Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 513.
This bill asks the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is Congress's watchdog agency, to study how well the federal government catches fraud by providers in three major children's programs: Head Start, child care assistance, and child food programs. The GAO would have two years to finish the study and report back to Congress with findings and suggestions. No programs are changed or cut; this only orders a study.
Billions of tax dollars flow through Head Start, child care assistance, and child food programs each year, serving millions of children. This bill would produce the first comprehensive look at whether the government is actually catching providers who cheat these systems , information that could protect both public money and program quality for families who depend on them.