The National Survey of WIC Participants (NSWP) study series is designed to describe state and local agency characteristics, examine participants’ characteristics, assess participants’ experiences with WIC, and estimate improper payments resulting from certification errors in WIC. The study is conducted approximately every 10 years, and the current study is the third iteration (NSWP-III) in the series. 

This is the third study in the Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification study series, conducted in school year 2017-18. FNS relies upon the APEC series to provide reliable, national estimates improper payments made to school districts operating the NSLP and SBP. APEC studies also help identify sources of error and inform FNS policy and technical assistance for state agencies and school food authorities to reduce error. FNS conducted previous iterations of the study in school years 2005-06 and 2012-13.

This study is the eighth in a series of studies that examine the rate of benefit trafficking SNAP, annualized amount of benefits trafficked, and store violation rate. The estimates are presented as ‘current estimates’ that are calculated to be comparable to past studies, and as ‘updated estimates’ that are calculated to be comparable to other trafficking reports released by FNS. 

This collection is a reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved collection for which approval has expired for the fourth Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification study series (APEC IV).

FNS conducted the Study of Nonresponse to the School Meals Application Verification Process to examine (1) the accuracy of the current verification process, (2) district practices when verifying applications for cause, and (3) the ultimate results of the verification process, including the reasons why households do not respond to verification requests and how many households reapply. 

This report presents information on direct certification with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for free school meals for SY 2017-2018 and SY 2018-2019.

FNS uses a two-tier system to measure errors in eligibility and benefit determination for SNAP. This feasibility study identifies all processes and components that would be required for a one-tier federal SNAP QC system, including the procedural, staffing, and organizational changes and the technological and data-sharing infrastructures.

This report describes the feasibility of a modeling approach to forecast tiering error rates based on prior data, in lieu of annual assessments of misclassified FDCHs. It presents estimates for forecasted rates and associated improper payments for FDCHs for each fiscal year (FY) from 2016 to 2020. Due to data limitations, the report concludes that building a reliable model is not possible with the currently available data and estimates produced by the models cannot be used for IPERIA reporting.

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.

This report duplicates the precise methodology of the earlier analysis with more than 10,000 new investigations to generate an estimate for the 1996 - 1998 calendar year period.