From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Summer Meals Programs Description: What role does the USDA play in providing meals to children in low-income families during the summer break? Is there room for improvement? Related GAO Work: GAO-18-369: Summer Meals: Actions Needed to Improve Participation Estimates and Address Program Challenges Released: July 2018 [ Background Music ] [ Kathy Larin: ] Federal actions are needed to improve the estimates of the number of children who are participating in the program. [ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt Oldham. There are federal and other programs in place to help feed children in low-income families. It's help that's often provided at the child's school. And while schools take a break for the summer, the need for this type of assistance doesn't. I'm here with Kathy Larin, a director in our Education Workforce and Income Security team, to talk about a GAO report which explored ways to improve summer meals programs. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me Kathy. [ Kathy Larin: ] Happy to be here. [ Matt Oldham: ] How many children participate in these Summer Meals Programs? [ Kathy Larin: ] We actually don't know how many kids receive summer meals. USDA asks the organizations that provide meals to keep track of how many meals they serve. So, we know that in 2016 for example, 149 million meals were served to kids in the summer. States use the number of meals to estimate the number of kids who participate on a typical day in the summer. But, what we found was that those estimates are very unreliable. They're not comparable across meal sites or across states. So, because of that we really don't know how many kids participate. [ Matt Oldham: ] It's summer now, how do these kids get fed? [ Kathy Larin: ] So, Summer Meals Programs are operated by a range of different public and nonprofit organizations. And they provide meals in schools, at summer camps, sometimes at libraries. We went around the last summer to 30 different sites in three different states, and we saw children being served meals at parks with splash pads, at schools, at summer camps. In some cases, we saw mobile food delivery units driving from park to library, and serving meals to whatever kids happened to be there. Meals can be either breakfast, lunch, snack, supper. There are a variety of different summer meals that are served, and all of them have to meet nutritional requirements. [ Matt Oldham: ] Are there any challenges you found that are specific to the Summer Meals Program? [ Kathy Larin: ] Yeah, we found a number of challenges. For example, in rural areas, transportation is a real challenge for kids to get to a place where there is a summer meal site. The availability of sites generally is limited, and that can pose a challenge. We also found that it was challenging just to get the word out to kids that these programs exist and where they can find them. And we found a number of administrative challenges that those programs, you know, those organizations that are operating the programs face. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] It sounds like there's some trouble getting consistent participation estimates from state to state, and this could affect the state's abilities to implement or plan for summer food service programs. So, Kathy, what recommendations does your team have? [ Kathy Larin: ] We recommend that the USDA improve their estimate of the number of kids participating in the program, so they'll have a better sense of how many kids are actually served. We made a couple of other recommendations as well. We recommended that USDA better inform the programs that are operating these meal programs about simplifications that could make it administratively easier for them to participate. Finally, we made a recommendation that USDA better inform providers about flexibilities they have that help them to keep kids safe. So, one of the challenges that we identified is that, in high-crime areas there is some concerns about the safety of kids when they're required to eat their meal onsite. And USDA can grant waivers to get around this safety issue. But, sponsors are really unclear as to when those waivers can be granted. So, we recommend that the USDA clarify that. [ Matt Oldham: ] Lastly, what do you believe is the bottom line of your report? [ Kathy Larin: ] You know, the purpose of this Summer Meals Program is to provide children in low-income areas with nutritious meals throughout the summer when they don't have access to the School Meal Program. To that end, the program serves close to 150 million meals every summer. However, we found that federal actions are needed to improve the estimates of the number of children who are participating in the program. And to address some of the challenges that the program continues to face. [ Matt Oldham: ] Kathy Larin is a director in our Education Workforce and Income Security team. And she led a GAO report looking at how improvements can be made to summer meals assistance programs for children in low-income families. Thank you for your time, Kathy. [ Kathy Larin: ] Thank you. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at gao.gov.