Building on best practices to date and consistent with USDA’s efforts to improve customer service and increase state flexibility within the bounds of the law, while continuing to encourage states as laboratories of innovation, FNS is once again expanding allowable activities for states seeking to use vendor/private staff in call centers
On Oct. 6, 2017, we issued a memo regarding SNAP applicants and households who are sending certification materials to the USDA instead of the appropriate SNAP state agency for processing.
In school year 2013-14, FNS introduced the unified administrative review and a 3-year review cycle. Since then, FNS has received feedback about the difficulties of the shorter review cycle, both for the state agencies conducting the reviews, and for school food authorities preparing for and responding to reviews.
Consistent with USDA's efforts to increase state flexibility within the bounds of the law, FNS is expanding allowable activities for states seeking to use non-merit system personnel in call centers. With FNS approval, states may now use non-merit personnel to provide basic case-specific information that is readily available in the system to a SNAP applicant or participant, such as application or case status, benefit issuance date, and status of submitted verifications.
This memo discusses SNAP applications and other documents being sent by clients to the USDA Office of Civil Rights instead of the appropriate state SNAP office. The memo outlines best practices states can use to make submission instructions clearer for clients.
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide regional offices and state agencies with information that can help them examine and revise client notices of denial and termination to improve SNAP customer service and program access.
When people make decisions about what to eat, they may consider such factors as taste, ease of preparation, nutrition, what others enjoy eating, and price. Many researchers seek to understand what makes some people choose healthful diets while others choose less healthful diets. To conduct these studies, researchers must understand as much of the context of the decisions as possible: What foods are normally enjoyed by an individual and his or her co-diners? How much time does an individual or household have to prepare food? Are there health conditions or other factors that might prompt an individual to value health and nutrition more so than others do? What are an individual’s or household’s budget restrictions?
This memorandum is to inform you of a recent change to the list of USDA-approved Nutrient Standard Menu Planning and School Meals Initiative nutrient analysis software programs available to state agencies, school food authorities and local schools to meet SMI requirements.
The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2001 increases the maximum excess shelter expense deduction and allows sates to substitute their TANF vehicle rules for the food stamp vehicle rules where doing so would result in a lower attribution of resources to food stamp households.