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Resource | Research and Data Demonstration Projects to End Childhood Hunger

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 added a new Section 23 on Childhood Hunger Research to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. This section provides substantial new mandatory funding to research the causes and consequences of childhood hunger and to test innovative strategies to end child hunger.

06/05/2019
Resource | Research and Data USDA Listening Session: SNAP Provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) held a listening session regarding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Farm Bill provisions on March 19, 2019. 181 people registered for the call and 132 people called into the session.

03/19/2019
Resource | Research and Data | Participation Rates Reaching Those in Need: Estimates of State SNAP Participation Rates in FY 2016

This report – part of an annual series – presents estimates, by state, of the percentage of eligible persons and working poor individuals who participated in SNAP during an average month in FY 2016 and in the two previous fiscal years.

03/13/2019
Resource | Research and Data USDA Listening Session: TEFAP and CSFP Provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) held a listening session regarding the provisions of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) on March 13, 2019.

03/13/2019
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Direct Certification in the National School Lunch Program Report to Congress: State Implementation Progress, SY 2014-15

This report responds to the requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Direct certification is a process conducted by the states and by local educational agencies to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household applications. 

12/02/2016
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Second Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study (APEC II): Estimating and Validating Statistical Models for Updating Estimates of Improper Payments in NSLP and SBP

Statistical models were designed to estimate national improper payments due to certification error on an annual basis using district-level data. This enables FNS to update its estimates of national improper payment rates for the NSLP and SBP in future years without having to conduct full rounds of primary data collection.

11/29/2016
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations SNAP Employment and Training Best Practices Study: Final Report

This study — mandated by Section 4022 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 — reviews research on employment and training program components and practices that: (1) assist members of households participating in SNAP to obtain regular employment; and (2) are best integrated with state workforce development systems. 

11/22/2016
Resource | Research and Data | Benefit Content/Cost Foods Typically Purchased by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Households

This study uses calendar year 2011 point-of-sale transaction data from a leading grocery retailer to examine the food choices of SNAP and non-SNAP households . On average, each month's transaction data contained over 1 billion records of food items bought by 26.5 million households in 127 million unique transactions.

11/18/2016
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Feasibility Study of Capturing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Purchases at the Point of Sale

This study examined the feasibility of creating a data collection system capable of directly and automatically providing USDA with item-level data on purchases made by SNAP households. Data would be captured at the point of sale from purchases made using EBT cards.

11/18/2016
Resource | Research and Data | Participation Characteristics Characteristics of SNAP Households: FY 2015

This report is the most recent in a series of annual reports providing information about the demographic and economic circumstances of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households. In fiscal year 2015, as in prior years, nearly two-thirds of SNAP participants were children (44 percent), elderly (11 percent) or disabled nonelderly adults (10 percent). The average monthly benefit received by SNAP households was $254.

11/14/2016
Page updated: September 16, 2025