This memo provides guidance on the use of SNAP E&T funds to pay for services for individuals who are attending high school. In most cases, it is likely neither legal nor appropriate to use E&T funds to pay for services for individuals are attending high school.
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.
Our team at USDA has been relentless in notifying, educating, and equipping you to engage more SNAP participants as they transition to work. Some of you have been proactive leaders in improving your E&T program. However, not all states have taken action. Today, I call on you to leverage the opportunity afforded to us by the longest economic expansion in U.S. history to get to work on getting people to work.
Section 4022 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 authorized and funded the SNAP E&T pilots, which enabled the USDA Food and Nutrition Service and states to expand SNAP E&T programs and test innovative strategies to connect SNAP participants with good-paying jobs, thereby increasing their incomes and reducing the need for nutrition assistance benefits. This is the fifth annual report to Congress.
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. 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.
FNS is targeting the SNAP Management Evaluations for Fiscal Year 2020.
The attached questions and answers are in response to changes made by Section 4005 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, enacted on Dec.20, 2018, to the SNAP Employment and Training program and certain Able-bodied Adults without Dependents work policies.
This memorandum is pursuant to the President's Executive Order, Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility, which instructed the Department to review regulations and guidance documents to ensure they are consistent with promoting economic opportunity and ensuring the most efficient use of taxpayer funds.
The 2014 Farm Bill established a Multi-Agency Taskforce to provide coordination and direction for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) foods administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The Task Force is responsible for evaluating and monitoring USDA commodity programs to ensure that through the distribution of domestic agricultural products, the programs support the U.S. farm sector and contribute to the health and well-being of individuals in the United States. This third annual report to Congress describes the activities of the taskforce in 2017.