Fed-State Pilot Program Aims to Curb Free Lunch Abuse

Illinois joins New Jersey in an effortsto reduce abuse of the free lunch program while adding Medicaid families via automatic certification.

Illinois is to be part of a six-state pilot program during the 2012-2013 school year that will use the new direct certification process to add Medicaid recipients to those families automatically qualifying for new free school lunches. The program is administered by the USDA.

“By relying upon existing data, we streamline operations, reduce payment errors and improve the efficiency of operations at the federal and local level,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “At the same time we are ensuring that we deliver healthy meals to more eligible kids so that they have access to the nutrition they need to learn and excel.”

However, while ensuring that the program is expanded to include all vulnerable children who need the free meals to avoid hunger and associated learning problems, there is widespread concern that the system is being abused by inadequate checking of applications and misguided incentives for high enrollment in the program.

Currently 76% of children in Chicago public schools receive free lunches and a further 6% receive discounts. Few of these applications are checked so it’s difficult to quantify how many of these students obtained the free meals by fraud.

A Tribune analysis in January highlighted concerns about fraud in the federal school lunch program within Chicago Public Schools because of layers of bureaucracy, incentives for high enrollment, and minimal checks and balances. The report found that under federal law, schools in CPS and across the U.S. are allowed to review for accuracy only a fraction of the free and reduced lunch applications it receives. In CPS’ case, it was less than 1 percent of the total applications.

Similar concerns have been voiced recently in New Jersey where Governor Chris Christie announced a task force to crack down on widespread fraud and abuse within the Free and Reduced Price School Lunch Program. Christie has set up this task force to ensure that more education dollars get to the economically disadvantaged children who need them most rather than getting misdirected.

Democratic Illinois Senator Dick Durbin applauds the announcement:

“Many parents would not be able to pay for their children to eat lunch without this program, but recent reports of abuse and fraud within the system threaten to damage the integrity of the program,” Durbin said in a statement. “I commend the USDA for taking action today by partnering with Illinois schools to find a way to increase access to such an important program while hopefully reducing the possibilities for error and fraud.”

Comments

patty

March 13, 2012 at 4:53 pm

About time. There is no “means” test for many states (PA is one) for free and reduced lunch. All they have to do is say they qualify, and they get it. (the same reason that is used to oppose voter ID is used here as well) No income tax receipt… no proof…nothing.. AND the schools want to increase kids on free and reduced lunches so that they can get a steady yearly incrimental increase in funding from the government … which expands the program. The system has already been replete with fraudulent claims… Time to clean house….

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- Linda Brees
  
  March 14, 2012 at 4:02 am
  
  Patty, do we live in the same world, you and I? Cause I look around and more and more families are struggling with job loss and house payment and facing financial disasters like they’ve never faced before. This is why the number of people who get free and reduced lunches is growing. Not because there’s all of a sudden been this explosion of leeches trying to scam the system, but because we all are so much poorer now than we used to be. We’ll clean house when the economy is better right now our priority should be not to miss anyone who needs it. Considering the consequences of letting a kid go hungry who really needs, I’d rather the whole school were fed free than allow the possibility of shifting anyone who needs it.
  
  Reply
  - FrankPA
    
    April 12, 2012 at 10:16 am
    
    I live in Patty’s world. My neighbor freely admitted to us that she applied for and got a reduced lunch program, claiming only HER income and not her husbands. She was instructed by another mother who is doing the same thing. This program costs federal taxpayers about $12 billion dollars a year. For every person ripping off the system, it is about $1024/year being stolen.
    
    Reply
- Joe
  
  March 14, 2012 at 4:06 am
  
  I think I’m ok with allowing a few kids who aren’t strictly-speaking entitled to it to get a free hot meal than to accidentally leave out someone who’s really in need. There are plenty of places to slice in the schools. I think we should just feed all school kids for free and stop worrying about it. There’s plenty of fat in the system for us to deal with first.
  
  Reply
MattW

March 14, 2012 at 7:35 am

Like what fat? Speak with data Joe. (real numbers from real budgets please)

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