This information collection is for activities associated with SNAP demonstration projects and the SNAP State Options Report, respectively.
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.
The following videos are available to demonstrate functionality and provide tutorials for specific activities in IFMS.
The Integrated Food Management System replaces the legacy, Automated Inventory System. IFMS consolidates food distribution transactions into a seamless, easy-to-use cloud-based platform.
This is a new collection for the contract Assessment of Mobile Technologies for Using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits (Mobile Payment Pilot evaluation). The purpose of the Mobile Payment Pilot evaluation is to assess the effects of five pilot projects that will allow SNAP participants to use mobile payments to purchase food as an alternate option to a physical electronic benefit transfer card.
The 2008 Farm Bill authorized $20 million for pilot projects to evaluate health and nutrition promotion in SNAP to determine if incentives provided to SNAP recipients at the point-of-sale increase the purchase of fruits, vegetables or other healthful foods. FNS refers to this effort as the Healthy Incentives Pilot or HIP.
Active IFMS users can access instructional materials, forms, and helpful references through the IFMS application. These materials are regularly updated to reflect the latest system changes with each release.
The SNAP E&T pilot projects give Congress, USDA, and states the opportunity to test innovative strategies and approaches that connect low-income households to good paying jobs and thereby reduce their reliance on public assistance.
The pilot project provides SDAs selected states additional flexibility in the procurement of unprocessed fruits and vegetables. SFAs in selected states, or SDAs acting on behalf of participating SFAs, are permitted to competitively solicit a USDA-approved vendor using USDA Foods NSLP entitlement funds.