Missouri Auditor Writes to USDA: Federal Intervention Sought on Care Food Program Waste and Fraud
Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on October 22, calling on federal officials to intervene and provide guidance that will prompt the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to take steps to protect taxpayer funds from waste and fraud.
Fitzpatrick's office has for years identified inadequate oversight of the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), administered by DHSS, which has allowed millions of dollars in wasteful and fraudulent spending. In his letter, Fitzpatrick asked the USDA to perform audit resolution to validate his office's audit findings that DHSS lacks sufficient controls and procedures to ensure reimbursements to child and adult care facilities and sponsors are allowable and supported. The Statewide Single Audit released by the auditor's office also found that over the last three years the error rate has risen so that erroneous and unsupported reimbursements now represent 12% of meal reimbursements tested.
'Year after year we have given the DHSS recommendations to clean up a program that has been plagued by fraud and year after year the department has ignored our calls for increased oversight,' Fitzpatrick said. 'If state officials won't take our message seriously then we need the federal government to send a clear, decisive message that turning a blind eye to wasteful and fraudulent misuse of taxpayer dollars won't be tolerated.'
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 密苏里州议会大厦北侧（Jefferson City），作者 Kbh3rd，CC BY 4.0，来源 Wikimedia Commons
