Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the accuracy of Maryland's and Illinois's reporting of improper denial or termination error rates under the Food Stamp Program for fiscal year (FY) 1985.

GAO found that: (1) Illinois and Maryland detected 40 and 15 percent, respectively, of the improper denials or terminations that it found; (2) projected error rates were 22.5 percent for Illinois and 12.4 percent for Maryland, rather than 9.1 and 2.2 percent, respectively, as the states reported; (3) 42 percent of the households that the states improperly denied or terminated from the program lost benefits as a result of the errors; (4) the Department of Agriculture (USDA) did not routinely validate the states' reported error rates; (5) incorrect eligibility determinations, inadequate documentation of the basis for denial or termination, and failure to allow the prescribed time for the application process were three common errors local offices made when deciding to deny or terminate benefits; and (6) the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) only validated reported error rates if states were potentially eligible to receive enhanced funding.