Finding 1169119 (2025-002)

Eligibility: Per the USDA Free and Reduced Price School Meals instructions, the free and reduced status must be determined using the Federal Registry income eligibility guidelines or a valid SNAP case number. Based upon single audit testing noted 4 applications approved in the wrong category: two applications that were approved as free but should have been reduced, one application that was approved reduced but should have been free, and one application that was approved reduced but should have been paid. Also noted that per ISBE exam, ISBE noted eight applications that were approved in the wrong category: 7 applications that were approved free but should have been reduced and one application that was approved free but should have been paid. Also, the ISBE exam noted two applications that were missing a valid SNAP case number. Questioned Costs: Undetermined but under $25,000. Per the single audit testing, 40 applications were selected for testing and 4 were approved in the wrong category. This resulted in students receiving the wrong benefits and the school receiving the wrong federal grant reimbursements. This occurred due to human error. We recommend establishing a procedure to ensure household eligibility applications are approved in the appropriate category according the current income guidelines. All household eligibility applications will be first taken be one employee, checked over by a second employee and then confirmed by a third employee.