GAO Report to Congressional Committees on Food Assistance: Financial Information on WIC Nutrition Services and Administrative Costs
This report reviews recent approaches to estimating the numbers of persons eligible for and participating in WIC. It also describes issues concerning these estimates that may be worthy of review and synthesizes research on these issues.
Prior to 1982, school districts were not required to verify the income or household size declared by households that applied for meal benefits. It was assumed that households were correctly reporting their income, and children from households that applied and declared a sufficiently Low income were given free or reduced-price meals. From 1982 to the present, the verification of household income for at least some of the approved application s for meal benefits has been part of each school district's responsibilities.