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.

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this Chartbook provides data on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides approximately 46 million people across the country with nutrition assistance and is especially relied upon during economic recessions, since after unemployment insurance, SNAP has been the most responsive Federal program to assist families. Authors provide information on the demographics of the population accessing this program, as well as information on program administration, take-up, and use.

The USDA, Food and Nutrition Service, has created two interactive maps that allow users to find specific information about Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) participation rates. Map users can click on each State to learn about the State's participation rate and how given percentage increases in participation rates could affect the State's economy as well as total SNAP and SFSP participant numbers. The maps' homepage also links to the source of each map's data.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment & Training (SNAP E&T) was designed to help move individuals towards exiting SNAP and reaching economic self-sufficiency through gainful employment. Authored by the National Skills Coalition with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this user’s guide was designed to provide workforce development stakeholders with information on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment & Training (SNAP E&T, formerly Food Stamp Employment & Training or FSET). Authors provide an overview as well as information for designing and implementing a SNAP E&T program.

TANF potentially serves as a portal for a wide array of programs that provide cash income support, in-kind nutrition and housing assistance, tax credits, and other services to families with low-incomes. This research brief summarizes what we know about the connections between TANF and other important safety net programs. It reviews the size and scope of the various programs, the receipt of other safety net benefits by TANF families, and the implications for policy and research. (author abstract)

This First Focus report from the Brookings Institution offers a summary of the economic recession’s impact on children in the United States. During an average month in 2011, an estimated 6.5 children had an unemployed parent, with more than 1 million living in California, which has an unemployment rate of 12 percent. Many children are receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as a result of the recession, as children make up half of all SNAP beneficiaries. SNAP caseloads have increased by 70 percent over the last four years. Finally, child poverty has increased from 18 percent in 2007 to 22 percent in 2010.

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, in partnership with the Urban Institute, released this research brief, which examines policies that are client-friendly and the implications that this has for the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF). Authors provide research on the CCDF, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Medicaid/State Child Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). The recommendations for CCDF include simplifying the application and renewal processes and recognizing that administrative changes may affect subgroups in different ways.

The 1996 federal welfare reform law, which sets time limits on benefits and requires increasing numbers of clients to participate in work-related activities, was designed to encourage families to leave cash assistance for work and thereby reduce the welfare rolls. Aware of the possibility that the new legislation might negatively affect access to Medicaid, policymakers enacted Section 1931 to de-link Medicaid from welfare. Nevertheless, Medicaid enrollment has declined at a rate higher than expected since 1996, leading federal and state policymakers to become concerned that enrollment has indeed been affected by changes in cash assistance programs. Similar concerns have been raised in regard to the dramatic drop in participation in the Food Stamp Program. In response to these concerns, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) to identify state policies and procedures that appear to promote enrollment in Medicaid and/or the Food Stamp Program in the post-welfare reform era. We selected Indiana as the site for this study because the state increased Medicaid enrollment by almost 15 percent between 1998 and 1999. This report documents the results of our examination of Indiana's efforts to promote enrollment, primarily for children, in Medicaid and SCHIP and to begin to identify strategies for increasing enrollment
in the Food Stamp Program. (author abstract)