INDReporter

Food stamp audit finds overpayment, possible fraud

by Walter Pierce

An audit of Louisiana's food stamp program for low-income families says weak oversight has allowed for duplicate benefits, overpayments and more than $1 million paid to ineligible residents, some of whom were in prison at the time.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - An audit of Louisiana's food stamp program for low-income families says weak oversight has allowed for duplicate benefits, overpayments and more than $1 million paid to ineligible residents, some of whom were in prison at the time.

The review by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office also found clerical errors caused $841,615 to be overpaid.

The performance audit, which covered fiscal years 2010, 2011 and 2012, was released Monday. It evaluated participant eligibility and participant and retailer fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the federal food stamps program.

The Department of Children and Family Services oversees the federal program and is responsible for determining eligibility. Officials say they have safeguards in place against fraud and are reviewing the audit's recommendations.