Department of Health

Food Program Payments to Selected Child Care Centers in New York City

The Department of Health is responsible for administering a federal program in which child care centers are reimbursed for providing meals and snacks to the children in their care. We examined whether the reimbursements to ten selected child care centers were appropriate. We focused on these centers because our prior audit at the Office of Children and Family Services (Report 2006-S-33) identified a number of inappropriate practices in the centers’ use of State grants.

In this audit, we found that eight of the ten centers may not have been entitled to the reimbursements they received under the food program. For example, the centers altered documentation supporting their reimbursements and claimed reimbursements for more meals than they actually served. We recommended that the Department of Health recover $125,400 of the $135,317 in reimbursements at the eight centers. We also recommended that the Department strengthen its oversight of such reimbursements.

For a complete copy of Report 2007-S-75 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.