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Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity The Extent of Trafficking in The Food Stamp Program: 1999 - 2002

Food stamps are intended for food. When individuals sell their benefits for cash it violates the spirit and intent of the Food Stamp Program as well as the law. This practice, known as trafficking, diverts food stamp benefits away from their purpose. It reduces intended nutritional assistance and undermines public perceptions of the integrity and utility of the program. To combat trafficking, the Food and Nutrition Service conducts undercover investigations of authorized food stores. In addition, the agency has developed powerful new EBT-based administrative tools to identify and sanction traffickers.

07/01/2003
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity A Comparison of WIC Vendor Management Practices in 1991 and 1998

FNS published “The WIC Vendor Management Study, 1998” in July 2001 which examined, in part, the extent to which retail grocers, defined as WIC “vendors” were violating program rules and regulations. The 1998 study is a follow-up to the “WIC Vendor Issues Study, 1991” published by FNS in May 1993. 

05/01/2003
Resource | Research and Data | Policy Analysis Expunging Food Stamp EBT Benefits: A Case Study of the Elderly in the Three States

This analysis explores patterns of permanent benefit removal in Texas, Arizona, and Wisconsin, three states where EBT is the primary method of benefit distribution, but where there are low percentages of elderly. The findings suggest that a relatively small number of food stamp participants do not access their benefits for extended periods.

02/01/2003
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity Survey of the Public Health Nutrition Workforce 1999-2000

The Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors, with support from a cooperative agreement with USDA, conducted a census of the professional and paraprofessional public health nutrition workforce in the states and territories. ASTPHND has conducted periodic profiles of the public health nutrition workforce since 1985. Members of ASTPHND in their respective states and territories conducted the census reported in this paper during 1999-2000. Prior to this, ASTPHND's last survey was conducted in 1994.

01/02/2003
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Evaluation of the Expanded Off-Line EBT System in Ohio

This report describes how the Direction Card system works; the process undertaken by ODJFS and its EBT vendor to design, develop, and test the system; the implementation process and experiences; and the cost of system design, development, and implementation. Volume 2 of this report compares the ongoing administrative costs of system operations and system levels of benefit loss and diversion with those of on-line EBT systems and the Dayton pilot.

05/01/2002
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity WIC Vendor Management Study - 1998

The purpose of the study was to learn the extent to which retail grocers, defined as "vendors" in the WIC Program, authorized to provide food to WIC participants, were violating program rules and procedures, and to determine which programmatic and/or demographic variables could be associated with vendor violations.

07/01/2001
Resource | Report to Congress Food Assistance: Research Provides Limited Information on the Effectiveness of Specific WIC Nutrition Services

This report (1) identifies the number and nature of recent studies that have examined the effectiveness of three WIC services—nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referral services—and (2) summarizes what the research shows about the effectiveness of these specific nutrition services. 

03/01/2001
Resource | Report to Congress Food Assistance: Performance Measures for Assessing Three WIC Services

GAO Report to Congressional Committees on Food Assistance: Performance Measures for Assessing Three WIC Services

02/01/2001
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Study of Direct Certification in the National School Lunch Program

The NSLP offers free and reduced-price school meals to students from eligible households. Households with incomes at or below 130 percent of poverty are eligible for free meals, and households with incomes between 131 percent and 185 percent of poverty are eligible for reduced-price meals. Traditionally, to receive these benefits, households had to complete and submit application forms to schools or be directly certified. Direct certification, on the other hand, is a method of eligibility determination that does not require families to complete school meal applications. Instead, school officials use documentation from the local or state welfare agency that indicates that a household participates in AFDC or food stamps as the basis for certifying students for free school meals.

09/01/2000
Resource | Report to Congress Food Assistance: Financial Information on WIC Nutrition Services and Administrative Costs

GAO Report to Congressional Committees on Food Assistance: Financial Information on WIC Nutrition Services and Administrative Costs

03/01/2000
Page updated: September 16, 2025