FNS developed the Access, Participation, Eligibility and Certification (APEC) study series, which collects and analyzes data from a nationally representative sample of schools and school food authorities (SFAs) about every 5 years. APEC allows FNS to develop a national estimate of erroneous payment rates and amounts in three key areas: certification error, meal claiming error and aggregation error. FNS recently completed APEC II, which collected data in School Year 2012-2013 and this report summarizes those findings.
This report includes findings from formative research undertaken to help USDA assist child care providers in following the nutrition, physical activity, and electronic media use recommendations outlined in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.
The evaluation examined the impact of a $30 per child per month benefit on reducing child, adult and household hunger relative to a $60 monthly benefit. It found that the $30 benefit was as effective in reducing the most severe category of hunger among children during the summer as the $60 benefit.
The WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2012: Food Package Report is a supplement to the WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2012 biennial report. The Food Package Report describes the content of WIC food packages based on information on the packages or prescriptions issued to WIC participants in April 2012. This report is a new report and should be of interest to researchers at USDA, academics, and others who study or have interest in the WIC program and nutrition.
The final evaluation report presents findings on the impacts of HIP on fruit and vegetable consumption and spending, the processes involved in implementation and operating HIP, impacts on stakeholders, and the costs associated with the pilot.
This 2013 assessment of the family daycare homes (FDCHs) component of CACFP provides a national estimate of the share of the roughly 123,000 participating FDCHs that are approved for an incorrect level of per meal reimbursement, or reimbursement "tier" for their circumstances.
The study generates national estimates of administrative error in eligibility determinations and benefit issuance for free or reduced-price school meals. For school year 2012-2013, local education agencies correctly certified 96.4% of students who applied for meal benefits. LEAs assigned the correct free, reduced-price, or paid status to a slightly smaller 96.2% of students.
This study developed innovative approaches to using nutrition labeling systems to incentivize healthy food choices by SNAP participants in retail settings. The approaches consider opportunities for using Front of Package and shelf labeling systems across all food categories and retail settings.
This study is part of a larger FNS effort to ensure WIC program integrity and to comply with the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 which requires FNS to estimate improper payments in its programs.
The Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 requires all federal agencies to calculate the amount of erroneous payments in federal programs and to periodically conduct detailed assessments of vulnerable program components. This 2012 assessment of the family daycare homes component of CACFP provides a national estimate of the share of the roughly 125,000 participating FDCHs that are approved for an incorrect level of per meal reimbursement, or reimbursement "tier" for their circumstances.