Description/Abstract
Food insecurity in the United States reached historically high rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus substantially increasing demand for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). To facilitate access to SNAP during the pandemic, the federal government granted state SNAP offices the option to waive the interview requirement – an administrative burden associated with the SNAP certification process. This brief summarizes findings from a recent study that used data from SNAP offices across 10 states to examine the impact of SNAP interview waivers on SNAP caseloads from January 5th to April 30th of 2021. Findings reveal that counties that implemented the SNAP interview waiver experienced an estimated 5% increase in SNAP caseloads compared to counties that did not.
Document Type
Research Brief
Keywords
Food Insecurity, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, COVID-19
Disciplines
Health Policy | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Policy | Social Welfare
Date
3-12-2024
Language
English
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Alyssa Kirk and Shannon Monnat for edits to a previous version of this brief.
Recommended Citation
Heflin, C., Fannin, W.C., Lopoo, L., and O’Keefe, S. (2024). Waiving SNAP Interviews during the COVID-19 Pandemic Increased SNAP Caseloads. Lerner Center Population Health Research Brief Series. Research Brief #112. Accessed at: https://surface.syr.edu/lerner/246/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Health Policy Commons, Public Policy Commons, Social Welfare Commons
