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)

The Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture released a report to Congress stating that limited access to affordable and nutritious food is considered a contributor to obesity and disease throughout the United States. The report examines access to food throughout the United States, characteristics and causes for access levels, and effects of limited access, and suggests recommendations for increased access to food throughout the United States. The report also provides a literature review, assessment of access to supermarkets and grocery stores, and an analysis of economic and health effects related to access levels.

Current statistics show that one in three adults is obese, and from 1980 to the present, the number of obese children has tripled. Obesity is particularly a problem in low-income communities of color, and research is showing that low-income communities have little access to healthy food establishments. This resource, from Policy Link, offers four solutions for increasing healthy food establishments in these areas, which include developing new grocery stores, improving small stores, connecting farmers to low-income communities, and sustaining farmers markets in such areas.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) currently reaches 45 million people, which is an increase of 69 percent since the current economic recession began. From the Urban Institute, this fact sheet discusses how SNAP caseloads and unemployment have increased both nationally and by State. Authors provide a map of the United States, which shows the concurrent increase in SNAP and unemployment across the country.