Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO: (1) summarized the administrative problems it discussed in past reports on public assistance programs; and (2) provided questions for Congress to consider concerning welfare reform proposals.

GAO found that the problems included: (1) overlapping of legislative and oversight responsibilities and a lack of consistency in terminology and definitions between programs; (2) differing legislation, rules, and operations, and a lack of agreement between state agencies which impeded program coordination; (3) inadequate program monitoring, evaluation, and quality control; (4) inadequate data collection and reporting by states to federal agencies; (5) staffing shortages at federal, state, and local levels; (6) insufficient guidelines for safeguarding privacy of personal data; and (7) insufficient or inconsistent state funding.