General Accounting Office Reviews of the Food Stamp Program

Quality control data for the 6 months ended March 1981 showed that 10.6 percent of food stamp program benefits were overissuances and 2.6 percent were underissuances. The majority of the overissuances and underissuances of food stamps stemmed from errors in determining correct income, assets, and household size. In most cases, the underlying cause was incorrect data provided by clients or their failure to provide information. The failure of food stamp offices to obtain sufficient documentation and to make proper use of client-reported data or other available information also contributed to program losses. Regulations now permit States to request more documentation from clients and to perform more verification on household size, liquid resources, shelter costs, utility expenses, and dependent care. The verification process would be more efficient if more extensive use was made of existing quality control data to identify households with greater probability of having errors in their cases. Each State with an error rate of 5 percent or more must have a department-approved plan to reduce errors. Greater use of automated data processing could eliminate errors, facilitate verification, and save time. Making States financially liable for program errors would provide a major incentive for better program administration. If such a proposal is adopted, States must be allowed access to data needed to verify applicants' reported income and assets. The proposal to consolidate administrative funding for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Medicaid, and Food Stamp Programs would provide opportunities for savings. Treating persons residing together as a single household for food stamp purposes would greatly simplify the process. Congress might consider creating a standard deduction for shelter costs rather than taking into account many varying household circumstances. Only a small amount of overissuances have been collected. Congress has given the States authority to pursue collection of overissued benefits through an offset provision. These provisions will be implemented in May 1982. The Department of Agriculture needs to correct weaknesses in its Authorization-To-Participate System by requiring the use of identification cards in all locations experiencing significant numbers of duplicate transactions.