The state’s $80 million program to provide meals and snacks to children at risk for hunger is again coming under scrutiny for fraud, waste, abuse – and a lack of oversight by the state agency in charge of it.
The Department of Human Services administers the program, which channels federal funds to churches, nonprofits and recreational programs to feed low-income children. During the summer, when school is out, it is one of the only sources of nutritious food available to children growing up in Tennessee’s deepest pockets of rural and urban poverty.
A federal review issued last month found multiple instances of lax oversight by DHS, including a failure to fire contractors who violated the program rules, a failure to recover over-payments and a failure to scrutinize how the money was spent. The review also found a lack of adequate level of staffing to properly oversee the program. The department currently has three open positions for department auditors who are supposed to review the program for waste, fraud and abuse. The position of Inspector General, which previously oversaw all oversight of fraud and abuse, is now part of the duties of the Deputy of Finance and Administration.