GAO: LSC Can't Count
Congressmen Armey, Burton, Latham, Miller and Taylor Concerned with GAO Findings
"Who's minding the store at LSC?" Armey said. "This kind of mismanagement
cannot be tolerated."
Burton noted that the GAO conducted a simple and straightforward audit of
LSC case reporting figures and found that about 75,000 out of 220,000 cases
were overreported. "The results of this report emphasizes the need to hold
the LSC and its grantees accountable for the use of taxpayer dollars," said
Burton.
The report revealed some disturbing examples of waste, mismanagement and
abuse in these grantees. According to GAO's report: "The five grantees we
reviewed had substantial errors in the number of cases they reported closed
during 1997 as well as the number of cases they reported remaining open at
the end of the year."
In April, the LSC assured Congress that similar findings by LSC's
Inspector General (IG) were isolated. This report proves otherwise.
"As a Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee, I expect to receive
accurate performance data from every agency," said Latham. "However, when
LSC comes before the Committee and provides Congress with critical
information that it knew to be grossly innacurrate, the entire process is
tarnished," Latham continued. "The fact that the GAO confirmed our
suspicions of the significance and pervasiveness of the problem only
underscores the need to question the leadership of LSC and whether they were
hiding this from Congress."
"I am extremely concerned about the frequency with which basic
requirements, such as citizenship eligibility and retention of case files,
were not adhered to," added Miller, a member of the Appropriations
Committee.
"Most importantly, LSC loses sight of the people they are supposed to be
helping. When padding numbers takes top priority, the most vulnerable
Americans lose. How can LSC claim to help the poor people of America, when
they don't even know how many people they are helping?"
"This audit report raises a lot of eyebrows," said Taylor, Appropriations
Committee member. "At a time when many worthwhile programs go underfunded -
or unfunded - because of federal budget constraints, we find out that tax
dollars going to LSC are disappearing into cases that don't even exist. The
American taxpayer deserves better."
"We do not take our oversight responsibility lightly," Armey said. "LSC
has a lot of explaining to do."
June 25, 1999
(Washington, DC)--Legal Services Corporation (LSC) grantees
around the country are overstating their accomplishments, according to a new
Government Accounting Office (GAO) report. The report - requested by House
Majority Leader Dick Armey, Chairman Dan Burton and Representatives Tom
Latham, Dan Miller, and Charles Taylor - was released today. It details
misreporting of cases by five of the largest LSC grantees - Baltimore,
Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Juan - including overreporting of
cases, duplication, and taking cases without verifying the proper criteria
was met.
1. Grantees reporting duplicate cases for the same legal service to
the same client.
2. Cases reported closed during 1997 that showed no
grantee activity during the 12 months before the case was closed.
3.
Case files containing no documentation verifying the client was either a
U.S. citizen or an eligible alien.
4. Case files containing no
documentation that the client was financially eligible for LSC services.