FNS Documents & Resources

This document announces approval of an information collection requirement regarding the final rule titled Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.

This memo discusses SNAP applications and other documents being sent by clients to the USDA Office of Civil Rights instead of the appropriate state SNAP office. The memo outlines best practices states can use to make submission instructions clearer for clients.

FNS is issuing this memorandum in fulfillment of the commitment made in the preamble of the SNAP: Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 final rule to provide additional guidance for state agencies on how to carry out the exclusion of certain military combat-related pay from income for purposes of SNAP eligibility determinations.

The fiscal year 2018 Direct Certification Improvement Grant Request for Applications are available to state agencies that administer the National School Lunch and the School Breakfast programs to fund the costs of improving your direct certification rates with SNAP, and other needs-based assistance programs.

The manual provides comprehensive information on federal requirements, policies, and procedures, and is intended to help state agencies and local educational agencies accurately determine, certify, and verify children’s eligibility for free and reduced price school meals and free milk.

FNS is issuing this policy memo in response to inquiries about how state agencies are required to inform households about required and missing verification and how this interacts with other Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) requirements, including whether a state may close a case on the 30th day following application.

FNS is issuing this policy memo to clarify state options and requirements relating to the determination of fleeing felon status under Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program regulations at 7 CFR 273.11(n).  

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program  regulations at 7 CFR 273.11(n) require state agencies to choose between two tests to establish fleeing felon status: the four-part test and the alternative test, often called the Martinez test. This policy memo clarifies changes in the Martinez test necessitated by the Walter Barry, et al. v. Nick Lyon decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

FNS is putting a stay on the effective date of the interim final provisions in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 final rule. The effective date will be delayed for 120 days to Oc. 5, 2017.

This study will provide FNS with a better understanding of the barriers to serving elderly populations in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the extent to which available policy options improve program access, whether certain program models or combinations are more effective than others, and what tradeoffs exist between program simplification/access goals and ensuring benefit adequacy.