FNS Documents & Resources

When eligibility is determined using an application process, school districts must annually verify eligibility of children from a sample of household applications for that school year, unless the state agency assumes responsibility for verification.

This final rule implements Section 4018 of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Section 4018 created new limitations on the use of federal funds authorized in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended (FNA), for SNAP promotion and outreach activities. 

The final rule, titled “Enhancing Retailer Standards in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” made several changes to requirements for stores that want to accept SNAP benefits as a form of payment. These changes support healthy lifestyles for SNAP recipients while maintaining recipients’ access to food. 

FNS is updating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program regulations to set implementation parameters, prerequisites and operational standards required of state agencies that intend to implement the photo Electronic Benefit Transfer card option provided under Section 7(h)(9) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008.

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. 

The proposed action would implement four sections of the Agricultural Act of 2014, (2014 Farm Bill), affecting eligibility, benefits, and program administration requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

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.

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.

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. 

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.