To ensure program integrity, school districts must sample household applications certified for free or reduced-price meals, contact the households, and verify eligibility. This process (known as household verification) can be burdensome for both school officials and households. Direct verification uses information from certain other means-tested programs to verify eligibility without contacting applicants. Potential benefits include: less burden for households, less work for school officials, and fewer students with school meal benefits terminated because of nonresponse to verification requests.

This report is the final product of a study designed to learn about state Food Stamp Program policy choices and local implementation of these policies after the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The report presents examples of policies and practices that may have affected client service in the FSP in terms of program accessibility, quality of service and availability of employment and training services, particularly for food stamp recipients that do not receive cash assistance (non-TANF food stamp households).

This report responds to PL 105-379, which mandated the USDA  examine options for the design, development, implementation and operation of a national database to track participation in federal means-tested public assistance programs.

The report presents the results of a survey conducted with every state during November and December 1997 to gather detailed information on state options taken in six main areas, with particular focus on time limits and work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) and on food stamp sanctions.

From October 1, 1993 to September 30, 1996, the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsored demonstration projects in Georgia, Hawaii, Missouri, South Dakota, and Texas to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of operating the Food Stamp Employment and Training (E&T) program under the same legislative and regulatory terms as the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients. Common objectives of the demonstrations were to increase compliance with E&T participation requirements among mandatory work registrants, target services to individuals most at risk of long-term dependency and those most likely to benefit from E&T services, improve participant outcomes, and improve the cost efficiency of welfare to work services.

This study was designed to describe the characteristics of adolescent women in WIC, as well as to identify their special needs, such as nutrition education, referral to other agencies, and their satisfaction with the services they received. The Adolescent WIC Participants Study was the first national survey of pregnant teenagers and mothers served by the WIC program.