This data collection fulfills states' reporting requirements and describes trends in program participation during the COVID-19 pandemic from July 2021 through September 2022. It is part of an ongoing study series examining child nutrition program operations, repurposed to collect waiver usage and trends in program participation and operations during the pandemic.
This report is the latest in a series on states’ SNAP participation rates, which are estimated percentages of people who are eligible for SNAP who participate in the program in each state. This report presents rates for fiscal year 2022 and revised rates for pre-pandemic FY 2020.
The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 requires federal agencies, like FNS, to give Congress information about payment errors for federal programs, like CACFP. FNS planned this study to estimate payment errors in CACFP child care centers. However, after completing the study, FNS found an error in the method used to estimate nationwide findings from the study data. Because of the error, FNS is not publishing the full study, and will instead present key findings that relate to broad trends instead of specific estimates.
We explored the feasibility of using existing data from state monitoring reviews – a process designed to assess operations and provide real-time technical assistance to family day care homes operating CACFP – to estimate the rate of improper payments in those operations. This study found that flexibility in these reviews and the information they report across states, while beneficial for their main purpose, made the resulting data unusable for estimating a national improper payment rate.
This report describes the first national study of emergency shelters participating in CACFP. The objective of this study was to gain a general understanding of the characteristics of CACFP emergency shelters, who they serve, how CACFP fits into their operations, and their challenges with CACFP.
This report explores different approaches to reevaluating the Thrifty Food Plan, which represents a low-cost, nutritious diet comprised of foods and beverages consumed at home and is used to calculate SNAP benefit amounts.
Adult day care centers have been eligible to participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) since 1987. The objective of this study is to better understand key characteristics of adult day care centers participating in CACFP.
The Rapid Cycle Evaluation project provided interested states the opportunity to test small scale operational changes for improving program operations and delivery. Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Rhode Island participated in developing and rigorously evaluating site-specific interventions.
These studies examine the policies and procedures in SNAP and the three NAP programs. The first report includes results of a survey of states regarding language access and procedures. The second is a report on case-studies of the give in-depth details of language access policies in four states. The final report examines the language access policies in the NAP programs in American Samoa, The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico.
The USDA FNS Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program awards grants annually to support schools, non-profits, Indian Tribal Organizations, state agencies, producers, and other entities who are planning, developing, and implementing farm to school programs. This report presents findings of the FNS evaluation of the fiscal year 2018 and 2019 Farm to School grantees, highlighting their activities, achievements, and challenges.