FY22 SNAP Data and Technical Assistance Grants

The purpose of these grants is to support the development of state SNAP E&T data collection and reporting systems. This year’s RFA specifically sought proposals that:

1. Advance state use of data to address equity issues in SNAP E&T programs, or
2. help states improve the validity and reliability of their SNAP E&T data.

Key Objectives

1. Support the development of state data systems and processes that advance state and local government use of data to look inwardly at state policy and operational decisions to identify if they have impacts on equitable program participation and whether those impacts are positively or negatively impacting equitable outcomes.
2. Support the development of state data systems and processes that advance state and local government use of data to look outwardly to build an understanding of the environment in which SNAP E&T participants and SNAP E&T programs operate that may lead to inequitable outcomes for participants of various identities, backgrounds, and geographic locations.
3. Assist state and local SNAP agencies in developing frameworks, processes, organizational understanding, trainings, and meaningful stakeholder engagement to aid in the ethical collection, analysis, and use of data while identifying meaningful actions and measure progress toward more equitable SNAP E&T engagement, participation, and outcomes.
4. Support the development of processes, tools, reports or other instruments that will improve validity and reliability in the collection, cleaning, and analysis of state E&T data.
5. Assist state and local SNAP agencies in developing frameworks, processes, organizational agreements, and/or trainings to improve the reliability and validity of state E&T data.

FY 22 Awards

On Sept. 28, 2022, USDA awarded approximately $3.5 million in SNAP E&T Data and Technical Assistance (DATA) Grants to four states.

• California Department of Social Services: Approximately $1,000,000 will be used to review and analyze SNAP E&T participation and completion rates by demographics such as race, ethnicity, age, gender, geography; by program component; and by employment barriers such as disability, lack of basic education, and/or justice involvement to understand disparities in program participation. This information will be used to inform the development of technical assistance strategies, tools, and trainings for the state’s County Welfare Departments that administer SNAP E&T locally.
• Virginia Department of Social Services: Approximately $800,000 will be used to advance equity in the state’s SNAP E&T program by developing data warehouse reporting capabilities. This will make possible the analysis of SNAP E&T client demographics such as race, ethnicity, gender, geographical location, English as a second language status, and age. New data system capabilities will be used to make state policy decisions to advance equity in SNAP E&T programs.
• District of Columbia Department of Human Services: Approximately $1,000,000 will be used to make enhancements to the district’s SNAP E&T database that will improve invoice processing, expenditure rate analysis, and general financial oversight; and enable SNAP E&T staff and third-party partners to view assessment data in real-time within the SNAP E&T database. These system enhancements will help expedite customer enrollment into components and referrals to third-party partners.
• Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services: Approximately $700,000 will be used to focus on advancing racial equity in the delivery of SNAP E&T programs through improved data collection and analysis. The goal of ongoing analyses is to build greater understanding of the contexts in which SNAP E&T programs are administered and what, if any factors, might lead to inequitable outcomes. Contexts for these analyses will focus primarily on education, labor market, and childcare data.