date Published
1978
Length
64 pages
Annotation
This Comptroller General's report discusses the administration of the 1977 summer food service program for children and the potential impact of certain aspects of the recently enacted legislation on the 1978 program.
Abstract
The summer feeding program has had such problems as fraudulent bidding and contracting, wasted or spoiled food, excessive reimbursement claims, and other program violations. Although other serious problems were noted, the General Accounting Office did not find evidence of the above abuses in the 1977 program. Improvements were especially noticeable in the New York City program. For example, in 1976 program monitors terminated about 1,500 sites for program violations, whereas in 1977 only 231 sites were found to be in serious violation and terminated. Several factors contributed to the 1977 abuses. One was the inflexible legislative limits on the amount of Federal funds for State administration. Another basic problem was overstated reimbursement claims. Nonprofit sponsors sometimes claimed reimbursement for ineligible meals so that they did not have to absorb the cost or default on obligations to food vendors. Specific problems to which the Department of Agriculture should direct attention include determining areas' eligibility for program benefits, eliminating clustered and overlapping feeding sites, taking action against sponsors and sites found to be violating program regulations, and observing deadlines for sponsors' applications. Furthermore, Congress should revise the summer feeding program legislation, and consider various alternatives for dealing with the problems resulting from inadequate facilities at feeding sites. Tabular data are included. An appendix contains the status of previous recommendations.