Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, has sent a letter to the U.S. Agriculture Department expressing concern over fraud in the free and reduced-price lunch program (see Carolina Journal‘s series on F&R lunch fraud here).
Durbin wrote the letter in response to articles in the Chicago Tribune on instances of school employees submitting falsified applications to receive free lunches. He writes:
Every school day, the NSLP provides over 31 million children with low-cost or free meals. Without this program many parents would not be able to pay for their children to eat lunch. Unfortunately, some adults abuse the NSLP program by intentionally submitting false information in order to enroll their children into the program. In light of the strained local, state, and federal budgets, it is critical for USDA not only to ensure eligible children participate in NSLP, but also to identify and address fraud in the program.
The Chicago Tribune reports cases of school employees submitting falsified application to enroll their children for free and reduced lunches. Some schools and school districts are considering strategies to better monitor eligibility for free and reduced school lunches and to conduct more thorough audits of the program. How is the USDA working with schools and school districts, particularly Chicago Public Schools, to develop improved measures for fraud detection and enforcement?
One downside of this renewed interest is that it could refuel calls for a universal school-lunch program. In other words, because there is fraud in the existing program, we should give free lunches to all students. Problem solved. Well, not really — when you consider the price tag and the massive amount of waste that would result.
