The Institute for Research on Poverty hosted a podcast titled "Family Change, Father Involvement, and Child Food Insecurity." In this podcast, Daniel Miller of the Boston University School of Social Work discusses his research on measuring child food insecurity in the context of family type, changing family structure, and father involvement. Miller states that there is still a lot not known about food insecurity for kids, but that understanding the connections between family change and food insecurity has a lot of promise in giving a better picture of the problem.

This report displays and discusses some of the data related to the poverty of children and their living arrangements and data on male employment and earnings, educational attainment, and incarceration. It then provides information on federal programs that could play a greater role in addressing poverty of children through the fathers of these children (nearly all noncustodial parents are fathers). These programs provide economic assistance, family support, and job training and employment to eligible participants. The report also examines federal programs that have the purposes of preventing teen pregnancy and helping disadvantaged youth obtain the skills and support they need to make the transition to adulthood. The underlying premise of these programs generally is that the aid or services received from these programs by low-income noncustodial fathers can help them in meeting their financial commitments to their children (or future children) and providing emotional support to their children. The report concludes by presenting several public policy approaches proposed by the policy community that might improve the lives of low-income noncustodial fathers and their children. For example, social policy could play a role by expanding economic assistance programs to noncustodial fathers, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and implementing strategies to prevent the build-up of unpaid child support through early intervention. (author abstract)

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a SNAP chartbook. This chartbook highlights some of the key characteristics of the almost 47 million people using the program, as well as the data on program administration and use. It is divided into eight topic specific parts, and is intended to complement a more detailed analysis that the CBPP has released on particular aspects of SNAP.

The Urban Institute recently published an article discussing the Work Support Strategies Initiative. Work Support Strategies (WSS) is a multiyear, multi-State initiative to implement reforms that help eligible low-income families get and keep a full package of work support benefits, including Medicaid, nutrition assistance (SNAP), and child care assistance. This report summarizes the lessons learned from the nine planning grant States (Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina), just one year into a four-year project. The report includes what the States did, how they overcame challenges, and how the planning year changed their strategies and capacities for the future.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report discussing the importance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). They stated that SNAP is the cornerstone of the nation's safety net and nutrition assistance programs, and has achieved impressive results in meeting the needs of low-income Americans. SNAP currently provides over 47 million participants in over 23 million low-income households with debit cards that can be used to purchase food each month. This report addresses four topic areas: SNAP's effective response to the recession; SNAP's recent temporary growth in spending; SNAP reaching a high share of eligible people; and SNAP's payment accuracy reaching an all-time high.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a quick guide to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility and benefits. This guide can be used to assist individuals in determining eligibility and calculating benefit amounts. Common questions are answered and examples are given for clarity. In addition to this, a resource that assists in locating local human service offices is available, along with a pre-screening eligibility tool that can determine if an individual may qualify for SNAP.

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities released a report discussing the relationship between SNAP and work among low-income households. The success of the core goals of SNAP in increasing the food purchasing power of eligible low-income households to improve their nutrition and alleviate hunger continues to be well documented. This report discusses previous documentations and addresses labor force participation among SNAP recipients, as well as how SNAP supports work.

Mathematica conducted an exploratory study for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service, to determine existing measures for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) modernization initiatives. These initiatives included call centers, online systems, document imaging, kiosks, partnering, waiving the face-to-face interview, shortened interviews, and online expedited applications. An integrated report summarizes findings on initiatives across the 45 States participating in the study, including how they monitor and measure performance. It also includes suggestions for performance measures and standards to consider.

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities recently released an updated report reviewing State government SNAP Web sites. States across the U.S. provide general information to the public on their SNAP programs via the Internet, including information on their application process and State policy manuals. In this report, the CBPP reviews all the States' web pages to determine what information and services they offer. In addition to this, the report provides links to the addresses for each States' SNAP web pages and an overview of the types of information and services that State provides.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently published their revised version of "Online Services for Key Low-Income Benefit Programs: What States Provide Online with Respect to SNAP, TANF, Child Care Assistance, Medicaid, CHIP, and General Assistance." This report makes available to the public basic program information in these five main State-administered low-income benefit programs for most States. Application forms and data on the number of program participants is provided, as well as links that will provide additional information on eligibility and benefits.