FNS uses a two-tier system to measure errors in eligibility and benefit determination for SNAP. This feasibility study identifies all processes and components that would be required for a one-tier federal SNAP QC system, including the procedural, staffing, and organizational changes and the technological and data-sharing infrastructures.
On Dec. 5, 2019, the FNS final rule, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents, will publish in the Federal Register. The rule revises the conditions under which FNS would waive, when requested by states, the able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD) time limit in areas that have an unemployment rate of over 10 percent or a lack of sufficient jobs. In addition, the rule limits the carryover of unused ABAWD discretionary exemptions.
SNAP helps low-income people buy the food they need for good health. SNAP benefits are not cash. SNAP benefits are provided on an electronic card that is used like an ATM or bank card to buy food at most grocery stores. To get SNAP benefits, your income and other resources have to be under certain limits.
The SNAP Employment and Training program, administered by all 53 state agencies, helps participants gain the skills, training, or work experience they need to enter, reenter, or remain in the workforce. The program is flexible. This letter explains how state agencies can tailor services and supports to the needs of SNAP participants and the communities in which they live.
The SNAP E&T pilot projects give Congress, USDA, and states the opportunity to test innovative strategies and approaches that connect low-income households to good paying jobs and thereby reduce their reliance on public assistance.
The attached questions and answers address the final rule implementation memo for lottery and gambling provisions.
USDA proposes updating the regulations to refine categorical eligibility requirements based on receipt of TANF benefits. Specifically, the Department proposes: (1) to define “benefits” for categorical eligibility to mean ongoing and substantial benefits; and (2) to limit the types of non-cash TANF benefits conferring categorical eligibility to those that focus on subsidized employment, work supports and childcare. The proposed rule would also require state agencies to inform FNS of all non-cash TANF benefits that confer categorical eligibility.
The Food and Nutrition Service proposed to make changes to SNAP regulations to refine categorical eligibility requirements based on receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits.
The proposed rule would revise SNAP regulations to standardize the methodology for calculating standard utility allowances.
In October 2019, FNS published a proposed rule entitled “Standardization of State Heating and Cooling Standard Utility Allowances.” This action modernizes the standard utility allowances used in calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in order to enhance program integrity and ensure equity among program participants.
