The Summer Food Service Program for Children

The problems which occurred in the 1976 Summer Food Service Program for Children were similar to those noted in prior years by the Department of Agriculture's auditors and in the GAO February 1975 report on the program. Typical reported abuses included food waste, consumption of meals by adults, offsite consumption of meals by children, indications of kickbacks and bribes to sponsors from vendors supplying meals to the program, improper bidding procedures which resulted in contracts awarded at the maximum allowable rates, overpayments to sponsors based on improper claims for reimbursement, and maintenance of incomplete and inaccurate data on the number of meals delivered and the number of children fed. Generally, all of the serious program abuses involved private sponsors. About 75 percent of the sponsors operating the 1976 Summer Food Service Program were private organizations. Legislative changes that could help eliminate or minimize the extent of program abuses and improve operations in future years should be considered. These include: changes in the law with regard to sponsor eligibility, establishing program eligibility, meal services, reimbursable State administrative expenses, reimbursable sponsor administrative costs, advance payments to sponsors, publication of program regulations, and limitation on program sponsorship to public agencies, schools, and residential camps for needy children.