This report describes the characteristics of SNAP households and participants nationwide in fiscal year 2011 (October 2010 through September 2011). It also presents an overview of SNAP eligibility requirements and benefit levels in fiscal year 2011.
Student eligibility for free meals is determined by application or by direct certification. Although direct certification systems vary by State and LEA, all such systems are designed to eliminate the need for paper applications. Effective in SY 2011-12, LEAs must conduct direct certification three times per year: once at or around the start of the school year, and again three and six months after that initial effort. All direct certification systems now match student enrollment lists against SNAP agency records and the records of other assistance agencies whose participants are categorically eligible for free meals. The matching process, whether automated or manual, requires no action by the children’s parents or guardians.
As the time for reauthorization of SNAP again approaches, it is useful to take stock of its accomplishments, identify those features that have contributed to its success, and look for new opportunities to strengthen operations to achieve program goals more fully. To that end, this is a summary of past research on program operations and outcomes.
This report, the first of three, addresses the first objective of the study, which is to explore the characteristics and experiences of WIC participants.
This report responds to a Congressional mandate for FNS to establish a long-range plan for the development and implementation of state agency Management Information Systems in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
In 2006, FNS asked the Institute of Medicine to review the WIC food packages. The IOM proposed major changes to improve nutrition and encourage breastfeeding but also expressed the concern that changes related to partial breastfeeding may have unintended consequences. The IOM recommended that FNS conduct an impact study evaluating the birth month breastfeeding changes to the WIC food packages.
This study, Models of SNAP Education and Evaluation (Wave I), is the first of two FNS-initiated independent evaluations designed to identify potential models of effective SNAP-Ed nutrition education and impact evaluation.
The FNS goal was to document the process (steps, time, and resources) for fully implementing Team Nutrition by communicating the four messages to students using the classroom and cafeteria as delivery channels, as well as other places in their environment such as the school, home, community and local media.
On average, about 21.3 million people living in 9.2 million households received food stamps in the United States each month in FY 2003. Food stamp households are a diverse group. Because food stamps are available to most low-income households with few resources, regardless of age, disability status, or family structure, recipients represent a broad cross-section of the nation's poor. This report provides information about the demographic and economic circumstances of food stamp households.
This report presents estimated participation rates for 2002 and revised estimates of rates for 1999, 2000, and 2001.