State auditor calls on USDA to crack down on wasteful, fraudulent spending in Missouri

(From State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick)

After years of identifying inadequate oversight that has allowed millions of dollars in wasteful and fraudulent spending in a federal food program administered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick is now calling on federal officials to intervene and provide guidance that will motivate the department to finally take the simple but important steps necessary to protect taxpayers.

Fitzpatrick today sent a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) calling on the department to perform audit resolutions to validate the audit findings issued by Fitzpatrick's office that identified insufficient controls and procedures in the administration of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). In his letter, Fitzpatrick said action from the USDA would provide critical information needed for future audits and potentially save taxpayer funds from waste or outright fraud.

"Year after year we have given the DHSS recommendations to clean up a program that has been plagued by fraud and year after year the department has ignored our calls for increased oversight. My message to federal officials is you get what you tolerate and the truth is they're getting a program that has seen millions of dollars misused because they tolerate a lack of accountability in how the program is administered," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. "If state officials won't take our message seriously then we need the federal government to send a clear, decisive message that turning a blind eye to wasteful and fraudulent misuse of taxpayer dollars won't be tolerated."

The Statewide Single Audit released by Auditor Fitzpatrick's office found the DHSS, which oversees the CACFP, does not have sufficient controls and procedures to ensure reimbursements to child and adult care facilities and sponsors are allowable and supported with sufficient documentation. Over the last 3 years the error rate has increased so that erroneous and unsupported reimbursements now represent 12% of meal reimbursements tested. The audit also found DHSS subrecipient monitoring procedures are not sufficient to ensure CACFP subrecipient compliance with program requirements. As a result, significant unallowable and unsupported reimbursements continue to be made without being prevented or detected on a timely basis, and monitoring reviews identified significant errors, noncompliance, disallowances, and overclaims.

While the DHSS adjusted subsequent claims to recoup or reimburse for overclaims and underclaims identified in the audit, unallowable costs could be significant if similar errors were made on the remaining population of CACFP meal reimbursements totaling approximately $69.9 million. The recommendation to enhance procedures related to identification and recoupment of overclaims, as required by federal regulations, and expand testing when significant errors are identified, have been in included in the audit report for the last 3 years, but the DHSS has continued to ignore the recommendations, which will likely allow significant improper payments to subrecipients to continue.

Fitzpatrick also released an audit in 2025 that identified how lacking oversight by the DHSS may have played a significant role in allowing the misuse of millions of dollars reimbursed to organizations such as New Heights and Sisters of Lavender Rose, which led to federal indictments.