Audit Finds Errors Rife In NJ Low-Income Child Care Subsidy Program
By David Madden
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- A newly released audit has found problems within New Jersey's state-funded child care program.
It's a $124-million-per-year, state and federally funded program that provides assistance for low-income families in need of child care.
"One out of every six participants in the program is the subject of overpayment to the child care provider," notes NJ state comptroller Matthew Boxer, who says the errors are attributable to everything from inflated numbers of kids being cared for to simple errors of math.
In addition, says Boxer, "One out of every seven participants in the program actually is not eligible according to the program's income requirements."
If the problems are corrected, he says, as many as half of the approximately 8,000 children on the waiting list could get in.
State administrators are vowing to address the problem. Those who lied on applications may not only be removed from the program, they could face criminal prosecution.
