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
Policy Brief
Date
1-10-2024
Keywords
Food Insecurity, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, COVID-19
Language
English
Series
Policy Briefs Series
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Alyssa Kirk and Shannon Monnat for edits to a previous version of this brief.
Disciplines
Health Policy | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Policy | Social Welfare
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. Center for Policy Research. Policy Brief #9. Accessed at: https://surface.syr.edu/cpr/482
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
