The Summer Feeding Program

How to Feed the Children and Stop Program Abuses Gao ID: CED-77-59 April 15, 1977

Various aspects of the summer food service program for children were reviewed in light of alleged abuses during program operations in major urban areas. Causes of abuses that had been detected by other groups, including the Departments of Agriculture and Justice, were investigated. The review was conducted at the Food and Nutrition Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at the regional offices in Princeton, New Jersey, and San Francisco, California.

Serious abuses, both criminal and administrative, have occurred in the summer feeding program. Most of the abuses have involved private nonprofit organizations, which comprised three-fourths of the program's sponsors. Public agency sponsors, such as schools and park departments, operated programs relatively free of abuses. The Department of Agriculture has revised the program's regulations to try to prevent abuses.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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