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Data & Research

Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Demonstrations Evaluation of the USDA Summer EBT Demonstrations: Lessons Learned From More Than a Decade of Research

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) as a permanent federal food assistance entitlement program beginning in summer 2024. Summer EBT has been tested through evaluations of demonstration projects since 2011. With pending implementation of this new program, this is an appropriate time to reflect on what USDA, FNS research has learned through more than a decade of study.

03/12/2024
Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Participation Characteristics WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2022

Since 1988, FNS has produced biennial reports on WIC participant and program characteristics for program monitoring and managing WIC information needs. The 2022 report summarizes demographic, income, and health-related characteristics of participants with active certifications in April 2022.
 

02/20/2024
Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Assessing/Improving Operations National and State Level Estimates of WIC Eligibility and Program Reach in 2021

This report, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, presents 2021 national and state estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percents of the eligible population and the US population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category.

11/03/2023
Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Impacts/Evaluations Evaluation of Technology Modernization for SNAP Benefit Redemption Through Online Transactions

​This study evaluated the implications of online SNAP benefit redemption on program integrity. In addition, the study gathered basic information about online benefit redemption, including the use in urban and rural settings.

09/26/2023
Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Benefit Content/Cost Analysis of Robotic Process Automation in SNAP: Three Case Studies

​This study examines the use of robotic process automation technologies by three state agencies—Georgia, New Mexico, and Connecticut—to administer SNAP.

09/20/2023
Resource | Data | Cost Study USDA Food Plans

USDA produces four food plans outlining practical, nutritious diets at successively higher cost levels: the Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans. The Thrifty Food Plan serves as the basis for maximum allotments in SNAP.

08/03/2023
Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Participation Characteristics SNAP Community Characteristics

Review your statewide factsheet for information about SNAP participation, food insecurity, and SNAP's economic impact in your state.

06/23/2023
Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Assessing/Improving Operations Child Nutrition Program Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic, March Through September 2020

This data collection fulfills states’ reporting requirements and describes trends in program participation during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is part of an ongoing study series examining CN program operations, repurposed to collect waiver reports from all states.

05/23/2023
Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Participation Characteristics Estimates of Nonparticipation Rates of Medicaid and SNAP Beneficiaries in WIC

​This report responds to House Report 117-82, which directs the USDA to publish state-level estimates of the percentage of pregnant women, infants, and children under age five participating in FNS’s SNAP or in Medicaid but not participating in WIC.   

05/03/2023
Resource | Research, Analysis & Background | Assessing/Improving Operations Conducting Remote WIC Certification Appointments During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The physical presence waiver, issued under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, allowed WIC state and local agencies to remotely certify participants into WIC during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report summarizes data collected from surveys of WIC state and local agencies about the use of the physical presence waiver and the impact it had on WIC services.

04/26/2023
Page updated: January 12, 2024