EDITORIAL CHILD-CARE DISGRACE WELFARE FRAUD ONLY HURTS THE CHILDREN.

DURING his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President George W. Bush said government entitlement programs that haven't met goals would be among those that would be cut to help control government spending.

He probably wasn't talking about California's child-care benefit for welfare-to-work families, but he could have been. According to authorities, half of the money - or $1.5 billion - the state pays for the program to provide child care for needy families is being sucked up by fraud.

A 50 percent fraud rate is probably not the standard of a successful program. And as the $39 billion in social-program cuts approved by the Republican-controlled House on Wednesday starts filtering down to the states - an estimated $2 billion loss for California - you can be sure that officials will look at that program with an eye on elimination. Too bad for the families who truly need it.

The child-care benefit was created during the welfare reform of the 1990s primarily so single mothers or fathers could afford to look for work. Families transitioning from welfare to work are granted between $500 and $1,000 per child while they are job hunting or transitioning back into the work force.

But hundreds of unscrupulous people figured out how to cheat this child-care benefit to bring in thousands of dollars, essentially stealing it from the state's poor children and taxpayers. In Los Angeles County alone, the District Attorney's Office has 800 cases of fraud pending.

Certainly, the criminals who perpetrated the fraud are culpable if the program is doomed. And rightly so. But those charged with administering the program share that blame.

Any time there are government funds to be had, there are those trying to work the system. But this program didn't have just a few bad apples, but hundreds. Who has been minding this store?

This level of fraud speaks to an egregious lack of accountability among state social programs. When one person in Lancaster can figure out a way to get nearly $350,000 out of the program, someone wasn't doing his job. And that's what Deputy District Attorney James L. Cosper says is exactly what is happening: There is very little follow-up of people claiming to be child-care providers.

The looting of the child-care program is a shameful example of the lack of accountability common in vast bureaucracies. But this is not a victimless crime absorbed by the taxpayers. The looting of this program could doom it, and hurt many needy families and children. And for that, authorities should prosecute the cheaters, and those who allowed it to happen.