Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-04-23

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 0309263476

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For many Americans who live at or below the poverty threshold, access to healthy foods at a reasonable price is a challenge that often places a strain on already limited resources and may compel them to make food choices that are contrary to current nutritional guidance. To help alleviate this problem, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers a number of nutrition assistance programs designed to improve access to healthy foods for low-income individuals and households. The largest of these programs is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called the Food Stamp Program, which today serves more than 46 million Americans with a program cost in excess of $75 billion annually. The goals of SNAP include raising the level of nutrition among low-income households and maintaining adequate levels of nutrition by increasing the food purchasing power of low-income families. In response to questions about whether there are different ways to define the adequacy of SNAP allotments consistent with the program goals of improving food security and access to a healthy diet, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to conduct a study to examine the feasibility of defining the adequacy of SNAP allotments, specifically: the feasibility of establishing an objective, evidence-based, science-driven definition of the adequacy of SNAP allotments consistent with the program goals of improving food security and access to a healthy diet, as well as other relevant dimensions of adequacy; and data and analyses needed to support an evidence-based assessment of the adequacy of SNAP allotments. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Examining the Evidence to Define Benefit Adequacy reviews the current evidence, including the peer-reviewed published literature and peer-reviewed government reports. Although not given equal weight with peer-reviewed publications, some non-peer-reviewed publications from nongovernmental organizations and stakeholder groups also were considered because they provided additional insight into the behavioral aspects of participation in nutrition assistance programs. In addition to its evidence review, the committee held a data gathering workshop that tapped a range of expertise relevant to its task.

Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States
Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States

Author: National Bureau of Economic Research

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2003-10-15

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9780226533568

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Few United States government programs are as controversial as those designed to aid the poor. From tax credits to medical assistance, aid to needy families is surrounded by debate—on what benefits should be offered, what forms they should take, and how they should be administered. The past few decades, in fact, have seen this debate lead to broad transformations of aid programs themselves, with Aid to Families with Dependent Children replaced by Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, the Earned Income Tax Credit growing from a minor program to one of the most important for low-income families, and Medicaid greatly expanding its eligibility. This volume provides a remarkable overview of how such programs actually work, offering an impressive wealth of information on the nation's nine largest "means-tested" programs—that is, those in which some test of income forms the basis for participation. For each program, contributors describe origins and goals, summarize policy histories and current rules, and discuss the recipient's characteristics as well as the different types of benefits they receive. Each chapter then provides an overview of scholarly research on each program, bringing together the results of the field's most rigorous statistical examinations. The result is a fascinating portrayal of the evolution and current state of means-tested programs, one that charts a number of shifts in emphasis—the decline of cash assistance, for instance, and the increasing emphasis on work. This exemplary portrait of the nation's safety net will be an invaluable reference for anyone interested in American social policy.

The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts
The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2009-07-02

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 0309137284

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In the United States, people living in low-income neighborhoods frequently do not have access to affordable healthy food venues, such as supermarkets. Instead, those living in "food deserts" must rely on convenience stores and small neighborhood stores that offer few, if any, healthy food choices, such as fruits and vegetables. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) convened a two-day workshop on January 26-27, 2009, to provide input into a Congressionally-mandated food deserts study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. The workshop, summarized in this volume, provided a forum in which to discuss the public health effects of food deserts.

Food and Poverty
Food and Poverty

Author: Leslie Hossfeld

Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press

Published: 2021-04-30

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 0826504132

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Food insecurity rates, which skyrocketed with the Great Recession, have yet to fall to pre-recession levels. Food pantries are stretched thin, and states are imposing new restrictions on programs like SNAP that are preventing people from getting crucial government assistance. At the same time, we see an increase in obesity that results from lack of access to healthy foods. The poor face a daily choice between paying bills and paying for food.

Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United States
Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United States

Author: Dean Jolliffe

Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 0880993367

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The papers in this volume provide much needed focus and in depth coverage of the effect of income-volatility on the participation and design of food-assistance programs such as the Food Stamp Program and the National School Lunch Program.

A Safety Net That Works
A Safety Net That Works

Author: Robert Doar

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2017-02-13

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 0844750069

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This is an edited volume reviewing the major means-tested social programs in the United States. Each author addresses a major program or area, reviewing each area’s successes and recommending how to address shortcomings through policy change. In general, our means-tested programs do many things well, but some adjustments to each could make the system much more effective. This book provides policymakers with a broad overview of the issues at hand in each program and how to address them.

Feeding the Crisis
Feeding the Crisis

Author: Maggie Dickinson

Publisher: University of California Press

Published: 2019-11-19

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 0520307674

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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, is one of the most controversial forms of social welfare in the United States. Although it’s commonly believed that such federal programs have been cut back since the 1980s, Maggie Dickinson charts the dramatic expansion and reformulation of the food safety net in the twenty-first century. Today, receiving SNAP benefits is often tied to work requirements, which essentially subsidizes low-wage jobs. Excluded populations—such as the unemployed, informally employed workers, and undocumented immigrants—must rely on charity to survive. Feeding the Crisis tells the story of eight families as they navigate the terrain of an expanding network of food assistance programs in which care and abandonment work hand in hand to regulate people on the social and economic margins. Amid calls at the federal level to expand work requirements for food assistance, Dickinson shows us how such ideas are bad policy that fail to adequately address hunger in America. Feeding the Crisis brings the voices of food-insecure families into national debates about welfare policy, offering fresh insights into how we can establish a right to food in the United States.

How to Get Food Stamps, Welfare and Other Benefits
How to Get Food Stamps, Welfare and Other Benefits

Author: Andrew Dolan

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2011-02-20

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781460931158

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Millions of Americans are just one paycheck away from becoming unemployment statistics. If it happens to you, you need to know what to do next. This book spells out where to get help after you lose your job, your home, or both. It specifically shows where to apply for government aid programs that offer food, heating bills assistance, subsidized phone service, subsidized housing, subsidized child care, welfare, unemployment insurance and other benefits. This book shows where to apply for food stamps (SNAP) and other food programs that put food on the table, where to apply for heating bills assistance (LIHEAP) and keep the heat turned on during the winter, where to apply for subsidized telephone service (Lifeline) and keep your phone turned on, where to apply for subsidized housing (Section 8) and keep a roof over your head, where to apply for unemployment insurance and keep some money coming in, and where to apply for welfare (TANF) and other benefit programs. Both the unemployed and the underemployed working poor are eligible to apply. Includes information about benefit programs, the income and assets guidelines used to determine eligibility for benefits and hundreds of agency contact phone numbers (many toll-free) and web sites. Use this book to find out what sorts of government aid programs are available, where to apply and how to keep going during the recession.