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April 24, 2008

Summer lunch program under investigation; director fired

PROVIDENCE -- The director of the city’s summer lunch program has been fired and the entire administrative staff will not be brought back after a state audit found that the program falsely claimed it had served far more lunches than it actually had over the past two years, and improperly received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of federal reimbursement over that span.

A criminal investigation conducted by Providence police is under way, though city officials would not divulge the details or the targets of the investigation.

Program Director Jane Shugrue has been fired, according to Providence Chief of Operations Alix Ogden. Her entire 11-person administrative staff will also not return for the summer season. The city will now hire a new director, and subcontract the summer lunch contract to a private food-service provider.

The program serves lunches to school-age city children at roughly 100 parks and community centers during the summer months. Shugrue has run the program since 1991 and been on staff since 1984.

Ogden said that Shugrue was fired for mismanagement of the program, but would not say if she is a target in the criminal investigation.

Chief of Administration Richard I. Kerbel said that the dollar amounts in play are not yet clear, but it appears that at least several hundred thousand dollars worth of lunches were falsely claimed over the past two years. In the last five years, the program spent about $680,000 a year.

The discovery is the result of a state inquiry into the program last summer and this fall. The state informed Providence of the over-claiming at the end of January. Providence is also conducting its own audit looking into the program.

The program is paid for with federal dollars, but administered at the local level.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 5:56 PM | Permalink

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