BATON ROUGE - Allegations of an inside job at the Department of Children and Family Services surfaced Wednesday.

Four employees stole $46,000 in food stamps over a seven year period, a legislative audit revealed.  The report states less than $1,000 has been recovered and one of the employees is still employed.

A spokesperson for DCFS would not agree to an interview Wednesday, but in a written response to auditors, the state agency notes it has "zero tolerance" for theft and employees caught stealing are fired.

The audit reports a number of other problems at the agency, including $22,772 in mismanaged welfare benefits and a potential $5.5 million federal fine for lack of oversight in grants from the federal government.  

Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said the report represents a failure of management in the agency. He said Governor Jindal's administration overhauled several state agencies in recent years and the changes were poorly planned.

"Some of those programs were rushed," said Purpera. "They were not carried out and they weren't implemented in a way they should have been and we're facing the music on that today."