This study examined the feasibility of creating a data collection system capable of directly and automatically providing USDA with item-level data on purchases made by SNAP households. Data would be captured at the point of sale from purchases made using EBT cards.
The proposed action would update civil rights assurance language contained in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program regulations on the Federal-State Agreement.
This report is the most recent in a series of annual reports providing information about the demographic and economic circumstances of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households. In fiscal year 2015, as in prior years, nearly two-thirds of SNAP participants were children (44 percent), elderly (11 percent) or disabled nonelderly adults (10 percent). The average monthly benefit received by SNAP households was $254.
This information collection package consists of five components of state agency reporting and/or recordkeeping: a budget projection statement, a program activity report, state plans of operation updates, waiver requests and other plans and submissions such as advance planning documents for information systems and for electronic benefit transfer systems.
The Special Nutrition Program Operations Study is a multiyear study designed to provide the Food and Nutrition Service with a snapshot of current state and school food authority policies and practices of the school meal programs, including information on school meal standards, competitive foods standards, professional standards, school lunch pricing and accounting, and Smarter Lunchrooms activities.
The information in this second year report (school year 2012-13), the first year new lunch standards were implemented, will provide data for observing the improvements resulting from the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Data was collected from a survey of all state child nutrition directors and a nationally representative sample of school food authorities.
This White Paper examines whether any additional means-tested programs might be feasible for use in the direct certification of school-age children participating in school meals or for verification of household income on meal applications.
SNAP is intended to alleviate food insecurity among low-income households. Towards this end, it provides eligible low-income households with a monthly benefit amount (SNAP allotment) based on household size and net income to purchase foods from authorized retailers that can be prepared and eaten at home.
The objective of the Child Nutrition Program Operations Study II is to collect timely data on policies, administrative, and operational issues on the child nutrition programs. The ultimate goal is to analyze these data and to provide input for new legislation on child nutrition programs, as well as to provide pertinent technical assistance and training to program implementation staff.
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.