This study represents the final findings of the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Grant (FINI) Evaluation. The study Includes information about the amount of incentives issued and redeemed at FINI retailers and characteristics of the retailers involved in the grant program. Overall, over 71 percent of benefits issued were redeemed. Redemption rates were highest at retailers that specialized in selling fruits and vegetables.
This study identifies the barriers that SNAP participants face when trying to achieve a healthy diet through a nationally representative survey of SNAP participants.
To explore other options for assessing impacts, we awarded a contract to provide us with new information on: experiences and satisfaction of participants in FNS programs, and impacts of program participation on reducing hunger, diet quality, and other indicators of household well-being.
A summary of past research on program operations and outcomes related to the Food Stamp Program.
Most discussion of payment accuracy in the Food Stamp Program focuses on the overall level and cost of payment errors. Rarely does the discussion focus on the impact of payment errors on individual households affected. This analysis – based on 2003 food stamp quality control data – leads to two broad conclusions. First, virtually all households receiving food stamps are eligible. Thus, the problem of erroneous payments is not so much one of determining eligibility, but rather one of attempting to finely target benefits to the complicated and changing circumstances of low-income households. Second, most overpayments to eligible households are small relative to household income and official poverty standards. As a result, most food stamp households are poor, and they remain poor even when overpaid.
This study was the first in a series of studies that estimated the extent of retailer-level SNAP benefit trafficking. The major findings included large stores having only half the store violation rate that smaller stores had. Additionally, the overall benefit trafficking rate was 13.0% as compared to 1.3% in the latest trafficking rate study.