Welfare Reform:
Effects of Changes Made to the Summer Food Service Program
T-RCED-98-120: Published: Mar 10, 1998. Publicly Released: Mar 10, 1998.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
(202) 512-9894
contact@gao.gov
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
youngc1@gao.gov
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on the changes made to the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Summer Food Service Program, focusing on the: (1) effects these changes had on the number of sponsors and children participating in the program in 1997; and (2) potential effect of the reduced subsidies for the future.
GAO noted that: (1) the reduction in federal subsidies for sponsors did not have a significant effect on the number of program sponsors or children participating in 1997; (2) state officials specifically identified only a handful of 1996 sponsors that stopped participating in the program in 1997 because of the reduced subsidies, and the number of children participating in the program was generally not affected; (3) however, almost half of the states reported that the program was affected in other ways, such as sponsors' reducing the number of food items in the meals provided or reducing the number of locations where meals were served; (4) while the number of sponsors and children participating changed only minimally in 1997, both the USDA and the majority of the states expect to see a decrease in the number of sponsors and in the number of children participating over the future because of the reduced subsidies; (5) USDA and several state officials said that some sponsors continued their participation in 1997 to test whether they could finally manage the program with the reduced rate; (6) USDA officials expect that sponsors that could not manage the program with the reduced rates will leave it in future years; and (7) on the other hand, USDA and some state officials said that other factors such as increased outreach efforts and state funding could mitigate the effects of the rate decrease on the number of sponsors and children participating in the future.
Jan 15, 2021
-
Farmworkers:
Additional Information Needed to Better Protect Workers from Pesticide ExposureGAO-21-63: Published: Jan 15, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 15, 2021.
Nov 20, 2020
-
Food Safety:
CDC Could Further Strengthen Its Efforts to Identify and Respond to Foodborne IllnessesGAO-21-23: Published: Oct 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 20, 2020.
Nov 16, 2020
-
Farm Programs:
USDA Has Improved Its Completion of Eligibility Compliance Reviews, but Additional Oversight Is NeededGAO-21-95: Published: Oct 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020.
Sep 16, 2020
-
Agriculture Spending:
Opportunities Exist for USDA to Identify Successes and Challenges of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program to Inform Future EffortsGAO-20-711R: Published: Sep 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 16, 2020.
Sep 14, 2020
-
USDA Market Facilitation Program:
Information on Payments for 2019GAO-20-700R: Published: Aug 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 14, 2020.
Aug 10, 2020
-
National Bio and Agro-defense Facility:
DHS and USDA Are Working to Transfer Ownership and Prepare for Operations, but Critical Steps RemainGAO-20-331: Published: Jul 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 10, 2020.
May 7, 2020
-
Food Safety:
FDA and USDA Could Strengthen Existing Efforts to Prepare for Oversight of Cell-Cultured MeatGAO-20-325: Published: Apr 7, 2020. Publicly Released: May 7, 2020.
Apr 13, 2020
-
Priority Open Recommendations:
U.S. Department of AgricultureGAO-20-288PR: Published: Apr 6, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 13, 2020.
Dec 23, 2019
-
Nutrition Assistance Programs:
Agencies Could Do More to Help Address the Nutritional Needs of Older AdultsGAO-20-18: Published: Nov 21, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 23, 2019.
Dec 6, 2019
-
Imported Seafood Safety:
Actions Needed to Improve FDA Oversight of Import Alert Removal DecisionsGAO-20-62: Published: Nov 6, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 6, 2019.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here