DSHS must fix mess before passing the hat

The child-care division of the Department of Social and Health Services must do more to clean up its act before turning to the Legislature for more money.

Child-care managers have been slow to stamp out waste and fraud in the $300 million state child-care fund. The state Auditor's Office estimates about $2 million might have been overpaid to child-care providers in the Grant County farming town of Mattawa.

Nearly $840,000 was paid based on fraudulent documentation. Thirteen of the town's providers used Social Security numbers belonging to other people. Some providers falsified attendance records. One Mattawa provider was convicted of theft and identity theft.

This is a huge mess, particularly given the state's budget crisis. State child-care officials calculate it will be expensive to correct and plan to ask state lawmakers to approve the extra money.

Not so fast.

Child-care officials must first learn how to serve needy children while taking a more proactive stance against fraud and waste.

They face considerable challenges.

With 7,200 child-care facilities in homes and another 2,000 in centers, child-care licensers bear heavy caseloads allowing them to visit a facility only once every 18 months.

But the need for a state role in child care is critical. Nowhere more so than in Mattawa, where 96 percent of the children are poor. The seasonal child-care program has served the community's cherry-harvester families for years. It is an option more palatable to parents than taking young children with them into the fields or leaving them in sweltering cars.

Accountability is the solution, not necessarily more money. Starting tomorrow, child-care providers should be required to provide stronger documentation. A visiting caseworker should be able to scrutinize a log and quickly discern how many children are cared for and for how long.

Providers who cannot comply should not be paid. No middle ground.

The child-care department has already started cross-checking Social Security numbers. Good first step.

DSHS has an Office of Financial Recovery and a Division of Fraud Investigations. Last year, a comprehensive payment-review plan was developed to improve accountability in the child-care program.

DSHS should make better use of these tools before asking the Legislature for more money.

The agency should also see what other states are doing. In Oklahoma, electronic cards swiped at day-care centers record individual children's arrival and departure.

The data is sent electronically to the state, and payments don't have to depend on the honesty and accuracy of individuals. It's worth looking at for future investment.

Down the road, the Legislature may be presented with a funding plan for dramatic changes in DSHS's child-care accounting system.

For now, greater efficiencies are more critical than more money.